DuPont High School Reunion Picnic

Wow.....35 years ago this month I graduated from high school.
Seems forever ago but yet I have to also ask where those years
went.

Today, June 15, 2013 DuPont High School had it's Alumni
Picnic. All graduating classes. The oldest one I saw there
was a woman that graduated in 1947.

I have never heard of a school that has what our school
has. The get togethers, the Alumni folks, the fun, and
the connection. I feel so honored that I am part of that
group.

The school, now a Middle School was open for us to go
in and look around.

 

 

At the end of this hall, right side was my art class

and it's still and art class!

 

 

 

 

 The last time I stood on this football field I

was graduating. That was June 1978.

 

 

Hot dogs, hamburgers, chips and the fixings.

Including watermelon.

 

 

There was one or two food fights in this room.

 

Melody- sweetest lady. She is on the alumni committee.

(1977)

 

As well as Charles (1978)

 

Stewart. He heads the committee and

he is also the keep of our school website.

 

Thanks to all of you for what you do!

 

Thanks for stopping in,

Pam

 

June 2013

In the past I have had some of my pictures displayed in the local Town Planner Calendar. But this year I have a picture in a calendar that the State of Tn. Printing Division put out for other local agencies and for state employees.


State employees were asked to turn in photos that were taken between a certain date and they would be judged to go in the calendar. I did not have a lot to pick from because the dates they were asking for fell at the time I had shoulder surgery and had been told not to pick up the camera! But I did have a couple that were taken right at the beginning of the time frame.

I turned in about 10 I think and this one was picked for June.

Old Hickory Lake in Old Hickory TN.

The Chief Photographer and the Director of Printing were among the judges, both of whom I have worked under, but they were blind judging, no names were seen by them. I am honored that I had one picked.

Thanks for stopping in,

Pam

My Fav Thank You Card

My niece Holly graduated last month and

yesterday I got a thank you card in the mail

from her....

Is that not the sweetest thing?

Thanks for stopping in,

Pam

Breaking and Entering

I have been known for years to help out when a family member goes out of town and I watch either the animals. It has turned in to be more than a laugh or two while doing this.


The last time I watched my oldest brother's house I had issues with the BIRD! You can find that story here http://pam-lifethroughmyeyes.blogspot.com/2012/01/house-sitting-with-tj-bird.html

In the past I have had one of his dogs cut his leg open while out on the property running. I have had his dog run off at my house and had to go looking for him. But the worst was keeping his bird (another one) at my house once and it got out, not out of the cage but out of the house…..it was gone! Keeping my families pets has been an adventure to say the least.

This past week I had been feeding my youngest brothers dog. This dog just turned up at Mark's house a few years ago, dirty and lost. Mark fed it and the dog started to trust him. The dog has pitbull in him and I am not big on trust where those dogs are concerned. But the dog took to Mark, Kim and Holly. No worrying about anyone ever breaking in on them for sure.

Dinky (THE DOG) usually stays in the house but when Mark and the family take a vacation they have to put him in a pen outside, because no one would be able to feed him otherwise.

I would go every day after work to feed Dinky. I talk to him nicely and I try to be friendly. I slide his tin of food under a small opening at the bottom of the fencing. This time Dinky stayed over to the other side of the pen while I fed him, barking and growling of course the whole time. The first day it was not really hot and he just barked and growled at me. The second day he just growled from a distance but I stood there and carried on a conversation with him….lol, yes trying to get him to understand that it is not to growl at the hand that is feeding him!

The next day, he decided he had been nice enough and he charged the fence where I was sliding the food under. I have to say that will be the last time I "hold" it before going to feed him. About peed myself, he scared me so bad. Thursday was not so bad but…..come Friday it was a totally different story.

I pull up in the drive and I hear Dinky bark, thinking to myself that the bark did not sound right. I get out of the car, look up to the pen, hear another bark at the time I realize he is not in that pen. I look to the house and there he is standing at the full length glass doors with panes in them, barking at me.

Excuse my language, but my first thought was what the HELL. How did that dog, the one I call the demon dog get in the house. Only thing I could think was that the family came home early and maybe ran to the store cause I was not seeing the car. So I called my sis in law, Kim to see if they had come home early. When she said, "no, why"? I asked again with the tone, don't mess with me tell me the truth! The answer was still the same. So I had to break the news that the dog was in the house, barking at me. I wanted to know who would be brave enough to get near that dog and how did they get in the house?

