Dollar Tree Christmas

I have secured my hand-painted and Venecian glass ornaments in the attic until my grandchildren are older. I didn’t want the stress of watching over them, both the grandchildren at the tree and the ornaments themselves. This led me to devise a tree where the ornaments are kid friendly and could be handled.

So for the first tree, a trip to the Dollar Tree was in order. We found stuffed animals, slinkys, dinosaurs, toy monster trucks, and other colorful things to decorate that tree. This year, because the inventory is always changing at the Dollar Tree, I have found zoo animals, night vision goggles, slinkys, yoyos, little ponies, and water pistols shaped like dinosaurs.

This year’s tree is completely different, colorful, but different. It’s great to take the precious out of decorating. I won’t be guarding anything on the tree again.  I let them pick out a toy and take it with them every week that they stay with me. Everyone is happy, grandchildren, and grandma. They are not old enough to make things for my tree. I only have them one day on the weekend and don’t want to put them on a production schedule so this works for us.

My daughter’s childhood was spent making Christmas ornaments. Instead of gingerbread or cinnamon, my kitchen smelled like melting plastic, or latex paint. We were crafty and worked hard at Christmas. My son was less interested in decorating and more interested in the food so that’s another story all together.

I salute everyone with Christmas traditions. Carry on and have a wonderful holiday season.

Review of local Tulsa author.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27879311-izzy-cavanal?from_search=true&search_version=service

Grandma's Back To Posting

11/22/2015

I am coming back to this blog to write about Grandmother issues and concerns. I haven’t posted here in a while because life just took over, but now, I’m going to take my time back and post here about twice a month.

         My grandchildren are the special treasures that I never gave any thought to. They were in the far off future and not an immediate issue. I’ve had friends who started collecting baby furniture since when their children left the house. The threats from their husbands didn’t stop the curation of a museum display of cute things for a baby either boy or girl, or both. Toys, handmade clothing, antique baby furniture, and then there is the list of things they are going to do written in their diary, and kept in secret.

         My first granddaughter was born into my daughter’s navy family. She has traveled all over the world. She makes friends easily. She is always up for an adventure. She has a great sense of humor, is smart, witty, plays jokes. She has beautiful strawberry blond hair which is getting redder.

Here she is with my other grandchildren. There is a big difference in their ages. She is a really good sport about being with them. She plays with them, and shares her kindle fire.

The next two grandchildren from my son’s family came instantly. Suddenly we were surrounded by babies. They are exactly a year apart. Everyone was wearing diapers, everything was sticky, and the bathroom and kitchen always looked like aftermath of a terror attack. They are a riot, so much fun and we get to spend more time together than I get to spend with the Navy girl. She is becoming a beautiful accomplished woman without any of my input.

I call upon all grandma’s to send me their funny stories. I’m going to post mine and I want to share them with you and hear yours in return.

Mary

THE DAY GRANNY CHANGED!

The Day Granny Changed!

Thank you for all of your suggestions. Some of them very valuable and will be incorporated into the character I’m creating. I hope have a drawing of Granny soon, working on the image now. Based on your suggestions I’ve developed a uniform, weapons, and a vehicle for traveling. Now I think Granny needs a mission, and perhaps a good PR person since the old ladies are getting such a bad rap. Hopefully her image can be salvaged by the appropriate spin.

Now for Granny’s mission and some thoughts on her aproned baking self and alter ego. I believe Granny’s mission should be to protect children, unlike the witch in Hanzel and Gretel, who so the story goes, puts children in ovens. So now I need to develop the myth of Granny and the newly named superheroine. Will have to look up figures of justice and see where that leads me.

I think Granny T sounds like a good human alter ego. She wears glasses, bakes, gardens, often wears an apron, has the recipe book that allows her to travel back in time as she goes back to the source of the original recipes. She also naps in her recliner.

So now to come up with name for the superheroine version of the Granny.  This will require some thought and research. So will check on you next week. If you have suggestions, let me know.

