The Honest Scrap Award

I know what you readers are thinking.....what did Grandma J do to deserve that award? And of course, I say to that......who cares? very little. All I know is, I'm grateful to Treasia at Confessions of a Mid Life Trucker's Wife for her kindness and thoughtfulness. Thank you.


Here's what the Honest Scrap Award is all about:

I'm supposed to pick seven blogs that I find brilliant in content and design. I know that was a difficult task for Treasia, but for me it's impossible! I admire a zillion different blogs and would like to leave it up to each of you to decide if you would like to rat yourself out tell us all ten things about yourself....honestly.

I have done a whole lot of memes moomoos since I've been blogging so some of the ten things I list will be reruns because I can't remember the details of all the different outpourings I have done....

Here are ten things about Grandma J that you may not know.

1. My hair was totally grey by the age of forty. If I let it grow, my mustache would probably be the envy of most men.

2. I am retired and blog full time in my spare time.

3. I moved to Central Texas when I retired from a job as a civil servant in Orange County CA. And yes, I knew what I was doing....sort of.

4. I used to hang glide, go kayaking and I miss the ocean.

5. I've been to three continents. I still want to get to Ireland.

6. I used to smoke like a chimney...and I used to be thin!

7. Since reaching the age of "Oh, God!" umm yeah, I have a whole new respect for velcro.

8. When on vacation in Mexico, I babysat for Barney and Wilma's a friends Iguana .

9. I love sleeping in, and staying in my pj's all day....here in TX I would not be out of place in Walmart in my jammies....no I wouldn't.

10. I try to go to the movies once a week, sometimes bringing Phillip Johnny Bob. This is something I did less than once a year before retiring......it's a real luxury and I love it because I hate watching movies on TV.

10.1 My cell phone became my land line 6 years ago. Saving mucho dinero and talking more!

10.2 I love it when my granddaughter sends me a text message that was meant for her boyfriend. BWAAAAAA!

10.3 And for those of you who never knew, I'm the granddaughter of a wanted man!

Friday Matinee on Friday!!

That's right, I'm off to the movies. I was torn between Bride Wars and Gran Torino, but after hearing how low the ratings were for Bride Wars, and how high they were for Gran Torino, it was a no Brainer.


I love Clint Eastwood. I will report back later today.

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Oh....and THE PURSE! Never did I dream that my $10 purse from Ross would attract so much attention. Especially sitting next to Philip Johnny Bob, and barely in the photo.


I have more than my share of Coach, and Dooney Bourke purses. I happen to love a plain leather purse the most. OMG...who put those smudges on my phone?

This simple red leather purse is a Liz Claiborne that I picked up so cheap, and I can grab my sun glasses, lip gloss and gum without unsnapping it. My lunch fits nicely under all my other junk when I go to the movies too.

Now, for your listening pleasure.......play the little YouTube I posted below. I stole it from Funny Dog Stories. If you like dogs, you'll love this blog.

SOME POTPOURRI....
with a sprinkle of whine

Let me be honest. Most of the time I never let small irritants run off my back like water on ducks. But sometimes, even the small stuff makes me call for a major time out.

I'll start with my minor injury, which occurred last Friday, and just may turn into a long term career. First alert...when you run to find your ringing cell phone, don't thrust your hand forward if there is a solid object directly in front of you...like a wall. After an initial visit to the ER, where the doctor's diagnosis was "Beats me" , I had follow-up ex rays yesterday, and the general consensus was a double fracture to the pinkie finger..which seems to stretch all the way to my elbow. So they referred me to an Orthopedic professional...yep, that's what they called it. Another dose of icing anyone? My doctor also referred me to a sleep apnea specialist....saaaweeeet.

Next on the list is my jealousy of this cute little squirt.
The e-trade baby who hired a creepy clown with part of his windfall profits. Because it's not enough that his savvy trading far out did my Fidelity Funds, he rubbed poop in my face and got this!
Yeah, his own Blackberry. I know it's not my coveted 3G, but it sure beats the cheapo cell phone I currently use.

