A Day In The Life of Steampunk Granny

                                                                                

Get up…jumped out of bed…ran a comb… This past Tuesday, one of the nine grandchildren that I haven’t seen in quite a while flew in from Wyoming to spend some time with her grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins.

                                                                   

                                                                       

Kathryn is a quiet and thoughtful person and I’m guessing life back home is rather calm and organized. She was in for a big surprise with her East Coast family. There isn’t a calm or quiet bone in our bodies. My youngest grandson was also spending the week with us and this worked out pretty well because Kathryn had someone that liked doing the same things she did.

                                                           At the hippo tank                                                       

I speak South Philly, so it took Kathryn a day or two to understand my slang pronunciations, but with Nathan acting like a translator, we did perfectly well. Wednesday Dan, Kathryn, Nathan and I headed to the Aquarium in Camden, N.J.  Kathryn had been to an aquarium before, but nothing as big as the one in New Jersey. Wait until she sees the one in Baltimore.

                                                                               

We loved the hippos and spent more time at that exhibit before moving on to the sharks. I love this picture.
 

                                                                      

                                                                                   

Kathryn, like me loves turtles and she was able to get one to swim up for this photo

                                                                          

                     

That night we went to the mall with my granddaughter, Katrina. All three kids, clicked right away. They liked the same fashions, stores and spent most of their time in Spencer’s and Hot Topic.

                                                                    

            

The next day, I took all three to the Franklin Institute to see the Circus and Brain exhibit. Katrina and Nathan did well both on the tightrope and doing flips on the acrobatic section. Kathryn and I stayed safely on the ground.

                                                                      

                                                                                

Friday we headed to Atlantic City. Kathryn having been born in Montana had never seen the ocean. She loved it. It’s funny what we take for granted because it’s so close by ,and yet, it is a life experience for others.

                                                                     

                                                                            

Saturday was a book signing day for me to promote Roof Oasis and to continue to promote the South Jersey Writers’ Group anthology with Dawn Byrne.

                                                                

                  

 

Kathryn is a writer, too and was very interested in seeing the other side of writing and why marketing is just as important as writing the book. Nathan and Kathryn were a big help for Super D and I. Dragging two suitcases of books around can get hard sometimes, but Nate and Kathryn helped with the load.

                                                    

                                                                               

           

Spying at the Franklin Institute

                                                                           

Yes, my little zombie snacks, I do other stuff besides ghost hunting, Steampunk Events and writing about zombies. Sometimes, I head on over to Philadelphia and visit museums. A few weeks ago, I was at The Academy of Natural Sciences Bug Fest with my grandsons, and Nathan even got a chance to be a judge in the Cook Off; he ate bugs and liked it!

                                                                 

                                                   

This past Wednesday, my two friends and fellow renegades and I went to the Franklin Institute to see the new exhibit. Jean took her two granddaughters. We headed straight to the Spy Exhibit and had the best time learning about the original OSS organization that lead to what we know today as the C.I.A.

                                                                     

                               

                                 The girls and I even got to crawl through an escape hatch.

                                                                          

 

                                        We didn't get to see Maxwell Smart's Shoe Phone,

                                                                                   

We liked the kiosk that showed how the spies strapped cameras onto pigeons and sent them off to gather information.

                                                                                   

They had some weapons that even James Bond would have loved to use, like the items below.

                                                                                   

                                                                         

We were even able to make it to the Demonstration Theatre to learn about fireworks: how they’re made; how they work; why they’re loud.

                                                                                  

 The instructor was Al Bruno, and not only was he knowledgeable about the subject matter, but he made the whole demonstration fun for adults and children alike.

                                                                            

                                                                                                                                                     
                          Sunday, my sister Lucy and I are heading over to the Art Museum
             
                                                                                      

                                             I’ll try not to get yelled at again for touching the art.

                                                                                            

                                                                               

Mummies and More Day Trip

Philadelphia has some of the best museums in the world and with the temperature getting cooler, my ghost hunting friends and I changed our routine. Instead of hiking through cemeteries or visiting haunted buildings, we do museums. This week we had the pleasure of visiting  The Universtiy of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

                                                                    

We began with the North American Gallery where we learned about the key cutural aspects of the four Tribal groups of the American Southwest. After going through the equally educational African Gallery, we found ourselves at the Human Evolution Exhibit.

                                                                            

                      We were there for a few hours and now feeling a little tired

         
                                                        Jean channeling Joseph Leidy

                                                                             
                                               We have fun, no matter where we are.

We were hungry and stopped at the Pepper Mill Cafe, which is located on the 2nd floor of the museum, and ordered the best pumpkin soup ever!!!

After lunch, we continued our tour of this amazing internationally renowned educational and research institution until we arrived at the Egyptian Gallery. They had a model of an Egyptian temple.

                                                                                                                      

               I took these pictures through one of the windows of the scale model.
                                             

                                                                          

We happened upon a new research area inside the museum called the Artifact Lab.
This lab is located on the third floor and while there, we spoke with Molly Gleeson. She is the Project Coordinator for the Artifact Lab and explained to us what she and the others did in the lab. The Conservation Team studies, cleans and mends the Egyptian artifacts that the museum houses, including some mummifed bodies. Molly Gleeson, give us her undivided attention and answered all our questions. Please make sure that you stop and say hello when you visit the museum.

