JustaKrusen/ Mrsjustakrusen

A proud big sister with her new little brother… and grandpa.

Meet Caleb, and see Mackenzie as she grows up to a very smiling little girl.

She was really cute today, showing us things and always wanting to see the back of the camera to look at the picture just taken. “Me see!” she would say with a huge smile.

Caleb… he mostly slept…

We did try to capture a yawn, which he did a few times… but by the time the camera finished its little delay thing, the yawn was gone!

We surprised Adrianne and the kids with a visit. We were not totally sure we would make it all the way out there, as Mark has been having some incredibly tough times with dizziness and nausea.

But we did make it, and we actually were able to enjoy them for an hour or so, than headed home via the Charlotte Pier. It is a very long pier where Mark and Adrianne spent a lot of hours at when she was much younger, before Mark and I were together. Mark introduced me to the pier and I found comfort at it on the weekends when Jeff went to stay with his dad. After Mark and I were together, it was a family place where we brought the kids.

It is different now, more developed with walking paths, and a road that used to be there is now  a cement walkway that is fairly wide.  If you really want to pretend you are at the ocean… you can kinda…

The waves were slapping… a much lighter slap than the ocean waves… but it was the same noise.

There were not too many people up there, it was not a too hot or too cold day, there was a slight breeze… I felt bad though because Mark was not able to walk too far, but we did get to experience the setting for a little bit. We headed back  to the car as the sprinkle of rain started to  coat the area.

I found this little guy amazing, this duck was acting like the greeter as we entered the area, he was in the same spot as we entered the pier and when we came back. He bowed as we walked by, as if to say… “Have a good day…How do you do ?”

look at the blue on his body, it was almost glowing.

So today was a nice day. A day different than we had initially intended a few weeks ago… we had been toying with maybe camping… but it is not fun camping when the world is spinning and the trailer feels like it is tipping…

So we are here now …. and we were able to spend some time with Adrianne and the kids… I went and got the groceries already for the week, and now we have the weekend!. Peace to all, Love and prayers… Mrs. Justa alias Cindy

So here I am pathetically watching an African Cam , listening to the crickets cricketing, and waiting for the great elephant to appear. Earlier there were 3 lions drinking from the river and I watched like it was a 5 star movie.

I am not quite sure what it is that intrigues me, maybe that I can be in the jungle in my office chair.

Because I can assure you… not for a zillion bucks would I be sitting by that river in real life. So this takes me places where I would never be, from a camera in a tree… ooooo there are 2 animals walking in darkness… ( oh I am pathetic!)

The other day I say lions looking like they were pulling apart an animal…that was kinda gross!!!!!!

Today was my last day of work this week. I had initially taken today, Fri and mon off – asked for it back in March- just in case we ended up heading to New England for the fall foliage. But as the days came closer and we now have the camper , we were planning on camping… but now— well Mark has not been feeling very good for the past few weeks, and so camping we will hold off on too. We may go fall foliage looking if the rain lets up, I plan to winterize the inside— ( take the food out, package the linens and such…. )of the  camper, as our weeks are getting down to the time for storage, and we really want to have it mouse proofed. We have it scheduled for the 15th of Oct for the real winterization. I guess they will make sure the water areas are treated for winter.

It was a nice summer, a really hot summer… I hope the heat stays close enough in my memory to remind me of it when the north winds howl.

( Oh there is a thunder storm in Africa!!.. How cool is that !!) I hope everyone is doing okay… life has been full of challenges for many people I know… and for every one of them… I send prayers for you. Often it is so hard to find strength to take one step in front of the other when  the world feels like it is lying on your shoulders.

Love to all, mrs Justa alias Cindy

Way back when I started the garden I thought how neat it would be to grow a couple pumpkins, for the grandkids. And last Sunday the 2 boys were able to come out and pick a pumpkin. It felt good. I was not wanting to grow a huge pumpkin, ones that would win a prize at the fair… nope, I really wanted to grow special pumpkins for the kids, I hoped for perfect shaped ones, not too big.. and somehow it happened.

It was so neat to see the boys choose the ones they wanted.

