Ramblings

An uneventful Saturday, housework, shopping etc. but it's a beautiful day and the cats are sprawled wherever they can find a cool place. We have the fans going so they position themselves strategically to catch the breeze.

I'm taking my sweetie to dinner tonight, Ricardo's, hopefully they'll have an empty table outside as the evening promises to be balmy. Italian is the word of the day but they also have great steaks.

Bought a fun gift for my brother-in-law's birthday today a giant imitation of an old clock with the bells on top. This one is black, quartz and has a small neon light tube going all around the outside of the dial that changes from blue to pink, very retro! Actually sister's birthday is first but the gifts always are mailed together. Hers is more feminine - a facial system - peel, anti-aging day cream, a couple of gorgeous pins (jewelry) and some hand cream. At my age anti-aging anything is appreciated. This is her big six-o!! Sorry Peg!!

I managed to buy myself a set of brushed chrome cannisters for the kitchen. Getting away from 'Country' and leaning more toward contemporary. My dream for the future is to redo the dining/kitchen area in lavender, sage and cream, love that combination - with a few pops of wine color.

I'm trying something new this time. Haven't done it yet but will attempt to add a picture of Don and I to this post. If you don't see a picture you'll know I didn't succeed.

I'll end with another of my poems, not sure which one but will browse my 'Poetry'.

Later!!

Carol

I decided on one about our cat Andy who passed on from Cancer two years ago. It has a 'Rap' cadence to it. By the way, the picture thing didn't work, guess I need an updated computer as mine doesn't show all of the options...darn!

ANDY AT THE SLIDING DOOR
(Our 17 lb. black cat)
By Carol Glitschka, 4/97


COME ON MOM OPEN UP THE DOOR,
I DON’T WANNA BE INSIDE ANYMORE.

COME ON DAD, MAKE THE DOOR SLIDE,
CAN’T YOU SEE I WANNA GO OUTSIDE?

THE SUN IS OUT, IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY,
I REALLY WANNA GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY.

I’M RUNNING AT THE DOOR, PAWING ON THE GLASS,
WANNA GET OUTSIDE TO RUN IN THE GRASS.

LET ME OUTSIDE, CAN’T YOU HEAR ME CRY,
I REALLY WANT OUT, YOU KNOW I DON’T LIE!

WANNA RUN THROUGH THE IVY, WALK ON THE WALL,
DIG IN THE DIRT AND REALLY HAVE A BALL.

DO SOME BUGGIN’, LAY IN THE SUN,
TAKE A LITTLE NAP BEFORE THE DAY IS DONE.

CHASE THOSE BIRDS, EXPLORE HERE AND THERE,
SCRATCH ON THE TREES, SNIFF EVERYWHERE.

WHEN THE HUNGER IN MY TUMMY CAN’T BE DENIED,
YOU CAN BE SURE I’LL COME BACK INSIDE!

Transportation Summer

Remember when school let out for the summer, what a great feeling - freedom!!! A whole summer to bike, picnic, swim, hang out with your friends. Sometimes adulthood is a bummer, sure, we have our fun times but responsibility is always lurking.

A school district transportation department is operating year round. Summer is the time to fine tune routes, adjust the times, directions, add/delete stops, prepare maps and all of the planning it takes to keep the buses running smoothly and on schedule. Our Dispatchers do a great job!

My job is to purge the files, update forms, check driver authorizations, pay bills, process purchase orders, arrange for drivers to cover open house at the schools for busing information, order supplies, submit print jobs, update, manipulate and purge my computer files, track fuel/oil, mileage, complete end-of-year required reports for fuel/oil, mileage, insurance coverage for buses and motorpool vehicles and the list goes on.....

Our mechanics are repairing and checking the buses, 100+, and motorpool vehicles, 60+. Each year they have to be ready for inspection by the State Patrol for safety purposes. They do a great job and are a great bunch of men. One of our mechanics was called up for duty and is now serving in Afghanistan as part of a helicopter crew. Say a prayer for him and his family. He has been involved in some very dangerous missions. Roger emails me as often as he can and I post them and any pictures he sends on the bulletin board so everyone can read them.