So, to make me feel better, and to remind me that others "have had it up to here" too.
Is this a hoot? Haven't you ever wanted to do something like this on your way out the door?
And this one makes you want to organize and gang up on the person who made everyone late.

I saved the icing on the cake, as it were, for last. I know, you're rolling your eyes wishing you never started reading this whine. But with all the airlines trimming the extras like seats meals or snacks, and charging to check your luggage, US Airways is also cutting out the free beverage service. I'm not talking about rum and coke, or bloody mary's...no, it's things like coffee, soda and WATER!

Now, I wouldn't mind if I could bring my own because I'm pretty fussy about my bottled water. I like AquaFina, period. The thing is, you can't bring liquids through security. That means you are forced to buy their beverages. I know some airports have places where you can buy food and drinks after you pass the security check-in, but not all airports.

So basically flying is more or less similar to traveling in a tin can....and need I remind you that I'm flying US Airways on my flight from Anchorage to OC? That would be right around 3,669 miles.

AERATE THIS


I haven’t had a traditional telephone at home in four years. I hesitated going totally wireless. All four of my kids and their families were long distance, so I use my cell phone. We all use the same company, so we don't have to use our minutes and we could talk forever, all over the country. The only time I used my home phone was to order pizza or call in sick at work. Heck, I could do that from my cell, and I could save almost $50 a month by pulling the plug…so I did.

The only things I missed were the solicitors. I was on the "don’t call or your ass is going to jail" list, but once in a while someone would call wanting to invite me to the Firemen’s Ball money . I used to ask them to hold while I got my checkbook, then I would put the phone down and continue doing whatever I was doing. After a while, I would here that high-pitched sound that reminded me that I really should act my age my phone was off the hook. I loved doing that….it’s the only thing I missed.

So now I get a few annoying email solicitations a week. Most of the junk email I get is easily recognizable, in my Junk folder, and very generic. Yesterday I got one that was different. It was from a lawn aeration company in Denver, CO.

Now, I live in an apartment in Central Texas. We have a lot of lawn here. Well kept, lush, green lawn, and it’s probably aerated because if it’s not, then it probably won't need it.

I’d like to share portions of the e-letter with you. Just for the record, I haven’t changed anything. I added some editorial comments…and cut out some of the redundant sales pitches to shorten it a bit, but the rest is real.

Hi Janice,
Yep, that’s me

I am the owner of Mile Hi Aeration. We are the company that aerates the lawn in the spring. We are scheduling your block for the middle or so of the month.
Huh? My block? the middle of the month? Okie Dokie.

Nothing is more important to the health of your lawn than spring lawn aeration.
I am still running the 1/2 price spring fertilizer special with the deep plug lawn aeration to my repeat customers only (DEEPEST PLUGS IN TOWN GUARANTEED)
You remember me? I’m a repeat? Lucky me.

Mile Hi is also offering LIQUID LAWN AERATION available to our residential customers. LIQUID LAWN AERATION has been used on golf courses and won't leave those messy plugs all over the grass.
Wow, liquid aeration in place of Air aeration? And no messy plugs…huh?

If you would like to schedule LIQUID LAWN AERATION CLICK HERE
If you would like to schedule DEEP PLUG AERATION CLICK HERE
If you would like to schedule any of our other services like: CLICK HERE
-AIR DUCT CLEANING
-WINDOW CLEANING
-CARPET CLEANING
As always, I greatly appreciate your continued business and look forward to seeing you soon.

Mile Hi
Ted

Metro Area - 303-778-XXXX
Colorado Springs - 719-578-XXXX
Sure, Ted……my continued business? Oh, and as usual, enjoy the drive down to my block next month….all the way from Denver!

The Company name is real. I did however remove the "click here" links and X out the last four digits of the phone numbers. I mean, I don't want my friends in California or Massachusetts calling Ted and taking all his good openings.