Their smiles were worth every pulled weed, every bead of sweat, every prayer over the garden as we went though heat spells, every pondering if they would come out okay.

We were  not as lucky with the Cantaloupe…the vines deteriorated and the cantaloupes just stopped growing, so next year is another time to try.

The only thing left growing in the garden now are green peppers and a few more tomatoes.

We actually had some sautéed green peppers with our dinner tonight and there are about 8 more growing.

I think this year was a better year in general for the non green thumb that I have.

We have some stuff in the freezer, and I am wondering if during the colder months if it is possible to still garden? How well does a green house work? I would think everything would freeze really quickly the first time it is overcast for a day. So I personally do not want to feel defeated in the season I am not crazy about.

I guess if we ever  had enough $$ to put up a 4 season room of glass… and a hot tub… ( YEAH RIGHT !!!>>>) but if that ever happened..( it would be cuz we won the lottery) … than maybe I would try to grow stuff year round… But I know my 38.00 wobbly indoor green house was not weather worthy..

Yep, perfect pumpkins, made perfect smiles, for a couple of precious kids.

If we get out to Rochester soon,we  will probably still be able to bring a pumpkin for Mackenzie and Caleb too. I hope the pumpkins stay strong !.

Love to all, Mrs Justa alias Cindy

The farmers are cutting down their fields, the hummingbirds have left town, the squirrels ( GRRRGRR) are gathering food for the cold winter months, the garden is almost all weeded and ready for Spring and on my way home tonight is the familiar sign at the baseball field… the one I watched through blowing snow and ice storms…it read today 192 days left to opening day 2012.

That sign gave me encouragement as the grips of winter held tight on this area. So in 192 days we will have made it past Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Ground Hogs Day and be seeing snow disappearing. Somehow in a warped sort of way, I feel like part of the journey through the snow is gone.

The skies are beginning to have the lower clouds as cold fronts tease us with their presence.

We took out the air conditioners this past weekend, and Thursday the summer statues and blinking solar lights will be safely tucked away , for 192 days. Windchimes come into cover, the grill back to the shed, and in 2 weeks the camper will be winterized and the snow tires will be put on the car.

Even though the snow is pretty, and when it gets here, it becomes a part of life… the anticipation of it gives me nervous stomach. Than once it is here… it is just another day in CNY.

This winter we are equipped with a 4 wheel drive vehicle—something we have talked about often, but never had.. supposedly if you drive them carefully , they can bring you comfort on lousy days. ..So off I go tonight,,,, feeling a displaced comfort by the baseball sign… tired from a weekend with not enough sleep… I am off for the night.. rest… Yankees, freeze pop and bed time. Peace to all, and thanks for stopping by. Mrs Justa  alias Cindy

Today is a special day for me. Jeff, Amanda and the 2 boys are coming over in a little bit for dinner. Life has been really kinda crazy lately and we have not spent as much time with them , so this is really special for me.

Mark has been having some pretty intense health issues and mental health issues, so it has been a tough couple months . I can not believe how we, as a people, tend to take our bodies for granted. Not everyone,,, but many of us…and when something gets out of the norm..it can really be unsettling.

Last week we were camping on the weekend and could not come home Sunday because Mark got hit with a spell of vertigo that literally made it impossible for him to walk, sit or stand for 8 hrs. He ha continued with the dizziness, but not as mad as last weekend!He is just today feeling ok enough to drive.  We never left camp till Monday mid morning, and I was unsure if we would or not, so I extended our reservation thru Thurs.

Today I was blessed with an awesome church service, I just love going there…. Pastor Carl is truly a spiritual man and so compassionate…church brings me to a place where other people come to hear the same thing I come there for. The people there are so nice, so real…there is not competition or jealousy…people who seem to really care about one another.

Than the weather cleared up nicely so the garden is almost ready for winter, I was able to go into the camper and wash the counters and floor and make the bed with fresh clean sheets, and we are ready to venture out on the next nice weekend.

Lasagna is baking, Mark is napping, the dog is watching him, laundry is just finishing up, just got out of a really hot shower… and soon the house will be filled with grandchildren and adult children. We have a new grandson Caleb… we hope to go meet him this week. Gotta see how we can coordinate that with Adrianne and whatever we have on the calendar for this week.

