themanmaw

5x7 Folded Card

2011-09-25T13:48:00.001-07:00

Picture In Landscape 5x7 folded card

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Mug

2011-07-18T09:12:00.001-07:00

Blank Project Collage Mug

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HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

2011-05-07T06:30:00.000-07:00

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY !

Tomorrow is Mother's Day. A few years ago I was asked to give a witness of faith from the perspective of a mother during our Mother's Day church service.

I had a mother, two grandmothers, and a great-grandmother. I am a mother of three sons, a grandmother of four granddaughters, and a great-grandmother to a four year old boy whose first name is my last name.

Thoughts of motherhood lead me to thoughts of thanksgiving and joy. So this is what I said:

I am thankful for the world which God created.
I stand in awe of the God who created the universe. He hung the sun, moon, and stars, put in motion the seasons, the tides, the air and all the things we need to survive; but he also made beautiful things - cool things - things to make us smile - clouds, rainbows, flowers, kangaroos with a pocket to carry their babies, red birds, lightning bugs, shaggy puppies, and zebras with black and white stripes.

I thank Him for all of his creation and for the opportunities I have had over the years to see oceans, mountains, waterfalls, and all manner of beauty & majesty of his creation. Nothing beats seeing it through the eyes of your child - whether it's a snowfall, waves in the ocean, the creek that runs behind the house, or a hiccuping frog.

I'm thankful that God created us in such a marvelous way.
One of my favorite passages of scripture is Psalms 139:13-14: "You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Other translations call it marvelous, remarkable, complex.

A human being is indeed a complex thing, delicate and fearfully and wonderfully made.

Consider the five senses :

The sense of sight - of a sunrise or a sunset, a field of wildflowers, fall colors on a mountain side. Nothing beats the first sight of your baby's ten toes. During visitation at the funeral home when our youngest son died, I kept remembering the day I had first unwrapped his blanket to see his little feet.

The sense of sound - I loved the powerful sound of Niagara Falls, and I love the sound of birds singing in the back yard. For a mother the sound of her teenager's car turning into the driveway at night can be the sweetest sound on earth as is a voice on the phone 'Hey Manmaw, we got here ok'. I think there is absolutely nothing more exhilarating than the uncontrollable laughter of a toddler. (I remember the toddler in our house who got tickled and couldn't stop laughing at the sight of the platter of little tree shaped molds of lime jello that I was bringing to the table.)

The sense of touch - a kitten's fur, a handshake, a hug, warm sand on your toes at the beach and a baby's slobbery kiss.

The sense of smell - of roses, or cookies baking in the oven, or rain, or freshly cut grass. Or baby powder or a teenage daughter's first corsage.

Consider emotions - joy, fear, anger, sorrow. Consider the means of expressing emotions - tears, smiles, frowns, laughter. A child has been the source of my moments of greatest joys and also of my greatest sorrows in life.

Another remarkable thing is our Memory. I don't remember what I had for breakfast this morning but I can remember exactly how my mother's fried okra and corn tasted. I have all these crazy, wonderful memories of my own childhood and memories that we made with our children and they grow more and more precious as time passes. I encourage all young families to build beautiful memories!

I'm thankful for salvation.
We all know the story of Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden - how they disobeyed God and were sent away from God and the Garden - to till the ground which would have thorns and thistles and to suffer pain in childbirth.

I'm thankful that God had a plan all the time for a way that we could be reconciled to him - that when the time was right he wrapped himself up in a little bundle of humanity, left the glories of heaven and came as a little bitsy baby to earth and lived as a man - was tempted in every way that we are - and felt all the earthly pains that we feel - so that we could show us how to live and how to love - and loved us enough to die on the cross for our sins and overcame death so that we can have eternal life with God.

I'm thankful for my faith:
I'm thankful for the measure of faith which God has given me - I'm thankful that he answered my prayer when I asked him to give me the courage to accept His son and be baptized for the remission of my sins and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. I'm thankful for his mercy and his grace. I'm thankful for all the people he has put in my path to help me in my walk of faith.