Kim went to find my brother to ask who had a key to the house. She called me back with the news, that no one had a key. She wanted me to look in the house to see if the tv was there, but every time I so much as got near the door, Dinky would body slam the door. I walked around the house to find that the new front door my brother had installed had cardboard in the upper windows. What??? Why??? Apparently he cut the glass and has not gotten them in before time to leave on vacation. But…in the center part (there are three sections of glass) the cardboard was out.

In talking with my brother we realized that since Dinky don't like thunder storms and we had them on Friday, he managed to climb out of the pen. We are talking high fencing with a top Mark has put on it, but he managed to find a spot to squeeze out of and jump out of the pen. Oh Yay….but how did he get in the house?

It appears that the wind knocked out the center cardboard piece and the dog running around looking for a way in noticed that. Jumping up he managed to squeeze into that small opening. Mark thinks he got stuck cause there are a few scratches on the door where he tried to push himself in. High jump, small hole, bigger dog…..and he made it.

So…there is my BREAKING AND ENTERING story!

I can just see me now if I had gone up and seen the rear of this dog sticking out of that opening if he had remained stuck!! After I finished laughing, and of course taking a few pics I would have realized that he could not bite me if I pushed him in cause his head was on the other side! LOL…..oh my gosh, talk about stress I was so keyed up after that. I think I just need to refuse to keep anyone else's animals.

Enjoy your laugh and thanks for stopping in,

Pam

The Roadway Find - Made Pretty

 

Several months ago I found a cute

little plant stand on the side of the

road to be thrown out with the trash.

 

I had a before pic....but like I said,

that was several months ago, where

I file that is beyond me...

 

This little stand was cherry, the

top had a few water stains on it,

a few scrapes...but it just needed

a little love and paint.

 

Again, several months ago I picked

up some small whoops sample paints at

Lowes, only 50 cents each.

 

 

 

Primed the stand, put this little teal

color on it and then some darker on the

legs. I thought it still needed something so

I went with circles.

Dark teal and cream color.

 

All left to do is a sealer and it will

be ready to go. This is a piece I will

add to the art crawl this fall. I have

several more to work on before that

time.

 

Thanks for stopping in,

Pam

WHAT? 30 years REALLY?

A month ago I got an email from the HR Department here at work they were asking what gift I would like for my 30 years of service.


WHAT? 30 years? I knew it was this year, I knew it was coming but I had not put a lot of thought into it but when I read the email, there is was, in black and white. I could not avoid it any longer. 30 years, where did they go?

I went to work for the state of Tennessee at the age of 18. I had graduated in June with no plans at all. I had taken Graphic Arts my last two years of high school and I loved it. But going into that was a passing thought. I had actually worked at a small family run printing company at 16 and that is what started it.

Through the summer of my graduation year I worked at the Hermitage, Home of President Andrew Jackson, in Hermitage Tn. I had worked there the summer before, on holidays and weekends for a while. I enjoy meeting people so I really liked this job. But it was not one I could just stay at, I needed a profession.

I went to work with the state in 1978, in the printing division that seems so long ago. What happened in my life in those 30 years, to sum it up in high lights…..

Well for one I met my ex, married and had my first child, all in 2 years. I then left my job in the printing division to be a mom. That did not go over well, I was to use to being out among people. So I went back to work part time, then full time somewhere else for 4 yrs.

After those 4 yrs I got a call and they were hiring for my old position again. Did I want to try out for it? Sure, so I went back to the state of Tennessee, Department of General Services, in the printing division and the years started to add up again.

During my next jot with the printing division I got pregnant with my second child, lost my grandmother and lost my dad and bought a house. Down the road from that I divorced my husband, raised my kids, sold my house, bought another house, and had my first grandson. Had several nieces and nephews. All while still in the printing division.

For 13 years I was the camera operator for printing, then was promoted to account clerk for purchasing the supplies that printing used. Held that position for 3 years, only to be promoted to Printing Estimator/Customer Serv. Rep. I held that position for 4 years. Out of all my jobs I have to say that was the most stressful and the one I never really came to like.

