Wordless Wednesday

 Wordless Wednesday

A HAPPY DAY AND SAD NEWS

 

My friend Sharon went in for heart surgery on wednesday May 19, 2021 and never woke up again. To say I am broken is an understatement. She was like a sister to me.  Although her sister Tori is my twin, we thought alike on many issues, Sharon was a terribly bad influence. She hooked me on doll collecting. If she were here she would say, Anne is lying, she hooked me. Then she would tell you how I twisted her arm (over the telephone) and made her buy this beautiful Naomi doll on the HSN Doll Show back in 1993. My heart hurts for her mom, Naomi. She is in her 80's and was caring for Sharon . My heart aches for Tori and Teddy and Gary, her siblings. They were so close and I will miss all the stories she shared with me through the years.

I met Sharon in 1987 when I went to work in the University Hospital Admissions office. I had been at the JFK Center for Child Development and made the switch. Sharon was an instant friend. We clicked and got into mischief many times during our years of friendship. She had this "whale" joke with my hubby Avery and they would play tricks on each other. She once bought him a miniature blue whale and sent it to his office. When he opened the package, he fell over laughing. His co worker thought he had lost his mind! It was their private joke. She use to say she was jealous of all my dolls and if I went before her could she have my dolls and my hubby? I would say, sure why not! We felt laughter and pain, joy and sadness all through those years. Sharon was bright, articulate, sassy and the first time I met her she told me she was a member of the Black Women's Political Action Group! I never knew anyone else like her. She was kind and she was fair and although many of our ideas were different, she never gave up on a friendship with a kooky girl with a husband and bunch of kids. In fact she and Nick shared August 20th as their birthday. Nick has a second birthday buddy, Richard in California. He is the hubby of good friend Sherry. But having been born on Sharon's birthday made her so happy. She loved life and people and if you needed ideas for a gift, Sharon was your gal. Doctors she worked with at a different hospital use to pay her to find the perfect gift for their wives. She never married but lavished love and attention on her nieces and nephews. I am going to miss those phone calls and tonight, I cried to my hubby, who is going to give me Easter Peeps? In 32 years she never missed sending me a package of Easter Peeps. She had a strong bond and although we have different opinions on political matters, we respected each other and always said we loved each other too much to give up a good friendship for politics!

Sharon would be so happy to know I spent a good part of this day catching up with our friends. Maria, who I had not spoken to for several years. We talked about our kids and grands and just caught up on our lives.  Sandy who reminded me to keep all those good memories in my heart. Lorna who somehow brings us all together and knows just what to say even though she has had a rough year herself. Chris who will call her dad and share the sad news and he will remind Chris how amazing Sharon was and she should keep her heart set on that! Jean in Texas these days, who made me smile through my tears because she said she never realized how many health issues Sharon had. Then she said I had not changed in 20 years, and I wanted to run to Texas and hug her, just because she is incredibly kind.  I am going to miss my sweet friend but the last words we shared with each other were, love you. I love you too.

Feline Friday

 Feline Friday

The feline was being fierce, he had been staring down Mollie until she left and Lulu just kept looking away. He knows I do not put up with bullying in any way, shape or form! So he was unhappy he was not ruling the bed.

Hannah and I had a nice visit last week. She is so talented. She made her design for her business at etsy:

She created her label here. She made her first sale on a beautiful baby shadow box. She created it for someone who had a brand new baby and the shadow bx has the baby;'s name, date of birth, weight and height in beautiful vinyl letters . She brought so many of the Mother's Day shadow boxes with her last week to everyone local so they would not have to pay postage. It was a sweet gesture. She sure is a busy girl getting more and more orders.

This is one of her creations. I am so proud of her. She has artistic talent like her dad. 

Someone I love wrote this poem while she was in looking forward to college. The college education she is paying for to this very day!