The fall colors are coming out, I really want to get some on film… and share them with you. Here is an incredible sunset from last week… it was truly dramatic… So in this often stressful, sometimes unbelievable life… I wanted to drop by and wish a great week for all. Love, Mrs Justa alias Cindy

The SAGA is in full force….

Us against the squirrel(??s)…..day one of the battle. None to be seen, none heard…. hmmm. I wonder if everything we did last night gave them a message to GET OUTTA TOWN!!. It would be really nice if we won already…..

IU know I went on about this last night, but it is weighing HEAVY on my mind….

I am kinda glad nothing  has ventured into the have a heart trap. I re-read the instructions for releasing them… ya gotta love it !…. It says first to quietly approach the cage as not to scare them…. ( now that has me really confused… ! because once you get to the cage with them in it… you are going to take the little guy for a ride far away….after getting picked up and going in the trunk of the car for a few miles… how do you calmly approach the cage…??)

So here I am imagining if  I caught one and I would have to take him for a little ride … and get to a  field….

The instructions just say to gently lift the door up and stick a stick thru the cage to hold the door up…

I would think before I get the door gently lifted up and hold my hand steady enough to weave a stick thru the cage door, that the squirrel might be climbing up my arm of pants leg, and I will be screaming like a little girl on a roller coaster ride…. .

So needless to say… I am really glad today there was no squirrels in sight and no sounds of them down below or in the walls. We have probably scattered 3 bottles of cinnamon power in the heat vents and around the house…. and we have a sonic thing in the crawl space…. and cayenne  pepper mixture squirrel repellent all over… and today I took the bird feeder down and cloroxed it, dried it and it is going in the shed… I need to put a sign up… squirrels not welcome here….

Today was a nice day really, not too hot, not too humid, nice breeze and nothing horrible happened… I went to the docs with Mark this afternoon,,, they are going to order some tests for him to see what is going on… now it is a wait for the insurance approval or denial before the tests are done. And he is going to go see a specialist too. Gotta make that appointment. This weekend I hope to get some nice photos of Fall as it starts to paint the world different colors, and maybe even a few good sunsets. I do not know what exactly it is about sunsets and sunrises that consumes me, maybe the majesty of them, the awe, the knowing that no one can ruin them, no one can make them man made…. they are a gift we are all blessed with… we just have to look at them.

It is really neat how many gifts we are given every day… if we just look … Love to all…. more to follow on the saga of us against the squirrel(??s)…. Mrs Justa alias Cindy

Okay… it is war… And I really hope we win!

This little varmint has decided to come under our house. It sounds like he may have brought a few friends too. Can you say creeping me out !

So about a week and 1/2 ago I was mowing the yard and I mowed next to the house and 3 red baby squirrels came dashing out. It was a rather amusing moment, as my feet wanted to take me in a totally different direction than the one I was headed in. They all took off in different directions, but the runt was a bold little guy, I thought he was gonna run up my pant legs.( had he done that I would probably still be running!!) So I stomped my foot towards him, he turned around, stuck his tail in the air… so I persuaded him with the lawn mower to head to the hedge row.

I was hoping my scaring them with the mower got rid of them… but alas… Mark has heard some activity under the floor today…this is not cool… as our home is a double wide, with insulation and a huge black vapor barrier that covers the entire bottom of the house. The house sits on 4 rows of cinder blocks all the way around, and there appears to be space between the house and the cinder blocks… well these guys musta climbed up the cinder block wall and entered on top of the vapor barrier material.

The pets are sniffing by the heat vents….  grrr… so once again we are looking at the dilemma. We went on line and found they HATE cinnamon… so we now have cinnamon in all our heat vents…( now when the furnace comes on this place will fill with cinnamon dust…but we gotta get rid of these guys…  and we got a have a heart trap… ( although I really am not feeling loving towards these invaders.)  and we sprinkled squirrel repellent around, and we put a sonic noise thing in the crawl space under the house.

Now here is my really freaky situation. It is okay when the trap is empty… but when you get it full… how can you carefully lift the door so they can exit… while you are bee- lining at about 50 mph on foot to get away from the rodent??

