A Preteen Moment

by Sharon O | Aug 23, 2011 | Uncategorized

Another funny moment in the lives of the O family.
This story has been on my mind after realizing our grand daughter Faith is heading into junior high.
I am sure I have mentioned she will be in 7th grade.
My mind can’t grasp the idea of her in junior high.
She is tiny in comparison to others her age and she is very beautiful.
I still am in complete shock she is that old already.
I think this grandma will be in denial for a while.
Her mom was just as pretty when she was the same age.
Perfect skin and hair and really not needing additional help when it came to makeup.
Which brings me to todays story:
When my daughter was in junior high either 6th grade or 7th grade not sure of my memory and her age involved.
Her dad and I had made a decision she was not wearing makeup till she was ready as far as ‘we’ were concerned most likely close to ages 13 or 14. 
I had come home from work early one day and surprised her by accident.
As a mom this is a wonderful opportunity to really find what is happening with your half grown children.
When they were growing up I often worked on the element of surprise.
For instance if they said “when are you coming home?”
I would say in general, “oh in just a few hours.”
That way there was no opportunity for sneaking or perhaps doing what they were not supposed to do unless one was very wise in hiding or sneaking.
This particular day I had come home early and someone was not so wise because I was not expected to be home yet.

Walking into the front door of the house I noticed make up on my daughters face.
Now you have to picture this because pre-teen girls do not put on makeup the way one should put it on.
The ideal way is to have it on so no one can really tell.
That was not our reality on this day.
I said to her, “Why do you have make up on?”
The reply to me, “I don’t.”
Um… the closer I looked yes there was makeup on her face.
I said again, “Where did you get the make up?”
The reply to me, “What makeup?”
I said to her, “Let’s humor me and go into the bathroom and look into the mirror… perhaps I am wrong. The light is better in there let’s go look together.”
We walked to the bathroom together and I wondered what she was thinking or what she would do once she saw herself in the mirror.
Turning the bathroom light on:
GASP…
SHOCK…
complete disbelief… and horror…came from my daughter.
Really she should have won an award for dramatic interpretation.
The reply again to me as she grasped the truth,
“HOW DID I GET MAKE UP ON MY FACE?”
Now the conversation was moving in a new direction.
I said to her, “You really don’t know where this came from?”
“No honest mom I don’t” was the reply to me.
I calmly walked over to the phone and started to dial.
She followed me into the kitchen asking, “who are you calling?”
I told her I was calling the principle of the school because someone was holding young girls down and putting make up on their faces and the principle needs to catch them as soon as possible since they were forcing young girls against their will.
She immediately said to me, “No you can’t do that.”
My reply to her… “WHY NOT?” as I was beginning to lose my patience.
She immediately did a confession and said her friends put make up on her face and yes she did know who they were.
After a long discussion about lying and also following after others when you know the rules.
The topic was closed and I made it very clear she was in trouble.
She washed her face and we never saw make up on her again.
(At least I never caught it.)
I enjoy it now when she calls me with her three daughters and says to me, “mom I just had a dejavu moment’ and we laugh about the event as she tells me the story.
Mom’s pray for pay back and God has heard my prayers many times.
I love being a grandma…
I just smile and listen and say to myself ‘we have been here before.’

The County Fair

by Sharon O | Aug 20, 2011 | Uncategorized

Our grand daughter Faith showed her rabbit at the county fair.
She looks so tiny.
She was in the intermediate division for the older group of 4-H kids and she is going into seventh grade in just a few weeks.
Grandma is proud.
I wasn’t able to watch her actually show the rabbit, the first time was at 1:00 then they moved it to 3:00 then they moved it to 5:00 because she was in the older class of kids. I had taken a two year old with me and it was a long day for her and her mom was waiting for her baby to get home.  So we had to leave before the actual ‘presentation’ but my daughter sent me a picture.

Our Faith Elizabeth ended up in the top 12 for her class.
That is awesome!
She is in the brown shirt between others who are much taller than herself this is her second year of showing rabbits.
Last year her rabbit took best of show. Good Job!

Pre-school Story

by Sharon O | Aug 17, 2011 | Uncategorized

The last few blogs have been much different than my average way of writing.
Just wanted to share a humorous side of my life and my family often teases me about the ‘incidences’ I have had.