She was born of working hands

They were born with silver spoons

She was from the wrong side of town

They were from the upper class

The families were part of the country club

The siblings had private piano lessons

Parents were past alumni

Dads still wore their football rings

Her family was the most important thing

Her siblings were her closest friends

And when her parents struggled with bills

Everyone pitched in to help

She memorized the RTD schedule

They learned how to drive new cars

For her, high school was a privilege

To her classmates, just another luxury

She wore bargain clothes from the Salvation Army

Her classmates wore Abercrombie and Fitch

She worked the weekends on minimum wage

While they hung out in Aspen and Steamboat resorts

She didn't care about popularity

Her classmates couldn't get enough of it

They worried about WHICH college to go with friends

While she worried about receiving financial aide next fall

It was exclusive and expensive

But it was the best kind of education

And although she didn't fit in

She knew she belonged in college

Now some humor:

Why do we love children?

1) NUDITY

I was driving with my three young children one warm summer evening when a woman in the convertible ahead of us stood up and waved. She was stark naked! As I was reeling from the shock, I heard my 5-year-old shout from the back seat, 'Mom, that lady isn't wearing a seat belt!'

2) OPINIONS

On the first day of school, a first-grader handed his teacher a note from his mother. The note read, 'The opinions expressed by this child are not necessarily those of his parents.'

3) KETCHUP

A woman was trying hard to get the ketchup out of the jar. During her struggle the phone rang so she asked her 4-year-old daughter to answer the phone. 'Mommy can't come to the phone to talk to you right now. She's hitting the bottle.'

4) MORE NUDITY

A little boy got lost at the YMCA and found himself in the women's locker room. When he was spotted, the room burst into shrieks, with ladies grabbing towels and running for cover. The little boy watched in amazement and then asked, 'What's the matter, haven't you ever seen a little boy before?'

5) POLICE # 1

While taking a routine vandalism report at an elementary school, I was interrupted by a little girl about 6 years old. Looking up and down at my uniform, she asked, 'Are you a cop? Yes,' I answered and continued writing the report. My mother said if I ever needed help I should ask the police. Is that right?' 'Yes, that's right,' I told her. 'Well, then,' she said as she extended her foot toward me, 'would you please tie my shoe?'

6) POLICE # 2

It was the end of the day when I parked my police van in front of the station. As I gathered my equipment, my K-9 partner, Jake, was barking, and I saw a little boy staring in at me. 'Is that a dog you got back there?' he asked.

'It sure is,' I replied.

Puzzled, the boy looked at me and then towards the back of the

van. Finally he said, 'What'd he do?'

7) ELDERLY

While working for an organization that delivers lunches to elderly shut-ins, I used to take my 4-year-old daughter on my afternoon rounds. She was unfailingly intrigued by the various appliances of old age, particularly the canes, walkers and wheelchairs. One day I found her staring at a pair of false teeth soaking in a glass. As I braced myself for the inevitable barrage of questions, she merely turned and whispered, 'The tooth fairy will never believe this!'

DRESS-UP

A little girl was watching her parents dress for a party. When she saw her dad donning his tuxedo, she warned, 'Daddy, you shouldn't wear that suit.'

'And why not, darling?'

'You know that it always gives you a headache the next morning.'

9) DEATH

While walking along the sidewalk in front of his church, our minister heard the intoning of a prayer that nearly made his collar wilt. Apparently, his 5-year-old son and his playmates had found a dead robin. Feeling that proper burial should be performed, they had secured a small box and cotton batting, then dug a hole and made ready for the disposal of the deceased.

The minister's son was chosen to say the appropriate prayers and with sonorous dignity intoned his version of what he thought his father always said: 'Glory be unto the Faaather, and unto the Sonnn, and into the hole he goooes.' (I want this line used at my funeral!)

10) SCHOOL

A little girl had just finished her first week of school. 'I'm just wasting my time,' she said to her mother. 'I can't read, I can't write, and they won't let me talk!'

11) BIBLE

A little boy opened the big family Bible. He was fascinated as he fingered through the old pages. Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible. He picked up the object and looked at it. What he saw was an old leaf that had been pressed in between the pages.

'Mama, look what I found,' the boy called out.

'What have you got there, dear?'

With astonishment in the young boy's voice, he answered, 'I think it's Adam' s underwear!'

.