It has a really neat drawing in the instructions about lifting the door when you are ready to release the precious critter  and holding it open with a stick… but what if this little bugger decides to dart out while we are carefully opening the door…

I am having a really hard time with that part. IF we do not capture any.. we will have to get a critter ridder type person…but we need to see if this experiment is going to work.

So no more bird feeder… sorry feathered dudes… but you throw the food on the ground and feed the squirrels… so go elsewhere for munchies.. the Krusen restaurant is CLOSED>>>No more Mrs and Mr Nice Guy…. you no longer are CUTE!!!

I wish I had like a bullet proof body suit… that way I would not be afraid of retaliation with the furry demon on the release….. . Hopefully ( in an un hopefully way… ) tomorrow will be a follow up to the empty trap…. maybe we need to take a movie of the release … if we catch one…

Yuck… it seems like stuff just never stops… Peace to all… and more to follow. Cindy alias Mrs Justa alias…non squirrel lover….  

Whoa what a long weekend. We went camping on Friday night, and came back mid morning today. It was kinda eerie there last night after all the weekenders had gotten in their cars, trucks and RVs and gone home for the week. We were in a wooded area with just one other camper in the woods where we were.

Friday night and Saturday were nice days, but I felt bad for Mark yesterday!!! He  had gotten pretty sick on Sunday and was unable to walk, drive or anything, so we hung out for another night. While he was trying to chill yesterday I took Indi for a long walk , up to some open fields. Well he picked up the scent of something and kept running in circles, trying to figure out where it went.

This older couple stated that he was probably smelling the coyotes, that they heard them howling the other night. Well that totally creeped me out, as they said the coyotes were in the woods behind where our sites were…. … I walk around there at night, to the shower, or with the dog… with this sense of security… and they had to bring me back to nature reality. Darn them.

You would have laughed to see me in the middle of the wee hrs of the morning going out with Indi. Me and my wimpy pen light flashlight, flittering the ray here and there, just waiting for some pack of coyotes to come up out of the woods and scare the be-jeebers out of me. … Fortunately that did not happen, and I drove to the shower at 10PM instead of walking …

I do not know what I would have done if I had seen one… me in my night shirt… Indi would have not been afraid… oh it would have been ugly.

We are realizing that the camping days are getting limited and we have got to start thinking about snow, and the camper, and what to do with it. Winters are so harsh up here, but the camping stores store the campers outside in the elements. We are in a quandary… do we indoor store it… store it at the campsite… store it here… Man when those snow banks are 6 feet tall.. that is a lot of area where water could creep in vents, door and window sills…. … yuck… … I personally am feeling a little tired from this relaxing weekend of camping…I do not regret going… but it was draining this weekend.

It is kinda cool to go and share the acres with total strangers, who always smile and greet you like you are their friends… Hence the term… Happy Campers. I hope you are enjoying your weekends before the inclement weather hits… for you Northerners…… before we know it the howling sounds of winds and snow will be tapping on the side of the house….. but than… I will start my “One Day Closer To Spring ! “  LOL

Take care everyone…. Love to all, Cindy alias Mrs Justa…

This week has sucked ! I mean really suck-er-ooni-o – there has been one stressor after another.

People acting different, people nasty…. just seems like ugliness has been running big time this past week.

But today… everything kinda came in prospective to me, as I was in the gym, I was listening to various songs, ( country music really gets to the nitty gritty of the heart at times!) ..and I was trying to make sense of things that do not make sense to me.

As I was eclipticalling my butt off—I was beginning to relax a bit, and started going over various songs in my head, looking for just the right song for a Sunday solo in church in 4 weeks.

I left the gym, got out in the car and I was playing a CD of background hymn music. Listening to this song and that.. thinking one of these will be the one….  I had my window open a tad, and I was singing along wondering which Hymn was the one I felt would be good to do.

