Repurposing

I love that word ~
repurposing ~ to use or convert for use in another format or product.

I get flack for not doing more to take care of the environment (I'm wasteful in that I use paper towels and paper plates, and I use plastic utensils and disposable drink cups at parties, I probably only recycle most things because I’m forced to, and I have to admit that I really am guilty of being wasteful at times). But I think I do my part as far as repurposing. Instead of throwing a lot of things out I find another use for them. I’ll even take other folks cast-offs and put them to good use. So I think that by salvaging items from their trip to a landfill has got to be helping the environment a little bit anyway! I mean isn't repurposing a form of recycling?
I’m hoping my fondness for re-purposing is my small way of going green.

Here are some examples of my repurposing:

I use old baby lap pads as shelf liners in my bathroom.


I use a jewelry box in my kitchen to hold sweetener packets. (I know the paper from the sugar packets is wasteful, but I don't use sugar a lot except when baking and it's usually used up quickly then, I never use it in coffee, tea, or on cereal, so I only need it for guests, and if I buy a big canister it gets lumpy, no one wants to use it, and it ends up getting thrown out, so for me, packets are less economically wasteful).



I use empty maple syrup bottles as vases.


I use empty honey jars and cookie jars to house beach glass.


I use an old planter holder in my kitchen to hold breads and biscuits.


I have an old floor lamp that Ray has now repurposed as a planter (well, it’s still kind of sad looking, but the flowers are just getting started, I’ll take another picture in a few weeks to post, maybe it won’t be so pathetic looking by then, Ray thinks it looks like a bird's nest right now.).


My outdoor sink was once in a friend’s kitchen and when she was doing over her kitchen the sink was slated for the dumpster if I didn't want it (didn't want it??! Of course I wanted it, I've been coveting this sink for over eighteen years!). It is now used for quick wash-ups outside, it's used as a potting table, and it's used as a bar for parties and barbecues. And the skirt under the sink was once part of a shower curtain that I used in my bathroom. Oh! And as you can see, the sink is used as a plant stand sometimes!

Ray and I rescued this little table from a neighbor’s garbage pile, it now sits in our back room.




I also repurpose other things but I don’t have any pictures to go with these examples. I use empty egg cartons and plastic trays from chocolates to hold jewelry and buttons and safety pins in dresser drawers (a tip I learned from my Mom). I use cardboard coffee cup holders/trays to hold paint pots for the grandkids, and I’m also going to use them in some craft projects for the kids this summer. I use old cans as pen/pencil holders. I use empty water jugs and orange juice jugs as watering cans. I use old cookie tins to hold crayons and small toys for the grandkids.
We also have all those reusable shopping bags from IKEA, and also many other canvas shopping bags (unfortunately Ray and I are both so forgetful and we almost never have those environmentally friendly bags with us when we go shopping so we either have to be wasteful with our money and buy even more of these bags, or we have to be environmentally UNfriendly and use plastic).
Okay, so I’m not going to win any awards for being ‘green’, but I don’t think I’m the most wasteful person in the world either.

A Little Gift For Diana ~ Beaches!

Diana (her blog is "Welcome To My World") has been saying she'd like to live by the sea. And she once asked me to post any pictures I might have of the shore.
We go to the beach a lot during the summer, and while I'm not really a sun-worshiper, I do enjoy the beach and I do enjoy sitting in the sun (all covered up for protection though), and I love walking either along the shore or walking the boardwalk, and Ray likes fishing with his family (I'm not so fond of fishing, but I like to sit on the shore with a good book and read while they all do the fishing), so we do go to the beach quite a bit.
Every weekend now that we have planned on going to the beach this year, either the weather hasn't been cooperating or other things have come up, so I haven't been able to get any pictures yet this year for Diana other than our Rhode Island trip.
So I'm going to post some pictures for her from previous trips to the beaches near us and from our trip to Myrtle Beach this past March (we went with Ray's brother Donald and his sister Susie. Ray and Donald were going on a little golf vacation for Ray's birthday, and I made Susie tag along so I could have some company).

