Grams is Part of a SITSahood

 Besides being Friday the 13th, it's finally my SITS day. I've waited months for this, my moment in the sun. And being Friday the 13th, naturally, Blogger, the platform that hosts my blog, crashed two days ago. Not only does that mean that no one has been able to leave comments on my SITS day, but my SITS day post, which was all ready to post this morning has been lost in cyberspace until the last few minutes. Now that I've found it, here it is. Better late than never.

One of Grams all-time favorite movies is White Christmas. I love all of it, but this morning, the Haynes Sisters opening act is running through my head. Cue Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen.

Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters.
Never had to have a chaperone  "No, sir." I'm there to keep my eye on her
Caring, Sharing, Every little thing that we are wearing.
When a certain gentleman arrived from Rome, she wore the dress and I stayed home.
All kinds of weather we stick together, the same in the rain or sun.
Two diff'rent faces, but in tight places, we think and we act as one.
Those who've seen us know that not a thing could come between us.
Many men have tried to split us up but no one can.
Lord help the mister who comes between me and my sister
And Lord help the sister who comes between me and my man.

Grams learned early in life how important it is to have the support of your sisters. I grew up with three sisters and we've been through a lot together. I learned early that my sisters were there for me in a way that few others would ever be.

The Skelton Sisters - Grams, Kay, Bylinda & Jan

There is another group of women who have supported Grams since she started blogging almost two years ago. They are the SITS girls. SITS is the acronym for the Secret Is In The Support. This is a SITSahood of more than 8,000 women bloggers dedicated to supporting one another by leaving comments. Lots and lots of comments. But they're also so much more than that, they teach women all the tricks of the blogging trade, with participation in online classes, Bloggy Boot Camp, and tutorials. They are truly a "go-to" source of knowledge and know-how for women bloggers.

Every day the SITS girls feature a blogger who is a member of the community who has been an active participant in supporting other bloggers. I'm very excited that today is my day to be featured.

Welcome SITSas. I hope you'll stay a while and get to know me.

• I'm the proud Grams of two beautiful girls, Our Little Princess who is 2-years old and Baby Sister who is 1-month old. These babies light up my life like nothing else ever has.
• I'm a self-confessed Starbuck's junkie who will drive 23 miles for a latte and the atmosphere. 
• You might want to check out my reading list while you're here. 
• I'm also proud to have lost more than a hundred pounds after I had gastric bypass surgery and really did make a huge lifestyle change to get healthier. 
•  If you look around a little more you'll see that I also share my favorite recipes. I recommend Capellini with Shrimp, Peppers and Salami. It's quick, easy, and delicious.

I hope you enjoy your visit to Grams Made It. I promise that I will visit each and every one of you within the next few days. I'm up to my elbows in plans for hosting a high tea this weekend in honor of two of my neighbor girls who are graduating from high school, so it may take me a day or so to get to your place.

Book Review -- The Sombody Who by Katie Gates

Grams belongs to a world-wide group of mostly female bloggers known as SITS. There will be a lot more about the SITS girls in a future post. In a nutshell, SITS features a different blogger every day and members go to the featured blog and leave comments. It's all about supporting each other.

On March 15, freelance writer Katie Gates was the featured blogger. Shortly after I visited her blog and left my comment I received an email from Katie, which wasn't really surprising. In case you're a not a blogger and don't know, blog etiquette dictates that bloggers should respond to each comment they receive. Most of the time that's no big deal. If I get two or three comments on any post I consider that a success. But when you're the SITS featured blogger of the day, you will get hundreds of comments ... meaning, you're going to be a busy girl.

Not only did Katie respond to my comment, she visited my blog and looked around. In her response she took note of the fact that I'm am an avid reader. Then she asked if I would be interested in reviewing her book. Honestly, I almost said no. The thought that immediately went through my head was "What if I don't like it?" Then I remembered that the topic was Alzheimer's and dementia, and I was even more hesitant. I didn't share this with Katie, but, like so many others, I have personal experience with Alzheimer's. My husband's grandfather had Alzheimer's and my own mother had dementia the last several months of her life. I really didn't want to revisit either of those experiences.  But, avid reader that I am, I couldn't resist the opportunity to review a book by a writer that I had actually communicated with. So I agreed to review it and Katie sent me a copy. Even though I received the novel at no cost, I did not promise to write a favorable review.

The Somebody Who is Katie's debut novel. I expected that a novel about a family dealing with Alzheimer's and dementia would be sad and depressing ... a real downer. But it was not that at all. It was intriguing, uplifting and enjoyable.