All of the sudden, the sky seemed to open up and rays of brilliant sunshine came all around the area. It was the most peaceful feeling, a feeling that life is okay, and that I need to remember I can not carry the weight of the world on my shoulders.I was singing a particular song when this spectacular free show of majesty came about, and I decided.. that is the song I will do.
It was comforting, because as I was kinda getting recharged, a sea gull flew by….. my mom—God Bless her soul… is always watching over us, and when I need to extra reassurance she is here… a Seagull appears. It is like she comes down on the wings of a sea gull… and in the strangest places sometimes !. So tonight, I think I am a little more at ease… life is still kinda sucky right now, but I have to trust that it will get back to a even keel soon. Money, relationships, tragedies all around…..just kinda tough.

So as I close, I am going to send huge hugs to those most dear to my heart, and love to all. Love always, Mrs Justa  alias Cindy

Some of the best moments in life are those in the casual times. When we let life be, when we are sitting somewhere, being relaxed, talking and sharing thoughts as they come out.

This was taken Fathers Day, it was Mark and Brandon having a conversation about who knows what, Mackenzie watching on ..but Brandon is very involved in whatever it is grandpa ( affectionately referred to as “papa”) is saying to him. Things he will remember …. I love to see the kids and how they each interact with him.

Life is short really in the scheme of things, and moments I had with my grandmother were special, but only for 4 years. Moments with my dad..those were  special too, because he was traveling all the time as a salesman, so when I had a moment I could call our own—oh it felt so good to me.

My mom was always busy with babies it seemed… but through the hustles of life—there were time when each person shared words of wisdom with me.

I remember things my parents and grandmother said to me, just off the cuff things. Prophetic type things, things they would say with starting out “Cynthia, always remember that… “ And you know what, whenever I heard something starting out with that phrase, I  listened as if they were giving me a secret of life worth more than money could buy…funny…I think I looked at them like Brandon was looking up at grandpa in that picture.

I cherished the moments with these adults in my life… as special moments. The way I think the grandkids cherish moments with the adults in their lives..

I have held onto these words of wisdom for many many years…..

Like

always say a prayer each day, not asking for things, but thanking God for all you have, even when it feels like you have nothing-you have life, you have spirit, you have faith.

never wear underwear with holes in them… if you got in an accident the people at the hospital would see your underwear.. ( and to this day… no underwear with holes in them get on my body)…

think before you speak, words are like knives in the soul…

look both ways before you cross the street….

don’t bite the hand that feed you…..

never go to sleep on an angry sun(…that is hard to do when you are really angry with someone)

beauty is only skin deep… the real you is what is in your heart…………….

beauty is as beauty does……

haste makes waste………….

honesty is the best policy…( I learned the HARD way that this was true…. in my youth(oh about 6 or 7) I lied a lot. My mom told me I would never be believed and we would have to move for me to start fresh with people. When we moved when I was 10 I finally felt like I had a new lease on life, for mom said we had to move before anyone would believe anything I said.

there are no guarantees in life except birth and death

money can not buy happiness

the best things in life are free

cherish every moment like it is your last, for one moment will be your last…

the only time you should look down at another person, is when you are lending them a hand to help them up…

respect your elders ( this is getting harder as I am becoming more elder !!!)

smile often, smile from your heart….a smile costs you nothing but can be shared by many….

crap does not run up hill….

it is better to give than to receive

and if you do not love yourself, you can not love another truly….

as I write these down I am feeling a terrible loss… the loss of the words of wisdom from my grandmother, my mom and dad…. I miss them !!!

Peace to all… my mind is reeling with lessons of life…. Love, Mrs Jsuta alais cindy

Where were you when the first tower got hit? What feelings were there? What questions lay heavy on your mind?

I was ironing my scrubs for work, I had to be at the MD office by 11:00 . I had the news on as I ironed the clothes from the week before. Mark was driving his 18 wheeler in Pennsylvania, Jeff I believe was at college.

In disbelief I was watching a “BREAKING NEWS” line flashing on the screen and the news casters trying to bring bulletins for something no one understood what was happening.  As the minutes unrolled, and the people where scrambling on the streets, and others knew they were going to die- so they chose to jump from 100 floors up, and another plane hit the second tower, planes hijacked, innocent people turned to ash in the planes that had now taken on a new role of being bombs instead… I remember feeling helpless, I remember feeling lost, I remember worrying about my own family as they were off doing their roles in life. It was such a great feeling of loss, for people I did not know.. but none the less were someone’s loved one.  I remember not wanting to go to work, feeling like I should be doing something, but not sure what that something should be.