I'm thankful for my husband:
I am thankful that after God made man, he decided that man needed a mate. And I am thankful to have been Thomas Hogan's mate for over 50 years. I met him at a sock hop when I was 14. He asked me to dance and asked for my phone number. At the end of the evening, he said "I'll call you." I said "No, you won't. You don't remember my phone number." So I wrote it down for him. And I am thankful that he didn't loose it. Somebody famous said "The best gift a father can give his children is to love their mother." I am glad my children got that gift from their dad.

I'm thankful for love:
And I'm glad that love is stretchy! Some mothers who only have one child say they are afraid to have a second child because they're afraid they won't love the second one as much as they do the first one. Some young mothers are afraid that their child will love a caregiver more than they love the parent. But LOVE is stretchy - it doesn't run out!

My grandmother would go out and kill a chicken and fry chicken for Sunday dinner. She always ate the feet. I got the pulley bone because that was my favorite piece - she said the foot was her favorite piece - right!. I believed that as a child.

I'm sure that there are times when all parents , regardless of how many children they have, feel they don't have enough time - or enough money - or enough energy - or enough chicken - but there's always enough love. Different children have different needs at different times - but love stretches. And I'm thankful for that.

I am thankful that God created the family.
My mother worked very hard at socializing me. But she had to have a lot of help from my dad, her six sisters, my grandmothers and probably called in some neighbors at times and the jury is still out on whether I was ever properly socialized. But my mother gave it her best - and she left me with a remarkable example of love, unselfish giving, hard work and appreciation for the beauties of God's creation.

Sometimes in today's world, the family gets messed up by one of the 3 D's - Death, Divorce,and Drugs. I'm thankful that human nature is such that there are aunts and uncles and grandparents and stepparents and in-laws and friends and sometimes strangers who step up to the plate to fill the role of parents so many times for children, babies, teenagers, and even young adults.

And I'm thankful for mothers:
Yes, I'm a mother! I will always be a mother. Other labels or titles come and go. I was a student for am unbelievably long time but I finally graduated. I was an Accounting Manager but the plant closed. Once I was 'the patient in 302' but I got well. Being a mother is never over.

A mother's role changes over time. Remember the change when your baby started sleeping all night? When they were tall enough to reach the cereal box and you could sleep late on Saturday? Was their a time in your child's development when your role changed to invisible? I knew a child once who liked having her mother meet her school bus so she didn't have to walk down a long driveway by herself but she wanted her mother to hide behind a tree so people on the bus wouldn't see her.

The empty nest is a big change for parents. I jokingly tell people who are facing an empty nest that it takes about 15 minutes to adjust but the truth is that I recall in excruciating detail the day each of my children left home. I recall that it was a big transition for me when all of a sudden my boys got married and I was no longer the family's social director or fashion police. As you get older the role continues to change. A couple of years ago we put our boys on the signature card at the bank for our safe deposit box and now we have put them on that list at the doctor's office that says he can tell them medical stuff about us. During my mother's later years I often spent the night at her house. I would fall asleep on the sofa and she would always cover me with a blanket.

The role changes but it's never over.

I am thankful for my children and grandchildren.
We learned so much from our three boys. These days our grandchildren teach us about cell phones, MP3 players, computers, and cameras. Who knows what we may learn from our great-grandson.

One son taught me about responsibility. He was not quite three when our third son was born. He took such good care of his little brothers. When we told him we were getting the first baby, he said he didn't want a baby - he wanted a goat. When we told him a few months later, we were getting a baby, he said "we just got a baby." But he took care of his brothers - he fed them and he drug them around by the neck - I think that's why the youngest grew up to be 6 foot seven. And he worried so much about his daddy and me, especially on vacation. He was always afraid that we were going to turn the wrong way and get lost or wouldn't find a place to sleep.

I learned about discipline from another son - He cried the first day I left him at kindergarten and he cried every day when I left him for the next six weeks. I would hold his hand, open the classroom door, the teacher would take his other hand, I would pull my hand away from him, and leave. After six weeks of that, one night Thomas looked him in the eye and said "You are not to cry at kindergarten anymore. He replied "OK". And he didn't.