One gentlemen, John, who works in the Maintenance Dept. and served in Special Forces, lost four buddies, he had served with, in a helicopter crash. John recently returned from Norfolk, VA where he attended the funeral. We were all praying that Roger wasn't involved and were relieved to learn he wasn't.

Today I brought my vacuum cleaner and carpet shampooer to work, it was "take your cleaning equipment to work day." (kidding) I took care of several work projects needing attention and then vacuumed and shampooed the dirty/ugly flooring in the entry to the driver's lounge. I had enough residue to make 8,453 mud pies when finished. I also shampooed the rug the custodian had placed there - didn't know it had a color!

Wow, talk about looking and smelling better. I vacuumed the spider webs (hate them!!! a future poem) from the corners and washed the glass doors. Now for the fun part....I taped the metal frame of the bulletin board and painted the cork a medium mocha brown, then sponged it with a lighter shade of mocha.....paint covers a multitude of sins.....looks like a new board.

Tomorrow I bring the camera to take a 'before' picture. The walls are light beige and it is a very dull and dreary entryway. I'm going to paint a mural on the walls, cartoon type, and of course 'transportation' related. A school bus going up the hill, mountains - snow of course, a pond with ducks and cattails, a small development in the background, kids waiting at the bus stop with lunch pails and a dog, a schoolhouse and playground equipment, bushes, trees, flowers. And above the lovely 'alarm panel' some orange cones and a sign that says "10 M.P.H. IN THE BUS YARD." Of course, up high and on the mountains will be evergreens, down low deciduous trees.

I found a great metal umbrella stand and have an eye out for a small bench. At last the entry will be a welcome, bright, colorful place for the drivers to walk through. I might even stencil "Through these doors pass the greatest bus drivers on earth!"

I'll close with the usual....a poem. This is one I wrote as a tribute to our great bus drivers. They're special people!!

Later!

Love,

Carol

THANKS FOR A GOOD YEAR - 1996-97
By Carol Glitschka 6/97

HERE’S TO THE DRIVERS OF RIGS BIG AND YELLOW,
YOUNG OR OLD, LADY OR FELLOW.

BEHIND THE WHEEL OF A BUS BIG OR SMALL,
PRE-TRIPPED, WARMED UP, YOU PULL OUT OF THE STALL.

AGAIN YOU WILL TRAVEL THE ROUTE THAT YOU BID,
A.M. AND P.M. AND SOMETIMES MID.

AMBERS AND REDS YOU MUST ACTIVATE
OUT COMES THE PADDLE AND TRAFFIC MUST WAIT.

START AND STOP, OPEN AND CLOSE
LOAD AND UNLOAD THAT’S HOW IT GOES.

CROSSING ARM EXTENDED, YOU COUNT AS THEY CROSS
NOT TO BE VIGILANT WOULD CAUSE A GREAT LOSS.

MINDFUL OF SAFETY AND A SCHEDULE TO KEEP
WHILE KIDS YELL AND LAUGH OR SOMETIMES WEEP.

IF YOU’RE A SUB, YOU DON’T KNOW THEM BY NAME
“SINK-THE-SUB” IS THEIR FAVORITE GAME!

SNOW, ICE, SLEET, OR POURING DOWN RAIN
YOU’RE DRIVING YOUR CHEV, THOMAS OR CRANE.

PARENTS TO CONTACT, STUDENTS TO CONTROL,
OF PATIENCE AND TOLERANCE DOES TAKE IT’S TOLL.

INCREASING PAPERWORK, STACKED UP A MILE,
FORMS AND LOGS AND RECORDS TO FILE.

ONE FOR RECORDING MILES, FUEL AND OIL,
ANOTHER FOR POSTING THE HOURS THAT YOU TOIL.

GREASE ON YOUR CLOTHES, GAS ON YOUR SHOES,
INACCURATE MAPS, FOGGED WINDOWS, UNION DUES.

NOT PAID WHAT YOUR WORTH, FOR THE CHILDREN YOU TOTE,
YOU’RE EXPERIENCES EACH DAY, TO MOST, ARE REMOTE.

