Old Friends

While visiting Indiana, Greg and Aussie needed the car for the Rubik's Cube competition that  day, so when Chelle, Ashley and Mason tired of the hotel, they decided to walk to Applebee's. On the way, they ran into an old friend from their neighborhood...and here is the picture to prove it.

OK, enough of my bad jokes. I believe I explained my stress this last weekend when I was trying a new publisher after My Publisher sold out.

Today, I received my new book made by Shutterfly and I am well pleased. It is everything I wanted. I can be proud to show it to friends and family. What a blessing that is after having so much trouble getting acquainted with their site. Not only was it well done, it was delivered in a timely fashion.  Less that a full week.

There is one problem. They offered me a coupon for the next one,  but it would have to be ready for printing by October 15th. I have 15 pages completed right now, but that means I'd need to do 85 more in the next month and 1/2. That is  pretty intense. I think I will have enough pictures to do that, but that would mean I would have to do 2 pages almost every day. The problem, contrary to what some may think, I do have a life. Perhaps, I should give up everything else and just sit down at the computer until I finish all the layouts. That could solve another major problem. I should lose weight. I am not within reach of food here.

Please join me in continued prayer for the Houston area and all those who have left their homes to help with the rescue, protection, and clean up.

50 Years

I rarely do this, but I did today. I had already made a layout with this picture taken on our 50th anniversary last Saturday night and I had posted it here as well.  But as we were looking through our wedding album, I found this picture and decided that what I really wanted was a layout showing the  comparison of then and now.

Oh what a difference! A couple of our friends actually said they wouldn't have recognized that would have been us. Sad in a way, but hey 50 years is fifty years and it means that I have twice the man I married...well almost twice anyway. And, there is more of me to love as well.  We both learned to eat.

Now, we both need to go on a diet, but then we've known that for quite a while. I have fasted a couple of times, but after a year or so, the pounds have come back.

We are thankful tonight that the rain has stopped in Texas and people we know personally are safe. But now comes the clean up.

Thank the Lord that there was so much love shown to each other by those involved in that historical disaster. It helped show that our nation is not divided by race like many try to make us look. We are all creatures of the one true God. In God's eyes, we are all his people.

We all need to realize that all have the same red blood, black, white, red, yellow, male, female, rich, poor, tall, short, etc. God loves us all has encouraged us to love our fellow man as we love ourselves.

Again, it has been good to see the victims of the flood helping each other as they have. And it is now
time for all of us to help in one way or another. If you can't go to them, you can send money, and if you are not in a position to do either of those, please pray.

Looks like that might be the encouragement we need to diet, so that we can give to the flood victims the money we can save.

Hiking in the Rocky Mountain National Park

Back in July, Beth's sister and her family visited them in Colorado. It is a wonderful place to visit. There are so many beautiful things to see and generally bright sunshine to enhance any site.  This day, they had chosen to visit Lily Lake near Estes in the Rocky Mountain National Park.

We have gone to Estes and I love it, hope one day to see this part of the park, especially Lily Lake which you will see later...no I'll not make you wait...

Maybe you can see why I couldn't put you off to another day. It is a gorgeous area in the park.

Looking at that peaceful mountain lake reminds me this day of the terrible  flooding in Texas right now. 

Please join me in praying for all who are suffering through this terrible storm. Our friend, Kalai, is there and I'm praying that if need be, she will be able to get out and away. 

I'm also praying for our son, who is trying to find a way home, avoiding the airport in Houston, which was his original place to land.

Ashley as Little Medusa

Ashley loves anime and her parents make an effort to get her to as many meets as they can. This one was Tri Con Anime in Indiana the second week of July this year.

She took costumes for three different characters with her. She likes to do short characters, so this time she is portraying  a young girl named Little Medusaa. In the picture at the top, she is posing with Little Medusa's older sister, Arachne. At the bottom, she is visiting with the lady who actually does Medusa's voice.

Concerned tonight about the flooding in Houston. We have a good friend who lives there on the outskirts and as we watch on TV, it sounds bad all around. We are praying that people are rescued safely and that the rain slows down, that is doesn't rain the 25 more inches they are predicting.

Praying also that our son who is south of there and has had flights cancelled because of the flooding can get home safely by another  route.

I can't help but feel a loss again that came from the Galveston flood in 1900, when my grandmother's parents were lost. She was just a baby and was adopted by a family who raised her in Granbury, Texas.

