(A continuation of this post - A tie that binds (PI))

In my mother's belongings, I found a letter that my father had written to my mother with the card he had written to me. He had not been very kind to her.  Bitter is a good word to describe the tone... but of course he had good reason.  The letter was typed, which I found odd.  At the bottom was his work address and his work number.  To me that meant write me, but let's be discreet about it.

That letter was over ten years old.  And by taking a stab at his age, even if he was the same age as my mom, I could only assume that he was no longer working there.

But it was the only address I had; my only lead if you will.  So, around Christmas time, I mailed him a Christmas card with a photo of my two kids.  On the back I wrote that they were the grand kids of my mother (whose name I wrote in initials) and that she had passed away.  I wished him a Merry Christmas and a happy new year and I put my mailing address and my phone number on it.  I figured, if I wrote it in code, he'd understand but it wouldn't mean much if it ended up in the wrong hands.

I sent it knowing it may never reach him.  The logical side of me did not expect a reply.  After all, I have no idea how mail works in a third world country but I can only imagine they do not have mail fraud laws like we do here.  Anybody could just open it or toss the thing in the trash.  I felt it was a huge leap of faith to even send it in the first place.  But there it was, out there.

And, in the back of my mind, the little girl who wondered about her father, waited for a response.  Three weeks later, a letter arrived.

To be continued sometime this week...

        

About a month ago, Buddy got the stomach virus that was ravaging our local schools.  You see, the daycare place he attends is all teacher's kids... so all it took was a teacher to get it, then she passed it onto her kid who then passed it onto Buddy.

So, I cleaned everything.  Twice.  I did enough laundry to put a cleaning service to shame and I disinfected everything he had touched or even looked at.

Two weeks later, BG got it.  It was harder with her because she hates throwing up and this virus take it all out of you.  She was exhausted and cranky.  It was not fun.

Again, I did all the things I'd done above.  I cleaned, laundered, and disinfected.  To no avail.

Two weeks later, I sit here, ravaged and physically spent from throwing up and not eating.  This virus makes you thirsty.  But then when you drink something, that liquid just sit in your stomach, until finally you bring it all back up.  So, you sleep and repeat the process.  Just when you think you're feeling better, you eat crackers and drink small amounts of water only to throw up again.  You haven't eaten for hours so you imagine there's nothing left in you, but liquid comes pouring out so hard and fast that it leaves you shaking.  So, you sleep some more.

I have already slept for about 16 hrs. in a two day period.  The horror is that in the middle of the night, when I am sound asleep, because that is all I can do since I've given up all hope of being able to eat or drink anything, I suddenly feel my stomach cramp up so bad that it wakes me up.  And so I'm left there wondering how much more of it I can take.

It has been 24 hours since this began.  I no longer crave food.  I take tiny sips of water only because I know I should, not because I'm thirsty.  I feel fine.  My stomach no longer cramps up for no reason.  Yet, now I'm afraid to eat.  So, I just bide my time until my body remembers what it's like to crave food and takes over.

I've come to the conclusion that vomiting is the most vile thing the human body can do is capable of; pun intended.  Nothing else is as horrific, except for childbirth. 

        

 

This week's photo hunt is average; hosted by Tnchick!

 

To you, this looks like an average bell pepper.  What you don't know is that it is from our garden!  That bell pepper is huge.  It sat on the vine, undetected by vermin and myself for over two months.  When I finally saw it, I didn't have the heart to pluck it right away so I left it for a few more weeks.  Finally, when I did pull it, I couldn't bring myself to eat it right away...

It was very tasty - even more so since we had grown it ourselves!

I hope this gives you the inspiration to have your own vegetable garden this year.  Bell peppers are easy to grow - you just put them in the ground.  There's no need for cages or ties or anything complicated like other vegges require.  And if you practice companion planting, you'll have an even better result.

I can't wait to see other "average" posts.

        

1. I know I should say something about ties here, but right now, words escape me.

2. NovCember is the longest month; too many holidays all in a row and not enough time to enjoy them.

3. You can't help but smile when you see a little boy in a bow tie!

4. Snow; bring it on!  As if we have a choice!

5. Where have you looked lately for sleds?  There is snow currently on the ground and counting... and the seasonal aisle is carrying water pistols and pool floaties... Can you say major marketing faux pas?

6. Panic is now widely available.  All of Northern Virginia is in chaos due to the impending/paralyzing storm that's coming.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to snow, tomorrow my plans include snow, snow and more snow, and Sunday, I will be doing lots of and lots of shoveling!  Holy Moly - at least my forearms will be strong!