                                                                            

Check out the link below to find out more about the Artifact Lab


http://weeklypress.com/inside-look-at-the-penn-museums-artifact-lab-p3378-73.htm

Caring for the desparados while my daughter and her husband are renewing their vows

 My daughter and her husband wanted to renew their vows in Vegas, and made plans to spend six glorious child free days, seeing the sights, going to shows, gambling and on Sunday, renewing their vows with the aid of Elvis.

"Elvis?" I asked, "Isn't he dead, yet?"

"Mom," she replied with a sigh, "Yeah he's dead, but this is an actor who will be doing the ceremony and afterwards, Elvis will fly us on a helecopter."

"I would feel much better if it was Clint Eastwood flying the helecopter, but have fun," I wished them both as they left for their trip.

She had left a list of times for me to get the boys up and ready for school, plus what time they were to be in bed at night.  Apparantly, the boys did not review the list. Jimmy is seventeen, Joshua is fifteen, and Nathan is nine going on twenty one.

I stayed over at her house to make life a little less complicated, and on Thursday night, after a nice dinner, they all went to bed at their assigned times, homework completed, and clothes for the next day picked out. THEN IT WAS FRIDAY, and the list went out the window.

After coming home from school, the Wii came out and the two youngest played until dinner. After dinner, the oldest wanted to play X box 360 on the large T.V. in the family room. It was a battle between Zelda the Twilight princess and Gears of War three.

After much screaming, stomping, and throwing a tantrum, I finally talked them into a compromise. Mind you, I was the one screaming. Jimmy would have the T.V. Friday night and Josh and Nathan would have the large T.V. on Sunday.

I sat on the sofa, with a cup of hot tea, watching Jimmy play Gears of War. I hate war, even if it's a fake war on video.

Boys are from another planet. I have scientific proof of this.

Saturday, Joshua and Nathan, my sister Lucy and her granddaughter Alexionna and I all went to a museum. We had a great time, and next week will visit the Academy of Natural Sciences.

Saturday night, the boys talked me into watching Scott Pilgrim vs the world. It was really funny even though I kept calling the main actor, Jesse Eisenberg.  It wasn't him. My error. The actor was Michael Cera and the movie is based on a graphic novel about a young Canadian musician who falls in love with a girl called Ramona Flowers. I was surprised at how good this movie was. It even had a funny fight scene between Scott Pilgrim and a psychic vegan musician.

Sunday, I told the boys, no games, "We go for a long hike."

We walked for a few hours, and it was fun to get a chance to talk to them without any interruptions from Zelda, or soldiers in strange outfits, shooting at each other.

Sunday night, they helped me with my story line on zombies for book two. We all love zombies, so there were no arguments over the T.V.

How the hell, did I get this old? or Receiving the 'CARD'

Okay, so around two weeks ago I received a letter from our government, the envelope stating official business.

"Now what?" I asked myself, as I pulled open the tab, only to find 'the card' inside with a book of instructions.

"Welcome to the band," my husband, who has been on Medicare for three years already, teased.

"Wait, I think there's some mistake. I'm not ready for Medicare," I replied, while mentally subtracting my date of birth from the present year.

He watched silently, as the realization hit me, knowing after thirty-one years of marriage, not to say a word, when steam begins to seep from my ears.

"Well this sucks," I said, throwing the unwanted information onto the dinning table, grabbing my purse and keys before announcing, "I'm going to visit the boys."

The boys are three of the nine grandchildren we have, and are experts at diversion, and I needed diversion to take my mind off that damn card. After picking them up, we went for ice cream and talked about their upcoming school year, music, zombies, and my writing. Finally, I brought up the card, explaining how it upset me.

"Well grandmom, you were born around the time of the Dinosaurs," the eldest teased, knowing I had worked at the Academy of Natural Sciences.

"Yeah, didn't you get to see the first moon landing?" piped in the second eldest.

"I'm surrounded by clowns. Thanks for perking me up," I teased back.

Finally the youngest spoke, saying, "I don't think you're old, because you do fun things, and always play pirates in the back yard."

"Yeah, you're a fun, grandmom," the older two chirped in, "You take us hiking, fishing, and you love zombies."

"Hey yeah, we do have fun. Thanks guys."

They accomplished what I wasn't able to do own my own, they helped me look at the whole picture,
when I returned home, after spending time with my advisors, I took the time to read the instructions   included with the card.

"You okay, now?" my husband asked, catching me reading, treading softly, in case I was still in a bad mood.

Yeah, I'm fine," I replied, and I was.

I was born in time to see the space program begin, watching the first landing on the moon. I got to see the Beatles live in 1964, took part in the peace marches against Vietnam, protested for equal rights, lived and worked during the feminist movement and loving every bit of it. I'm surrounded by a large and growing family, and I'm still on the go.

Even though, I'm retired from the Academy of Natural Sciences, I didn't retire from life, and in fact, I'm doing more than ever. I advocate for Unicef and Somaly mam against human trafficking, I finished my first book of a Paranormal trilogy, I'm into steampunk, going out once a month to Dorian's. I've joined a ghost hunter's group and will be going on a three day haunting this month, I took my granddaughter to see Lady GaGa, getting a super box, front row seats. I loved the show and became a GaGa fan. My next concert will be with Usher, next time he's in town, per Nathan's wishes.

So, the Medicare card, no longers upsets me. It's a 'token', telling the world, "Watch out because you're dealing with a boomer and we kick butt."

The only down side to this story is the tons of advertising coming to me from insurance companies eager to make me a member.

I'll end now with a quote from Spock. "Live long and prosper."  Amen to that.