50th Anniversary

If you've been following the blog, you know I've been very stressed, trying to get everything done this last week or so. Well tonight, we grabbed the chance to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our wedding in 1967.

I was so busy when I got home that I neglected to download this photo. I thought of it a few moments ago...so I'm not sure how much I like what I did with such an important photo as this. But here it is and I'm publishing it now.

 Just the two of us and we went to a restaurant not far away that we had patronized once before and liked quite well. It was an enjoyable dinner and we came back to work...my kind of guy and life.
It has worked out well.

Love Versus Stress

This layout is probably not finished. However, it may seem that I myself am about finished.  I had no idea that going with a new publisher would be so difficult for me. It must be because of my age. But oh my, such stress. I'm having to change my modus operandi. If you are over 65, you might understand what I mean. For  the youngsters, change is a snap...it is the way they are programmed, but for me...I really don't appreciate it much. When I find a perfect way to do something, why change?  

Unlike My Publisher whom I've dealt with for several years, other publishers do not make (let) you download their software so that one can work at home.  They have some type of deal where you have to do it all online. The ones I've tried are poorly planned and not at all easy to understand. There are many videos online for the company which I am trying  right now. However, just plain finding my way around their site and figuring out how to do things is getting to me.

Back to my layout. If I didn't have to spend days just trying to figure out something that should be very simple, I would have time to finish this layout and develop others.

This layout shows the little visit we had with our great granddaughter Ava on August the fifth this year. I love my iPhone. As she ran around the table, round and round, and making me dizzy, I snapped this pic. It stopped her motion well. There was no other way to get a picture that day because she was FULL OF ENERGY!  I was very happy to get this lovely picture, even though there was no way we could get her to stand still a few seconds and pose.

So, to sum it all up. I love my great granddaughter, Ava. I love this picture. I love that I was able to publish over 60 books with My Publisher before they sold to another company. But I am  completely overwhelmed that the new company demolished the old and changed my life substantially.

I believe in prayer. I believe in praying for my loved ones.

I also believe this is an issue about which I should pray, so I am. I am praying that I can adjust and find a way to learn what I need  to accomplish what I need (want) to do.

If you care about seniors, I ask you to pray for my adaptation as well.

Hello, I'm Back

While I've been busy changing the size of 100 pages for my book (that I first made to fit My Publisher books) so they will fit in Shutterfly books, I've been letting too many other things slide. This blog is one. I really hate to do that. As Ron says, I'm a rule follower. Even though this is my own 'thing', I feel I need to post every night. But more and more as I grow older and slower, I miss posting more often.

I didn't get a post in for the eclipse or the first day of school for my grandchildren...all major happenings in life. I hope to do better in the future and am really anxious to make layouts about those two events for sure.

We're going back to the first of July for this family photo of John, Beth and children, taken in a local park near their home in CO.

In unappreciation for the idiocy that is going on in our country these last weeks, I will take a knee and pray for the maturing of our nation, so that eventually those who are acting like 3 year olds throwing tantrums, will grow up and take on some  responsibility for improving conditions by actually thinking, making wise decisions and working.  Please pray along. 

I Need a Publisher

My friends are so considerate. I was the only one without sunglasses, so the rest of the 'girls'

took theirs off for this picture.

The day with the girlfriends on the 21st of last month left me with good memories. However, this evening Ron treated me to some special fun because I had such a terrible morning.

Some of you know I've published over 60 books with a company called My Publisher. I was very pleased with the quality, but they sold their business to Shutterfly. I have been struggling with that site for a couple of days and have gotten almost nowhere. I am used to a quality product made in a simple way and dealing with those who could answer questions knowledgeably right away. 

I completely design the whole page on my own computer using Photoshop Elements. All I need to do is drop each page on a page in the book. I need to know exactly the size of the pages. That information was very difficult to fine out, couldn't reach anyone there who could answer. My husband found it by searching the web. However, when I adjusted one of the over 100 pages I had ready to go,

they were not the right size. Even though they measured right and looked right on the templates Ron  found (supposedly for their site) they did not fit. No matter how many times we adjusted that size, it would NOT fit on the page in their book online!  

My husband loves to say that making these books is my life and it is close to being true. Therefore, I'm very sad and frustrated with it all.  I can't find another company that has anything like what I had before. I even considered going back to painting; but  I can't do that quickly enough to leave a family history.

