"A Squirrel, A NUT And A Nutshell"...by Gina Waite

Life has a funny way of helping you stay humble.  It never fails that the moment I feel confident that I’ve crossed all my “t’s” and dotted all my “i’s”…in reality I’ve probably crossed and my “i’s” and dotted all my “t’s”!  It’s humbling, and very necessary, to realize that we really have very little control over all areas of our life.  However, we DEFINITELY can choose how we THINK and REACT…and I wish I could say I thought and reacted like an “adult” about a month ago.  All I can say is it started with a squirrel…

Love my home…love where I live…and while we were gone for a short get-away to visit my family to the West…an area squirrel  moved into my flower beds and echoed my sentiments.  Imagine my disappointment when I found most of my east-facing flower bed had been victim to a series of underground tunneling…the likes of which could ONLY been compared to Alcatraz!  With much trepidation my family helped me uncover huge holes and underground chambers that were deep enough our biggest concern: the squirrel had possibly laid siege on our food storage in the cellar-like crawl space on the east side of our house. 

Our crawl space…a fantastic storage area that is clean, leveled and well-lit…and on that day, completely void of any tunnels!  However, was also completely under about a half-inch of water!  After the screams of water-discovery, the deductive reasoning that a pipe had burst, a quick emergency call to our trusty plumber and a well-used ShopVac’s magic…the freshly drenched crawl-space was back to its pre-Bellagio state…now back to that squirrel.

Further investigation proved that our newly-acquired neighbor had done damage in EVERY SINGLE GARDEN BED that borders our property!  The destruction to the gardens was such a disappointment to this plant-loving princess that I had to retreat to my house and start unpacking.  As I wheeled our empty luggage to our mechanical room/gym…I was overwhelmed at the sewer-like smell coming from under the door.  As I opened the door, I realized that our sump-pump strap, that had loosened over time, had finally gave way to the pressure that shot unmentionable waste into the sewer system and had loosened a connection that gave way to disgusting sludge on our painted concrete floor.  Scream of discovery then ensued, another quick emergency call to our plumber, quite possibly an entire GALLON of Lysol concentrate, AND a well-used ShopVac’s magic returned the floor to its pre-poop state…now back to that squirrel.

As I called our pest-control servicer and became more aware of the difficulty in finding a pest control servicer that would deal with a squirrel, the beads of sweat began to pool and trickle off my head.  I realized our day had been filled with excitement but it seemed unusually warm and void of any fresh breeze from our air conditioning system…because surely our air conditioning system (tried and true and void of any problems EVER before) was perfectly intact…or was it?  The shock and disbelief that another technical malfunction has besought our recently vacationed household was so acute…I got in my car to drive to the nearest store to by squirrel-bait.  En route to my local Walmart, and minutes after the discovery that my normally smooth-as-silk driving Cadillac was riding more like a Jeep, I pulled off the road and called my mechanic.

As I parked at the mechanic I realized I had only ten minutes to call and schedule a repairman for our air conditioning unit…a unit we were in desperate need of as we were hosting a wedding open house in just three short days!  My phone call to the secretary started off normal and cordial…but as she communicated the difficulty in getting a repairman out BEFORE the open house…I lost all sense of sanity…I BECAME A NUT!  They say about three-quarters of the earth’s surface is covered with water…ABOUT HALF OF THAT CAME FROM MY EYES AND NOSE THAT DAY!!!  As I sat at my mechanics shop, relating the happenings of the day, our dependence on a lovely and cool setting for a wedding open house AND Satan’s squirrel (I actually think I used that definition)…after a long pause and quite possibly phone-covered laughter, that secretary took pity on me and a repairman was scheduled first thing the NEXT morning!

That next morning, cleaning up my bedroom and in full view of the backyard…I can neither confirm NOR deny that seeing the state of his mother, and knowing of her dependence on a squirrel-free environment, that my son (clad only in boxer-briefs and holding his paint ball gun) recognized the squirrel had surfaced in the backyard garden directly under his window and had a brief opportunity to take him out.  Out of the corner of my eye, recognizing the scantily-clad, stealthy-stalker, the realization that ALL my neighbor’s teenage daughters were in view of said stalker, I ran to the backyard to better understand the situation…only to witness the demise of the squirrel.  Now I realize these were ALL first world problems I was experiencing that weekend, and I suppose it’s a necessary evil to understand how blessed we are in having modern conveniences to NOT have them for a time…but what I DO know with a surety…that weekend inspired how a squirrel, AND a NUT, became a perfectly entertaining NUTSHELL…hope you agree!!!!!

