So, here it is -the last day of school finally arrived. Maya left peaceably this morning for her last day as did Kate. Maya has a "full day" today (won't be home till 3 p.m., her normal time) whereas Kate's day amounted to maybe two hours of socializing, getting phone numbers, e-mail addys, my space accounts more than likely. Something I suspect she spends more time getting during the normal school day too though but on the last day, well ya know, priorities and you have to be well stoked for the summer with people you can correspond with and communicate to and fro don't 'cha?
So anyway, due to several sleep interruptions last night, I slept rather late today -didn't get up till a little after 11 a.m. As I waltzed through the living room, enroute to the bathroom, there's a bevy of teenage girls (ok, so there was only three) blocking my route as they were all hovering over something on the computer -someone's My Space" obviously.
On return from my bathroom visit, as I headed towards the kitchen for a cup of coffee that I hoped would help me to wake up, I noticed the girls quietly dispersed, went upstairs to Kate's room, without my having to say a word to anyone to order them out of my battered up computer chair and away from my portal here.
And so it began - my reading the stuff I try to read every day -other people's blogs!
Mandy is babysitting today - has her sister-in-law's baby girl here. Carlea is a little cutie pie -about six months old now and just a smiling, sweet little thing she is too. Kurtis, on the other had, is not overly friendly to her as he sees her as an interloper, moving in on HIS turf, taking valuable attention time from his mother away from him and sliding it over to his little cousin.
But anyway, things were moving along fairly quietly. Carlea asleep in her carseat and Kurtis nodding off for what I was hoping would be a nice, early, afternoon nap. The teens had made their way back downstairs and were heading out to go up to Kate's Mom's house when suddenly Kate hollers out for Mandy, announcing that there is a snake on our front door step.
"WHAT?" That was me! Trying to keep any panic out of my voice too ya know. (I hate, absolutely loathe, abhor and despise snakes, any kind, you name it and I am also terrified of them too -poisonous or not.) Mandy, it so happened, was out in the backyard hanging up clothes so she didn't hear Kate's announcement.
I got up wandered out to the front porch where all three girls were gathered around the front door -well, actually only two of them were by the door as the third one it seems is maybe just a tad more afraid of snakes than I am and she was hanging back by the dining room doorway, trying NOT to view the snake.
Yep! There is was too -in all its slinky, slithery glory - a nice big long old black snake just slowly dragging itself across the concrete doorstep in front of the doorway. It was making its way into the flower bed there and suddenly it dawned on me -HEY! This could make for some good blog material and maybe even get some pictures to go along with it, to prove this entity had been nervy enough to invade our space, come this close to humans, etc. etc. etc.
Jorge (the Mama cat) was beside herself wanting to be let outside and Kate was moving her foot back and forth trying to blockade it so the cat wouldn't escape the second the front door was opened too. I mentioned letting Jorge out as she would probably tussle with the snake and maybe even kill it but that terrified Kate as she was afraid the snake would bite Jorge and after all, "You can't risk that, she's a Mama, she has babies to feed ya know!" Yes, Kate actually thought of that! Surprised the heck out of me that one did ya know!
So I came into the living room, reached up on the shelf above my computer for my sweet little camera and came away empty handed. Drat! Looking around the desktop (the actual one, not the computer one, ya know) and through the rubble that calls my desktop home, no camera was to be found. Then I thought I remembered having seen it out in the kitchen maybe yesterday on the counter there -which meant Mandy had been using it -so I meandered out there but couldn't locate it. Hmmm. Maybe she had put it back in my purse or maybe I had done that and had forgotten about it so I found my purse, but no camera. Ok, desperate times call for desperate actions and I called out to Mandy then asking if she knew where it was.
"Yeah. It's on the counter, off to the left side of the coffee maker." Yeah, looked there but had to lift about ten or fifteen papers up before I finally located my camera and headed back to try to get a snapshot of this slithering beast in my front yard.
However, by the time I finally found the camera and got back to the door, the snake had made its way across the front yard, behind the maple tree and apparently slunk itself then in between the rocks of the rock wall Bill had erected in the front of the yard to hold the dirt that composes our parking area in so it doesn't all wash out and down into the yard every time it rains!
By this time, the girls left then -figured it was safe to walk up the sidewalk to the road. Mandy had come back inside and I told her, showed her where the snake had been visiting and pointing out to her where we believed it had gone to hide out now too. I reminded Mandy then -figure I'll let HER explain this to Bill -about how there is this door in the back of the house that goes into the basement and how some people within the family have a tendency to go in and out of that entry way with no regard to being sure to close the door tightly then too. I also reminded here that a few years back we had evidently had a snake get into the house where it at least shed its skin on the ledge above and behind the furnace and had been found when the guy who used to do all the repairs on my furnace and wiring and such was doing some work here one day and he had to run his hand across that ledge and found the snake's skin. Funny thing about that is that he is much like me and is also terrified of snakes too!
So here's hoping maybe now Bill will remember to tightly close the damned cellar door behind him when he uses that entry way. It's doubtful but I can hope, dream, can't I? And don't anyone bother now to tell me how nice, loveable and useful black snakes are too -I DON'T CARE!
The only good snake in my book -is a DEAD ONE!
And that brings me back now to the title of this post.
RATS! Something that exciting -a live critter -in my front yard, on my doorstep no less -and I missed getting a photo of it because my dear sweet daughter didn't put my camera back in my regular hiding place for it!
Let that be a lesson now for one and all to Always Put Things Away, where they belong!
Boy, David McMahon would be so chiding me I bet for not having my camera at hand -at all times - wouldn't he?
Friday, June 06, 2008
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Dona Nobis Pacem
Two years ago, Mimi of Mimi Writes began this blog event which has grown by leaps and bounds and now has people around the globe participating, flying our peace globes, each of us posting today for PEACE, sweet, wonderful, pure, peace!
Here's the banner each of us taking part in this great event will be flying today - along with our own personal peace globes as well.
And here are my words for this auspicious day! Written in the hope if even one person reads it and decides to follow suit, it has been successful.“Let There Be Peace on Earth” –words and music by Sy Miller and Jill Jackson in 1987.
That’s what it says in the United Methodist Hymnal that had belonged to my late aunt –the one whose Hammond organ I acquired when she passed away this past April.
There is something about this particular song though –I love both the words as well as the melody but it is the idea behind the words that really reach out to me –gives so much impact, I believe.
Let’s look at the words:
“Let there be peace on earth.” How simple a sentence and what a wonderful request that sentence is too. Doesn’t everyone wish that were a reality though? Don’t we all start and end our day with some type of a request along those lines? Whether one is waking up, showering, dressing and getting ready to head off to the world of work, or facing the day with a couple of small children in tow –or especially, if one is in an area torn by war, starvation, slavery, strife of all the terrible types we recognize, wouldn’t that be your opening thought?
And wouldn’t it also be the last thought in your mind, as you drift off to sleep at the end of the day too?
“And let it begin with me.” How simple a statement that is and yet, it is one that few seem able to follow. Whether that peace is something like “No yelling,” or “Stop hitting each other” –whether that be addressed to disciplining children, dealing with the general public in the workplace, or to combatants in the battlefield –if only each of us could say that phrase and have it have a really positive impact.