 I did find a place called Mixbook and when I tried to get into their program to work  on my book, they said that I already had used their company but my password wasn't right. since I knew I hadn't used them before I tried the only response I could find there, which was to say I had forgotten my password. They posted that they would send me an email with it, but they did not. I guess they have someone else with the same name. FRUSTRATION.

Ron felt sorry for me and arranged a  good evening with friends. We ate at a place we like, but hadn't been to in quite a while called, The Boulevard. I had a steak shish kabob with large pieces of the most wonderful onions...then we all went out in our pontoon boat for a restful ride around the lakes.

Tomorrow is another day...week actually, and since it is Sunday, I plan to rest. But I'll be back to my pursuit on Monday. I'm now praying God will lead me in the right direction and I will find answers to my questions and the help that I need.

Serious Packing

When it was  time for Ashley and her family to head to Indiana for the Rubik's Cube competition and her anime 'gathering', the packing began. From four years of packing her car for dorm life, her mom, Chelle had become an expert...her skill came in handy this day as it has many times in their lives as a family of 5.

Our great room was the gathering place for everything that had to be put into their car. Just to look at the piles, one would guess they would need a moving van! But with skill they were able to get everything in...as well as the kids. Amazing!!! 

Here is Ashley with her wigs for the anime characters she would portray in a couple of days. There was a red wig for Shippo, a blond wig for Little Medusa, and a blue cap with horns for Nepeta from Homestruck. 

Although to me it just seems a lot  like Halloween, I'm glad Ashley enjoys herself during these adventures. She is particularly good at art and drawing the characters and she enjoys seeing them come alive.

I am glad to know that they are now home and that they are in an area where  they should get a great view of the eclipse coming up on Monday. They have their glasses ready. I'm thrilled they have that opportunity. Ron and I don't even have the glasses, and I don't plan to buy them at this point. I think I'll just stay in the house and watch on TV...hopefully that will be possible.

Last Thursday I missed a very important lunch date with some of my high school class members. It had been scheduled for three months.  I had looked forward to it and took it hard that I had forgotten.

Today I was struggling with a big problem. I have another book ready for publishing, but My Publisher had been sold and I have been told that the company that bought it is a lot different. I don't know whether to stick with them or go with another company. I am having trouble contacting one of the companies and not sure about the answers from the other one. Well, anyway, while I was working on that problem, Connie called me and asked me if I were having lunch with them (her and Karen) today. It so happened that at least a month ago, we had set aside today for that get together. Yes, this was the second Thursday in a row that I had messed up...and I had been so careful setting the dates. 

Connie  had gotten there early, but both were at Brix in Green and were waiting to order. At that point I was already 15 minutes late, so I decided to go as I was. I was dressed, thank God, because I'm not always when I'm working hard at the computer. I even had on earrings...but NO make up, so I did take a couple of minutes to throw some on my face and then rushed over. It took me 20 minutes...yes, I saw a policeman and slowed for a minute. 

Sorry I made them wait, but glad I took time off for the visit, which we realized afterwards was a whole  year after our last meeting. Karen and I see each other occasionally when our schedules are similar, but Connie, an old friend from Curves no longer works out with us.

Possible TV Comedy

I'm just about to publish a new book. It is amazing that I have made so many layouts this year which have not found their way onto this blog. I do end up making more than one a day, and I've somehow missed many days of blogging this year.  It just seems like some days are over before I have a chance to think...thus, no blog spot that day. Not that my blogs generally show any sign of thought... 

Back to my point that many of my layouts that end up in books, never make it here on Rightly Opinionated.com. 

Swinging back to July and our time with the triplets, here is one of those layouts. 

According to the Urban dictionary, the triplets could be considered  a trip... meaning  they are funny, amusing, and abnormal in a positive way.  They have a way about them that can keep us laughing. I've often said they should do a TV comedy show. I came to find out that they had actually considered pursuing that, but decided against it.

It was great having them here  in July and we  wish there were some way they could get here from TN more often than they do. We are very  thankful when they do come visit.

As an added thought,  the kids can also sing well. It could be a musical comedy. I say that to bring up an email from Max Lucado sent out yesterday. He told about how Beethoven spent hours playing a broken harpsichord in his  old age. He did that because he had become deaf. He couldn't hear it at all, but in his memory, he could hear it just the way it had been when he was young. His memory was still good.