SO THIS IS MY WAY TO MAKE YOU AWARE,
THERE REALLY ARE SOME PEOPLE WHO CARE!!

I GIVE YOU APPLAUSE, YOUR GOOD WORK I EXTOL,
AS YOU POST TRIP AND PARK, HOPE YOUR SUMMER’S NOT DULL!!

HAVE A WONDERFUL SUMMER - SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!!

Gratitude

I'm feeling like a writer with a mental block as I stare at this white screen. It's not a lack of subjects to talk about but too many and not knowing where to start.

Let me first express my gratitude for all of the wonderful comments you shared. When I read them I felt as though I was getting back with old friends. I thought it was great fun "spamming" the HOW site, although Von felt a bit infringed upon. Sorry son! Hello to all of you and thank you for the slight elevation to celebrity status. I was so grateful that you took the time to comment.

The cadence does lend itself to a Johnny Cash rendition....I think he liked Navy Beans or maybe they were Black Beans. I'm hoping some of my poetry inspires your creativity to overflow. Notice the time that Von responded to the email I sent telling him I had launched my first posting. "Ner Ner" needs to get to bed a little earlier!

Von was the 5th of the 6 children, two boys, two girls, a boy and a girl. Yes!! I am looking forward to Wallace and Gromit, I enjoy watching the videos that our granddaughter, Emma, insists on seeing every time she's here.

We just celebrated my husband Don's 70th birthday, last weekend, with a surprise party. Our two oldest sons flew in from CA, called him on their cell phone from outside the house, engaged him in conversation while they entered via the sliding doors and stood a foot and a half behind him talking to him. It took a minute before he realized someone was behind him, what a hoot! We had a great time with aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, cousins, mothers, fathers, grandchildren. Von was the barbecue man of the day!! BBQ hamburgers, hotdogs, pasta salad, potato salad, 5-bean bake, mixed nuts, tortilla chips and salsa, chips, 5 kinds of pop, beer, cake and ice cream, lots of conversation, old memories and a gorgeous, balmy day to boot.

Becky and the girls (Von's family) came two days early to help out. Don thought there would only be six adults and a few grandchildren coming to celebrate. I wonder what he was thinking as we prepared those hugh salads, the baked beans and then the day of the party had him lug two cases of beer and the equivalent of 3 cases of pop up the slope of the back yard to ice down in the coolers.

I had been sneakily scanning pictures and printing them for a hugh photo board. From babyhood, in an outfit with buttons so big they weighed him down for the formal photo with his twin, Donna. This birthday was sad because he lost her to cancer in January. Pictures from high school; Honor Society, Baseball Championship, football pictures, classmates. The Seattle Exchange Club 'Boy Of The Year" award, sponsored by the Washington Athletic Club. His baseball days in the army, playing for the 'Raiders' at Ft. Huachuca, Arizona. The Seattle University baseball seasons. The life changing day in '68 when he married me and adopted my five children (I was a widow and he was a bachelor) What a brave man!

The party ended with our grandchildren, using multiple fluorescent colors, attacking him with 'Silly String'. What fun!

The custodian at work likes my poetry but he bet me that I couldn't write a humorous poem about staples. His least favorite thing is removing staples from carpet. So I'll finish this post with my 'staples' poem.

More later.

God bless!

Carol


HIS MOTHER NAMED HIM “STAPLES”
By Carol Glitschka, 10/29/98


HIS MOTHER NAMED HIM STAPLES
HIS FATHER DIDN’T CARE
HE LOVED THAT LITTLE FELLOW,
ESPECIALLY HIS WIRY HAIR.

HE LOVED HIS LITTLE “U” SHAPED MOUTH,
THOUGH NO TEETH WERE SHOWING YET
AND WHEN THEY DID, THEY’D ALL BE CROOKED,
LIKE MOM AND DAD’S, YOU BET!!!

THEY’D ALL BE COVERED, EVERY ONE
WITH BRACES, FOR A WHILE
THEN HE COULD CHARM THE RELATIVES,
WITH HIS “U” SHAPED “STAPLES” SMILE.