I learned about Germs and Generosity from the other son. Up until the day he died, he would give you the shirt off his back if you asked him. Now as a child, for some reason he had a big issue with germs - but he was generous even then. Consequently if you said "Can I have a bite of that candy bar?", he would just give you the whole thing because he didn't want to get your germs.

A mother's children are the prettiest, the smartest, the sweetest, in the whole world. So are her grandchildren and her great-grandchildren.

Mothers never stop loving their kids.

You know else I'm thankful for - God never stops loving us!

MY HORNET WAS JUST FOOLING

2011-03-21T09:55:00.000-07:00

"My hornet was just fooling" may not sound like an apology to you but everybody in our family knows it's right up there in sincerity with a "Sorry" accompanied by a bop on the head from Hogan after he's had a bad moment. And even my friends know where I am going when I say "Don't throw my supper away, I'll be right back".

Children do indeed say the darndest things and perhaps all parents think they need to write those things down because they are so cute and they want to remember them. I know I did but what parent in the 60's had time to write anything other than a check, a grocery list, or a 'please excuse little Johnny from being tardy' note. Someday I would write a book about those cute boys and the memorable things they said.

When the grand-girls came along spouting words of wisdom from their sweet little mouths, I was busy working, had forgotten how to spell and couldn't remember where the pencils lived anyway. So I started keeping a list of just a couple of words to remind me of the funny stories fully intending to write all the wonderful stories some-day.

Retirement time came much more quickly than I had expected. At my retirement party one of my dear friends gave me one of those "write-your-autobiography-books" but I still couldn't find a pencil. I remembered that there were a lot of rules about sentence structure, dangling participles, and lie-lay-laid but I couldn't remember what any of the rules were.

About that time, three significant things happened. I got my first real computer and scanner; Somebody (Al Gore maybe) invented the digital camera; and my old camera broke. Even though I told him I wanted one "just like my old one", not one of those new-fangled cameras, Thomas bought me a digital camera for Christmas. I loved it!

I was like a kid with a new coloring book and a fresh box of crayons. I scanned old pictures, I cropped new pictures, I downloaded clip art, photo software, and even music. I edited old boyfriends out, replaced trashcans with cloned flowers, made me taller than the grand-girls, and replaced frowns with smiles. I made cards, slideshows, photo books, and collages. I became good friends with Shutterfly and the ink companies but I still had not written my book.

I finally did it and I didn't even have to hunt a pencil. Five years ago I made a picture book for Thomas for Christmas. It documented the stories of our three boys, four granddaughters, and children of old friends, extended and church families, co-workers, and even some children we had encountered while shopping. Now that we have Hogan - and as I remember lots of things that I forgot in the first edition, I've started making notes for a second edition.

The main purpose of this blog is to encourage parents to "write it down" before you forget it. Our children are a gift from God and so are your memories of their childhood. It won't make much sense to anybody except Thomas and me but here's a link if you're interested.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=shirley.hogan&target=ALBUM&id=5585239609917231201&authkey=Gv1sRgCO-yneOs56KHpAE&feat=email

OR

https://picasaweb.google.com/shirley.hogan/IfWeForgetBook#

2011-02-14T10:07:00.000-08:00

2010-12-03T14:58:00.001-08:00

Contest details

2010-12-01T14:00:00.000-08:00

Full Of Love Christmas Card

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Christmas Cards

2010-12-01T13:25:00.001-08:00

Full Of Love Christmas Card

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Lake Crescent P1010318AAA

2009-06-27T07:57:00.001-07:00

Lake Crescent P1010318AAA, originally uploaded by manmaw.

We spent 10 days earlier this month in Oregon and Washington enjoying the beautiful sights that God created. We also ate so many oysters - another great creation by God - that Thomas had another attack of gout when we got home.

