Friday, October 27, 2006


a long nap for sunday....

As this weekend comes to a close, so will I. Plans have been fit into the schedule to include a nice nap for Sunday, as Saturday will be filled with a big birthday party bash for Poppa.... hubby's Dad. He turns 80 in a few days, and the family cannot get away with the customary cake and candles. 80 is a big number.... and only your imagination can wonder what this man has seen during that time.

He was born in the city of Atlanta, and saw it grow over the years. At the time of the premier of Gone With The Wind, in 1939, Poppa had pretty much a front row seat to the gala the city threw for the stars of the movie. Poppa was also around to witness the Winecoff Hotel fire in 1946, that took 119 lives. It was the worst hotel fire of it's time. He actually witnessed people leaping to their death, as the hotel was not up to fire code standards, and did not display any fire escapes for people to flee on. When you witness something like that, I'm sure it stays with you for a lifetime.

Poppa worked as a bread man all his life, and it wasn't unknown for him to bring home bags of bear claws, ho-ho's, cinnamon rolls, loaves of bread, and other delectable goodies for the family to enjoy. In the late 1970's, Poppa transferred to Ft. Payne, Alabama, and took an administrative position with Earth Grains Bakery. Since they had a nice plant, and he was once again surrounded by country, it appealed to him. By this time, hubby had already graduated from High School, and decided to stay in Atlanta instead. He loved Atlanta... it was his home, and always has been, and didn't see the need to move up there. Besides, hubby is to "citified" for that much country living.

Poppa finally retired from the field some years back. It was time for him to do some traveling, and he took full advantage of the US map to explore areas he and my Mother-in-law weren't able to do when they had young children (five to be exact). Trips to Alaska, New England, the Grand Canyon, and many parts unknown were always showing up in our mailbox in the form of a postcard... and I was glad to see they were smart about their money, and not saving it for anyone to fight over long after they were gone. Spend, Go, See!, I would tell them.... you deserve this! You've worked hard all these years, now is the time for you to enjoy. And they did. Of course, I would miss the bags of goodies he used to bring to us, but he still had some clout with the bakery, and was able to land a bag or two whenever we took trips up to Alabama to visit them. The plant is now closed, and the bags have ceased.... much to the happiness of my hips, although not my sweet-tooth.

When we took our little excursion to the Smokies back at the end of August, we took Poppa, my Mother-in-law, and brother and sister-in-law out to dinner in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. After dinner, we walked around to scout the shops (and there are many of them.... they don't call it Myrtle Beach of the mountains for nothing). I walked with Poppa while everyone else paired off. I noticed that he walked a bit slower, more hunched over, but with a will that was a strong as any young man. He kept assuring us that he was keeping up... and no, he wasn't tired at all... but the first chance we came upon a bench, he made good use of it. His wit is still there, as is his knowledge of cars and knives. He can tell a good story, and keep up the the rest of the family when it comes to jibs and jabs at each other in fun. He is a good man, faithful husband, and proud Grandfather to eight grandchildren who adore him. He deserves more than a cake and candles for his 80th year..... he deserves a party worthy of Atlanta's finest caterer.

And Sunday..... well after I successfully get those houseplants off the porch, cleaned and spiffed up for indoors (minus all those pesky spiders that like to hide out in the leaves), I plan to put my already tired feet up and read the paper.... or watch movies.... or nap.... or whatever. My busy season has already started, I'll need every bit of feet-up time I can get.

Have a great weekend everybody... and remember to set your clocks BACK an hour Saturday night.

12 Comments:

Blogger wes said...

Sounds like a great guy! :)

I love listening to my grandparents talk about how things "use to be", and how it was so much better back then. That kind of stuff fasinates me. They have such good stories to tell. :)

Oh, and you people with your crazy clock changing. :p

7:01 PM  
Blogger awareness said...

Ellen......Have a wonderful time. I want to know how you decided to decorate etc....... :)

Wish Poppa a big happy birthday from me.........and tell him that it's time he and your mom in law visit the Maritimes! Are they still travelling as much?

8:20 PM  
Blogger Snaggle Tooth said...

Just think, the world will know about Poppie's big 8-Oh day! (on the blog here) What an accomplishment, n still up n around! Good for him-
Happy Day to you all!

I like the more time before work, but hate leaving later! Oh well! I just hope they don't change the work-timer clock back so I lose an hour's pay... (I'll be there).

Happy toes-up week's-end for you also!

11:30 PM  
Blogger Skye said...

"Happy Birthday Poppa" !!! I always enjoyed my Big Mamma telling us her stories. Gatlinburg, oh lordy I beginng to miss my Smokie Mt. home. Have a great time and are your pesky spiders white with detailed weebs, these guys are driving me nuts. I'm convinced that aren't native to Ca. Ok, get that rest.