I learned during this time that I had a talent I was not aware of….I could paint. No not walls, I could paint on canvas in oils. What's more, I was pretty good. I have sold several paintings and was even commissioned to paint the CD cover for a local song writer, Richard Carpenter for his Christmas album.

But being I was stressed to the max as an Estimator, really not liking my job, and painting was not really helping, I started to look for a change. I had to stay with the state, I had too many years invested in that. But while looking my boss called me to her office and I was informed that she knew I was looking and did not want to lose me. Did I want to move up the hill to the TN Tower and become the secretary for Photographic Services, which was still part of printing. I took the position. I told my super up there that I would give him 2 years. I stayed four.

The youngest photographer left there and went to work for the TBI, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and within six months he sent me an email about a secretary position there. Wanted to know if I was interested? I was hired into that position after a background check……so after 25 years with the same department and same division for the state of Tennessee, I, Pam Jackson, jumped out of the box, her comfort zone and went to work somewhere else in the state. Wow….what a step!

Since being at the TBI I have had two more grandsons, lost aunts and uncles, have become a great aunt (once) and learned that I am a pretty good photographer, had an artist showing at a gallery for my paintings, have had my photography published on my Chiropractor's website, photographed a cigar store at the airport, had my photo's published on a caregiver's brochure and website and have had some pics in several calendars including one the state of Tennessee printing division put out. I have shot 7 weddings, and more senior class pics then I can remember. And I experienced my son finding himself and getting married, yes, mom got to shoot that wedding.

Now 5 years later I am asked what I want for a gift for my 30 years! Wow…..I stayed with something that LONG! The gift is not that big a deal, it’s the fact that I actually have gave the state of Tennessee my life, I have grown, I have learned and I have experienced and I plan to retire from here. I even checked into that recently, I hope to give at least 2 more if not 5 more years. I am thinking of splitting the difference and going in 3, maybe. In 3 I will be 55, I will have over 30 yrs….and I will only have 5 more years till SS. We will see what the future brings….

30 years…..I feel like I have accomplished a lot.

Thanks for stopping in,

Pam

The Long Weekend - Memorial Day Weekend

The end of May is right on us and the heat of summer will be here before we know it. I have to say that I can't remember a spring that has lasted this long in years. If it was not for the pollen I could enjoy it more. I stopped taking allergy shots in 2006 and although this year has been worse than the last few, it is still not as bad as the years before allergy shots! Even with all the stuff out in the air it did not stop me from being out on this past Memorial Day weekend.

Saturday the boys (my 3 grandsons) came to visit for a bit. Caleb will soon be 13 and he is into girls now. Oh lord, help me! DJ is 4.5 and Braden is 2.5. Hands full for sure. We took them out to play in the yard but they did not seem to want to mind much, and they running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

                                                     Caleb and DJ messing around

Caleb went under the deck and of course the other two have to follow. He found a family of lizards. Braden wanted to pick one up so I told him to go for it. He tried but it kept wiggling away from him. Caleb picked it up…..on a gardening tool, he was not about to touch it.

 

But Braden has no fear. He saw a worm and wanted to know what it was, then he wanted to hold it. Nana, not being afraid of a worm, picked it up and put it in his hand. He thought that was neat.
 

Then on Saturday evening I went to Theresa's, she was cooking out. Little did I know that she was cooking everything. She made chicken, steak, burgers and hotdogs. The KING (my dog) went away really full.

Theresa had made some Watermelon Fresca – not bad, but I think I would rather eat my watermelon. We added mint, lime and ice to the Fresca. Like I said, pretty tasty. Course she sent me home with some and I got to take some actual watermelon home also. YUMMY…it was a good one.

Sunday I got up and had a bit on watermelon for breakfast, got my shower and got ready to leave the house. Took my dog to mom's house for the day. My friend Brian picked me up at 10:30 and we headed to a family reunion /Memorial Day cookout in Franklin TN. It was fun and there was lots of food. Brian's grandson, Nolan was here with his dad, Eric and Mom, Janna. Nolan is such a sweetie and there is nothing like a big ole toothless smile from a baby.

Nolan

Brian and Nolan

Family Reunion

they demanded I get in the pic

Had a pretty full day on Sunday and since it don’t take a lot to wear me out, I slept about 4 hours Monday afternoon. Then I cleaned the craft room and actually got in there to do some priming. Projects to come.

Thanks for stopping in,

Pam