Blue Raspberry Sky

My pink elephant in the room:  my weight, and/or my weight loss.  Seriously, a lot of people look at me and size me up, but they won't say anything.  My family wouldn't ask me about it - they'd talk to my mom.  "What's happened to Aine?" they'd say.  And now people look at me funny but only a few have asked me about losing weight.  My son's speech therapist came out last week and finally said, "You look really good today."  I thanked him and smiled... I was wearing a baggy shirt that had grown too big as I shrink, a pair of faded jeans that have a hole in them (that wasn't there when they were brand new), no jewelry other than my wedding ring, and barely a hint of lipstick and mascara.  But I looked GOOD.  Gave my husband and I a giggle.  Here I am at top weight: Me - Jan 2017 There are two rules you don't cross in polite society:  you never ask a woman her age or her weight.  These questions will earn you hate look...

                    Johanna O'Brien                                   Margaret Furlong My Great-Grandmother had a favorite grandma - Johanna O'Brien.  Great-Grandmother had her picture framed an in her home for a very long time.  When Great-Grandmother passed, Papa and Grandmother inherited it.  My mom collected a lot of information and pictures of the family, and one day she and Dad went to Grandmother's to scan some photos so that they didn't have to leave their house.  When they took Johanna's picture out of the frame, they found Margaret's handwriting on the back of the photo: "My angel mother." So beautiful - and to think no one knew that was there!  ♥ You turn:  What secrets have you uncovered in your family history?  OR...  what secrets have you been keeping?

Note:  Originally written in 2009.  Updated and reposted 2017. My children LOVE movies about marine life. More specifically, they love those documentaries like  Blue Planet  or the old Jacques Cousteau shows. We were watching one today, and my husband started talking about his diving trips. My little ones listened with wide eyes when he described touching the tail of an eel so it would pop out and scare their grandpa! It got me thinking... we should write about fishy friends! deviant art by ~ Tanginello We've had fish tanks before. We get rid of them when all the fish die and swear we're never doing fish again. Then, for one reason or another, we end up with more fish. The only fish that did well for us was a silver fish we named Indestruct-O fish because the thing WOULD NOT DIE when nothing else would live. We finally figured out Indestruct-O was KILLING the other fish. We're not slow... just kinda dumb in the fish world. Well, that was seve...

 Something you may not know about me:  It's all my grandma's fault.  She used to travel to Albuquerque, NM to the balloon festival they had every year.  She'd go around talking to people and taking pictures.  Then she'd  write up an article about it and sell it to the local newspaper, The Conroe Courier .  I asked her one time if she ever went up in the balloons, and she said no, she didn't want to go in one - she just liked looking at them.  I thought that was crazy - you should go up in one, right?  So that's how a hot air balloon ride was put on my bucket list. Fast forward a few years. For Valentine's Day in 2016 my husband of almost 25 years (anniversary is in April) informed me that he bought us a ticket to ride on a hot air balloon.  I was shocked.  I always pictured my ride on the balloon tied to a rope and going straight up, then straight down. I wasn't sure I could handle a balloon RIDE.  It took us until NOV...

Martha Ann Maloura Wells (1859-1938) Do you believe in love at first sight?  Whether you do or not, sometimes history has a little evidence of it.  Take for instance the moment my ancestor saw her future husband (as told by my mom, Frances Ellsworth):   When the Ned and I first began asking questions of Mom E about her family, a basic question was asked, "How did your grandparents meet?"  We knew he lived in the northern part of Alabama and she lived in the Southeast corner of Alabama.        Her answer began with the giggle. "Well", she said, "Grandma said she was hiding behind the fence when Grandpa came up to apply for the job as a hired hand on her grandpa's farm.  Grandma said, 'He was as pretty as a picture.'"       Saying these words triggered another giggle from Mom. She thought that statement was the greatest expression ever.  I love it!  Did you ever experience love at first sig...