Feeling Nostalgic

I love this photo because it captures all my memories of family reunions. Growing up my mom planned and hosted the family reunions on both sides. She has been doing it for 25 years. Ahh the memories of those good old fashioned reunions. Everyone would bring potluck. We had homemade rootbeer and the slush machine from my Dad's work.

There were gunny-sack races, wheelbarrow races, egg tosses. Volleyball went on in the front yard and a ping-pong table was in the back. Most years my mom would hire entertainment. Over the years we had a magician, pony rides, a barber-shop quartet to name a few.

There was always a guess how many... in the jar. Tables were set up for chess, checkers, and kids crafts. Whenever anyone left we would have to make sure they got their "goodie bag"--adults included.

Lots of relatives and lots of fun memories!

My dad made the comment to me recently that whether they were blood relatives or in-laws it made no difference--my mom always took an interest in every family member and kept in touch with them.

After taking a few years off my mom was back at it again. This year's theme was "SHOES you this Day..." My girls were the only ones that remembered to bring a special shoe. They got prizes for the smallest, the prettiest, etc. With his American flag designed converse hightops, Brandon won a prize for the most patriotic. The reunion crowd has definitely dwindled over the last few years and the agenda was much more simplified but I think we all were glad for the opportunity to renew family bonds.

photos: the newest generation, my dad with his only other sibling, Kate, the traditional farewell dance, cousins representing each of the Pack siblings.

Carnie-val

According to the girls, the carnival was the most exciting thing that ever happened to our town. It sure looked fun as they set it up on Main Street. The girls BEGGED to go and so we took them. It lived up to their expectations. They each chose a couple of high-flying dizzying rides--if you count the ferris wheel. No one begged for more, no one puked, and no one asked for over-priced cotton candy so I felt like it was a good time!

Hooray for a little excitement close to home!

Can't Catch a Fly with Vinegar.

What is this-- a new post?? You'd think we'd been hibernating or something. Well, it's kind of like that when you spend the week holed up in your house for 10 days passing around colds, fevers, and coughs and never leaving except to get remedies at the store. When you're feeling miserable, you're head is stuffed, your lungs feel heavy, and you just want to breathe again, you get desperate to try anything!
I did some online searching for home remedies and came across a pretty cool website for alternative medicine: Earthclinic.com. Think amazon.com only instead of people reviewing products, they rate and review different natural remedies. Got joint pain? try cabbage leaves. Allergies? raspberries. Pretty awesome.
So, after reading 30 very convincing testimonials (out of 127) I was sure that apple cider vinegar would cure my sinus infection. I went to the health store and went hog wild! I bought of course the acv, along with some grapefruit seed extract to really knock the infection in the butt, some vitamin B12 for extra energy, and some peppermint oil for headaches. Yeah, they love me over there now.
I got home so ready to fix all my problems and so excited to write my own testimonial! I diluted the 2 T. acv with a cup of water just like everyone said and drank and drank. Suddenly I had a new problem: how to stop myself from throwing up?!
That stuff is DISGUSTING!!!!AAAACK. I tried again later in the day and still...couldn't do it. And people since the time of Hippocrates have been drinking this stuff everyday for the health benefits??? How?
The next day, I went to the Dr. who kindly gave me a prescription for easy to swallow, conveniently coated antibiotic capsules. I felt better within a few hours of taking them.
I am sure that I could have had a good experience going the natural cure route. I wanted to but dang it--how to get it down! Incidentally my doctor had never heard of using apple cider vinegar for sinuses. What kind of education are they getting in Med. school?
Oh well. What else can I use all that vinegar for: acne? sunburns? weight-loss? I remember one family reunion my sister sunburned her face. She lathered it with the stuff. We don't know if it helped because no one could even stand to be around her-- she truly stunketh.
I guess there's something to that old adage: Better to catch a fly with honey than with vinegar.
And this I heard the other day in a movie: "What's the matter with you? Did you drink vinegar for breakfast?!"
Yes, actually, I did! But I won't be doing it again until they come out with a nice easy to swallow capsule form.