”Let there be peace on earth, the peace that was meant to be.” The idea of having peace and quiet –no fighting –no children squabbling, no teens muttering smart aleck comments to parents, teachers, others; no couples grousing about trivial things, money, jealousies, anger and no others stomping through one’s life, taking ownership of things that are not theirs, no people afraid to go outside their homes for fear of being robbed, for fear of being raped, for fear of being maimed in one way or another, no hatred of others because of their skin color, body features, ethnicity, sex, gender or especially because of their faith. Aren’t all those things which so many of us fear could or will possibly bring us harm and which are things that are such basic elements to co-existence that to have them denied, stolen, trampled makes a peaceful existence virtually impossible to attain.
“With God our creator, children all are we.” Regardless of one’s age –infant, child, teen, adult, senior citizen –yes, we are all children and children of God too –regardless what name you call that entity that is the “Higher Power” of life.
“Let us walk with each other in perfect harmony.” Once again, such a simple statement and yet, so many who refuse to even try to do that, who feel the need to brutalize others in their attempt to bring happiness into living.
“Let peace begin with me, let this be the moment now.” Let me show by an example to others, let each person do the same, extend a helping hand, greet people with care, kindness and love –what could it hurt? Better yet, how much could it help? Think of it as each of us taking that one little step in that direction, with the billons of people on this planet, each walking in the same direction of kindness to family, friends, acquaintances and yes, even to perfect strangers as all being the same would leave no time then for plundering others belongings, for brutalities, for killings, for war.
“With every step I take, let this be my solemn vow.” Start small, move forward with each stride being a little longer, reach out, smile, speak, share, understanding will follow.
“To take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally.” See how simple this really could be? Truly, it could happen you know.
“Let there be peace on earth.” What a wonderful, blessed thing this could be.
“And let it begin with ME!”
We all have to do this. Really we do. And there is nothing standing in our way either –if each one does this, does the same thing.
What’s so difficult about that anyway?
Look around at those who are already a part of our lives – children, siblings, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbors, and friends –each person who enters into our lives, our surroundings and simply remember the Golden Rule – Do Unto Others As We Would Have Others Do Unto Us –and then take action on that.
If someone does something that is offensive, and if we retaliate by being offensive in return, what is the end result? A continuation of the offensive actions, as others become a part of the action and reaction syndrome does nothing but create more struggles, more strife, more hatred.
But, if each of us does something nice, is kind, thoughtful, generous, understanding, caring – thinking along the lines of how each of us would want to be treated and then acting on those thoughts – a simple smile, a light pat on the shoulder, a hug, a helping hand where needed –can eradicate the wrong, the evil, the tragedies that are inflicted by man’s hand on others – and change each little corner of the world in which we live, piece by piece, step by step, day by day into the world we would all be able to see for the glory, the beauty, the awesomeness around us.
Try it! What can be lost by trying anyway? Nothing.
What can be gained? Everything!!!!
And so, today –and everyday –I will try to do my part, to help where I can, to extend a hand in friendship, a word of encouragement whenever possible –and if I fail one day, to come back the next day and try harder to abide by this principle.
Prayers for peace are wonderful and also something that costs nothing to give. But to make those prayers become a reality, each of us must take it one step further and do it –really try one person at a time –to “LET IT BEGIN WITH ME!”
In Peace.
Jeni - just another Nittany Lioness in the hills of central Pennsylvania.
Dona Nobis Pacem
Dona Nobis Pacem
It's that time again! Time for the first Blog Blast for Peace of 2008, an idea that Mimi of Mimi Writes brought into being two years ago now.
I'm posting two things for the Blog Blast for Peace. This is the first part and it is a you tube video from a song in the movie "Juno." Listen closely to the words if you will -be aware too there is some "blue" vocabulary so you might not want to watch/listen to this if there are younger people, or even older ones who are very sensitive to certain words.
But the song, and the words, "We won't stop until they tell us to" -and then, "We'll do it all over again." I think tell so much about a peace movement that goes back well beyond when even Mimi began this campaign on the Internet to push for peace.
And, that's exactly what we will all do -until such time as minds and directions are changed and people begin to live in harmony.
Peace!
"Loose Lips"
Recapping Things
It's been a bit of busyness the past couple of days here.
On Saturday, Mandy wanted to go down the mountain to a little store where they carry some items she likes but can't find at the bigger stores -mop heads! Yeah, imagine going shopping for one of those replacement heads for your mop at a gas station/outlet type store on a very small scale. But while there, I found a few things that I wanted too - among them lime juice concentrate, smallish bottles of olive oil so I wouldn't have to shell out a larger chunk of change by purchasing a larger bottle at the big chain stores, and some ice cream toppings - hot fudge and caramel -by Smuckers -and both priced at $1.00 a jar! Yep, I was very happy with my lot when I came across those items.
After leaving there, we were heading on down the mountain towards Milesburg when all of a sudden Mandy smacked the steering wheel with her hand, grumbling because she hadn't been paying attention and had zipped right on past the house where she had stopped last year and two years ago as well for their big yard sale. (She really likes this place because they apparently have a little girl just enough older than Maya that each year, Mandy can practically refurbish Maya's wardrobe from finds at this yard sale. And apparently they have a little guy too, also just enough older than Kurtis that he will fall in line now too for getting some nice "almost new" clothes. The really neat thing too is that these ladies price the kids clothing dirt cheap and almost all the items are big brand names of kids clothing as well!)
From there, we went on to the Plaza where I used to work and had a nice supper there. I tried one of their new items on the menu -an open-faced omelet, with lightly browned hash brown potatoes on it, topped with sausage gravy and slices of Polish sausage. Reading the description on the menu didn't really entice me but when the prep cook mentioned it to me, somehow it made the combination all seem more plausible so I decided to try it -my breakfast for supper meal - and was really glad I ordered it as it was quite tasty!
Sunday, I was the only one in the family who made it up and out the door for church services. Later in the day, when Maya realized it was Sunday, she was -again - quite put out because Mommy didn't get her up and they didn't go to church. She told Mandy "We not go at church" and at first Mandy thought she was just adding church to places she didn't want to go or things she thinks she doesn't want to do but then Mandy realized she actually was referring this in the opposite way and kind of chiding Mandy then because she had been derelict in her duties of waking Maya up, getting her bathed and dressed and out to services.
This is all such a change for us with Maya and attending church though and truthfully, I don't think either Mandy or I has fully become accustomed to the fact that Maya now enjoys attending church with us. Although we had taken her to church from the time she was only two weeks old and as she grew, she generally did fairly well, behaved at least half-decently for the first two and a half years. That is until Kurtis was a baby and we decided to attend a Thursday evening service with both the little ones in tow. That night, Maya had started to whine and fuss a bit when we pulled in the parking lot and she hadn't been all that happy about getting out of the van to go into church either. But that still didn't prepare us for how she acted that night! As soon as she set one little foot inside the narthex area of the church, she went into a massive meltdown! She threw herself on to the floor, laid there kicking like crazy and screaming -actually shrieking -like a little banshee and there was no way to get her to calm down so Mandy had ended up leaving Kurtis and I there at church and taking Maya back home. She then came back about an hour later to pick Kurtis and me up.
