Mrs. Justa and if ya can’t laugh at yourself…

I have been known to do some pretty unusual stuff, often it leads to me laughing at myself.

Like tonight…..

I was at the fitness room at work. I went to listen to my MP3 player but the battery was low…

but  ah-ha I thought… I have a smart phone and Pandora on it… I will just plug the ear buds into that and work out. AH HA came the second thought….I do not have a holder for the phone and the MP3 holder is too small…. hmmm what to do?

I figure out a plan… I will carefully pass the phone down under my shirt / ear buds in my ears… and than put the phone in the cup holder on the elliptical…that way the wires won’t be dangling  over my shirt-chancing my phone to go flying and possibly break. Now mind you.. I thought I was alone in the gym..

The gym is a nice size- and I like going down at the end of the day. SO I am on the elliptical on the back row

RIGHT HERE >>>>>>

I am slower moving the pedals, and maneuvering the phone down my shirt- kinda half lifting up my shirt and grabbing the phone with my left hand –when all of the sudden I hear a bathroom door open …The bathroom doors are down at the end of this room—in that alcove like area. So I panic…I move quickly to  get my shirt down and act like I am just working out. Well. as this guy walks by, I smile kinda… but I can hear the camera on my phone going off with each move..the phone got caught in my bra strap… so as I am leisurely smiling as I am  pumping the pedals.under my shirt I am taking pictures of my breast….as soon as the guy got out of the room- I finished the process of  situating my phone in the real cup holder…(instead of the cup of my bra)….and I deleted a lot of photos of my boob.!!…AS I did that I can not help but wonder if each photo had a flash going off under my shirt. HA HA…. I can not ask the guy if I ever see him there again—but if there was—- I wonder what he was thinking.

I am still laughing… how “so CINDY”  this was…. I get myself in the strangest situations.

Hope you have a great night….. and a lesson to be learned…. do not try to put your phone down your shirt. HA HA>>>>> Love ya. Mrs Justa alias Cindy

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Mrs Justa and the 2013 family reunion post number 1

Well another year has past for our family reunion. I am from a family of 9 brothers and sisters, one sister has died and our parents are both deceased. We live in various parts of the country and we try really hard to get together. This year there were some of us, not all of us. This year we went back to the State Park my mom had chosen so many years ago. It was really not bad, we got heavy rain one evening, but the base of the fire was strong enough to withstand the rain and light up some more logs. It was neat to see the cousins spend time together. Wish my brothers who could not make it had… it was strange not to have them and their families there. We were missing some nieces and nephews and their kids….

We had no cell phone coverage, we had electric on the sites and public bathrooms. Some people tented, some had trailers, some hoteled it….  all seemed to have a good time.

As we entered the weekend and started to observe things, we came to realize there was a passing of the baton so to speak. When we started to go to this part- we were in our 30s and our kids were 7 . Now we are some  of the elders and our kids have kids of their own. Jeff and Amanda became the dinner site- we all gather together for dinner, a dish to pass and eat our meals, talk, laugh and end it with a nice campfire and s’mores and memories being created.

Adrianne has not been to a reunion for years- but I bet she would like to sometime in the future.. she had mentioned tenting it at some point with her family… and heck if they are more on the line of hotel people, there are some people who do stay in hotels. One year we rented a cabin off site and one year we rented a cabin in a town near by….—that is an option too,.….their kids will be a better age next year… hmmm….maybe they will come too.

The transition was subtle at first, but became more apparent as the clock ticked to 10 PM and Mark and I were headed to the camper to call it a night… leaving behind the 30 something year olds and the younger cousins. Yikes.. we were the “older relatives” who went to bed early…

The kids seemed to totally love the camping experience, and I have to admit I soaked in watching their smiles, there sense of adventure, and looking at how totally exhausted they got from being outdoors, from going “creeking” and from building sand castles.

I thought about all the electronic devices and the automation we have in our homes- and even though they are nice… … (as Mark says to the boys… _)

“this is living… it doesn’t get any better than this !”