*Hope you'll let us share your stories and photos here at our residence "In a Nutshell." Email us at nutshellstories@gmail.com

"Gettin' Old Ain't For Sissies"...by Jim Terry

Getting older, I have noticed a few things that are really starting to annoy me but at the same time—and in the right mood—also make me laugh.  One of the things that annoy me is the fact that I used to be able to run five miles a day without a problem.  Having been exposed to several twisted ankles and a continually dislocated right knee over the years now due to sports and other activities, only seems to bring doubt to my mind that I can even accomplish such a feat now. Also associated with this feat, once accomplished, comes the probability that there might be a couple to a few days of recovery time once that task is completed. Another thing that seems to bother me as I age is my tendency to forget things. Being a type A personality, I should be able to control EVERYTHING shouldn’t I?  This is why, and in order to make myself feel better, that I now blame my forgetfulness on my increased responsibility as an adult verses what my reality really is…I am plainly and simply just getting older.  Just the other day I had one of those experiences that annoyed me but also made me laugh and cry at the same time.  Let me explain...

While I was working on a patient performing a routine dental cleaning, we started to discuss aging and how that can affect us.  My patient, a young woman in her sixties, began to talk to me about forgetfulness and how much that bothered her in her life.

She continued by saying, “Gettin’ old ain’t for sissies!”

As I began to polish her teeth and towards the end of her appointment, I told her I understood how she felt. It wasn’t until just seconds later that I realized what had been happening for about the last five minutes of her dental procedure.

First, and so you can get a better understanding of what the scene was, let’s define the “instrument cluster.”  An instrument cluster is located at the end of that arm attached to the dental chair that your dental professional will swing around into the working area where the drill, the suction and all the rest of the handpieces are located.  If the operator, the dental professional, does not place each of the instruments back in their proper location after each use on the module at the end of the arm, this then means they are not “grounded.”

And if instruments are not grounded properly, that can then produce a blast of air, or with certain instruments, a trickle or a gentle stream of water that will then flow from the instrument that is not properly placed. The instrument cluster during this particular procedure was located just to my side and a little behind my peripheral vision. 

Interestingly enough, as I hit the button on the chair to set my patient up at the conclusion of her appointment, I started to feel a bit of dampness on my chair. Apparently the entire last segment of her cleaning, as far as I could tell, encompassed one hand piece that was not properly placed. And as luck would have it, water not air, was streaming from the ungrounded handpiece. And guess where it was aimed?  It was aimed just perfectly to hit my lower back and then formed an amazing pond on the chair in which I sat on.

Once the water finally started to penetrate my “water resistant” scrubs is when I quickly jumped up and said, "what the heck?" As I stood there in silence with a bewildered and confused look on my face still trying to ascertain what had just happened to me, my patient then slowly turned around.  What did she see you might ask?  Well have you ever seen a beautiful waterfall?  This one not so beautiful but it was at that moment when she turned around that we both witnessed a small cascading waterfall that was gently, yet moderately, flowing from my lower back and derrière onto the floor below.  As she moved her eyes from mine and slowly moved them to the puddle in which I now stood, she reiterated with a chuckle, "As I said before, gettin’ old ain’t for sissies.”   

A commotion being created by laughter and tears—tears only created from both of us laughing so hard—coming from the operatory in which my patient and I were located, became an infectious positive influence throughout the rest of my day and certainly something I will carry with me throughout the rest of my life. So with a wet backside and tears of joy in both our eyes as I walked my patient to the front, I put my arm around this sweet patient who taught me a powerful lesson that day and conveyed to her a big "thank you." 

She may never fully comprehend or understand the full meaning of why I said "thank you" to her that day because it was so much more than the laughter and joy we experienced together.  If you simply read between the lines of her statement of "gettin' old ain't for sissies," one might also be able to uncover a hidden message. This message, which has a much more insightful and powerful meaning, simply may be..."DO NOT regret growing older. It is a privilege denied to many.” 
_____________________

Also in helping someone attain this privilege of growing older, PLEASE SIGN UP. It's never too late to help someone in need. It's FREE for people 44 years old and younger and a small fee for someone 45 years old and older. My friend Steph still needs a match for her bone marrow transplant. Simply signing up can change a person's life forever!!!

♦ Hope you'll let us share your stories and photos here at our residence "In a Nutshell." Email us at nutshellstories@gmail.com. 

Busted...by Gina Waite

My Mom was ALWAYS on time and ready. The reason this Facebook page and blog are so successful is because of her talent and timeliness! I, on the other hand, SUCK at it! 

You know the saying, "when it rains it pours?" I got handed a Whole Heck of A Lot of life, the past few weeks, and I'm happy to say I've pushed through! I'm writing up the details and will post, ASAP! In the meantime...as much as I'm disappointed in myself for not having a wonderful Nutshell for you to read this morning at 6:00am...I'm sharing a meme that contains the idea behind my only success this past little while...NOT GIVING UP! 