Every day, Evelyn is dealing with her husband Davy's illness in the best way she can. She has learned that what works for Davy is sticking to a schedule and repetition and Davy has caregivers who help maintain that balance. Davy finds comfort in doing the same thing every day which includes a lot of sleeping in front of the television. Usually, Davy is not able to express himself and there are few signs that Davy is still in there. But, on occasion, the old Davy comes through. 

Evelyn seeks to keep herself busy and finds comfort by undertaking a project. The family's story is told through Evelyn's memories as she sorts through pieces of clothing that she will use to create a quilt. Each piece of clothing she chooses has a special sentiment and memory that goes along with it. Readers also learn that Evelyn and Davy's children each deal with their father's illness in their own way.

Evelyn's story evolves further as she begins to open herself up to new companionship outside of her marriage. Their daughter Joy is supportive.

"I completely understand that you are lonely," Joy begins, intently holding eye contact with her mother. "You've had one of the most awesome marriages I - or a lot of people in my generation - have ever witnessed. And in a way, that marriage is over. You're not divorced. Dad isn't dead. But, Dad is definitely absent."

But Evelyn's foray into companionship brings her and her family face-to-face with danger as late in the book a murder-mystery unfolds. I think that mystery adds just the right touch of creepiness to the story to hold the reader's interest.

Katie's writing style is quick and conversational and her characters are well developed. I felt like I really got to know several of the characters, especially Evelyn and Joy. She also does a great job of showing how different family members, and even caregivers, deal with Alzheimer's and dementia.

All the way through the book I was curious about the title and where it might have come from. I won't spoil it for the reader, and some of you may be able to figure it out, but I was really pleased with the way the story wrapped up and brought the title into focus.

I heartily recommend The Somebody Who. It shows that it is possible to deal with these difficult diseases with grace and aplomb and would be an excellent choice for a book club discussion.

The Cutest Little Brown Bear Ever

Grams volunteered to make a Halloween costume for Our Little Princess this year. Her Mom decided she should be a little brown bear. If you ask her what a bear says, she curls her fingers like claws and says "rowr!" I made it out of micro-fleece so it will double as a pair of winter pajamas.

I think she's the cutest little brown bear ever! And look at those beautiful big brown eyes.

 

Since they live in San Antonio, we weren't there to see her trick-or-treating for the first time. Her Mom reports that she was kind of mystified by the whole process. When a front door opened she would very softly say "trick or treat." And, anytime she saw kids in scary costumes, she would make about a 10-foot arc around them and grab firmly onto her Daddy's knees. I wish we had been there.

Instead, we went to a local production of the Rocky Horror Show. It was great fun. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow. I hope you had a great Halloween, too.

Today is the third and final day of the SITS Girls Halloween link-up. Participants in this link up have a chance to win a fabulous state-of-the-art Canon Rebel DSLR camera, so I'm participating. Today's assignment was to post about what we or our kids dressed up for this Halloween. As you can see, I wrote about our grand-daughter. This SITS girls is a "group of more than 7,000 women bloggers dedicated to supporting one another by leaving comments. Lots and lots of comments." 

Halloween Creative Crafts

The SITS Girls are hosting a Halloween link-up. Participants in this link up have a chance to win a fabulous state-of-the-art Canon Rebel DSLR camera, so I'm participating. Today's assignment is to post about something we made for Halloween. This SITS girls is a "group of more than 7,000 women bloggers dedicated to supporting one another by leaving comments. Lots and lots of comments." 

Grams and Grandad dropped out of the neighborhood Halloween festivities a few years ago. But I still like to stay in the spirit.

This year I made three things in keeping with the Halloween spirit. I've already posted directions for two of them, so I'm just going to re-post photos and link back in case you want to see how they were made.

First, I made a witch's hat into a wind sock for my front yard. If you want to see how it's done, click here. 

Then I made this edible centerpiece for the Valenta Family Reunion. This was very simple to make, anyone could do it. Click here for a list of supplies and directions.

The third thing I made was a Halloween costume for Our Little Princess, but you'll have to come back tomorrow for a picture of the cutest little brown bear ever! Happy haunting!

Back 2 Blogging Day Three

Today's B2B assignment is all about post titles. I've been asked to re-publish a post with a title that I'm particularly proud of and explain why. I've chosen The Truth About Texans. I think it's an effective title because it catches your attention and makes you want to find out what the truth might be.  Here it is in it's entirety.