Work was horrific that day, TVs in the waiting rooms were on the day long coverage, people not wanting to be called back to a room, blood pressures up, depressions increased, and all of us realizing that terrorism does not stop at our borders…. there is not some invisible shield protecting us from the evils of all evils.

I am about to get ready to go to church. I know it will be a service that will require strength to go to and go through, for it is a tribute to 9-11 , a remembrance and an attempt for answers in situations when it is hard to find answers.

There is a post that I came across .It has to do with 9-11. In a world of questions and events that surface today, bringing us back to 9-11… as if they just happened this instance, I wanted to shared his blog, it is written by  Rick Warren . 

That day took away an innocence… that day made me wonder….. we are exposed to news where rulings have come… Keep God out of Schools, Keep God out of government, Keep God out of our Pledge of Allegiance, Do not talk religion,Take down the monument of the Ten Commandments ….and these same people cry out…”How could God let this happen?” ………..I find that a little hypocritical.. and yet as we try to keep God out… he finds a way to hold us up as tragedy hits, to weep with us… to carry us when we can not walk on our own..as we make our way from our Temporary Home to our eternal one.

Peace to all, Love Mrs Justa alias Cindy

Whoa… sometime I get the gut wrenching feeling of missing a person…. but tonight I am missing the ocean. We really had such a nice week at the Outer Banks in April, and I am kinda sickened over the destruction they are dealing with in various areas there.

But I long to hear the ocean as it sang us to sleep, and the ocean breeze and the sand. It is such a feeling of awe to me to be at the ocean. Looking forever, and seeing nothing, but feeling the force of the ocean as it flaps onto the shore.

I am glad we did not reserve the same house for next year, as who knows if it is okay after the hurricane.

It would be great though to go back, not just the 2 of us, but doing a rental house again and sharing the costs. The life is surreal in a way. Here we sit in upstate NY, weather ever changing, and everything feels normal. At times I guess it could feel mundane to some, but there…. there was nothing mundane in that week.

The early morning sunrises, the late evening goodbyes of the sun, the coffee on the deck and the strolls on the sea shore..the feeling that there was nothing that mattered really…. life was there… but not stressful.

Yes, it was a wonderful week, one that etched a huge part in my mind, in my heart. I totally loved it.

So tonight, as I get ready to head off to bed… I have comforting memories of a wonderful week…                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        one that we have 4 seniors from high school and a brother and sister-in-law to thank for including us on the journey…

I can say with certainty… it will not be the last time we go to the ocean in a weekly rental… wow… that week lives on in my mind… I think I really fell in love with the experience.

Peace to all, Love always, Mrs Justa… alias Cindy

How horribly scary… floods and wild fires… hurricanes and tornados… things that happen that make a statement how we are a speck on the journey of life.

Locally , within an hr from here, there is terrible flooding. Roads closed, thousands of people evacuated from their homes, roads totally under water, houses with their basements, first and maybe second floors  filled with water… like a bathtub filled to the brim…. and nothing you can do, but wait for it to leave. ( clip art from free clip art .com)

Appliances will not work again, cars will be destroyed, no way to get your things, photos, computers, clothing…. I can not imagine how much pain the people are going through. One moment your life seems to be in check, the next…the only thing in check is the knowledge that you have no idea what you are going to do !

The employer I work for has a satellite office in the area of the flooding and from what I hear, there are the majority of the people who work there are affected by the flood. A couple of people have their homes flooded out.

Last week it was the entire east coast, this week it hits again. And than there is Texas, parched and burning. We have lots of water up here… too bad we could not get a huge pipe and funnel it that way.

Life is so unpredictable, we take so much for granted , really we do , as a whole. I personally need to stop and look at the little things, appreciate the moments, not get wrapped in worry or discontent… mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm( that is me meditating)……………. Ya just never know what will be lurking at the door of life…

Peace to all, Cindy alias Mrs. Justa.

Sometimes ya just gotta laugh, cuz getting your shorts in a knot will not help anyone.