Ladies and gentlemen...I'm gonna try ONE MORE TIME! heart emoticon

Habits and Ingenuity...by Mary Hazlett

So I am sure you all have habits in your life...wether it may be good or bad...we all have them. And why is it that bad habits are so much easily picked up than the good ones: biting fingernails, staying up too late, not eating enough vegetables, eating too much ice-cream, swearing like a sailor...although I am great at going to the gym it is only because I love to indulge my bad habit of watching 30 minutes of television that does not have singing, dancing, or animated characters in it  (and quite possibly to let them change at least one of the days poopie diapers). Well that is enough about me...

My son, Benson, is hilarious.  I am so worried for myself and the things I might have to experience being the mother of a smart, energetic, and passionate-for-life kid.  He has a few habits that he has acquired in his little 5 years of life, some are good, some are annoying, and some are really disgusting.  So, as the parent of this little guy I am trying to help him avoid embarrassment by learning not to...here it comes...pick his nose.

Believe me when I say this...this habit has caused much a headache for those in this family.  We have had countless bloody noses that has disrupted nighttime routines, morning routines, family dinners, and even attending church.  Sometimes this poor little guy gets two of them in a day...because he does not even know that he is doing it.

So, I have had several discussions with him about why and how these things happen and how important it is to take care of our body. Usually after a traumatic episode of stopping the bleeding, Benson will devise some way to stop himself from picking his nose.  They are all very inventive.  To mention a few: he used his underwear on his head with his eyes peering through the leg holes and his nose right in the front of the underwear (which worked well until he noticed the slit in the front of those boy's underwear giving him perfect access to his nostrils),  a large bandaid wrapped on the outside of one nostril to the other nostril (convenient until his runny nose made it not stick anymore), placing his snorkel mask on his face (he got a headache after only 5 minutes),  but finally was my favorite and lasted through the night...the oven mitt.  Benson came down in the morning very excited that he still had his oven mitt on and his nose had not been touched all night long.  I have to be proud of his great ingenuity for these solutions.  I love the sweet innocence of children.

Now, as mentioned above, I have a few of my own habits I feel need some of that "Benson Ingenuity" and the only thing I could come up with was a straight jacket...well...I guess I will just have to live with a little imperfection.

**Please share your stories with us at nutshellstories@gmail.com

"Where's the Rum"...by Jordan Waite

First off I would like to start this post introducing myself. My name is Jordan Waite. I am a member of the renowned Terry family tree. Grandson of the infamous Marlene Terry and son of the merciful Gina Waite. Notice how I said merciful, this being the most valued trait my mother can possess while I am 17 years old and needing all the mercy I can get. I have wanted to write a nutshell post for a while. While thinking about what it was I wanted to write about, my mind vacillating from idea to idea, I always came back to the thought of writing about our beloved Grandma Marlene. The reason not being because she is the creator of this blog series, but because she played such an important role in the early years of my life.

Grandma and I had many similar interests. I think this is why we got along as well as we did. Whenever I had the privilege to spend time with my Grandma we both spent the entirety of our time together laughing and smiling. Whether it be discussing the latest “Star Trek” movie or simply eating some cookies together, we always had a fantastic time. We were able to share several evenings like these where we had nothing but a great time in each others company. My Grandma always made me feel very special and made a concentrated effort to recognize the things I was interested in and loved. Every Christmas a beautifully wrapped present (with paper that represented who I was at the time, and the gift a reflection of her effort in finding out what I liked and had a passion for) AND every Halloween, a custom-made costume!

Whenever I think about Grandma, there is one specific memory that always comes to mind...our shared love for the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies! One particular Halloween...she fashioned a Jack Sparrow costume for me, complete with swashbuckling boots and dreadlock-enhanced wig! My Grandma was such a fun-loving, adventurous spirit and her love of the Silver Screen was contagious! She once traveled 4 hours (after working a 12 hour day) just to attend one of the premieres of the "Pirates" movies with me. Once she arrived we hopped into my family's van and we were on our way! I vividly remember sitting in my van, tightly packed, journeying to the movie theater where we could escape from our Idaho lives to the adventurous lives of our favorite pirates. Of course, Grandma and I had to sit next to each other so we ended up sitting in the back of the van as we chatted excitedly about the movie to come. I remember my mother calling to the back asking us why we wanted to sit in the back. My sometimes annoyingly quick wit and even quicker mouth instantly said back “Mom, the back is where they put all the rum!”. After the initial shock of the humor of what I had said, Grandma and I burst into laughter, and continued to snicker about the joke for the rest of the night!