HANZEL AND GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS

Hanzel and Gretel: Witch Hunters

Watching this lovely gory let’s blow things up and set them on fire work led me to some interesting thoughts about crones. Okay why are the old women always crones or witches? Why do they have such an image problem? Is there nothing between crone and the evil witch? If the witch captures the children with the candy house and then tries to eat them, how does one overcome this bad press? The inverse must be true for the Granny superheroine: she must solve the mysteries of who takes children, protect them, and help them get away.

It boggles the mind: crone or witch, no middle ground. We have given some time to the weapons, although at this date, the matter is not settle and everything is still under consideration. Gretel was wearing some cool leather pants in the basic black that I think Granny might like for her very own. So that will settle part of the costume issue, black leather pants.

What about transportation? No broomsticks allowed. Hmmmmmmm, flying monkeys are out, a hat, a cool car? What about a flying carpet, no time traveling just your basic back and forth. A pair of magic boots, very tasteful, of course, to go with the leather pants.

Okay, going back to the drawing board to bring more ideas to the surface. I could use a little help.

MORE THOUGHTS ON WEAPONS

More Thoughts on Weapons

A gentle reader thinks a grandma being able to gas people with her pearls is too frightening to contemplate. So with that in mind I am considering the suggestion of a time traveling cook book. The recipes are dated and when you open the book after deciding what to cook, you’re whisked back into time. I think that is pretty cool.

How about a butter churn that churns while it is inserted into the milk but becomes a light ax when it is pulled from its bottom? Imagine a long handle with blades whipping out and butter flying around. I think it might have possibilities.

I am not sure my granny should fight crime. But what else would she do with these awesomely cool weapons? Maybe she should search for missing persons, people lost in the wheat fields of Oklahoma, or fallen down a freshly fracked well, or polluting a creek with their petroleum. Now there’re possibilities. She could solve mysteries like tracking down people dumping illegally.

What do you think her mission should be? I could use some help here.

HEROINE'S WEAPONS

HEROINE'S WEAPONS

I am sitting here watching G I Joe: Retaliation. The hero formula for G I Joe is very familiar to everyone. The mythic reality of G I Joe comes from the reports of heros coming home from the second world war, action in Korea, or Hasbro Toys. These are the heros of my brothers, son and perhaps my grandson.

Where is my heroine? There were no women wearing capes at the bakeoffs or the fairs where the jellies were judged. We need a squad of women who do extraordinary things with special weapons. I’m going to give this some thought We've had the stories where the girls with bows save the world. This is a good start, but not enough. It needs more work. The guys get the cool toys and exploding thingys, all my grandma had was a wooden spoon and a whisk. Maybe she needs an apron that turns into a bullwhip, or the classic pearls that emit a paralyzing gas that makes people forget. I’ll be working on it.

 

 

Oklahoma Writers Federation Meeting (OWFI) 2014

Oklahoma Writers Federation Meeting (OWFI) 2014

I experienced the energy of so many writers and speakers. It was amazing. Writers are people who will reach back and help someone who is just starting out. They network and mentor. Their accomplishments are inspirational to the rest of us. Their message of don’t be discouraged, you’ll get there is reassuring. The weekend is just a blur of information and new faces.

I was shepherd to Matrice Hussey, editor at Harlequin Romances. She was a delight and gave a presentation on the varying degrees of romantic writing. It was an eye opener to learn there are so many degrees romance can be depicted. I write for children so my brush with romance is in the library or the bookstore stacks. I am a reader of many different genres and love a good story that works. I guess that I ask myself does it do what the writer wanted? Did it do it well?

I met Eloisa James the best selling author of romances. She is a wonderful funny woman who gave a delightful keynote speech about her journey to success. She emphasized the writer is 50% business person and 50% writer/creator. It was the first time I had thought of it in this manner. I have been writing without thinking about the business side of it.

Today I am adjusting my internal landscape to reflect these new realities that I have learned. It will take me time to process all of the implications of what I have heard. But I am going to make changes.