Flickr

2009-06-27T07:50:00.001-07:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

NEW BEGINNINGS - Happy New Year

2007-01-05T17:12:00.000-08:00

elmo

2006-09-21T13:21:00.000-07:00

http://beta.photoshow.com/publish/Pq7QK7AY.swf?w=466&m=0&htm=4&autoPlayback=false" />http://beta.photoshow.com/publish/Pq7QK7AY.swf?w=466&m=0&htm=4&autoPlayback=false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="466" height="378">

MAINE WINDJAMMER CRUISE

2006-08-17T20:17:00.000-07:00

This is Elmo

2006-07-05T18:05:00.000-07:00

2006-06-17T19:19:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is Father's Day. The last time I bought a "Happy Father's Day Dad" Card was in 1977. I was only 37 years old and my dad was only 62. A lot of water has gone under my family bridge since that year. There have been marriages, births, graduations, new jobs, retirements, illnesses, divorces, and deaths.

But my thoughts of my dad are happy thoughts. In no particular order, here are some facts about my dad.

1. His father died when daddy was only 13 years old.
2. He was a Ford man. He had a black 1940 Ford Sedan when I was born. I was sad when he traded it in for a brand new 1950 Ford. I learned to drive in that Ford.
3. He carried me and my giggling girl friends to football games every Friday night.
4. He carried me shopping to buy dresses.
5. During WWII he was drafted when I was three years old.
6. He laughed at my antics, some of which my mother did not find amusing.
7. He only gave me one "whupping" that I remember.
8. He went down in the woods and chopped a Christmas Tree down every Christmas and I always went with him. I remember one year there was snow on the ground.
9. He grew up during the Depression. He went to 7th grade three years because he didn't have transportation to get to high school in town.
10. He loved and enjoyed my boys dearly. He never got to meet my grandgirls.
11. He and my husband build our first house.
12. His hair started turning gray when he was 25. I talked him into getting a flattop when I was in high school.
13. He could sleep anywhere - even sitting in a straight chair.
14. He loved to watch wrestling on TV. People who knew him loved to watch my daddy watch wresting on TV.
15. He got mad at me one time when I wore my bathing suit to the corn field to hoe corn. He didn't like the way I hoed corn either. He said "If you can't do it any better than that, just go to the house." But when I put my hoe down and started to the house he said "You get back here."
16. He didn't talk bad about other people. His favorite saying was "That's their little red wagon and they'll just have to pull it."

Don't You Buy No Ugly Truck

2006-05-14T20:53:00.000-07:00

THOMAS GREGORY HOGAN

2006-03-26T12:38:00.000-08:00

Now I've Heard Everything

2006-01-13T13:06:00.000-08:00

I remember when we got our first telephone. Our number was 6495. I was in the 7th grade and we were on an eight-party line. One of the ladies in our community was often heard to say something like "I heard on the phone today that blah, blah, blah" as if she were saying "I heard on TV . . .".

You could dial 0 - A human being would answer and say "Operator". From that point you could respond in one of many ways.
1. "I'd like to call number XXXX Collect".
2. "I'd like to call number XXXX and charge it to my home number - 6495."
3. "I need the number for the movie in Conyers."
4. "Could I have the correct time please?"
5. "I'd like to call Covington 7486."

One of my classes at Massey College was a "Switchboard" Class. They taught us how to sit correctly in front of a scary looking machine, wait for it to ring, then pull a cord out of one hole, smile as we said "XYZ Company", and stick the cord into another hole (hopefully the appropriate hole) thereby linking together the caller and the callee. I never got a job using that skill set. It's probably just as well because I wasn't very proficient in that class.

In the business world, no self respecting manager would answer the phone. That task was handled by a female who was careful to not let the manager be interuppted by a mother-in-law or a magazine salesmen - I guess much like Caller ID, huh.

But I digress from the point of this blog.