And ya know what he is right!. Regardless of our various challenges in life,

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regardless of our stressors our hectic sometimes lives… when we got here—the waters smoothed, the days were peaceful, the experience was something I am so glad we got to share…the only regrets are the people who could not be there…. but than again –we do have next year !!.

So I am off…. kinda chilling tonight…. reminiscing …feeling blessed. Love to all… Mrs Justa alias Cindy,

 

Mrs Justa and sunsets and full moons.

Well it has been a very long while since I popped over here to this home of my thoughts. Life seems to be a little chaotic, a lot busy and sometimes full of unpredictable things.

Work is good, it is never ever boring, and very fast pace. Changes within the government on healthcare reform, changes in medical treatments and advances in current treatments and medications, it is always an opportunity to learn more new stuff.

Mark and I will occasionally go to Oswego and watch the sun set. It is so darn peaceful up there, and a place to kind of put life in a temporary hold pattern. Sunsets and the time just before them is a favorite time of day for both of us.

It is a time when the world slowly changes yet I feel I can stop.

It is a time to reflect on the day passing behind us, and planning for the day that is yet to be.

It almost feels like no matter what happened- it is a closing of a chapter and an opportunity to start a new chapter- fresh.

It is a time to relax and know that the bed is not too many hours away.

My days are busy, I really love my job, and the people I work with are good people. So all that together makes an environment where a day is something to look forward to doing. Have you ever been in a situation you hated? Boy the day drags, the clock seems like a minute is an hour.

I am so thankful that I have the days that fly by!.However, as the days fly by, that means the years fly by.

Our grand children are growing fast, our little guy Brandon just had pre-k graduation! We were able to get to it, the school had it in the evening.  It was so cool to see how hard the class worked for this.They sang a variety of songs, choreographed, and one with even sign language too.

Wow next year kindergarten.

 

And this weekend our niece is graduating from high school. Gee whiz… time flies.

But fortunately as time flies, we learn lessons, we learn that things in life do not always have to matter, we learn that life is short, we learn that there is a reason for everything, sometimes it takes a lifetime to try to figure it out.

This weekend is the “Strawberry Moon” as it was referred to in the news article today. Tomorrow it is supposed to be the best night to see it. I can not wait. For somewhere in the child part of my brain, many many year ago, I found comfort in believing those who had died , those who meant something to me, that they could sit on the moon and watch over me. I refuse to let that comfort go. Tomorrow night- I will be watching the moon, waving to my mom, dad, sister and grandparents…. making loving faces to our dogs and cats…. and trying to capture the moment on film. I hope you too can see it….what ever it will look like. Lots of love to all, Mrs Justa alias Cindy

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Mrs Justa and Evil must go

We must never ever give up. We must never let the evil in the world suck us into a path of negativism We can never let little people , who want to cause us harm, become big people.

The horrors of this week in Massachusetts reminded me about how insensitive people can be.  How can someone come from a tiny baby to a person who has absolutely no respect for human life, no worry about the consequences of their actions, and be spineless enough to do an act like this and than hide.

In the world we live in, there are so many cameras and monitoring devices, I really hope someone looks at the photos on fbi.gov ( these are from the site) and calls the authorities. Someone has to know who these guys are. These young people are someone’s neighbors, someone’s friend, someone brother, someone’s son.  Someone has to know who they are. They need to come forward-if they did not do it..say so… if they did they need to fess up to their actions….

So many tragedies, so many senseless loss of life , limb, innocence. There is a saying “what goes around, comes around.” They will get theirs…

Everything else in my life seems trivial as I watch the suffering of those who are affected.

Evil affects us all…if we let it…

Our 4 yrs old grandson was telling me that teacher in pre-K taught the class  what to do if a mean person comes to the school. He talked about where they had to group, and they had to be VERY quiet….

When he was over here last Saturday night, he told me he brought his secret weapon. I asked him what it was, and he pulled out a life guard whistle, he assured me if anyone came to the house he would blow it so loud that the neighbors would hear it.  I tried to comfort him by telling him the Grandma and Grandpa would be here and he was safe. That night as I went to put him in his bed, he asked for the 2 top covers to be left at the foot of the bed. He wanted us to come back in later and pull them up. He said when his daddy works evenings, he has his mom do the same thing. He said that way , if he wakes up at night and his blankets are all on him, he knows he was checked on, he feels safe.