There is one more that took place when my grand daughter Faith was in pre-school.
I pulled out of our road to take her to school and saw a car with flashing lights behind me.
I slowed down then pulled over thinking it was going to go around me and head off to wherever the officer was going. Um… no that did not happen. The officer slowed down and pulled in right behind me.
Faith was upset because we were already a bit late as I usually rush to anywhere I am going and she was anxious to get to school that day.
So the officer got out of his car and came to my window.
The following dialogue took place:
“Do you know why I pulled you over?” 
{It always seems a bit odd to me why they ask that question. You know they are not wanting to visit with you}
“Well I am not sure” was my reply.
The officer said, “Did you realize you pulled out in front of me?”
I was thinking to myself, I would never do that on purpose and I didn’t see an officer he must have been hiding somewhere.
At this point in time is where Faith joins in to the discussion.
She said to the officer from the backseat of the car and while sitting in her car seat, “You are making me late for school.”
He said to her, “I need to talk to your mom for a minute then you can go to school.”
I said to him, “I am her grandma and she goes to preschool down the road.”
She said to him again, “I need to go to school.” 
I politely answered her in my best grandma voice, “Let’s let the officer talk to us ok?”
She insisted, “Well he is making me late and I don’t want to be late.”
I am squirming in my drivers seat wondering what kind of ticket I might be receiving.
The officer leaned into the window and said, “I will let you go with a warning but next time you need to drive more carefully especially with a grand daughter in the car.”
Handing me my drivers license he walked back to his car and I waited until he drove away.
Faith went to school that day with a big story about how her grandma got stopped by a police officer in uniform and he almost gave her a ticket. 
I think it paid that day to have a cute little one with me.
In case you are wondering yes I do look for a hidden police cars anytime I drive.
It is amazing where they find to hide.

Hope you have enjoyed a bit of humor I promise there will be more ‘serious’ writing coming. 
This was just a few funny moments from the life and times of this blog writer.
I hope it has helped you to get to know me better.

Binoculars and wild imagination

by Sharon O | Aug 14, 2011 | Uncategorized

The next event that happened with the local police department was just a few weeks after the night incident.

My best friend who had recently gotten married after being widowed for almost seven years, asked me to pick up her mail out of her mail box while they were on a short vacation.
I said, “sure I can do that I have done it before, no problem.”  

She just lives about a quarter mile from me and it was easy to drive by quickly and pick her mail up. When they got home I gave it all to them. Easy thing to do for a friend, I thought it was no issue.

Only this time the neighbor… looked through her window and saw me at the mail box taking mail out then driving away.
She immediately wrote down my license plate and yes you guessed it she called the police department and told them I was stealing mail out of her neighbors mail box.
So one more time we get a knock on the front door and two officers were there asking my husband if the white car in our driveway was mine. 
My husband said, “yes why are you asking?”
Well they said they received a report of mail theft and had to come over and check it out.   
My husband explained that she was my best friend and I was only helping her out.

I could not believe the nosy neighbor actually called the police and they were at my door again in less than a few weeks. I am sure they were really beginning to wonder who Officer O’s mom really was.
Another funny moment in the life and small town of Newberg, Oregon.

Night Visitors

by Sharon O | Aug 13, 2011 | Uncategorized

The next funny moment with police officers happened just a few months after the last incident.

One night I was sitting in our family room watching a detective show.

I like criminal minds or NCIS or other detective shows like documentaries as long as they are not too ‘gruesome’ in details.
This particular night I was in my bathrobe, and it was late around 10:30-11:00 and enjoying a glass of wine and relaxing before bed.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door.
I could not imagine who would be visiting this time of night.
Looking out the little hole in my door I noticed officers in uniform standing on the step.

I opened the door and saw one of them over by my garage and two of them standing before me as I greeted them in my bathrobe.
I asked them, “Can I help you?”
They said to me, “Mam we think someone is in your home and we are here to see what is going on inside your house and make sure you are safe.”
I was shocked by what I heard because I knew it was only me and my cat and my husband who had gone to bed earlier.