On Ray's birthday Donald got up really early and made a Happy Birthday sign in the sand for Ray (this picture was taken from our balcony):



Ray said he wanted to get a picture of Donald and Susie down by the Birthday sign so they went down to comply. Of course it was just an evil plan drummed up by the brothers. Donald had some cereal that he was going to throw to the seagulls, but he didn't warn Susie, you can see her running away in one of the pictures when the birds swoop down for the food. (Idiots! Oh, sorry, Marcy, is that considered being a 'potty mouth'? Sometimes I just can't help it with those two guys!)
(Anyone remember "The Birds of Alfred Hitchcock"? That's what it reminds me of, especially the shot of Susie running away!)

These next pictures were taken from our balcony. We didn't have great weather that whole trip, I think maybe only one day of full sun, and it was cold, but we had a great time anyway!


The three of them liked leaning over the railing to look down at the swimming pools below. I have a fear of heights and did not do that at all!



This next one Ray took of Donald and me in the room, the guys had already finished playing four hours of golf, and I was still in my pajamas lazing around and Susie was still snoozing away! Ahh! That was the life!

Another shot from the balcony:


This one was taken by a beach near us last October when Ray and Donald were fishing. I forget which beach it was (maybe Fire Island or Jones Beach Island?), but it's great because you can drive your car right on the sand up to the waterfront. I only go in the summer though, it's too cold for me to sit out there for hours and hours!

Here are some pictures taken last summer at Jones Beach on Long Island (about a half-hour drive from our home).
Ray and Jayden making sandcastles:

There was a big sand hill there that Jayden loved climbing up on and sliding down over and over again:



Sand and shoreline, Diana, as far as the eye can see!

These next pictures were taken in October at Baiting Hollow, and at Long Beach, and at Short Beach, all on Long Island, NY, they are about an hour drive away from our home. Every year Ray, his brother Donald, and his sister Susie take a trip out to Calverton Cemetery on their Dad's birthday, and then they go to the beaches they used to summer at as kids. Ray's family had a nice little summer bungalow on Long Island for many years until his parents retired to Florida.




I also have more pictures taken at Captree Beach (fishing from the piers there and also fishing from the shore) and pictures at a few other beaches near us but unfortunately I can't find them now. And I have a few pictures of Donald dressing up like Carmen Miranda with a scarf he found on the beach, but unfortunately (or maybe FORTUNATELY) I can't locate them either. And I have some pictures somewhere of trips to Florida beaches and trips to Cape May, New Jersey, but again, they are lost on this computer somewhere.
Anyway, Diana, now you've had a glimpse of northeast beaches and southeast beaches, I hope you enjoyed, and when we get to the beach this year I'll be sure to post some more for you!

A Very Happy Anniversary!

Ray is five years cancer-free today. Five years is supposed to be the "magic" number, we should be celebrating reaching the "now-we-can-breathe-a-sigh-of-relief-we’ve-conquered-cancer" goal.
But I’ve read recently the general term used most often for melanoma is NED (no evidence of disease). Melanoma doesn't usually have a "5 years out and you're cured" attached to it. Unfortunately melanoma can return after many, many years. You can consider yourself NED (or cancer free) after your surgeon performs a wide excision, that is you can consider yourself cancer free until something shows up and proves you wrong. The key to this disease is to be vigilant, but not paranoid. Watch any moles for change, practice sun safety, go for LOTS of different testing throughout the year, plus regular visits to LOTS of different doctors and GO ON LIVING!
And that’s exactly what Ray does.