After that episode, anytime we drove by the church she would get upset and perish the thought of how she would carry on if we pulled into the parking lot. From May of 2006 until June of 2007, we took Maya to church with us once and that was only because we HAD to take her because it was the Sunday Kurtis was being baptized so all of the family wanted to be there. Well, it was a disaster, big time as Maya began to go into meltdown as soon as the bell rang! I didn't even wait to try to calm her down, just picked her up and went out to sit in the narthex behind the glass windows where I could at least watch most of the service. I did that while holding Maya in my lap, her clinging to me for dear life and sobbing, unrelentlessly, through the ENTIRE service! After that episode, I tried making excuses for things I had to run out to the church to pick up something or drop something off and would take her with me so I could take her inside the church and maybe show her, when it wasn't packed with worshipers, etc., that it really isn't a scary place.
But it wasn't until last June when Katie and a friend of hers had to participate in the Youth Group doing the service one Sunday that we were actually able to convince Maya to go to church with us -and behave like a semi-civilized little person too!
Since then, she has gotten better and better with each service we attend and actually looks forward to going church with us now. The next step will be to indoctrinate Kurtis into this procedure but that's going to take a lot more effort. So far, he doesn't have this massive fear, no meltdowns from that anyway, but his behavior leaves a lot to be desired right now. He doesn't understand words like "Quiet" -has no "inside voice" either AT ALL and sitting still for longer than 2 minutes unless he his wanting and willing to go to sleep, just isn't going to happen for a while yet I think.
But anyway, Sunday afternoon and into the evening, both kids were really on the obnoxious side with their behavior. Maya was really enjoying tormenting Kurtis at every turn along the day -from just touching him, taking away any toys he happened to pick up and then, to flat out pushing him over and then, standing there asking Maya and I "Wah happen a Kurtis?" Gee, I dunno other than the fact he was trotting around very nicely until you put a hand out and gave him a shove, which resulted in his landing with a big splat on the floor!
This went on most of the afternoon and into the evening hours! About 8:30 or so, my son stopped by having just gotten home from his week's runs and he brought the big and beautiful "Bon" with him. He brought the dog into the house on a heavy duty lease and then, decided he was going to go upstairs and talk to Maya -who by that time had been sent to bed because she was misbehaving so much. When Clate went to go upstairs, he handed me the lease and started to the steps only to have Bon decide he should follow his new master too and in the process, pulled a little tug on the lease that ended up being a strong enough tug that it pulled me, in my computer chair, half-way across the living room floor!
Then, the son-in-law decided now was a good time to let Jorge come back into the house to take care of her babies -a move that really excited good old Bon and put Jorge's hair straight up along with giving a really high arch to her back as the two of them stood there, basically face to face -ok, a couple of feet maybe between them - but they had a major stare-down contest going for a while. That is, until Mandy got worried and got up to pick Jorge up and carry her out to my room and put her in the box with her babies. Even though she was very safely ensconced there, it was obvious Jorge was still on the alert with the dog here as she got up on the top of the wall that divides my room from the foyer and perched there, watching Bon's every movement from on high until Clate decided to return back to his house.
Mandy and I also decided when Clate left that we needed a major breather from the fits these kids were having all day and decided to go up to Clate's house where we could sit as his bar and enjoy a couple long, cold mugs of draft beer! Yay! Yuengling, on tap! Really tasted darned good too -it surely did!
Last night, Mandy, Maya and I ventured down to Bellefonte to watch the elementary school's band concert. And, the highlight of that, for us, was seeing my older grandson do a solo on his trumpet of "Yankee Doodle Dandy!" He's been taking trumpet lessons for the past two years but this was his first band concert as well as his first ever solo performance too! And he did quite well although I'm betting before his solo, his stomach was totally full of those nervous butterflys!
And now, just for your viewing pleasure, here's a couple pictures -maybe I'll even post a video too of the band concert although the videos are very dark - so much so that you can barely see most of the kids because of the lighting in the auditorium. Wish they'd have had a spotlight to put on the kids who had little solos during the concert as at least then, you'd have been able to actually SEE the child performing!
This was my grandson's solo performance. The only area that had lighting was the middle to back portion of the stage -the rest of the place was darkened. You'll have to take my word for this but my grandson was standing at the far left of the stage -as it faces the audience -while playing his solo. We were seated up in the balcony area and it was difficult for us to see a lot of what was going on due to the darkened area of the auditorium. So my apologies for the video as far as viewability, but at least the sound of his trumpet came through loud and clear!
This is after the concert - Maya and Alex -just outside the school building. Maya was so happy to see Alex -and then, to do "smiles" with him (her term for taking pictures) and I especially liked this picture because it had both of them smiling so nicely!
This one, taken Sunday late in the afternoon, of Kurtis and Maya as we were heading out to take a little walk up and down the street here. This was a special request from Mandy that Grammy take the two hooligans for a walk so she could run the vacuum cleaner! Kurtis goes into meltdown whenever he hears the vacuum cleaner running - along with the portable mixer, the food processor and the hair dryer. Hearing the lawn mower running when Bill -or my son -happens to be cutting the front portion of the grass is also another noise Kurtis has a severe aversion to as well!
And last - but definitely not least - here's the big and beautiful Bon, resting his bones on the floor while Clate, Mandy and I indulged in a couple draft brews. Just look at those wrinkles on his forehead and tell me it doesn't just make you want to reach down and pet him, scratch him a bit behind the ears while you're at it? In less than a week's time, Bon has learned a few commands now and responds very nicely to Clate -also is becoming familiar with the sight of daughter Mandy and me, even the kids, coming by to say hello to him too!
And that's it for this morning!
Hope everyone has a really great day and that everyone is also getting their Peace Globe ready to fly tomorrow too now. That's the day to do that ya know - Dona Nobis Pacem for June 4, 2008.
A great day to behold!
On Saturday, Mandy wanted to go down the mountain to a little store where they carry some items she likes but can't find at the bigger stores -mop heads! Yeah, imagine going shopping for one of those replacement heads for your mop at a gas station/outlet type store on a very small scale. But while there, I found a few things that I wanted too - among them lime juice concentrate, smallish bottles of olive oil so I wouldn't have to shell out a larger chunk of change by purchasing a larger bottle at the big chain stores, and some ice cream toppings - hot fudge and caramel -by Smuckers -and both priced at $1.00 a jar! Yep, I was very happy with my lot when I came across those items.
After leaving there, we were heading on down the mountain towards Milesburg when all of a sudden Mandy smacked the steering wheel with her hand, grumbling because she hadn't been paying attention and had zipped right on past the house where she had stopped last year and two years ago as well for their big yard sale. (She really likes this place because they apparently have a little girl just enough older than Maya that each year, Mandy can practically refurbish Maya's wardrobe from finds at this yard sale. And apparently they have a little guy too, also just enough older than Kurtis that he will fall in line now too for getting some nice "almost new" clothes. The really neat thing too is that these ladies price the kids clothing dirt cheap and almost all the items are big brand names of kids clothing as well!)
From there, we went on to the Plaza where I used to work and had a nice supper there. I tried one of their new items on the menu -an open-faced omelet, with lightly browned hash brown potatoes on it, topped with sausage gravy and slices of Polish sausage. Reading the description on the menu didn't really entice me but when the prep cook mentioned it to me, somehow it made the combination all seem more plausible so I decided to try it -my breakfast for supper meal - and was really glad I ordered it as it was quite tasty!
Sunday, I was the only one in the family who made it up and out the door for church services. Later in the day, when Maya realized it was Sunday, she was -again - quite put out because Mommy didn't get her up and they didn't go to church. She told Mandy "We not go at church" and at first Mandy thought she was just adding church to places she didn't want to go or things she thinks she doesn't want to do but then Mandy realized she actually was referring this in the opposite way and kind of chiding Mandy then because she had been derelict in her duties of waking Maya up, getting her bathed and dressed and out to services.