We have a car, we are leasing it, and we have had it for oh maybe 2 months old. We really like it, it is good on fuel perky and fun to drive. Mark noticed it has a very short wiper blade that leaves a streak of water all the way on the up direction of the swipe, than on the going down- the very much longer wiper blade wipes the streak off. It is kind of annoying. So we called the dealer, and yes—it would be covered for free. So we went off to the dealer… they said it would be a quick fix… and we thought why should we have to pay for a blade if they are going to cover it..

So we arrive , the guy types the work order into the computer and poof… he says there is a recall on the vehicle, and they have to fix the recall.. or they can not do the wiper blade. So…he tells us  the crew is about to take their hr lunch, and the recall repair takes 45-60 minutes to do.. He puts a replacement blade on the car, ( It still streaks .. he says he thinks they all do …grrr)      we take off while they are at lunch, and return at 1PM sharp.

We leave the car at the repair place and take off to the lounge where we were blessed with a couple who were capable of being GOLD Olympic winners for complaining and whining.  I kid you not… she was bitching about everything under the sun to her husband, and in between bitching at the TV….. So we got up and went to a more comfortable lounge in the center of the dealership mall.

At 222 our phone rang…. well as they were taking the face of the radio off ( the recall has to do with the on off board for the radio) a part broke. And guess what… there are no parts in the USA for it ! Now the car comes with blue tooth thru the radio… so no blue tooth, …gotta pull out the old one we had that you actually hook on your ear…. sigh… our part is coming from Korea… may be in by Sept 24th… until than  the radio is not functional.

As we left, we both agreed that raising our voices, being rather abrupt, being totally pissed off… well it was not going to get the part any quicker from overseas. And I think we both hope for any further recalls, that maybe the potential parts that could break would be sent with the recall parts.. ( I know I am dreaming..)

But it makes no sense… the car was made in America… yes it is a Korean model… but wouldn’t you think that if the car was made in the USA, sold in the USA..that the USA should have the parts!

at the end.. we went there with a streaking wiper blade…

we got a new wiper blade.. ( still streaks..) and we now do not have a radio.. somehow it is feeling like a wasted 50 miles we drove… chalk one up to laughing off a crumby situation. ( images from free clip art/google images)

Love Mrs Justa alias CIndy

The internet and technology offers many things we would never have been able to almost feel, back in the days of just Newspapers, magazines and black and white TVs.  We can travel around the world from our chair in front of our computer.

We do not need to go to a stormy area to see it, nope there are weather and traffic cams all over this world.  We can travel 1,000s of miles and never leave our home. There are web cams in AFRICA—in the jungle ! I have gone on and starred a at the darkness, every once in a while a few elephants or a lion walks by… there are always crickets chirping in the background… I am fascinated by the fact the we have even invaded the jungles with cams.

We can converse with loved ones without picking up a phone. As we evolve,  I feel that we are also becoming more to ourselves and less personable as a nation. We have a president who needs a teleprompter to know what to say, we have millions of people who are more concerned with what their mobile device is doing than the person they are walking next to. When we were at the fair, everywhere I looked there were people walking next to other people, but in MANY cases, they were staring at the messages coming through them on their phones.

We rely on Facebook to contact our family, and our friends. Heck we could go on skype and have a cup of coffee with someone and feel like you are there… but it is not the same.

This country has a lot to offer each of us, but I think we need to get our noses off our various electronic devices , and be where the other people are.  People do need people… it was a song from years ago…but it is true…

there is something special about :being able to look into another persons eyes as you talk: to be able to lightly touch their arm for support :  to see their eyes water as you laugh with them : to feel the emotion : to have a child come running to you because they are glad you are there, : to have a child climb on your lap to cuddle…..… in the world of 2 dimensional world we are creating, we can miss so much… we can misinterpret situations, we can be taken incorrectly, we can be looked in a totally different light than we intended.

Life is so much more, in the 3 dimensional world we were born into.

Love to all.. Mrs Jsuta alias Cindy..

We had gone to Oswego to watch the sunset over Lake Ontario. And although it was raining when we arrived, there was so much more than a sunset to absorb.

It was a very muggy night..there are severe thunderstorm warnings all around us tonight, but it was only drizzling. There is a cold front lurking..just has not landed yet.