A 1997 television commercial for Frost Bank, titled The Code, features a young boy standing in front of a corn field talking about what it means to grow up as a Texan. It goes something like this --

"I'll be as hearty of mind as I am of body. I'll be a straight shooter and a square dealer. My family name will be sacred and my word will be as good as any contract. I'll remember the Alamo. I'll stick by my friends and I'll eat more chicken fried steak."

Grams is proud to be a Texan. I was born in the piney woods of east Texas and have lived on the coastal plains of South Texas most of my life.

For a good part of my early life we lived with my granny in a little house that was described as being at the corner of plumb and nearly -- plumb out in the country and nearly in the creek. Now, Grams is a typical suburban housewife.

When you grow up in Texas you learn early about the Texas mystique. Every middle-school student in Texas is required to take a full semester of Texas History. And honestly, I should be embarrassed to tell you that I was an adult before I realized that everyone in the USA doesn't actually study Texas history. Imagine that!

Texas is where Colonel Travis drew a line in the sand before the battle of the Alamo. It's where "Remember Goliad" became the battle cry for freedom after Colonel Fannin and his men were massacred. Once a sovereign nation, Texas entered the union by treaty rather than by annexation. The dome of the Texas Capitol is the only state capitol that is taller than the dome of the United States Capitol.

And Texas is big. How big? In square miles, it's 268,601, second only to Alaska (which is at least partly ice). In population, there are an estimated 24,326,974 Texans, second only to California.

 Texas is so big that it has five distinct areas, each very different in ethnicity, culture, topography and climate. It's is the land of charming small towns, quiet back roads and three of the ten largest cities in the USA. There are places in East Texas where you would swear you were in the Old South. Driving across the Panhandle you might think you're in the high plains of Nebraska. And there's no place like the Texas Hill Country, where every Texan loves to go to float the river and get away from it all.

Texas has many more dubious distinctions. We're famous for counties where dead people cast votes in presidential elections. We own more guns than any other state in the union ... two for every man, woman and child. And it's legal to carry a concealed weapon, if you have permit. It's the home of Dealey Plaza where JFK was assassinated as well as the home of the Enron debacle. And, yes, George W. Bush is a Texan.

Texas is home to ranchers, roughnecks, astronauts and scientists. We've got NASA, the Riverwalk, the Dallas Cowboys, the San Antonio Spurs, Galveston and Padre Islands and the old Spanish Missions.

We have world-class medical centers and we lay claim to the best cancer treatment center in the world. Our universities are second to none. Almost one quarter of the oil produced in the U.S.A. comes from Texas. 

Everyone knows that the women of Dallas have their own style. And, those ladies down in Kingsville, home of the King Ranch, have a look of their own, too. Texas women are known for their big hair and their big hearts. Western wear is appropriate for Saturday night and Sunday morning. Cowboy boots can be worn by women and men with jeans, dresses or tuxedos.

High school football is our game of choice. There's not a better sports rivalry anywhere than the rivalry between the fighting Texas Aggies of Texas A&M University and the Longhorns of the University of Texas.

And our food is uniquely ours. We have our own kind of barbecue and we don't put beans in our chili. Tex-Mex is our brand of Mexican food. We like our steaks chicken fried. And, oh by the way, we drink our tea sweet with ice ... and we start drinking it when we're still in diapers.

Porch sitting is an art in Texas. There's nothing better than sitting on your porch watching a blue norther bring a bit of cool air after a long, hot Texas summer. And if you don't happen to have a porch, just pull up a folding chair in the garage and watch from there.

We're flag-waving patriots. Our kids still say the pledge of allegiance every morning in schools across our state. There are 23 major military installations in Texas and we love and support the men and women in uniform. We're proud to be Americans and we're proud to be Texans.


And, yes, we have our own way of saying things. We say "howdy" and "y'all." We might invite you to "come in and sit a spell" or tell you we were "just fixin' to" do something. If we don't believe what you're telling us we'll tell you "that dog won't hunt." We "run with the big dogs" and live in a place than can be "hotter than the hinges of hell." And if you ask for directions don't be surprised if they sound something like "turn left at the Dairy Queen and keep going until you get to the place that used to be a Wal-Mart." And a someone pretending to be something they're not might be referred to as a "drug store cowboy" or "all hat and no cattle."

Contrary to what you may have heard, all of us don't ride horses, wear boots or carry sidearms. Most Texans don't want to secede from the union. And, hey, some of us even voted for Obama. But hush, don't tell anyone, we don't want to spoil our image.