This is all such a change for us with Maya and attending church though and truthfully, I don't think either Mandy or I has fully become accustomed to the fact that Maya now enjoys attending church with us. Although we had taken her to church from the time she was only two weeks old and as she grew, she generally did fairly well, behaved at least half-decently for the first two and a half years. That is until Kurtis was a baby and we decided to attend a Thursday evening service with both the little ones in tow. That night, Maya had started to whine and fuss a bit when we pulled in the parking lot and she hadn't been all that happy about getting out of the van to go into church either. But that still didn't prepare us for how she acted that night! As soon as she set one little foot inside the narthex area of the church, she went into a massive meltdown! She threw herself on to the floor, laid there kicking like crazy and screaming -actually shrieking -like a little banshee and there was no way to get her to calm down so Mandy had ended up leaving Kurtis and I there at church and taking Maya back home. She then came back about an hour later to pick Kurtis and me up.
After that episode, anytime we drove by the church she would get upset and perish the thought of how she would carry on if we pulled into the parking lot. From May of 2006 until June of 2007, we took Maya to church with us once and that was only because we HAD to take her because it was the Sunday Kurtis was being baptized so all of the family wanted to be there. Well, it was a disaster, big time as Maya began to go into meltdown as soon as the bell rang! I didn't even wait to try to calm her down, just picked her up and went out to sit in the narthex behind the glass windows where I could at least watch most of the service. I did that while holding Maya in my lap, her clinging to me for dear life and sobbing, unrelentlessly, through the ENTIRE service! After that episode, I tried making excuses for things I had to run out to the church to pick up something or drop something off and would take her with me so I could take her inside the church and maybe show her, when it wasn't packed with worshipers, etc., that it really isn't a scary place.
But it wasn't until last June when Katie and a friend of hers had to participate in the Youth Group doing the service one Sunday that we were actually able to convince Maya to go to church with us -and behave like a semi-civilized little person too!
Since then, she has gotten better and better with each service we attend and actually looks forward to going church with us now. The next step will be to indoctrinate Kurtis into this procedure but that's going to take a lot more effort. So far, he doesn't have this massive fear, no meltdowns from that anyway, but his behavior leaves a lot to be desired right now. He doesn't understand words like "Quiet" -has no "inside voice" either AT ALL and sitting still for longer than 2 minutes unless he his wanting and willing to go to sleep, just isn't going to happen for a while yet I think.
But anyway, Sunday afternoon and into the evening, both kids were really on the obnoxious side with their behavior. Maya was really enjoying tormenting Kurtis at every turn along the day -from just touching him, taking away any toys he happened to pick up and then, to flat out pushing him over and then, standing there asking Maya and I "Wah happen a Kurtis?" Gee, I dunno other than the fact he was trotting around very nicely until you put a hand out and gave him a shove, which resulted in his landing with a big splat on the floor!
This went on most of the afternoon and into the evening hours! About 8:30 or so, my son stopped by having just gotten home from his week's runs and he brought the big and beautiful "Bon" with him. He brought the dog into the house on a heavy duty lease and then, decided he was going to go upstairs and talk to Maya -who by that time had been sent to bed because she was misbehaving so much. When Clate went to go upstairs, he handed me the lease and started to the steps only to have Bon decide he should follow his new master too and in the process, pulled a little tug on the lease that ended up being a strong enough tug that it pulled me, in my computer chair, half-way across the living room floor!
Then, the son-in-law decided now was a good time to let Jorge come back into the house to take care of her babies -a move that really excited good old Bon and put Jorge's hair straight up along with giving a really high arch to her back as the two of them stood there, basically face to face -ok, a couple of feet maybe between them - but they had a major stare-down contest going for a while. That is, until Mandy got worried and got up to pick Jorge up and carry her out to my room and put her in the box with her babies. Even though she was very safely ensconced there, it was obvious Jorge was still on the alert with the dog here as she got up on the top of the wall that divides my room from the foyer and perched there, watching Bon's every movement from on high until Clate decided to return back to his house.
Mandy and I also decided when Clate left that we needed a major breather from the fits these kids were having all day and decided to go up to Clate's house where we could sit as his bar and enjoy a couple long, cold mugs of draft beer! Yay! Yuengling, on tap! Really tasted darned good too -it surely did!
Last night, Mandy, Maya and I ventured down to Bellefonte to watch the elementary school's band concert. And, the highlight of that, for us, was seeing my older grandson do a solo on his trumpet of "Yankee Doodle Dandy!" He's been taking trumpet lessons for the past two years but this was his first band concert as well as his first ever solo performance too! And he did quite well although I'm betting before his solo, his stomach was totally full of those nervous butterflys!
And now, just for your viewing pleasure, here's a couple pictures -maybe I'll even post a video too of the band concert although the videos are very dark - so much so that you can barely see most of the kids because of the lighting in the auditorium. Wish they'd have had a spotlight to put on the kids who had little solos during the concert as at least then, you'd have been able to actually SEE the child performing!
This was my grandson's solo performance. The only area that had lighting was the middle to back portion of the stage -the rest of the place was darkened. You'll have to take my word for this but my grandson was standing at the far left of the stage -as it faces the audience -while playing his solo. We were seated up in the balcony area and it was difficult for us to see a lot of what was going on due to the darkened area of the auditorium. So my apologies for the video as far as viewability, but at least the sound of his trumpet came through loud and clear!
This is after the concert - Maya and Alex -just outside the school building. Maya was so happy to see Alex -and then, to do "smiles" with him (her term for taking pictures) and I especially liked this picture because it had both of them smiling so nicely!
This one, taken Sunday late in the afternoon, of Kurtis and Maya as we were heading out to take a little walk up and down the street here. This was a special request from Mandy that Grammy take the two hooligans for a walk so she could run the vacuum cleaner! Kurtis goes into meltdown whenever he hears the vacuum cleaner running - along with the portable mixer, the food processor and the hair dryer. Hearing the lawn mower running when Bill -or my son -happens to be cutting the front portion of the grass is also another noise Kurtis has a severe aversion to as well!
And last - but definitely not least - here's the big and beautiful Bon, resting his bones on the floor while Clate, Mandy and I indulged in a couple draft brews. Just look at those wrinkles on his forehead and tell me it doesn't just make you want to reach down and pet him, scratch him a bit behind the ears while you're at it? In less than a week's time, Bon has learned a few commands now and responds very nicely to Clate -also is becoming familiar with the sight of daughter Mandy and me, even the kids, coming by to say hello to him too!And that's it for this morning!
Hope everyone has a really great day and that everyone is also getting their Peace Globe ready to fly tomorrow too now. That's the day to do that ya know - Dona Nobis Pacem for June 4, 2008.
A great day to behold!
More Absurdities From "The Shrub"
The late (and really great) columnist/writer, Molly Ivins, frequently referred to DUBYA as "The Shrub" - a nickname I always thought was pretty appropriate. Hence the title of this week's Bushisms -which as you can see, are once again posted a bit late. My apologies. It's been a busy weekend and first day of the new week too.
Monday, June 2, 2008 - 232 days left
"Can't living with the bill means it won't become law."