So at 11:30 I tip toed in his room, I raised his covers up, and out of the corner of my eye, on the head of the bed , lay his whistle. JUST IN CASE>>>>>

It saddened me….I was thinking that with all the media, all the evil that makes and sells stories… we are taking the innocence and wonder of being a child and tarnished it. I hope that we as a society can find more joy in the goodness of people and not the bad. I think if we were stricter with punishment on people.. a do unto others type punishment..maybe we would see less evil in the end. Someone wants to literally rip apart bodies with a home made explosive device—well when they are caught… attach a similar device to them—so they can not escape… —some one want to shots people—then they should be shot the same way…  someone rapes someone…then they too get raped viciously…

Because locking people up…giving them 3 meals a day…and trying to rehabilitate them…. it is not lessening crime or the level of intensity to it. Lets looks for the good in life.. we have to… Love to all Mrs Justa alias Cindy

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Mrs Justa and the Holiday Season… love it

The Holiday time seems different each year.

Some things always fill my heart with smiles. Like going around and looking at peoples decorations.

This house has been amazing for the last few years. I can not wait to go check it out again.

This was in 2010 …………………….

 

 

 

The year I took this ( Dec 2011) , as we were driving by… we stopped and came across this sign.

 

 

 

someone had stolen one of their inflatable yard ornaments..but these people did not lose faith though. Someone else came and replaced it for them. They have a can to put non perishables in for a local food pantry. They are people who give to others they do not know by decorating and collecting.

As a grandparent—it is warming for me to know our kids are with their kids opening gifts in the morning and spending those special times together. I always felt Christmas morning was a private time, a personal time for the parents and their children or for the couple with their life. My mom never demanded Mark and I be at her house in the morning with the kids… we gathered together on Christmas eve…

Christmas is a time to be thankful for those you share your day to day life with. Over the years I have watched as friends have gone through the turmoil of trying to balance between grandparent houses..Worrying about whose house you have to be at, or who you have to plan on entertaining on Christmas morn. I swore I would never be that demanding parent/grandparent.. And I do not think I have been—nor will I ever be.

Now we are older… our kids are grown and have kids of their own..Christmas is a different kind of special. It still has it’s same meaning… but it is Mark and I… we have no alarm clock… we have a quiet breakfast… sip on our hot beverage of tea or coffee..and just enjoy the time of being. I am so thankful we had all the years of having our kids excitement flow over a quick breakfast but I do not feel cheated now..life is chapters in our books of life. Nothing stays the same. Oh there are constants in life… like watching ITs A Wonderful Life…and Decorating for Christmas… and sending cards…baking special cookies, making special gifts….and I totally love the happiness I feel around –it is a time a solitude, a time of appreciating what we have—no matter how much or little.

I no longer feel pressured by buying things..we do it gradually..Mark and I actually go out together and chose a gift or 2 for ourselves..and wrap it and than we open it on Christmas morning. One year we did it way before Christmas..and when we went to open them.. we forgot what we bought ourselves!.

I love Christmas carols when it is closer to Christmas… I love church and the amazing scripture of Mary and Joseph and Jesus. I just can not begin to explain how much I love the season. I feel so blessed to be able to live in a country where people can decorate, where people can freely go from neighborhood to neighborhood enjoying the lights and decorations. I love that we have had Christmas magic when we were children, when we had children and now with grandchildren.

It is truly a special time of the year for me.

I hope you can go look at decoration where you live..and hope you feel the magic of the season….. My love to all.. Mrs Justa alias Cindy.

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Mrs Justa and Riley’s need to concur her fear

Have you ever just wanted to run…run and run and run?

Nowhere in particular to go, just not wanting to be where you are at.

Last week felt like that I think for everyone around me. Mark would have loved to run from himself, me, I would have loved to run from the stress of the week…and

Now that I think of it.. even Riley tried to break clean of her fears and panic…..