“The back is where they put all the rum”. That would be an ongoing inside joke between my Grandma and me for the rest of our earthly relationship. I will never forget the interactions and experiences I had with my Grandma. Most especially, I will never forget the joy she seemingly radiated whenever she saw one of her grandchildren. The passing of such an inspirational and loved woman in my life was definitely an obstacle...that continues to be very difficult for me! But as I reflect on the fun-loving, adventurous spirit that my Grandma was I think I know why it is she left us so quickly. She realized where it is they kept the rum.

*Hope you'll let us share your stories and photos here at our residence "In a Nutshell." Email us at nutshellstories@gmail.com.

Christmas In July...by Jim Terry

Now I know, and I can already hear, some of you are already saying, “Bah Humbug” to the title of today’s blog, but please bare with me for just a bit. First off because you wouldn’t change my mind about Christmas anyhow, but if you have been following some of the news feeds more recently you would or might be familiar with a certain astrological event that just took place just a few days ago.

“On June 30, two astronomical objects are destined to meet: The planet named after the Goddess of love, Venus, and the planet named after the God of Thunder, Jupiter. On Earth, they will appear so close together that they will look like a dramatic "double star." 

These two planets have been gradually approaching each other for the last few weeks, creeping toward their closest point: 1/3° apart. That's close enough to be able to cover them with the tip of your pinky finger with an outstretched arm. In reality, they will be around 670 million kilometers (416 million miles) apart in space, but it could produce a show that some astronomers say could account for the ‘Star of Bethlehem.’”

With the anticipation of this astrological event, I became excited and was filled with optimism by thinking how special it would be to experience a phenomenon that happened over two thousand years ago.  And of course this event, in the eyes of Christianity, served as a guiding light to help lead the three wise men to a destination known as Bethlehem where they found a babe in a manger known as Jesus.  

So in my attempt to get a vivid and vibrant picture of these two planets that appeared to almost collide and merge into one, I took a trek up the mountain one night after work to see if I could get “the shot." And just so you know, living on the coast has its pros and cons just like any other place in the world. One of the CONS of living on the coast in Northern California, especially during the summer, means FOG!  Have you ever heard of San Francisco referred to as “fog city?”  Or have you ever heard the proverb that some claim originated and could have been derived from Mark Twain that states, ”The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco?” 

Well as true to the proverb mentioned above, I started my hike in the fog. There are times however; where you can actually climb high enough to get above the fog line and once again experience the sun on your face, or on this attempt, the constellations in the heavens above.  So as I continued my journey and came closer and closer to the top of the mountain and approached the end of the trail, my hopes of seeing the “star” began to fade.  The elevation where I normally break free from the fog line was not becoming a reality on this particular day and each step I took towards the top only seemed to produce more fierce winds and a darkened ambiance. 

After I waited for about a half an hour at the top in hopes that there would be some sort of break in the clouds and because I was freezing my butt off at this point, I decided to end my attempt and began my three mile trek back down the mountain.  With each step I took in the darkness only equipped with a small flashlight, a heavy heart and no picture of  “the Star of Bethlehem,” I began to think about my life and my faith.  And as I did so, I couldn't help but to hum a Christmas song or two as my mind was flooded with wonderful warm memories, especially the ones at Christmas time to honor the purpose of my hike, where I was a young boy surrounded by family, a loving mother and father and the excitement that life offers to a young boy.  

In continuing my thought process I was also reminded of some really positive things or gifts that are happening in my life right now. 

- First the fog.  Even though I complain about it and its ability to obstruct the star I was so desperately searching for, it also provides one of the best natural air conditioners I have ever experienced. The best part...it's free.  

- A very painful pinched nerve I have been dealing with for almost two months now in my lower back that extends down my left leg has finally started to subside.

- All of my family members are currently healthy and happy.

- Not only do I have a job but I also actually really like the people and the patients I am working with.

- Finally, a dear friend who just recently endured chemotherapy for leukemia was released early from the hospital because her blood counts were so good and because there were no more signs of cancerous cells.  The next step I will be looking forward to is a successful bone marrow transplant for her.

I actually could go on and on about what I thought about while hiking that night; however, I will stop with those mentioned and simply recognize all of those items as gifts in my life.  And, "Yes," I know the objects mentioned weren't like the typical gifts that are placed under a tree all wrapped up with a bow on top, but is it any wonder then, with receiving gifts such as these, that I would think that Christmas had come early this year?  Christmas in July?  Who would have thought?

Also if you have some photos or were able to get a great shot of the “Star of Bethlehem” please share. We would all LOVE TO SEE THEM!!!

♦ Hope you'll let us share your stories and photos here at our residence "In a Nutshell." Email us at nutshellstories@gmail.com. 

Happy 4th Of July

Happy 4th of July week...Hope you all enjoy your family, friends and all the activities
 that come with this holiday celebrating our Independence!  Be safe and have FUN!