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Back 2 Blogging is presented by The SITS Girls and sponsored by Electrolux, Standards of Excellence, Westar Kitchen and Bath, and Florida Builder Appliances.

Back 2 Blogging Day Two

As I told you yesterday, this week I'm participating in a blogging exercise. Hopefully, by the end of the week I will have gained some new skills and some focus that will help improve my blog.

- What posts have you debated writing because the topic made you feel vulnerable? There are two kinds of topics that make me feel vulnerable. I debate writing about current events and giving political opinions and I don't usually write negative things about specific people, particularly not about my husband's family members. The second is not because I feel vulnerable, but because it would invade their privacy. Trust me, there are things I would like to get off my chest, but I know it just wouldn't be right.

- How do you feel when you publish a post that is important to you? When a post is important to me, I get excited and hopeful. I get that anticipatory feeling, hopeful that my readers will read and comment.

- How long does it take to write a post like that? Most of my posts take from 2-4 hours to write. On a few occasions, I have spent as much as an entire day crafting a post to make sure it says exactly what I want it to say. And, sometimes I decide that I should "sleep on it" before I publish it.

- What is stopping you from publishing a post that makes you vulnerable?  Unlike many other bloggers, my hesitation is not that I want to avoid controversy or worry about offending readers. I think what I think and you think what you think and that's really okay with me. Honestly, my hesitation is that I don't want to come across as stupid or uninformed. On the few occasions that I do write these posts, I try to check, check, check and double-check my facts.

The rest of today's assignment is to re-post one of the posts that I wish had gotten more exposure. This was hard for me because I think several of my posts were pretty darn good. As of today I've been blogging for a year and I've written 142 posts. So there were a lot to choose from. I started by reviewing all of them and narrowed my selection down to the five entries that I think are best. I did ultimately choose one, but it was tough.

I've decided to re-post I Learned A Few Things From Those Baptist Ladies. It's about how opportunities for women have changed within my lifetime. Here it is in its entirety.

Grams was born in 1954. That makes me a baby boomer. I grew up in the sixties and came of age in the seventies. Mine was pretty much the last generation of women who didn't really expect to work. While many of us went to college, we thought we would marry, have babies and be stay-at-home moms. That didn't work out for most of us. We ended up juggling full-time jobs along with our traditional roles as wives and mothers.

As a baby boomer, I had a front row seat to the events of the last half of the 20th Century. I was in first grade when John Kennedy was elected president. I was 9 years old when he was assassinated. I learned to take cover under my desk during the Cuban Missile Crisis and I was only 8 years old when Marilyn Munroe died. I attended segregated schools until I was 10. I was 13 when Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. I was 15 when Neil Armstrong took those first steps on the moon in the same year that all those "hippies" gathered at Woodstock. I was a senior in high school when the Israeli athletes were killed at the Munich Olympics. I watched as Watergate brought Richard Nixon's presidency to an early end. I remember when Saigon fell and the last marines left Vietnam. Burning bras and burning draft cards were beamed into my living room along with the race riots and anti-war protests of the sixties and my television set gave me a front row view.

Of all the changes that have taken place in my lifetime, in my humble opinion, the most important has been the changing role of women. The women of my mother's generation were the last of the old-fashioned "Mrs. Cleaver" type women who stayed home, made dinner and raised children. Today's young women don't realize that the opportunities they have were not available just a generation ago. They don't even have to think about it.

I'm definitely glad to have seen the liberation of women. Most women of my generation thought that if they did work for a few years it would be as a secretary, a nurse or a teacher. There were not a lot of other choices. Today's women can dream of being anything and can actually achieve those dreams. My daughter-in-law is a rig supervisor for a major oil company. She works on an oil rig in Canada where she supervises a crew of men. And if her pay and advancement in the company are any indication, she's damn good at it. Just a few years ago it would have been unheard of for any female to hold such a position. Yet she didn't even hesitate to go for the job she wanted.

I love to tell people that I was raised Southern Baptist, but I overcame it. Truth be told, I mostly say that to aggravate my mother, but religion is a topic for another day. What I want to say is that I learned some important things about how to be a woman from the ladies of the Baptist Church. And I worry that many of those traditional things are in danger of disappearing.

The ladies of the Baptist Church always took food to the house when someone died. They gave bridal and baby showers. They brought casseroles when someone was sick. They cleaned each others houses when one of them had a long-term illness. They hosted graduation teas. They babysat for each other and sat with sick parents. In short, they supported each other as only women can. I am afraid that these things are being lost in the brave new world of today's women. I'm even more concerned that these traditions are not being passed on to our daughters.