This is Riley’s crate. She is terrified of being left in the crate, and yet she has not proven she is much nicer to the house outside of the crate. So if we had to leave for a while, we crated her….

If you look at the bottom of the crate, she bends it in by biting it, sticking her nose in it and trying to scooch out of it with the door closed and locked. This time she bent it enough in that she literally was scratching at that rug, she got the rug inside the crate and started gnawing on it, trying anything to escape from the crate. So.. the crate is folded up… Riley is on some antidepressants/ Obsessive compulsive meds to see if we can get her to overcome this panic disorder she gets when being left alone.

It really is sad to think that for some reason she is terrified of the crate. If I could find her original owners, the ones that had to have been mean to her… well I would Have a few things to say to them. Might even smack them aside of their head!

How can people be cruel to another living being?

She is the sweetest dog, she loves to be with people, it is funny ..at night if she gets cold, she burrows under the blanket and sheet and sleeps way down at our feet. She will stay there for hrs.

She is great with the kids, she loves her stuffed animals, LOVES her food, yet deep inside her psychie— someone played with her head…. if she thinks you are angry with her..she cowers…… If you raise your voice out of emotion for anything – she thinks it is for her….

She belly crawls if she thinks she is in trouble. SO our dilemma in life is we have a dog..who hates when we leave. I have a call into the NY State dog whisperer..and we are going to see if he thinks this is something he could assist with. We also are going to try to get her into a doggie day care a couple times a week..and if there is a need for a few hrs of being watched as we try to come to a solution—than we will see if her kennel down the street would let her stay for a day.

So as our persistence to get to an end of her fear..

we need to STOP..and work with her.. Patience, positive reinforcement , determination, and slow down…go slow and make sure she feels comfortable along the way.

Please if you have a chance, and feel a tug in your heart… say a prayer for our little girl dog..and hope we can help her become at ease…. all the time.

Love to all….Mrs Justa alias Cindy

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Mrs Justa and personalizing our lives

I wonder what the world will be like when our grandkids are in their 60s? It is a kinda weird thought. By then I know I will be dust in the wind… what will our grandkids have to deal with?

Will there still be this great nation? Will people actually talk to one another? Or will conversation be 2 dimensional, type it, speak it into a device and away it goes?

We have some friends, they have adult children, and those kids still call my husband Mr. Krusen. It does not matter how old they have become, Mark is still older and they show respect.

I have a person in my life, she has always been to me “mom #2”, not because I disowned my mom, but more because she came into my life in my pre-teen years, after my dad had died, and my mom- God Bless her heart..was trying to get an education and support a family of 6 young kids…. as I said a few posts ago..that made my sister Pam and I they care givers for a lot of the days and evenings. Being 10 and 11 when he passed.. we needed a mom… and when this woman moved into our neighborhood… she was someone I could go and talk to…ask questions that I needed answers to… and to this day… I call her Mrs. Fields. I would never argue with her, not even today. She is my elder. We were taught to respect our elders. But I worry with e mails, texting, social networks, …somehow the elders..the respect for them..well that seems like it has disappeared. It is like everyone s trying to get the last word, age does not matter…. slam each other back and forth. Shut the device off..go to another site..and never think about age, respect or end result.

So in 50 + yrs..where will this all lead to? It is so darn impersonal right now..and we are just beginning.

I joked that to have coffee with a friend—save on gas… skype them. But how much of a joke is that? Ya can not touch another’s hand, or see their eyes, or give them a hug thru skype or other communication ways.

There is nothing more dear to me than having a grandchild run to me and say “I love you gramma”…and than try to wrap their tiny arms around me…

I am glad we are still able to see our grandkids in person, to talk face to face with our friends, and I just hope as these youth of today grow up..they remember that a card in the mail is better than a wish on face book… picking up a phone and talking is better than texting…and spending time with someone face to face…instead of face into a screen of a smart phone, I pad or computer is what life is about !!.

May you each find comfort in 3 dimensional relationships….interactions…

Love to all.. Mrs Justa…. alias Cindy

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