--Brussels, Belgium, June 2001
Tuesday, June 3, 2008 - 231 days left
"This is a nation that loves our freedom, loves our country."
--Washington, D.C. 2002
Wednesday, June 4, 2008 - 230 days left
"I'm the master of low expectations."
-Aboard Air Force Once, June 4, 2003
Thursday, June 5, 2008 - 229 days left
"Anyway, I'm so thankful, and so gracious --I'm gracious that my brother Jeb is concerned about the hemisphere as well."
--Appearing with his brother Jeb, Governor of Florida, Miami, Florida, June 2001
Friday, June 6, 2008 --228 days left
"I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy...I was able to get a sense of his soul."
--About Russian President Vladimer Putin, June 2001
Saturday and Sunday, June 7/8, 2008 - 227 days left and 226 days left
Former First Lady Barbara Bush'a birthday, 1925
"I married the first man I ever kissed. When I tell this to my children, they just about throw up."
-- Barbara Bush
And That's All She Wrote - for today and for this week's lovely tidbits, words of wisdom. NOT!
Monday, June 2, 2008 - 232 days left
"Can't living with the bill means it won't become law."
--Brussels, Belgium, June 2001
Tuesday, June 3, 2008 - 231 days left
"This is a nation that loves our freedom, loves our country."
--Washington, D.C. 2002
Wednesday, June 4, 2008 - 230 days left
"I'm the master of low expectations."
-Aboard Air Force Once, June 4, 2003
Thursday, June 5, 2008 - 229 days left
"Anyway, I'm so thankful, and so gracious --I'm gracious that my brother Jeb is concerned about the hemisphere as well."
--Appearing with his brother Jeb, Governor of Florida, Miami, Florida, June 2001
Friday, June 6, 2008 --228 days left
"I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy...I was able to get a sense of his soul."
--About Russian President Vladimer Putin, June 2001
Saturday and Sunday, June 7/8, 2008 - 227 days left and 226 days left
Former First Lady Barbara Bush'a birthday, 1925
"I married the first man I ever kissed. When I tell this to my children, they just about throw up."
-- Barbara Bush
And That's All She Wrote - for today and for this week's lovely tidbits, words of wisdom. NOT!
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Of Kids and Kittens
This afternoon, Mandy, the kids and I took a drive down to a store in Moshannon that often carries items that other stores regard as "discontinued" stuff and one of the things Mandy wanted -and has been able to find there before -was a new head for our mop. So, away we went and ended up making quite a trip out of it all.
Moshannon is a little village about 8 miles from here but by the time we got back home, we'd logged in probably close to 100 miles on the odometer!
After leaving the store, we headed off to Snow Shoe and Mandy realized after she'd passed this one place that they were having a yard sale there -and she remembered too that last year, she'd stopped at that particular place and had come home with oodles of items for Maya in the way of "back-to-school" clothes and all for about $12.00 total! Today, we made out very well there again. I got Maya 3 or 4 really cute little shirts (the knit type, ya know) along with a snowsuit for Kurtis that is like new! Really nice, very heavy and only $3.50 for the jacket and snowpants plus it is a "Weather-Tamer" brand, so very well made. Mandy also got Kurtis a jacket that is fantastic. It is a winter jacket by Oshkosh but is two jackets -actually more like three -in one! The inside jacket is nice and heavy-weight and it can be turned inside out and worn with the fleece side to the outside if you wish. The outer most part of the jacket, if you remove the inner one, can be worn more as a "slicker" type but it also has a nice lighter weight lining in it too. The cost for that coat? A mere $2.50! I also got a bunch of place mats too - all in Christmas designs -for about $2.25 -for 9 place mats, cloth, very, very pretty and well taken care of too!
After the yard sale, we went on down the mountain to Milesburg where we stopped at the Travel America Truckstop where I used to work and had supper there. The lady who usually worked the Saturday dayshift as assistant manager when I was there -and who I was hoping to see today as I haven't seen her in about six years now, wouldn't you just know it, but she has changed her work days and is now off on Saturday! Dang! But I did get to see one of my favorite characters who worked there when I was assistant manager and that was the prep cook, Donnie! He's a piece of work and one heck of a strong and good worker too. I always liked him very much when I worked there and also, his son, who was only about 18 or 19 years old then and was our dayshift dishwasher. Heck of a good worker he was too -just like his dad! But getting the son -nicknamed "Red" -to talk was like pulling teeth unlike his dad who can match up to me in the conversation department. I hadn't seen Donnie but maybe one time since I left that place and it was nice to see him, get to talk to him again. And, judging by his reaction when he realized it was me, there was no phony-baloney about whether he was happy to stop and chat a bit -as that's something Donnie doesn't do very well! If he likes you, considers you a friend, the smile tells it all and yep, it was really good to see his big wide grin again!
After leaving the Plaza, we took the long way home -driving down Route 220 towards Altoona to pick up one of the back roads to home that took us up through Black Moshannon State Park and then, through the forest where the real boony road winds around and comes out about 5 miles from home! Just a nice "Sunday" type drive on a Saturday afternoon!
Tonight, my older daughter called around 8 p.m. to tell me she'd had a little incident when leaving her house to go to work this evening. As she went out the door, there was a yellow jacket bee there and it stung her on her arm. She's been extremely fortunate in that this is only the second bee sting she's ever received as the first one, when she was around four years old was how we realized she is allergic to bee sting! Initially, she figured it was no big deal but by the time her fiance got her to work, her arm had swollen up, plus it was itching like crazy she said. So it was decided then that she needed to go to the emergency room to have this all checked out. She said she came very close to passing out at work until one of the other aides there got her a cold, wet rag to put on the sting and her forehead too. Anyway, the doctor gave her some kind of prescription to get filled and carry with her now too in the event something like this ever happens again. She's just lucky that she didn't have a much more severe reaction to this sting and it was enough to scare her pretty darned good too, I think.
This evening, Mandy found something that really entertained both the kids for several hours. She stuck a dvd in of "Dora, the Explorer" and both of them were totally mesmerized by it for about two hours! Ah, peace!
The "wardrobe" choice was Maya's. Quite the stylish little girl isn't she? And that ring of chocolate around her mouth too really does wonders for making her look super cool! I have no idea why she insisted on wearing this hat though because the other day, when Mandy wanted her to wear it to school, she wouldn't have anything to do with it and told us then she didn't like it! Go figure.
Now -here's some pictures I took tonight of the kittens. Kind of hard to get them to stop crawling all around -or to look at me too -although two of them do have their eyes open pretty well now. They were 10 days old today.
This is actually all four of them -the best shot I could manage while all four of them were squirming around.
Here's three of them - the grey one here is the smaller of the two grey kittens. This one and the darker colored kitten beside it are the only ones that have their eyes open already.
Here's the two little grey kittens and I think you can see the one on the bottom has its eyes open. The other grey kitten is much fatter than the other three kittens -apparently she's a bit of a little piggy!
This one, with its eyes open, was the smallest kitten and the last to be born. It is also the one that cries the most although, I have to say that all four of them are actually relatively quiet babies.
Here's a shot of the "Tubster" kitten! She's so darned cute; so soft and cuddly too!
And there you have it - a Saturday's events and some shots of our cute little kittens.
Moshannon is a little village about 8 miles from here but by the time we got back home, we'd logged in probably close to 100 miles on the odometer!