That thought led me to think about something I've pondered quite a bit, since I really like to sing, but just don't have what it takes to really make it sound good. Mostly, I sing when I'm alone. I sing to God, since he is always here with me. And you know what? I know he loves to hear me because he can hear it the way it should sound.

So go ahead and sing out to him. Praise his name.

Love Trumps Hate

Julia looks so cute in her new tartan skirt. Here she is with her mommy at The Choice City Butcher and Deli in Fort Collins.

I'm not sure what happened last night to take my attention off the blog, perhaps I fell asleep at the wheel, but I had started to post this layout, but never finished. I remembered earlier today, but have been too busy to do anything about it. So, now this will be posted tonight instead. I promise I will stay awake long  enough to hit the 'publish' button.


It turned out to be a quite frightening weekend. Police officers were pulled aside...not allowed to do their jobs, while extremists on opposite sides beat anyone who got in their way.

While watching the news tonight, I wasn't sure these things were happening here in the United States. It looked like war torn countries where people are starving.

Why have we allowed this? Why have we stood back and allowed our students to be indoctrinated? Were we too interested in acquiring things? What is our excuse? Sadly, we will all pay the price.

The only way I keep going is knowing that God wins in the end. He allows us choice and we make very poor ones, causing suffering.  But again... GOD WINS IN THE END. If we are on His side, we also will win.

Love trumps hate and Good trumps evil.

3 Generations

It's been nice having out oldest son Tim here with our grandson, Brandon this past week. They don't visit often and the time went by quickly. They did get in quite a bit of time boating, which was very relaxing for Tim, who is a hard working salesman.  They are now back in Florida and we are getting
on with our regular schedule. It was a nice break.

May the good Lord bless and keep them until we meet again.

Little Beauty

Julia is our youngest grand child. At one, she is a physical wonder to me. She doesn't let anything hold her back. Of course, she has two busy older brothers as examples for her.  She emulates them, but is still a very feminine beauty.   Of course gramma thinks she is very special.

I'm thinking that I'm at a loss for words. Doesn't happen often enough. But then I glanced up from the computer and right before my eyes is what I want to say.   Written on my wall in beautiful script is this message:  'The greatest gift I ever received came from God...my family." Couldn't have said it better.

God bless everyone of you.

Special Boy

Oh, those eyes! How gorgeous those eyes are, Oliver.  Of course your gramma and grampa think you are very special. Longing to see you, your brother and sister again. Yes, we get to do FaceTime once in a while, but we would love to see you every day. However, life just doesn't give us that choice at this time. 

It is a sad thing to live far away from close family.  I remember the old days when most families lived in the same towns, many times on the same farms and sometimes even in extensions on the old house. There wasn't much moving around...of course when the country was young, they sometimes moved many miles away to settle new areas. I think they would have migrated with much of their families, but I really don't know.

The second world war, I know, caused quite a bit of moving from families, when younger members moved to areas where there were factories for making materials needed for war, for example. This area of the country brought many in from surrounding states to work in the rubber factories.

Back then, not only was there no FaceTime, but most people had a telephone on a party line; so that one would have to wait his/her turn to make a call. Anything made over a distance was charged for each minute of use...at least that is the way I think it worked. That was even expensive when I went away to college.  It has only been a short time since we became able to make long distance calls on our cell phones without any additional cost. Wow, I am rambling! And I'm not sure I'm being factual either...just going by my failing memory.

Back on the track I started...so many families now are spread all over the states, like ours. Just us and our kids  and grandkids are spread over 8 states. It is sad. Even with modern methods of communica-tion, it is hard to keep up with each other's lives. It is difficult to feel close, at least it is for me. I miss my family.

Leah's Resume

Our grand daughter, Leah is a very bright girl. We were blessed to have her near-by, until she was about 8, when her family decided to move to Florida to escape the overcast days of NE Ohio winters. It was a good move. They found a very nice gated community that was a wonderful place to live. She had some trouble finding a school though, since she had already read all the books in her local schools library. They did find her a great school in Pensacola. It was an IB school and served her well, but her mom had to drive her to and from school each day.

As the years went by, she discovered acting there. It was a long trip, but we were able to go to one of the plays. She was fantastic. Oh, I know, I'm the grandmother. But I promise, that was not a prejudiced review. She did excel at performance.

When it was time to go to college, she chose Flagler, a lovely old school in St Augustine, on the Eastern coast. She majored in theater and, if you can read her resume above, you will see she did well there and went directly, upon receiving her degree to New York City to further her education in acting.