Goodnight and Sweet Dreams

Thankful Thursday

 

Visit Thankful Thursday Today the nicest gentleman, Juan came and cut down this old dead tree we had in the backyard. Watching his unique way of cutting down that tree was interesting and I told him I was going to mention him on my blog. He lives quite a distance away from us but his day job takes him all over the Denver metro area. He is kind, polite, reliable and and an all around nice guy.  He came over at 3:15 today and was done by 5:15. He hauled all the branches and debris to his truck and use a safety harnass and a helmet to complete the job. We are very grateful to him. He is going to give us a hand with trimming the pine trees we have left in a few weeks. He also knows a few different guys that do concrete work. We need to replace our old wooden deck on the front porch. Whoever made that front porch did a terrible job and never kept it up. It is hard to find good, reliable people who do great work and I am glad we found Juan.

He did such a great job I forgot to take a final photo of the empty space where the tree was. Kristy next door should be happy although she came over in the blizzard about a month ago to say the tree was touching the power line. Actually it was touching the phone lines as the power line is situated higher up and the cable lines are lower than the phone lines. Old neighborhoods and old fashioned technology. They say if it ain't broken, don't fix it! That is a truthful statement. we are thankful for Juan and his kind ways.

Sleep well!

TUESDAY

 

Rainy days... this little poem is perfect. I don't mind the rain but I need to pull weeds, they grow so beautifully in wet weather. Happy Tuesday

Happiness

Always makes me feel

Pretty

Patient and

Youthful 

Time is fleeting

Understand that every single moment matters

Even when things seem upside down or

Downright mean

And trying to wreck 

Your day

Remember this: You can always 

S M I L E !

Smiling makes me happier so I encourage everyone to try it. 

Oh Maxine you are super extra snarky today! That poor pup! His face is always priceless.

A heart mug from my Mother's Day Gifts. One of the things that makes me happy.

Two more happy happy gifts I love.

Aw...happiness is a balloon!

A sweet mug. Now I just need two more to match this one (wink wink)!!!

Someone knows I still love Barbie..... she makes me happy too.

Rain makes me sleepy, sweet little Mollie settling in for an afternoon nap.

A beautiful share and a happy one too from a friend.

My hubby always says, you're not my mother when I tease him about gifts on this day. HaHa but he treated me to a beautiful Minky blanket for our anniversary which helps me sleep like a baby. So I'll let him slide on that one.

I'm pretty sure you can not qualify for a pure 100 percent BoJon if you don't love these diamonds!

Have a beautiful week.

MAY 2021

 

Yes I am technically late for the first day of May but as you know, it is a busy month for us. We celebrated 37 years of marriage on the 3rd. On the 6th of May I honored my late brother-in-law Gary who would have had a birthday but celebrated it in heaven again. The 8th was Uncle Louie's birthday. He was such a gem. A good BoJon man and a Colorado history bluff like no other I have ever known. He was my mom's only brother to survive into old age having lost their younger brother Tony at age 17 in the gold mine cave in in Victor, Colorado February 1927 when my mom was just 13 and Uncle Louie was 18. He had come up for a break and heard their cried for help. He talked about his dad and brother Tony often during his own lifetime. My mother shared many wonderful memories of her dad and brother.  My grandfather had been raised with three sisters so he was well versed in how to treat a lady. My mother loved to tell me how he would turn on the radio on Saturday evenings and the girls, her older sister Mary, herself (Cecilia), Ann and Elsie would dance with him as well as their baby sister Josie. I loved hearing that memory from my mom.

This image is a google image and may be subject to copyright . I respect their right to copyright and only share this image and not as my own.  Someone recently asked, was there another name your parents might have given you and why? I suppose I was the luckier one of the two of us but my sister Mary, five years older than me, told me mom almost named her Agnes for her baby sister who passed away and I was nearly named for Frances mom's other sister who also passed away as a young child. We were grateful we were named for her older sister (Mary) and her younger sister (Ann) . My father had an older sibling, Mary and a younger one, Ann too. We were double named for each of their siblings.  They are  buried in the old Roselawn cemeterey and I don't know if there are any records exisiting anymore but their baby sister Rose is buried near my aunt Ann Petgovsek in her phamily's plot at Rselawn. My father purchased the headstone for baby Rose. Oh the stories I can tell and retell here. I am so very proud of my heritage as a sLOVEnian also known as a  BoJon. Rose is also the first name of my Tata Rose who passed away May 12, 1985 just one month  and one week after my father.