After leaving the store, we headed off to Snow Shoe and Mandy realized after she'd passed this one place that they were having a yard sale there -and she remembered too that last year, she'd stopped at that particular place and had come home with oodles of items for Maya in the way of "back-to-school" clothes and all for about $12.00 total! Today, we made out very well there again. I got Maya 3 or 4 really cute little shirts (the knit type, ya know) along with a snowsuit for Kurtis that is like new! Really nice, very heavy and only $3.50 for the jacket and snowpants plus it is a "Weather-Tamer" brand, so very well made. Mandy also got Kurtis a jacket that is fantastic. It is a winter jacket by Oshkosh but is two jackets -actually more like three -in one! The inside jacket is nice and heavy-weight and it can be turned inside out and worn with the fleece side to the outside if you wish. The outer most part of the jacket, if you remove the inner one, can be worn more as a "slicker" type but it also has a nice lighter weight lining in it too. The cost for that coat? A mere $2.50! I also got a bunch of place mats too - all in Christmas designs -for about $2.25 -for 9 place mats, cloth, very, very pretty and well taken care of too!
After the yard sale, we went on down the mountain to Milesburg where we stopped at the Travel America Truckstop where I used to work and had supper there. The lady who usually worked the Saturday dayshift as assistant manager when I was there -and who I was hoping to see today as I haven't seen her in about six years now, wouldn't you just know it, but she has changed her work days and is now off on Saturday! Dang! But I did get to see one of my favorite characters who worked there when I was assistant manager and that was the prep cook, Donnie! He's a piece of work and one heck of a strong and good worker too. I always liked him very much when I worked there and also, his son, who was only about 18 or 19 years old then and was our dayshift dishwasher. Heck of a good worker he was too -just like his dad! But getting the son -nicknamed "Red" -to talk was like pulling teeth unlike his dad who can match up to me in the conversation department. I hadn't seen Donnie but maybe one time since I left that place and it was nice to see him, get to talk to him again. And, judging by his reaction when he realized it was me, there was no phony-baloney about whether he was happy to stop and chat a bit -as that's something Donnie doesn't do very well! If he likes you, considers you a friend, the smile tells it all and yep, it was really good to see his big wide grin again!
After leaving the Plaza, we took the long way home -driving down Route 220 towards Altoona to pick up one of the back roads to home that took us up through Black Moshannon State Park and then, through the forest where the real boony road winds around and comes out about 5 miles from home! Just a nice "Sunday" type drive on a Saturday afternoon!
Tonight, my older daughter called around 8 p.m. to tell me she'd had a little incident when leaving her house to go to work this evening. As she went out the door, there was a yellow jacket bee there and it stung her on her arm. She's been extremely fortunate in that this is only the second bee sting she's ever received as the first one, when she was around four years old was how we realized she is allergic to bee sting! Initially, she figured it was no big deal but by the time her fiance got her to work, her arm had swollen up, plus it was itching like crazy she said. So it was decided then that she needed to go to the emergency room to have this all checked out. She said she came very close to passing out at work until one of the other aides there got her a cold, wet rag to put on the sting and her forehead too. Anyway, the doctor gave her some kind of prescription to get filled and carry with her now too in the event something like this ever happens again. She's just lucky that she didn't have a much more severe reaction to this sting and it was enough to scare her pretty darned good too, I think.
This evening, Mandy found something that really entertained both the kids for several hours. She stuck a dvd in of "Dora, the Explorer" and both of them were totally mesmerized by it for about two hours! Ah, peace!
The "wardrobe" choice was Maya's. Quite the stylish little girl isn't she? And that ring of chocolate around her mouth too really does wonders for making her look super cool! I have no idea why she insisted on wearing this hat though because the other day, when Mandy wanted her to wear it to school, she wouldn't have anything to do with it and told us then she didn't like it! Go figure.Now -here's some pictures I took tonight of the kittens. Kind of hard to get them to stop crawling all around -or to look at me too -although two of them do have their eyes open pretty well now. They were 10 days old today.
This is actually all four of them -the best shot I could manage while all four of them were squirming around.
Here's three of them - the grey one here is the smaller of the two grey kittens. This one and the darker colored kitten beside it are the only ones that have their eyes open already.
Here's the two little grey kittens and I think you can see the one on the bottom has its eyes open. The other grey kitten is much fatter than the other three kittens -apparently she's a bit of a little piggy!
This one, with its eyes open, was the smallest kitten and the last to be born. It is also the one that cries the most although, I have to say that all four of them are actually relatively quiet babies.
Here's a shot of the "Tubster" kitten! She's so darned cute; so soft and cuddly too!And there you have it - a Saturday's events and some shots of our cute little kittens.
And Now - Here He IS!
I introduced you all a few days back -sort of -to the newest member of our family -that being the abandoned dog my son found and brought home to his house. On their way up to Clate's house, of course, he had to stop by here and show his sister and his Mom -along with the next-door neighbor's kids as well, this big dog he had rescued from starvation.
I took my camera with me every time I went out the past three days on the off chance that maybe Clate's roommate, Dan, might have the dog outside and I figured I'd stop and get some pictures of him then but until this evening, I had no luck in that venture.
This evening, Mandy, the two little ones and I had gone into Philipsburg to the Pizza Hut there for supper and on the way home, as we turned down the road into Grassflat, I told Mandy to call ahead and have Dan ready to bring Bon outside so I could do a little photoshoot then ya know. Which he did - and as a result, I now have a couple pictures of this beautiful -really big -dog to show and share with ya'll!
Here he is - looking at the car with Maya seated in the backseat (in her booster chair-carseat) looking back at him. She pretty much gets the same kind of look -that puzzled one -when she sees Bon and I think it is probably the sheer size of him. She doesn't appear to be really frightened of him or anything, just kind of like the rest of us -in awe 'cause baby, he is big!
This is Dan -my son, Clate's roommate -holding onto the lease while Bon looks over the lay of the land at his new home. Dan says each day now he has noticed that Bon is getting a little more alert about things in the house -and outside happenings too. The first day there, he just laid around, barely moving much and when he would stand up, he just trembled as his legs and the rest of his body too, was just too weakened to stand up for more than about a minute.
The second day, when cars would go by the house if they would honk the horn, Bon would attempt to bark in return. Today, as the cars would go by, he had more energy and would bark fairly loudly in return when they honked. Mandy apologized to Dan for that because she always honks the horn every time she drives past her brother's house. (I'm sure the neighbors there really appreciate that!)
Isn't he just a beautiful specimen though? Clate brought his dog book down here Wednesday morning and showed me a picture -and write-up too -of the type of dog he believes Bon most likely is -some kind of Brazilian Mastiff. I think he looks more like a regular mastiff myself.
And this picture, well, it's my favorite of the ones I took this evening of the lovely dog, Bon! My newest "grand-animal."
He sat -on command -to let me take this picture of him and while I was doing that, he could see into the backseat of the car and what caught his eye at that time was little Kurtis, sitting in his carseat, kicking away! When Bon got up from this pose, he went over to the car door which was open and wanted to stick his head into the back seat to get a better look at both Maya and Kurtis there. Dan laughed and said maybe he is smelling the kids and thinking "Ah, lunch!" I think he was just curious as to how those little legs of Kurtis' could move as fast as they do when he starts kicking around like he does!
A big "Thank you" to goes out to
I took my camera with me every time I went out the past three days on the off chance that maybe Clate's roommate, Dan, might have the dog outside and I figured I'd stop and get some pictures of him then but until this evening, I had no luck in that venture.