They continued, “There was a 911 call from your home and we have been monitoring your open phone line and listening to conversations and we feel you are in danger perhaps there is an intruder in there with you.”
I was still shocked.
If there was an intruder wouldn’t I know it? asking myself who on earth would dial 911?
I said to them, “I will be right back” as I shut the front door leaving them standing there waiting for the door to open again and not knowing if I really had a bad guy guiding my every move.
I rushed upstairs as fast as my slippers and bathrobe would let me, and woke up my husband asking him. “Did you call 911?”  He was asleep and answered me in a groggy tone, “why would he do that?” he asked me, “what was going on” and I told him “we had police at our door.” Then I rushed back downstairs to open the door again this time I found all three officers standing there requesting to come in to our home.
(In case this ever happens to you it is NOT good advise to shut a door on any officer of the law especially if they think you might be in danger and especially if you have more than one.)
Of course by this time my husband was awake and downstairs inviting all officers in and we chatted about what might have happened.
The phone was set on speed dial and apparently it fell or was knocked into or whatever and it dialed 911. There was no answer on my end of the phone of course because I didn’t know the police were there. They listened to part of the show on tv and apparently thought it was a real situation.

After chatting with them (I was still in my bathrobe) and after they realized ‘we’ were related to our son who worked at the station they left. My husband went back to bed
and I went back to my much needed glass of wine.

As I sat down in my chair and thought about what just took place in the last half hour I wondered what they really heard on that phone call and how long had they been listening?
Was I talking to myself??
or talking to my cat??
What on earth did they hear on the show to cause such a concern and what was I was watching?
Sure hope that never happens again.

Also I wondered what they said to each other as they left our house and what they wrote in the police report.
It must have been very interesting.
The next day I went into my work and I just had to share with anyone who would listen
to another ‘adventure’ in the little home town of Newberg, Oregon.

A bit of Humor

by Sharon O | Aug 11, 2011 | Uncategorized

I thought I would share a bit of humor today.
My son is a police officer and he works at the station down town where we live. He enjoys his job and enjoys the satisfaction of helping others and recently worked up to a Sergeant position. His normal job is in a district attorneys office the police job is for continual training and to add to his resume. I am sure it is very interesting at times for him when his mother has had a few ‘moments’ with the officers of the law in the area.
Not intentionally of course I just happened to get in situations where we meet on occasion. Sometimes it is with someone he knows other times like this story he didn’t know them.

The first funny moment was during a construction period not far from the new addition to our town called the Allison Inn. The road crews were making a round about to make traffic easier to deal with.

and the drivers slow down and yield depending on the locations of where they are going. 

Now my sister noticed it first and then she quietly said, “Are you going the right way?”
I realized I was in error and tried to get where I was supposed to be only I ended up high centered on the edge of the concrete barrier  with one tire up and one tire down and I was stuck. Afraid to gun the engine and get unstuck
I stayed there a few minutes to re-think my problem.
In the mean time we notice some headlights coming my way as it was dusk and night was quickly coming upon us. The headlights were in my lane since I was in their lane. It was a bit frustrating to realize how stuck I was and cars were beginning to line up on the other side wanting to go past me. About the time I realized I was not able to move my car forward or backward.

I noticed the first car that showed up in front of me was a sheriffs cars with headlights on top. When the officer stopped his car he opened his door and stepped out staying behind his door and said to me in a loud voice, “Get off the road… back up and get off the road. You are blocking traffic.”  Using his bull horn to get my attention.
If you have ever heard one of those they are loud and somewhat unnerving.
Especially when someone is armed and in uniform telling you to move and get off of the road. I wasn’t sure what to do other than what he said and I was a bit afraid to move my car and hurt it. I was in quite a predicament and not sure of my next move.

Now you would have thought he could have come over to help me or to see if I was ok or to just talk quietly instead of using the mega bull horn with people watching. NO he told me to move in a very loud way and with force in his voice. “Get off the road you are blocking traffic.”
I WAS STUCK couldn’t he see that?
After having the instructions to get off the road given to me by an officer of the law I told my sister to hang on.
We were getting out of there.
I pressed my foot on the pedal of my car and tried to back up then I tried to go forward and finally dropped onto the road and drove off leaving the officer in a cloud of dust with a line of cars behind him to carry on for the rest of the night. My sister thought it was funny although she kept her comments to herself till later. I was worried about my car and upset the officer didn’t come help me.
I asked my son about it when I got home and he said, “Mom if I would have found you like that I would have had you walk the line.”
That’s my boy… Thanks Son.
A bit of humor from the small home town of Newberg, Oregon.

A Radical Transformation

by Sharon O | Aug 9, 2011 | Uncategorized

We delight in the beauty of the butterfly,