To me one of the most frustrating things about our world today is attempting to reach anybody by phone:
>"Your call is important to us - please stick your head in a sack".
>"We estimate that your hold time will be five minutes longer than it takes for the Customer Service Clerk to go to lunch, the bathroom, check her horoscope, and bleach her hair."
>"Our hours are 11:30 am to 1:00 pm. We are closed for lunch from 11:45 to 1:15.
But your call is important to us."
>"Press 1 if you wish to hear the menu. Press 842996 if you wish to speak with customer service. Press 8444376 backwards if you wish to speak with the pest control man who might be in the building today."
Obviously I exaggerate - a little. BUT yesterday Tom and I sat in the office of someone who was handling some business for us. It required that he make a phone call. He pressed the speaker phone button and this is what we heard: (I promise)

"Insurance Company - Please press 1 for Customer Service - press 2 for Accounts Receivable - press 3 for Human Resources - PRESS 4 IF YOU WANT TO STAY ON HOLD."

2005-10-20T12:03:00.000-07:00

manmaw
MANMAW

2005-10-13T09:54:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time in a land called Conyers there lived a doctor whose name was Dr. Brown. (In years to come, he would be known as "Old Doctor Brown" to differentiate him from his son who would be known as "Dr. Brown.") Old Doctor Brown spent his days in his little office across the street from the drug store giving shots to old people and lollipops to youngsters. By night he placed his little black bag filled with packages of shots and bundles of lollipops into his car and drove around the countryside seeing people who were too ill to make the long journey into town. On some very special, magically nights his little black bag held a very special bundle.
Such a night was Oct. 19, 1940. It was a dark and rainy night. Old Doctor Brown packed his bag and drove north about ten miles. He stopped at the home of a young couple whose life was about to change forever.
He was ushered inside by the young husband to the bedside of the young wife who was in severe pain. He opened his little black bag and took me out and gave me to Annie B and Gwinnett and they were very happy. And so am I!

HEATHER'S PRE-BATMAN TALENTS

2005-08-10T12:55:00.000-07:00

Heather's writing talents came early in her life - long before her Batman accomplishments.
Heather's First Blog
MANMAW & TOM

Colorado River

2005-07-18T19:57:00.000-07:00

- Dead Horse State Park - Moab, Utah

The Night Before Vacation

2005-05-31T18:08:00.000-07:00

Our bags are packed.
Sam and Heidi are nervous.
We've been to the bank and the trash dump.
I have a new memory card for the camera that holds 2000 pictures.
Our flight is tomorrow at 8:16 or one of those before noon times.

Rupert (the man next door) is going to feed the cats
and empty the litter box and bring the mail in.
Heather has promised to come by a few times to check
on Sam and Heidi. Heather, please give Sam some
medicine when you come -

Here's the deal:
Wed - Arrive in Salt Lake City at 1:15 PM.
Drive to West Yellowstone, MT.
Thur - Take a tour bus into Yellowstone National Park.
Fri - Drive through Grand Teton National Park
Spend night in Jackson, WY.
Sat - Drive to Moab, Ut (Arches National Park)
Mon afternoon - Drive to Durango, CO
Tue - Train ride to Silverton, Bus ride back to Durango
Wed - Head down into Arizona to see Painted Desert.
Petrified Forest National Park, and on to Sedona, AZ.
Sun & Mon - Grand Canyon South Rim
Tue, Wed, Thur - Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Capital Reef
National Parks.
Fri - Drive back to Salt Lake City
Sat - Get back to Atlanta at 7:30 PM

We'll keep in touch.
I don't know if our cell phones will work but
feel free to try to call us if you miss us.

If Tom finds warm weather in Arizona, I may have to
call some of you to come out there and help me drag
him back.

We love you and will see you in July.

Love,
Mom, Mama, Manmaw, Shirley

SECOND ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTE

2005-05-24T14:09:00.000-07:00

http://webpages.charter.net/athogan/

As usual I was late finishing my tribute to Jennifer & Jeremy.

Here's a link. (It's the same as the email I sent to
Hogans)

Anyway - Happy Anniversary - Jennifer & Jeremy.

Love ya,
Manmaw

2005-05-03T08:06:00.000-07:00

Annie B Cox

50 YEARS AGO TODAY

2005-04-23T10:08:00.000-07:00

The date - April 23, 1955
The place - Teen Canteen - Conyers, GA
The event - A Sock Hop

The conversation -
HE: "Would you like to dance?"
SHE: "Sure."

