Heading into April....

Time is rushing on too fast for me. I just posted it was the end of February and hoped the rest of the year would slow down and suddenly April is almost upon us. For some reason this old Simon and Garfunkel song comes to mind today. Have a nice spring.

April come she will
When streams are ripe and swelled with rain;
May, she will stay,
Resting in my arms again.
June, she'll change her tune,
In restless walks she'll prowl the night;
July, she will fly
And give no warning to her flight.

August, die she must,
The autumn winds blow chilly and cold;
September I'll remember
A love once new has now grown old.

Hrmph!!!....oh yeah....:-)

As I was leaving Walgreen's today this nice looking man, about my age, smiled at me and said hello. I said hello back. As he was passing he looked at my chest and laughed! Yes! he laughed! I thought, how rude!! Then I realized I had on my "whatever" t-shirt (see side picture of me). At least I hope he was laughing at the t-shirt!

March Madness open mic

Yes, the open mic did happen last night! After being so sick last month I had to have my open mic fix! I also learned why they call it March Madness! What a crazy group and a wild and crazy night. We had waaaay too much fun! Great poetry as always, open discussions that could have gone on for hours, and just enjoying being back together after what seemed like such a long absence. The poems covered a large range of topics - some a bit unusual (oh my!), but each was well accepted and enjoyed by all. We even had a new person, Mary Boozer, join our group and she promised to come back next month and share some her poems with us. So without further ado I present my March Madness Poets!

Pie Day :-)

My husband is a math professor, at Morris College, here in Sumter, SC. Yesterday was March 14th, which is a very significant day in math terms. Every math person out there already knows where this is leading. (3.14 = pi) So we had a little fun with his class. I told them they had to guess what day it was and until I wrote 3.14 on the board no one knew. Once they guessed the first thing out of their mouths was, "do we get pies?" I, of course, came prepared and gave each of them an individual apple pie. A play on an apple for the teacher.

I then went to the math class next door, but they were better prepared. One was a freshman who had done pi or pie day in highschool the year before. So, when I asked if they new what day it was she said pi day and asked if they got pies. Dang! too smart and too fast. She said they always had pizza pie or something on March 14th. So, it was a fun day. My husband said the students were very pleased with themselves. One took all the pies over the breakroom and heated them in the microwave and they ate them during the class. It's funny how a little thing like that can make a day a bit more fun.

Sense of humor....

People often comment on my sense of humor and I have to admit it has gotten me through some tough times. We call it the Hines humor as we get it from my mom. The quick wit and the quick tongue. An event at my dad's funeral depicts this perfectly. I was rolling with laughter when my sister, Linda, related it to me.

Linda and one of her grandchildren were standing by my dad's casket, looking at him and saying their final farewells. Out of nowhere the grandchild said when her mom died she was going to have her cremated and put her ashes in a necklace to wear. My sister said, "Courtney, that would be one big necklace! It would weigh at least two pounds." This got them to giggling and the giggles turned to laughter.

At that point my mom brought over and old highschool friend of my sisters to say hi. Linda was laughing so hard she couldn't talk, so pointed to her husband. Without missing a beat my mom quickly said, "I guess you'll have to go talk to her husband, because she's busy talking to mine." Ah, bless my mom's sense of humor and quick wit!

To read a good commentary on my dad check out my sister Victoria's blog.

Rest in Peace, Dad

Vincent A. Rivas, age 88, a resident of Erie died Thursday March 6, 2008 at Abington Crest Nursing Home. He was born on September 24, 1919 in Erie the son of the late Julio and Garsinda Filizardo Rivas. Vincent attended Tech High School and served with the US Army during WWII and Korea. He was employed as a sheet metal worker at American Sterilizer for 35 years and was a member of their Quarter Century Club. He was also a lifelong member of the Cascade Club, the Eagles Club, and also was a lifelong member of St. Andrew Catholic Church. Vincent was an avid bowler and golfer and also was a self-taught artist. Besides his parents, he was preceded in death by a daughter Lydia Rivas in 1960; a sister Victoria Moretini and 2 bothers, Joseph and Frank Rivas. Vincent is survived by his wife of 62 years, Arlene Hines Rivas and is the father of six children; Michael Affonte and his wife Kathy of Sumter, S.C.; Linda Bole and her husband Paul of Conneautville, Pa.; Bonita Johnson and her husband Keith of Sumter, S.C.; Vincent Rivas and his wife Susan of Erie; Victoria Etter and her husband Carl of Waterburg, Conn. and Joseph Rivas of Detroit, Mich. He is also survived by 14 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren. Friends are invited to call at the John J. Quinn Funeral Home, West 9th & Liberty St., Friday from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. and are invited to attend Prayer Services there Saturday at 11:30 a.m. followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 12:00 noon in St. Andrew Catholic Church. Burial will be in Gate of Heaven Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to a charity of one’s choice. Sign the guestbook at www.GoErie.com/obits
Published in the Erie Times-News from 3/7/2008 - 3/8/2008.

Where ya been?

For all those who have felt neglected the last few weeks of February, I am posting this here and in my myspace page. I haven't forgotten you.

Wow!! even with an extra day, for leap year, February flew by!! Hopefully, the rest of the year will slow down a bit. Had a rocky month health wise. I had been very ill for over two weeks so missed a lot, which could be why it seemed the month moved by too fast. Started with chills and a sore throat, then moved to my sinuses. That's the problem with me! Every time I get sick it turns into a sinus infection. The doctor said this one was acute sinusitis. Personally, I saw nothing cute about it. It felt like someone had taken a steel band and was crushing my head and face! It was serious pain!! He put me on a strong anti-biotic and thankfully the pain lifted within a couple days. The congestion, cough, and laryngitis lasted much longer. I had laryingitis for 5 days!!!! My husband found it funny - I found it aggravating. I still have the cough and some congestion, but after three weeks of not being able to do much of anything, I am making myself get things done again. The worse part is this bug or whatever it is took away my energy! I am generally very energetic, but this made me feel so tired I had to take naps and breaks all day. Didn't like that. I still fall asleep more than I would like, but it's getting better.

Even missed EVERY open mic, in Sumter, in Feb, including my own!!!! Now that is bad! I tried to get to the one that comes up two days after mine, but when the time came to get ready I just didn't have the energy. As my mom would say my get up and go, got up and went.

Well, more next blog, but wanted to let everyone know I haven't been ignoring you. I've just been sick!!! Take care...until next time...