        

Boggle is hands-down one of my favorite games... you can play it alone or with others.  You learn new words while working your brain, all at the same time. 

You play Boggle by connecting (ties) letters that are next to each other.  You cannot just choose any of the letters on the board; they must connect.  And you may only use each letter once.

Here we go!

bet beet  bye fun  halo  lay  yes  hay  tea

beat seal seat hat hut

Phew, this one was hard.  Hope you found more words than I did.

Outside the time limit, I found... none.


To post your answers, click  or post them in my comments!

        

 
Baltimore, MD 2008

For other Wordless Wednesday posts, click here and here.

For my previous WWs, click here.

Happy Wednesday!



Boggle Me Thursday is back!!  Come join us; it's fun!

        

Happy February!!

You may know about NaBloPoMo.  It stands for National Blog Posting Month.

The purpose is to commit to posting every day for a month.  Each month, you are given a theme.  This month's theme (February) is TIES.

It just so happens that I have some things going on in my life right now that apply... so I've decided to sign-up.

Here is the first installment - I'm calling it - A tie that binds.  When you see the category "A tie that binds," you'll know it's a continuation of this story.  I will try my best to post daily on some type of TIES theme.

*******************************************

When I was just a kid my mother made the decision to pack me up from everyone I had ever known and move to the United States; the land of milk and honey. 

Her sister was here.  Her mother was here.  She believed we had nothing left in Bolivia.

She neglected to ask me how I felt about leaving my father behind.  If she did ask me, I don't recall.

I'm guessing it was a bad breakup because she told him to bugger off and never contact her or her daughter again.  The man, dutifully obliged. 

I spent the next twenty plus years with feelings ranging from hatred to abandonment and even resentment. 

Now that I'm a parent, I can only imagine my husband listening to me if I told him to bugger off and never try to contact his kids.  There'd surely be hell to pay...

But, it was a different time and my father, a different person.  He had a new wife to tend to and he knew that I would be fine; being that I'd be in the United States and all. 

Growing up, I rarely spoke of my father... I never suggested he might be dead or anything so final, but I also didn't daydream of him coming to get me either.  I never once felt the need to contact him.  Perhaps my mother's slighted feelings had transferred to me; who knows...
In this way, I allowed my mother to justify her actions.

When I graduated from college though, for some reason, my mother wrote to my father, sending him a photo of me in a graduation gown.  I believe she asked me first (fine time to start asking me my opinion).  I knew the action was more about her than about me though, so I agreed.

My mother showed me the congratulatory card he sent but she did not give it to me to keep nor did she give me a way to contact him.  And for some reason, I again respected her decision to keep me away from my father (who was clearly interested in some type of contact).  And that was that.

My mother died two years ago.  At the time of her death, I didn't even consider my father; I was so bereft by the whole incident.  But a few months ago, I realized that communication with my father might be possible.  I realized that I hadn't pursued him for her sake; odd as that sounds... but now, things were different.

I evaluated my feelings for him.  I certainly didn't hate him... how could I hate someone I didn't know?  I didn't love him either... how could I love someone I didn't know?  But I definitely wanted to get to know him...

So, I went on a mission.  I looked for him.  I asked long lost relatives if they could help me find an address for him.  But they were not very helpful.  I asked my aunt.  She admitted to never even having met the guy!  I did online searches, to no avail.  And finally, I thought of just looking through my mother's effects.  My aunt had given me a box of photos, letters, and other sentimental documents that had been my mother's.  Frankly, I was surprised my aunt had not tossed the entire kit and caboodle in the trash.

What do you supposed those artifacts contained?  Stay tuned to find out...

        

 

This week's photo hunt is spotted; hosted by Tnchick!

 

I love butterfly exhibits because you get to see upclose species you would never see in nature on your own.

What a beauty, huh?

        

Here we go!

bred sat red reed deet greed sad sage has hat(s) hate gas gast

tree tred head hated hater rest age had date(s) ate eat(s) heat(s)

That's what I found within the time limit.

Outside the time limit, I found...

gad hag breed dreg haste get(s) greet

That was a pretty good one.

To post your answers, click  or post them in my comments!

        

 
For other Wordless Wednesday posts, click here and here.

For my previous WWs, click here.

Happy Wednesday!



Boggle Me Thursday is back!!  Come join us; it's fun!