1:50 PM  
Blogger The Harbour of Ourselves said...

bugger! guess who forgot about the clocks and just turned up for his sunday morning eucharist way too early!? - feeling tired all of a sudden

2:24 AM  
Blogger Saur♥Kraut said...

what a wonderful, interesting guy! It makes me miss my grandparents, all of whom were very instrumental in my life. Have a great time, throw a fantastic bash!

7:03 AM  
Blogger Rainbow dreams said...

Have a great weekend, enjoy the celebrations and the relax afterwards.

Thanks for the reminder about the clocks - for once we got it right :-)

11:13 AM  
Blogger Kelly said...

We have been getting TONS of butterflys around here lately. For some reason they keep trying to commit suicide on my windshield!

1:50 PM  
Blogger X said...

He sounds awesome...hope the bash was as well! :) And I hope you had time for the nap...they are always good! :)

3:52 PM  
Blogger john said...

wonderful abt. wonderful man . i'm sure your kids look forward to seeing their grampa everytime!

10:29 PM  
Blogger Saur♥Kraut said...

Happy Halloween! Today I posted a true ghost story that happened to me over 13 years ago. Stop on over! I think you'll be intrigued. ;o)

10:09 AM  
Blogger Ellen said...

wes~
Poppa is a great guy. He called me Sunday to thank me for all the work I had done for the party and told me that he was indeed very rich and grateful for all the people in his life.

And the clock thing.... I agree, except I do like this one rather than the one in the Spring. I really do feel like I've gained an extra hour in the morning.... but that will fade fast.

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awareness~
The decorating went well. The first thing I asked my sister-in-law when I got to her house was how she planned to set things up. She told me I had total control to do it anyway I saw fit... so I did. She didn't expect me to move and shift things around, but came to love the effect when it was done. We even returned everything to it's original spot when the party was over... which she was surprised about. She boasted to everyone that I had handled most of the work, but she did her share, as well as my other sister-in-laws. One brother-in-law even set up a picture board depicting the life of Poppa... and this was a nice surprise for all of us.

As far as traveling... hubby would rather Poppa not drive too much anymore. His instincts and reaction times are not what they once were. They don't travel as much as they once did, and have even stopped going to Florida for the first month of the year. I'm sure they would love the Maritimes, as they have had a good time everywhere else they've gone.

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snaggle~
Yeah, the good thing about Poppa is that he hasn't lost his capabilities reaching his older age. He still gets around nicely, if not a little slower. Not like my Dad who was in a nursing home at a younger old age.

I enjoy this time change better than Spring's.... I really do feel like I get that extra hour in the morning... however, I wake up at 4 AM instead of 5 AM, which gives me thinking time before the real day starts.

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skye~
Aren't the stories neat? Here they had nothing of the technology we have of today, yet they found ways to be occupied all the time. Good for Poppa to be so interested in cars... it rubbed off on hubby, which makes him handy in that area also.

Those spiders had a reprieve, as I got into doing yard work, and setting up a Halloween display rather than tending to the housplants. Since it is still warm here during the day and hasn't gone down to freezing at night, I've let them stay on the back porch for now. I really must get to them soon though.

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harbor~
I can't blame you for the tired feeling, and personally can't see why we don't do away with the whole concept of daylight savings. It really serves no purpose anymore.

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saur~
In my conversation with Poppa on Sunday, he thanked me for everything, and I told him it was my pleasure to do what little we did. I told hubby later that I have gotten to the point in my career where I am getting a little tired of working parties... but this one, this one I was really looking forward to. It's a good thing I have a larger vehile, as it was packed with all the decorations, food, and incidentals needed to make it the way I had envisioned it to be. It was a wonderful bash! Loads of compliments from everyone how nicely decorated it was... and not that typical "birthday" theme either.

I went over to read your ghost story.... my goodness! The rats alone would have had me at a hotel till they were all gone, and the "eyes" would have frightened me to death. I'm almost surprised you didn't have saurkid right then and there.

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rainbow dreams~
Thanks. I did get a little rest on Sunday, but not a whole lot. Hubby and I did a few errands, set up the Halloween decorations in the yard, and went shopping a bit.
I came home in the afternoon and stuck a roast in the oven, and layed down for awhile as it was cooking. The day was perfectly warm.

I didn't know that you change clocks in the UK. I always thought it was a silly American thing.

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myutopia~
I wonder where all the butterflies are coming from. It is odd that you would have so many. Perhaps late bloomers?

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K.~
Yes, all went very well. It was the best bash ever. I did take some time on Monday to rest and take a nap or two. Since we only had one small catering, the partners handled it, and I stayed by the phone for incoming calls.
This was one day when the phone hardly rang, so a nap was in cards for me.

************

john~
I only have one child, but my in-laws all have two or three. They really adore their Grandpa, as he does them.

1:11 PM  

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