HIS DREAMS HE FASTENED ON A GOAL
WHILE GROWING INTO MANHOOD.
HE WAS DRIVEN TO HOLD ONTO THEM
HIS LIFE WOULD TURN OUT GOOD.

HE NEVER GOT BENT OUT OF SHAPE
EVEN WHEN THINGS WENT WRONG,
STAPLES HANDLED IT ALL WITH A BREEZE
BY SINGING HIS FAVORITE SONG.

YES, HIS MOTHER NAMED HIM STAPLES
AND SHE’S PROUD THAT HE NEVER DID FIGHT,
THEY LIVED IN HARMONY AND PEACE
THEIR LOVE BINDING THEM TOGETHER TIGHT.

Launch date 8/9/2005

Thanks to my phenomenal Graphic Designer son, Von, I am launching a new experience with this blog bit. He sat me down and walked me through the steps of creating a blog and patiently explained how and what to do. A bonus was the Starbucks Mocha he bought.

I work with computer programs daily, Excel spreadsheets, formulas, Word etc. but this blogging is new to me and I'm excited to get started. I needed a creative outlet, thus the name 'poetessa'. I write poetry, mostly humorous (hopefully) and now have the chance to share it with you.

I taught decorative painting, oils and acrylics, pen and ink, color theory and Calligraphy before going to work full time. There's not much time left over for painting. When an idea for a poem strikes or I'm motivated to write I can at least jot it down in a few minutes and follow up later, with painting you need a minimum of three hours to accomplish anything.

So, here goes!!

Mom

MY 1961 CARPENTER
By Carol G. 11/1/98


I LIVE IN AN OLD BEAT UP SCHOOL BUS
SHE GETS ME DOWN THE ROAD.
I LOVE THE WAY SHE RATTLES AND THUMPS
EVEN WITH A HEAVY LOAD.

THE YELLOW
IS FADED OUT SOMEWHAT.
SHE’S A LITTLE HEAVY ON THE GAS,
BUT I DRIVE HER CAUSE I LIKE HER STYLE,
SHE’S ALWAYS HAD “SOME CLASS!”

THE FLOWERS ON HER SIDES ARE GORGEOUS
PEOPLE SAY THEY MAKE EM’ SMILE.
I PAINTED EVERY ONE MYSELF,
IT TOOK ME QUITE A WHILE.

SHE’S A REAL CONVERSATION PIECE
WITH A SCHOOL BELL HANGIN’ BY THE DOOR.
THE SEATS ARE COVERED IN TIGER STRIPE,
AND THERE’S REAL ASTRO-TURF ON THE FLOOR.

THE CURTAINS ARE BRIGHT AND CHEERY
IN MULTIPLE COLORED STRIPES.
I USED THE SAME GREAT COLORS
WHEN I SPRAYED THE WINDSHIELD WIPES.

I DRIVE TO THE OCEAN IN SUMMER
WHERE THE BREEZE MAKES THE KITES FLY HIGH.
HANG THE WINDCHIMES IN THE WINDOWS,
SOUNDS SO BEAUTIFUL I COULD CRY.

WINTER ROLLS AROUND, WITH COLD AND RAIN
I PARK THE OLD GAL IN A COVE.
PILE DRIFTWOOD AS HIGH AS IT WILL STACK
AND STOKE UP THE POT BELLY STOVE.

THE WINDOWS I DUCT TAPE WITH CARDBOARD,
DO BEARS FEEL LIKE THIS IN THEIR DENS?
WHEN I’M BORED I DRAW PICTURES ON IT
WITH MY COLLECTION OF COLORED PENS.

COFFEE, CORNBREAD AND NAVY BEAN SOUP.
NOW THAT MY TUMMY’S WELL FED.
I CRAWL INTO RED, FUZZY, LONG JOHNS
AND SNUGGLE IN MY HOMEMADE BED.

RAIN ON THE CHIMNEY OF THE POT BELLY STOVE,
ECHOES SOUNDS LIKE A STEEL DRUM BAND.
AND I NOD OFF TO SLEEP, CONTENTED,
A SCHOOL BUS LIFE IS JUST GRAND!!!

P.S. I thought this poem appropriate as a starter since I work as an Admin. Asst. in Transportation.