Their first dance (of 63,420 to come) -
HE: "What did you say your name was?"
SHE: "I didn't say."
HE: "Where did you say you lived?"
SHE: "I didn't say."
HE: "What is your phone number?"
SHE: "6495"

End of dance -
HE: "I'll call you."
SHE: "You don't remember my phone number."
HE: "Yes, I do."
SHE: "What is it?"
HE: "Uh h hhhhh"
SHE: "Let me write it down for you."

HAPPY 50th SOCK HOP ANNIVERSARY TO TOM !
I LOVE YOU

And to all of our children and grandchildren -
Do you see now how lucky you are to be here?
And aren't you glad that I am a nagger.

More Callaway Garden Pictures

2005-04-20T06:37:00.000-07:00

http://webpages.charter.net/athogan/

2005-04-08T06:25:00.000-07:00

Callaway Gardens

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANDICE

2005-04-02T04:23:00.000-08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR

2005-03-31T08:10:00.000-08:00

HAPPPPPPY BIRTHDAY TO JENNIFER

2005-03-28T18:53:00.000-08:00

candice & jennifer (kunkle tim in the corner)

2005-03-28T18:50:00.000-08:00

happy birthday to my grandbabies

Jane Oxford Patterson

2005-03-11T08:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went to the funeral of my oldest friend - not the oldest in terms of how many years she had lived but in terms of how many years she had been my friend. I met Jane on the first day of our junior year in high school forty-nine and a half years ago. Our class was small, our town was small, our world was small.

After two years of what I think are 'the most carefree days of your life', we graduated. Jane and I chose the same business school and spent the next several months together in classes, commuting, and sightseeing in downtown Atlanta. Our mode of transportation was the Trailways bus and it took us forever to get there.

We went our separate ways after business school but we kept in touch. Jane worked and I had babies. Two years later she married a high school buddy of
Tom's. Our daily paths merged again after I had my third son and she had her first child. We both got new jobs in Atlanta and were in the same car pool for another couple of years.

During those early years of our marriages, we enjoyed a comaradarie of visiting, card games, parties, dancing, and youthful fun. As our children grew up, our lives took different directions but Jane was never any further away than a phone call. We eventually moved to another town and then grandchildren became a part of all our lives. We always knew we could count on Jane and Don to be there for us in good times and bad. We saw them at hospitals, at funeral homes, and at celebrations in church fellowship halls and in our homes.

Two weeks after my retirement, I called to invite them for lunch but she was scheduled for a routine hysterectomy. Thus began her two and a half year battle with cancer and pain. During that time her phone calls were always upbeat and optimistic. I will always remember the smile in her voice when I called her and she would say "Well, hey Shirley." She called me two weeks ago to tell me that the cancer had showed up in her back and that she was scheduled for three more weeks of radiation. Last week I received a call from a mutual friend that Jane had been carried to the emergency room.

I visited her on Saturday. Her face was covered with a huge oxygen mask but it was not big enough to hide her contagious smile.

I guess the purpose of this blog is just to say "Thank you again God - for faith, for family, and for friends. And thank you for memories."

Out of the Mouths of Babes

2005-02-25T18:20:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday I walked into Children's Church to see little Ethan
struggling to get the wrapper off of a peppermint.

When he finally got the wrapper off, he looked up at me and
said "Will you please bite this in two for me?"

"No, I will NOT bite that in two for you" I replied.

His response (as he popped the whole mint in his mouth)"
"But I'm not allowed to have hard candy."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO HEATHER ! I love you!

2004-12-09T05:07:00.000-08:00

2004-11-25T20:43:00.000-08:00

I wonder if this is going to be a blog when I get through with it.
When I bake a cake, I'm never sure it's really going to be a cake.
Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't. If it is, my family eats it.
If it isn't, we throw it away.

So if this is a blog, you can read it.
If it isn't, I guess you can't read it, huh?