So as we approach an area where there is a look out,( it is pretty elevated, so you are looking down on the marina and the lake seems to go on forever)…there was a man, he appeared on the sidewalk in front of us . As we drove slowly past him, he held his hand at waist height and did a wave. ( like  Queen Elizabeth wave)  His smile so real  looking. We pulled in and he so youthfully said.. “Nice night.”  “ You like it up here?” “Nice breeze.” and “Wouldn’t you like to be on that break-wall?”   as he spoke, I saw he had no apparent worries in the world, he seemed to have a developmental issue..where he never lost the innocence of youth.  Mark responded with “Yup.” and “I do not feel a breeze in the car.” and “Yes the break wall would be interesting to do, it is getting dark though.” After the brief encounter he proceeded to a park bench. Soon to be accompanied by an elderly woman. We assumed he probably lives with his mom, and he is mentally challenged. As I watched him, I felt blessed to have watched him, and his seemingly simple outlook on life. I do not think he could feel hostility, and everyone he interacted with was like his friend.

The second person that seemed to intrigue me was a guy, a very very tall thin man, age easier to estimate as in his late 20s. He was dressed in a loose white tee shit ( like an under shirt) and grey sweat pants with many snap pockets. On his feet were just flip flops. And even though he was super tall , the cuffs of his sweat pants dragged as he almost shuffled with each step. His gait was not steady. He was reaching for things I did not see. His arms almost floating as if directing a symphony or catching butterflies. His hair matted, he said nothing, just moving his head to and fro and reaching at times. He sat down on a park bench just to the right of us. Every once in a while he would look to the left and than do a semi circle movement with his head as he smiled a gentle smile.

As he sat there, the first guy got up from his bench and walked past this man who appeared to be either suffering from drug use or mental conditions. The first man said… “Nice night.”  “ You like it up here?” “Nice breeze.”… the man who seemed really out of it politely spoke back and answered each question coherently. It hit me …. this guy on the bench, having trouble identifying real from illusions… he is some moms little boy… and I wondered… “ Is his mom alive?”  “Does she know how he is doing ?” “ Is he homeless?” Where will he lay his head tonight?” ….The first guy… I know he is a special son, and I believe his mom was who  we saw and will probably tuck him into bed tonight.

But the second guy… is out there somewhere…

Like salt and pepper…They were two totally different people… they both initially made me feel uncomfortable… and in the end…. they are each weighing heavy on my mind.

This is a world of uncertainty…a world with blessings and tragedy… and tonight as I take my hot shower, and sleep in our bed… I will say a prayer for these 2 people. They made me stop and be thankful for all I do have….

Love always, Mrs Justa alias Cindy

Welcome to the New York State Fair. We take for granted that we are blessed to have this fair in our town! 10 days of good old time fair days. People come from everywhere to spend a day, a couple days or the whole ten days there.

There are various proud moments for many at the fair, all the local TV and radio stations have booths where they broadcast from , free talent and pay for concerts, races, animal shows, Indian Village, horticulture, International foods, fresh cold milk, people…. thousands of people…. young, old, and in-between. The James Strait Midway, games to test your skill at basket ball—( when the backboard is angled a little funny and it looks like the hoops are smaller than normal….) or tossing for a goldfish, fried dough , ( yuck.. fried twinkies and pickles…) fresh squeezed lemonade, inventions, 4 H club competitions, Horse shows, animal contests…. a sea lion that will give you a smooch, it is nice to go, it is where you get the sausage green pepper and onion sandwich!!!

It was not a terrible evening to go. The crowds were not so bad that we could not find a place to sit for a bit. It feels good to have gone, yet better to know we have going in the rear view mirror now, instead of splattered on the windshield as we navigate the road of “to-dos”.

So we have our weekend revamped of sorts. We were going to go camping, but Indi has been having seizures in the early morning hrs, and the camper on a holiday weekend, in a full campsite … well that is not a great idea.  So weeding the garden, doing house stuff, the fair, and other unplanned things will fill the 3 days. off. Peace to all, cherish every moment. Love to all, Mrs Justa alias Cindy