She has played roles in several, would you call them, B movies? She has a good time, but she doesn't put a lot of time into it, as she manages a store in North Carolina.

The second layout above is about a movie that was shot in Wisconsin in June, in which she played the role of Taylor.

We are glad she is able to enjoy shooting movies while doing her best  at her main job. She is a hard worker.  We are very proud of her. Keep it up, Leah.

Is It a Painting?

When I got these photos from FaceBook, they were very small. Because I had so many great pictures of the kids at that time (these were taken just a day or so after the professional pictures) I hadn't taken the time to enlarge them. When I did, I was amazed at the fact that the picture with Julia, in the foreground running after the boys at the marsh, looks just like a painting. Although there isn't much to see of the kids... no faces...it has become one of my most prized pictures. Since these are my favorite hikers. I would love a large canvas with it over my fireplace.

It has been a very cloudy day here today. Just north of us were some pretty bad thunder storms and several areas were without power for some time. A couple of my friends were in places of business when the electricity went out and it was pretty difficult when they couldn't pay with credit cards.  I can see that being exceedingly hard if one had eaten a meal and then not had the money to cover it, which  could have been me; since I never seem to have any cash.

Because of the bad weather, I seem to have done more sitting today...and napping, than I generally do

so I'm hoping I will be able to make up for that tomorrow.

It's the Outdoorsy Look

Can't imagine a place he would feel more at home. Caleb is an outdoorsy kind of guy.  He's 7 already.
He loves soccer and basketball and is a great sportsman. It is a shame he doesn't live near us, so we could attend all his games. So far, we have only seen him play one soccer game. That was great fun.
But I have to admit, I like basketball even better and would be thrilled to see him actually play. All I've seen are photos that caught the action. They were really cool.  I posted some of them here June 27th.  He is very special in my eyes. He is very kind,  a big help, and the oldest of three.

We love you very much, Caleb. Keep that big smile. It warms my heart.

Speaking of smiles, they are contagious. I know if you live in New York city, you probably think I'm a whacked out hick or something. Just try it some time. Smile at someone. Of course there again, if you live in NYC, you might get a dirty look or something worse. But in the real world, a smile will be welcomed. Around here, people generally smile back.

Caleb, that smile alone will get you a long way; but also study hard and you will do very well.

Good News

On the way here to Portage Lakes in Ohio for a visit with us and in time to see the Independence Day fireworks, the Greenes stopped at a McDonalds in Medina, Ohio.   I have not see it before, but it sounds pretty impressive for a Micky D's. I'm even thinking about finding an excuse to drive down that way so that I can just stop by and see  this out of the ordinary quick food place. 

I'm glad they thought to take pictures there.

All I have in mind right now is the Tucker Carlson show. We had to watch it a little late tonight because a friend just dropped in to pick up his computer which Ron had fixed today. Not that I minded waiting...oh I just have to be real...I did mind. Tucker is so good. He is often the high point of my day. Today was no exception.

This is good news from today as well...

http://www.westernjournalism.com/trump-team-attends-weekly-white-house-bible-study/

It is good news to know about that Bible Study, which has about the same number of people as the one we have.

Wolverine Farm and Letterpress

Colorado is full of opportunities for families. Here at Wolverine Farm and Letterpress, Julia and her mom, Beth, hang out in this interesting room with a metal wall. There are letter and word magnets for play. Julia kept busy with that, while her brother, Oliver, was upstairs in a classroom.

For those who covered me with prayers yesterday, I am feeling MUCH better today...no freezing spells, no pain, except for minor little twinges. Thank you all. God bless you.

Due to my feeling well and having a full calendar, I've been very busy all day.

Even though I am not a TV aficionado, I do have one show, in case you don't know, that I watch 'religiously'. That is Tucker Carlson. I get very amused by his ability to get the best of liberals who are obviously  are sorely uniformed, yet think they are brilliant. It is very sad in some ways to view the ignorance of those who were schooled by socialistic indoctrinated teachers and professors. They cannot think on their own. All they can do is spout fake statistics and talking points. They are like robots. That part is truly sad, but I am quite entertained by Tucker, who not only knows what he is talking about and is quick and able to think on his feet..while keeping his sense of humor and charm.

May God protect our nation from those in our country and the whole world who are out to destroy us.