 

Baby Rose was born 6 November 1918 - 13 November 1918. The multiple losses my loved ones endured is beyond my comprehension. My father had a brother who was born in 1906 (Joseph) and passed away in 1909. His younger sibling Frank was born on 3 July 1915 and passed away in 1918. He passed away during the Flu Pandemic. Two parents and four children all survived. Three more girls were born after that including auntie Steffie who was born on the eve of the 1921 Pueblo Flood.  Our youngest daughter Hannah is born in 3 July as well. A quick side note. If you are not buried in the Italian section of the Roselawn cemeterey in Pueblo or sit on the board, the  rest of the graves are not kept up and graves are robbed of their floral displays their loved ones leave there. I think it is quite sad that you have to be in a certain "class" to receive any respect for your deceased loved ones. Pueblo had had a long history of the same people running the show for decades. It is absolutely demeaning to the hard working citizens who still reside there. Why these people are not removed from the offices they hold is stunning to me.  I belong to a social group of Pueblo born and raised citizens  and many of them  think exactly the way I do.  How sad, but my dad would always tell me, do not trouble yourself with the affairs of others. God sees all and He is watching every single move all these people as well as yourself make.  My father attended school through the 4th grade yet he was and always will be, the most intelligent man I ever knew.  He was bright and his handwriting was impeccable. What he did not understand he researched. I adored my father and I know he adored me too.  

Hannah is so crafty. She made this shadow box for Mother's Day for me. It represents the colors of our 1984 May 3 wedding. She also created this sign for me:

Words my mother said to me each and every time we spoke on the phone or in person. My mom had her own set of of "Momisms":

With a friend like her, you'll never need an enemy.

Always have your own car keys and cash. Don't let anyone think they can pay your way. 

Who told you life was easy? They lied to you. Life is hard, pray harder. If it gets harder, pray harder more!

Love God and be kind.

Never speak ill of the dead!

Wait til your father gets home!

Beautiful words for my mother who spent her 19th Mother's Day in the presence of God Himself. My mom was a corker. She was a wonderful sLOVEnian lady. She loved dancing her entire life and she taught me to always have strong role models. One of her favorite role models was Babe Didrikson Zaharias, an incredible female athlete who passed away too young. My mother loved everything about Babe! My mom had a cousin was a county judge in Teller County Colorado (Victor, Colorado). The Honorable Margaret Tekavee. She had a friend who was a pediatrician, during a time, when the worth of women was still not completely noted. She shared so many wonderful stories about her friend the doctor with me. She also had a dear sweet friend Minka. She came from the old country Yugoslavia, now known as sLOVEnia.  Minka was married to George the Mailman's brother Emil and she owned a little bakery on Northern Avenue next to Johnny Smith's Barber Shop and Veteran's Tavern, a neighborhood bar owned by another BoJon phamily the Zupancic. minka baked the most beautiful and tasty cakes. Being a December baby, my mom knew I disliked all the red and green and holiday cakes so one year Minka baked me an Easter bonnet cake. It was so beautiful and when I close my eyes I can see that lovely pastel colored cake in my memories.  She passed away quite young from cancer and my mom lost another wonderful and kind friend. The memories of her will be forever inside my heart. 

This is a google image Easter Bonnet cake. Minka's cake was white like wedding cake with that faint almond flavor and decorated in shades of pastel pink and lavender. I wish I had a photo of that beautiful cake. Many years later, when I worked for Mary Shomer in the Pueblo County Treasurer's office my co worker, Olga Butkovich, she married a swell BoJon fella.  She had Schuster's bakery on the Mesa Junction bake a beautiful two layer white cake with lemon filling and decorated with one of my favorite Springtime flowers, pansies. Those little yellow and purple pansies looked so realistic.  Oh the memories I have of birthday cakes from past years. I have a pinterest page called Phamily Cakes because we have so many wonderful cakes throughout the years. 

I will end with some humor. I will send it over to Sandee's for Aw...Mondays. Have a wonderful week and a beautiful evening. May goodness and kindness follow you everywhere you go. 

You know I am terribly ornery so I know this might offend those women's libbers. But my mom had her very own Prince Charming and I have mine. Love is...has followed my marriage since 1984 and the year before our marriage. I think Kim Casselli was a good luck charm too.