This evening, Mandy, the two little ones and I had gone into Philipsburg to the Pizza Hut there for supper and on the way home, as we turned down the road into Grassflat, I told Mandy to call ahead and have Dan ready to bring Bon outside so I could do a little photoshoot then ya know. Which he did - and as a result, I now have a couple pictures of this beautiful -really big -dog to show and share with ya'll!
Here he is - looking at the car with Maya seated in the backseat (in her booster chair-carseat) looking back at him. She pretty much gets the same kind of look -that puzzled one -when she sees Bon and I think it is probably the sheer size of him. She doesn't appear to be really frightened of him or anything, just kind of like the rest of us -in awe 'cause baby, he is big!
This is Dan -my son, Clate's roommate -holding onto the lease while Bon looks over the lay of the land at his new home. Dan says each day now he has noticed that Bon is getting a little more alert about things in the house -and outside happenings too. The first day there, he just laid around, barely moving much and when he would stand up, he just trembled as his legs and the rest of his body too, was just too weakened to stand up for more than about a minute.The second day, when cars would go by the house if they would honk the horn, Bon would attempt to bark in return. Today, as the cars would go by, he had more energy and would bark fairly loudly in return when they honked. Mandy apologized to Dan for that because she always honks the horn every time she drives past her brother's house. (I'm sure the neighbors there really appreciate that!)
Isn't he just a beautiful specimen though? Clate brought his dog book down here Wednesday morning and showed me a picture -and write-up too -of the type of dog he believes Bon most likely is -some kind of Brazilian Mastiff. I think he looks more like a regular mastiff myself.
And this picture, well, it's my favorite of the ones I took this evening of the lovely dog, Bon! My newest "grand-animal." He sat -on command -to let me take this picture of him and while I was doing that, he could see into the backseat of the car and what caught his eye at that time was little Kurtis, sitting in his carseat, kicking away! When Bon got up from this pose, he went over to the car door which was open and wanted to stick his head into the back seat to get a better look at both Maya and Kurtis there. Dan laughed and said maybe he is smelling the kids and thinking "Ah, lunch!" I think he was just curious as to how those little legs of Kurtis' could move as fast as they do when he starts kicking around like he does!
A big "Thank you" to goes out to
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Something I Forgot -About Blogblast for Peace!
As usual, the darned senility factors set in on me last night when I did my last post -the one linking back to Mimi's (Queen of the Memes) Blog about the BlogBlast for Peace.
I forgot to include the meme part of this event! How the heck did that happen that I forgot to put something this important in there? Sheesh!
So, here's the instructions for the Meme for the Blog Blast for Peace!
It's a meme.
You know the drill.
**start copy**
BlogBlast For Peace Meme ~ Join The Revolution
Here are the rules and the story.
Copy this into a post, ADD YOUR NAME to the bottom of the tag list and tag as many people as you'd like.
The Peace Globe project began in the fall of 2006 with a simple post from one blog, Mimi Writes. The post ignited a flame in the blogosphere. The flame became a passion. The passion became a movement. It amazingly traveled from blog to blog to blog across the globe. Bloggers wrote passionate articles on what peace means to them, along with the promise of three Latin words scribbled on a globe - Dona Nobis Pacem (Grant Us Peace) - branded with the integrity of their names or blog names. It was positively inspiring to watch. And it began to happen all over the world - from Singapore to China to Afghanistan to Brooklyn.
It was simple. And powerful.
In less than one week bloggers from all across the globe will blog for peace.
We will speak with one voice. One subject. One day.
Won't you join us? June 4, 2008
How To Get Your Peace Globe In 4 easy steps!
1. Choose one of the four Peace Globe designs in this post. Right CLICK and SAVE in JPG format. Grab the globe at the top or go HERE for other choices.
2. Sign the globe using Paint, Photoshop or a similar graphics tool. Decorate the globe anyway you wish. You can even include the name of your blog. Click here for hundreds of inspiring examples from previous BlogBlasts. If you need help with this, ASK! I will help you myself or send someone else to your blog.
3. Return the peace globe to me via email ~ mimiwrites2005 at yahoo.com - Let me know your blog's name and url by leaving a comment here and signing the Mr. Linky. Your submission will be numbered and dated in the official gallery . Your globe and post will be listed on the Official BlogBlast For Peace website and The Peace Globe Posts page.
Here's the most important part.
Here's the most important part.
4. On June 4, 2008 DISPLAY YOUR GLOBE IN A POST. Title your post "Dona Nobis Pacem". This is important. The goal is for all blog post titles to say the same thing on the same day. Write about peace that day or simply fly your globe. Click here for examples of peace globe posts from previous BlogBlasts.
I, Mimi Pencil Skirt, royally tag the following.
A Simple Life Alasandra & The Cats Amel's Realm Amori,poesie,arte,chat by Hanna
And Miles To Go Before We Sleep... Another Desert Rat Anyhow Blogs Ask A Lesbian BearsMountain Bijoux & Banter Cafe At the End Of The Universe Caught In The Stream Clumsy Mommy Dottie's Place Drowsey Monkey Feathering On My Nest Heart Of Rachel Hello?....Is This Thing On? In Search Of Life It's All Good It's Not A Weekend: It's A Lifestyle JB's Small World Julie's Blog Just About Scrapping Just Me And My Creations
Just Write akeside Lair Laketrees Late Night Latte Leaping Before I Look Life Is A Roller Coaster Mama Pajama Maremagnum Marie Millard Maryannaville Momto3cubs My Dogs Keep Me Sane My So-Called Site Pet Monologues Rainbow In The Golden State Real World Mom
Reba's Run Rooms Of My Heart ose' World Sarah Spelled The Right Way Secret Monologues
Ship's Log Of GT281 Simply Sassy Speedcat Hollydale Tarheel Ramblings Tell Me About It
That Grrrl The Backwoods Drifter The Cookie Sheet The Evil Blogger Twin The Furry Diva
The Gaytheist Agenda his And That this is Jo Beaufoix.com.....like Kate Moss, but not
This That and The Other Thing Vixen's Den What She Said Too Will Write For Food
Witty Writer Gal Wonderland Or NotWorld So Wide Your Caring Angels
I shall return with Round 3 and an official globe count and list of missing locations.......
YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE TAGGED TO PLAY.
Please consider passing this meme through the blogosphere.
Please consider passing this meme through the blogosphere.
This is Mimi Pencil Skirt reporting from the lovely land of the Peace Globes.
Memeing the Movement.
**End Copy**
**End Copy**
And, here's my very own Peace Globe for the June 4, 2008 Blog Blast for Peace.
Won't you join us all now as we bombard the universe with Peace Globes and posts in an effort to end the bombarding of the bad kind -the ones that kill, maim and destroy peoples lives, their land, homes and the world?Help the Blogging Community to end these atrocities. Please! Come and join forces now with all of us for a strong, unified front and as ONE really BIG VOICE!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Pleas for Peace, Please!
Just in case you haven't heard, haven't seen this anywhere in the Blogosphere, there's a big event coming up next week -on June 4th -the BlogBlast for Peace! Being my normal, heavy-duty, procrastinating self, I'm just a little bit slow on getting my Peace Globe up and posted but finally decided tonight I better play "Larry, the Cable Guy" and just "Git 'er done!"