So next time you're invited to a bridal shower or baby shower, put on your Sunday best and take your daughter with you. When your neighbor has a new baby, take a casserole. When there's a death in the neighborhood, organize the neighbors to provide a meal. Host a tea for a girl you know who's graduating. Offer to babysit for a friend who needs a night out. Be there for other women and teach your daughters by your example.

With a lot of support from other women ... Grams made it. Let's make sure the next generation of women makes it too!

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Meet Thelma & Louise! Participants in the B2B exercise have the opportunity to win this a Turquoise Sky Washer and Dryer from Electrolux, valued at $4,000!! These lovely ladies will be given away thanks to sponsors Standards of Excellence, Westar Kitchen and Bath, and Florida Builder Appliances.

Back 2 Blogging Day One

This week Grams is participating in The SITS Girls 5-day exercise called Back 2 Blogging. The assignment for Day 1 is to re-publish my original blog entry and answer the following questions.

• How has your blog evolved since the beginning? 
• If you could go back to the beginning of your blog and change something about it would you? What would you change?

My original blog entry, published Monday, September 14, 2009, was titled Martha and Rachel Taught Me To Cook.

Wow! I didn't realize that my blog will be a year old tomorrow. My blog has evolved to include posts with recipes and instructions for crafting. And, I've been doing a series of posts called "The Women on My Walk" dedicated to women who have been influential in my life. I've recently added a semi-regular post called The Sunday Funnies where I share some of the hilarious things that I've experienced in real life.

If I had it to do over again, there isn't actually much I would change about my blog. I would have started with a post about blogging and what I was hoping to accomplish with my blog. But, honestly, I wasn't sure what I wanted then. I had been unemployed for almost a year and needed someone to talk to and something to do in the daytime. I guess I started blogging to stay sane. It's given me a place to say what I need to say from time time to time and to share stories and pictures with my friends and family. Those were things I needed.

The name of my blog is intended to be a play on words. "Grams Made It" is a reference to cooking, sewing, and crafting ... it's also my state of mind. I originally thought it would eventually evolve into an online store where I would sell hand-sewn baby items. I just haven't ever gotten around to that, partly because of the technicalities involved in running an on-line business and partly because I've gone back to work part time.

Technically speaking, this original post should have contained links to Rachel Ray and Martha Stewart web sites, both of which are valuable references for beginning cooks. A couple of photos would have been good too. I always think photos add interest and keep the eye moving down the page.

Here's the original post in it's entirety.

That's right. I've learned to cook. And I learned from watching daytime television mavens Martha Stewart and Rachel Ray.

When I lost my job at 52 years old, I had very little cooking experience. Seriously, I was the most spoiled working woman ever. My darling husband did all the cooking. I never had to do it, so I never learned.

In the early 90's when my kids where in high school and middle school, my father-in-law had a heart attack. This led to my husband staying several days at the hospital with him. I dutifully came home at night and attempted to make dinner, usually spaghetti sauce from a jar, etc. Anyway, on the third day when the kids got home from school they asked if I would take them to the hospital. I was very touched and thought to myself "How sweet is that ... they want to visit their grandfather." So I took them to the hospital. Upon arrival in the cardiac ICU waiting room they both made a beeline for their dad. The first thing I heard them say was "Dad, you have to come home. Mom's been cooking!" At that stage of my life, even opening a jar and cooking spaghetti was a challenge and I didn't know how to do anything else.

When I lost my job I spent many, many days just sitting in front of the television. Finally, after the shock wore off, I realized that the only right thing for me to do was to take over the running of the household. That meant learning to cook.

I watched Martha Stewart every day. Martha teaches proper technique. If you want to know how to do something right, watch Martha. What I learned from Rachel Ray is that anyone can do it. Rachel just jumps right in and does it. She doesn't worry about cutting everything to exactly the same shape or size. She'll tell you "Just run your knife through it and chop it up."

Basically, Martha taught me HOW to do it and Rachel made me realize that I COULD do it. Thanks Martha and Rachel!

Today when I say "Grams Made It" I may be talking about dinner.

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One of the advantages of participating in the B2B exercise is the opportunity to win Thelma & Louise, a Turquoise Sky Washer and Dryer from Electrolux, valued at $4,000!! These lovely ladies will be given away thanks to sponsors Standards of Excellence, Westar Kitchen and Bath, and Florida Builder Appliances.