Sunday, March 03, 2024
March Madness
Friday, February 16, 2024
ScrapbookPaLooza
I realize as I look at this one now that I've not added any title or journaling. This was my grandparents 25th wedding anniversary. |
Tuesday, February 13, 2024
What were your parents like?
Welcome to another installment of "My Life Story". The card today asks what I assume would be an easy question for most, but may be a bit complicated for me.
The question "What were your parents like?"
You see I've had two sets of parents with Mom as the common denominator.
Let's start with the early years. Mom and my original father, Don, were married young. Mom was just 17 when they married. That was back in 1964 - they did that then. Don was her high school sweetheart and they seemed quite happy.
Then Don got sent to Vietnam. While there my mom gave birth to my sister, Melanie. Then he came home and then he went back again. When returned I was born 9 months after.
The point of telling you about Vietnam is that his tours changed him. Mom used to say that he left part of his soul there and she thought it was the nice part of his soul.
He wasn't a great father to me. He flirted with every female he came in contact with and I remember as a kid that embarrassed me. I can't even imagine how mom felt about it. He was not a nice man at times either. We were disciplined with a heavy hand. By today's standards you might call it abuse. We were certainly mentally abused. I don't really remember him having nice things to say to us. We used to get the belt for the oddest, and most insignificant things. I remember this one time Melanie and I both got it because we folded a kitchen towel wrong.
He tried and I think he did the best he could with what he had with him. I often wonder what he would have been like if Vietnam hadn't happened.
Mom and him divorced in 1979/80 and that's when the next dad comes into play.
Mom went out on a set up date with Al Wraspir sometime in 1980. I don't remember who set them up, but it was a double date and they hit it off. They married in Sept 1982. Dad adopted me right after that. I officially went from Jennifer Miller to Jennifer Wraspir.
Dad was an amazing dad. He had his issues too, like he was stubborn and was pretty opinionated at times. But he was also kind, he loved his family, he worked hard, he had a strong will, and treated me as if I was his. He never treated me like a step daughter and instead took the time to help make me a person who can be a valuable part of society. He worked for Boeing for 47 years and I think wished I followed in those footsteps. While I worked at Boeing, I wasn't meant to be there for that long.
He always had a ton of friends around him. Many were his hunting buddies. We spent many nights at other friends' houses having dinners and such.
He taught me to love cooking. Mom did too for that matter. But dad had the curiosity to try and cook different things. He LOVED food. Tomatoes were among his favorite foods. I don't have enough space in the blog to list all his favorites.
He was a wonderful dad and I consider myself very lucky.
Mom - what can I say about her that I haven't already said in this blog. She was my best friend. Not always, but definitely as an adult. As a teenager, like most, I wasn't a fan of her. She enforced rules and followed through with consequences. I'm grateful now, but 14 year old me was not.
She was kind, she too loved her family. She LOVED dogs and her grandkids. Hell, she loved all my friends and adopted them to be "her kids". She too worked at Boeing and was there for 37 years (or something like that). She had a tougher time there trying to progress because, well, she was a woman in a man's world.
She loved to travel and cook like Dad. They both, together, taught me about how important seeing the world is to better understand, and tolerate, other cultures. "Tolerate" was dad's word and I don't think he meant it as it came out the same way it sounds today.
Overall, I consider myself very lucky to have had such great parents. They were strict but they loved me. They helped me become the person I am today.
I miss them both every day.
Thursday, January 18, 2024
Where were you born? Is that where you were raised?
Photo from TrailBlaze Travels |
Sunday, January 07, 2024
2024 - Week 1 Done!
Saturday, December 30, 2023
55
Friday, December 29, 2023
Top 10 Favorite Books of 2023
Friday, December 15, 2023
How'd You Get Your Name?
Thursday, November 23, 2023
Happy Thanksgiving!
Sunday, November 19, 2023
Missing Stories
Tuesday, October 31, 2023
Happy Halloween!
Saturday, September 30, 2023
Day 10 - Algarve - Azeitao - Lisbon
This is the main workshop where the magic begins. The clay they get from the Duoro River. It comes in sacks and they pull enough out to make a single tile.
The roll the tile out to a certain width and then cut it to be the right size. The cut it a bit larger because it'll shrink in the heating process.
This is one of several kilns they have. The tiles go in for something like 19 hours. I think it goes in after it's painted.
I picked myself up a two tiles from this little shop. I loved this W tile and all the colors in it. The other tile I got is a wine bottle coaster.
On the way to Lisbon we stopped in Setubal for a lunch break. Hassan walked us to this market and said there were places to eat inside.
Dinner was 'teenage' beef again. They call it veal, but Hassan swears that it's not the baby cows that we call veal in the states. I chose to believe him. This meat was tender and delicious.
Dessert, according to the menu, was to be a souffle. It came out and they lit it on fire. This isn't a souffle to me, but I'll go with it.
It wasn't great to be honest, but then again, I'm not a dessert person.
Friday, September 29, 2023
Day 9 - The Algarve
View from our room |
Janet had the fish - I think Sea Bass and I had the pork. It was so dang tender and delicious. The Portuguese eat a lot of pork alongside their fish.
For the afternoon, I decided to stay in the room and rest. The bug I picked up was in full swing and I thought it best to rest up. Janet took off for a walk around Lagos.
Janet had the codfish au gratin (basically the bacalau); Julie had the octupus and I had this Portuguese steak that was amazing. Huge piece of beef surrounded by all these potatoes and a gravy that was out of this world.