Ray’s had a few small moles removed, but the BIG one, the scary one, the REALLY BAD kind of Melanoma (is any kind of skin cancer good?) has now been gone five years and it was replaced by a big divot in his back. I love that divot, I love that scar, I love that hole in his back, for when the surgeon created that cavity he created a lifeline for us. Most days it’s easy for Ray and myself to forget that we had to contend with any of this but then something will happen to bring it to the forefront. The doctor finds another suspicious growth, a coworker mentions they lost a loved one to skin cancer, and a few years ago Ray tried to add to his life insurance and he was turned down because of his diagnosis. The insurance agent asked Ray if he ever had skin cancer and Ray answered honestly that yes he did have skin cancer. The agent then asked, “But not the bad kind, right?” And Ray answered honestly again that yes, it was the bad kind. The agent then asked for the phone number of Ray’s oncologist and he said he was sure it would be fine, he would just call the doctor as a matter of routine and he’d get back to Ray, he assured Ray that he didn't think there would be any problem with Ray getting more life insurance. He got back to Ray, but it wasn’t fine, it turns out there was a problem, Ray was turned down for any more life insurance as he was deemed too high-risk.
But we know how Blessed we are. And we are thankful to God for His many Gifts to us.
And I think five years cancer-free, or five years ‘no evidence of disease’ is one of the very big Gifts we have to be thankful for.
It is indeed a very Happy Anniversary for us!

(Notice I keep saying "we" and "us" in this post when it is Ray that was diagnosed with skin cancer and not me. I know everything is not 'all about ME', but while spouses of cancer patients might not have to go through any testing, surgery, or treatments, the diagnosis is just as horrifying to us, the fear that grips us is just as real, each subsequent test and doctor visit just as nerve-wracking, and each clean report just as joyful. So, yes, even though I know this is not all about me, I do consider spouses of those that survive cancer as cancer survivors too, just as I consider those husbands and wives devastated by the loss of a spouse to cancer [or anyone who has lost a loved one to cancer] as cancer victims, hence my use of "we/us". Plus, we've been a team for over thirty-eight years now, whatever trials I go through, Ray is there from start to finish alongside me, and what he goes through, I walk by his side right along with him.)

The Model And The Photographer

The other morning my daughter Ellie treated us to bagels and muffins for breakfast (she actually gets up early every Saturday morning and makes a trip to the local Dunkin' Donuts to retrieve these goodies for us, and she's usually back home before the rest of us even arise). I usually protest that it's not a very healthy breakfast for any of us and I lament how we're all going to get fatter, but that doesn't stop me from indulging every week!
This past Saturday my grandson Jayden, my daughter Ellie, and myself decided to eat our not-so-healthy breakfast outside because the weather was perfect. My husband was golfing and Jayden's Mommy (Katie) decided she'd rather not join us. So the three of us were settled outside for the morning feast. I decided to get the camera so that Grandpa and Mommy wouldn't have to miss out.

I started clicking away and at first I got this:



And I got this:




But then Jayden had just about enough of Grandma playing photographer and I got this:


I said to him, "Jayden, come on, can't you smile and pose nice for your old Grandma?"

In response I got, "Okay, Umma, you asked for it!"
And I got this:



And I got this:



A few days before that Jayden wanted to take some pictures, the camera is big, heavy, and expensive so I usually make sure to put the camera strap over his shoulders and I help him snap the pictures. This time he wanted to do it all by himself. "I can do it, I can do it, Umma, you'll see."

Well, at first he aimed a little too low and we got this:




Then he aimed a little too high and we got this:


Then he snapped what I thought were acceptably centered pictures:



But Jayden spotted a problem with one of his subjects. "Umma, she's not smiling!"

Okay, Grandma would go to work on getting Mia to smile.
And we got this:



"Okay, Jayden, that's enough now, you took a lot of pictures."

Surely he was satisfied?
"NO! I didn't want you in the picture, Umma, I only wanted her!"
(Grrrrrrr!!)
"And shape her like an 'L'."
(Huh?????)
"Jayden, how can I shape her like an 'L'?!"

Jayden poses himself with his arm straight out and says, "Like this!"

Okay, I pose Mia with her arm straight out according to Jayden's instructions on how to shape her like an 'L'.
And we got this:

To which Jayden said, "That's perfect!"

Eureka!!