If you read all the posts Mimi has put up about a reason to "Blog for Peace" then you know this is something that really needs to be done -and with as much "uumph" -power of words, you know -that we, the blogging community can possibly muster.
I'm not going to write about all the various places around the world where there are terrible struggles going on -some that have been going on now for decades -in the quest for peace. My words are not strong enough -alone -to have any impact on these areas, on these problems. But, with bloggers all around the world united, reaching out, crying for peace, praying that people will some how see the wrong involved in things like genocide, slavery, trying to impose an unwanted regime on people across the hemisphere, maybe, just maybe, our words, our voices will ring out, loud and clear for all the hear to please, hear these pleas, and grant us ALL -every last one of us -PEACE!
I am not saying to people in other countries that the only way to gain peace is to adopt the tenets we have in place here in this country -in the USA. I may believe our Constitution, our Bill of Rights, our Declaration of Independence are wonderful but perhaps for other cultures, the words of our documents don't hold the same meaning. Fine! Then sit down with other fair-minded individuals and work out an agreement that works then in each particular country, with each culture.
Each and everyone of us desires freedom, should be able to live without fear of oppression. Those who wage war to try to force a particular type of religion on everyone else would not want that done to them -then why do it to others?
Those who wage wars for financial gain -how long will it take, if you win your cause, before someone else comes along and decides it is time for someone else to control all the wealth and a war erupts all over again? What has been gained other than people's lives -and livelihoods too - being lost, destroyed, some never to be rebuilt again? I fail to see any benefit to actions such as those.
To destroy people -because of their ethnicity -how long will it be before yet another group comes along and decides their group is the one, true people and a people, a culture is perhaps done away with completely?
What really is there to be gained?
By waging war, eventually there is nothing that will be gained.
To find a way to enable people to live, to have shelter, food, clothing, to provide a means for people to walk, talk, work, play, and love each other gives so much more to all concerned -not just a select few.
If each of us decides to announce through our blogs that we believe PEACE is not just a wild and crazy dream but something that is possible, our voices, united, can begin to bring about change -one small step at a time at first but with each word, each step, each movement in that direction, it would -no, it WILL -create a ripple effect that can make the difference needed to stop the violence, end the wars, and yes, bring peace to all mankind.
We here can use our voices to work toward this end by working to end hatred, discrimination, poverty, starvation in various ways -one of which is to exercise your right to vote and in doing so, send a message that killing, plundering, raping under any circumstances is not acceptable.
We can help stop the senseless violence by teaching our children about diversity -the beauty of all people, all cultures -all lands.
Use the power vested in each of us to do whatever possible to educate others in becoming self-sufficient. Use the education, the tools given through that means to show compassion, to spread love, not hate, not war.
Why not take to heart the words of the song -do it now, not tomorrow as tomorrow may be to late -but to "Let There Be Peace on Earth and Let It Begin With Me!"
Just "IMAGINE" how wonderful that would be! John Lennon had the right idea in his song.
Just DO IT NOW - Please!
If you read all the posts Mimi has put up about a reason to "Blog for Peace" then you know this is something that really needs to be done -and with as much "uumph" -power of words, you know -that we, the blogging community can possibly muster.
I'm not going to write about all the various places around the world where there are terrible struggles going on -some that have been going on now for decades -in the quest for peace. My words are not strong enough -alone -to have any impact on these areas, on these problems. But, with bloggers all around the world united, reaching out, crying for peace, praying that people will some how see the wrong involved in things like genocide, slavery, trying to impose an unwanted regime on people across the hemisphere, maybe, just maybe, our words, our voices will ring out, loud and clear for all the hear to please, hear these pleas, and grant us ALL -every last one of us -PEACE!
I am not saying to people in other countries that the only way to gain peace is to adopt the tenets we have in place here in this country -in the USA. I may believe our Constitution, our Bill of Rights, our Declaration of Independence are wonderful but perhaps for other cultures, the words of our documents don't hold the same meaning. Fine! Then sit down with other fair-minded individuals and work out an agreement that works then in each particular country, with each culture.
Each and everyone of us desires freedom, should be able to live without fear of oppression. Those who wage war to try to force a particular type of religion on everyone else would not want that done to them -then why do it to others?
Those who wage wars for financial gain -how long will it take, if you win your cause, before someone else comes along and decides it is time for someone else to control all the wealth and a war erupts all over again? What has been gained other than people's lives -and livelihoods too - being lost, destroyed, some never to be rebuilt again? I fail to see any benefit to actions such as those.
To destroy people -because of their ethnicity -how long will it be before yet another group comes along and decides their group is the one, true people and a people, a culture is perhaps done away with completely?
What really is there to be gained?
By waging war, eventually there is nothing that will be gained.
To find a way to enable people to live, to have shelter, food, clothing, to provide a means for people to walk, talk, work, play, and love each other gives so much more to all concerned -not just a select few.
If each of us decides to announce through our blogs that we believe PEACE is not just a wild and crazy dream but something that is possible, our voices, united, can begin to bring about change -one small step at a time at first but with each word, each step, each movement in that direction, it would -no, it WILL -create a ripple effect that can make the difference needed to stop the violence, end the wars, and yes, bring peace to all mankind.
We here can use our voices to work toward this end by working to end hatred, discrimination, poverty, starvation in various ways -one of which is to exercise your right to vote and in doing so, send a message that killing, plundering, raping under any circumstances is not acceptable.
We can help stop the senseless violence by teaching our children about diversity -the beauty of all people, all cultures -all lands.
Use the power vested in each of us to do whatever possible to educate others in becoming self-sufficient. Use the education, the tools given through that means to show compassion, to spread love, not hate, not war.
Why not take to heart the words of the song -do it now, not tomorrow as tomorrow may be to late -but to "Let There Be Peace on Earth and Let It Begin With Me!"
Just "IMAGINE" how wonderful that would be! John Lennon had the right idea in his song.
Just DO IT NOW - Please!
Animal Lovers!
Boy, what a day!
When I got up this morning, Mandy informed me that good old Mama cat, Jorge, had decided to up and move her family -lock, stock and barrel! Seems that sometime in the early morning hours, she had decided the location of the box we had fixed for her and her babies was too risky, creating too much disruption for her and her little ones, not safe because of a certain little over zealous four-year-old who wants to hold, cuddle, and darned near squeeze the living daylights out of these sweet little kittens, so she went in search of a new, safer abode.
Her decision, as Mandy informed me where she'd found Jorge and children, was to move them into my bedroom and try to stash them in a dark corner under my sewing machine! I decided I wasn't in favor of that move and promptly managed to get all four kittens out from that corner and placed them back in the box just outside my room! Wish you'd seen the dirty looks that Mama cat gave me too when I moved her children out to where they'd been.
The really funny thing about this move though -and I wish I could get a picture of this to show you - is how she must have struggled to move the kits from the box to the area under my sewing machine.
My bedroom used to be the sunporch on the house. It's located right off the front entrance and in fixing this up as my bedroom, my son put up a partial wall that split the sunporch into two segments. The larger part (which really ISN'T all that large) is my bedroom and the smaller segment serves as a sort of foyer between the front door and the dining room. But that wall doesn't go from ceiling to floor. No, it has about a foot gap from the ceiling down to where the wall begins. The top of that wall is also lined almost solid too with shoes - children's and baby shoes belonging to Maya and Kurtis!
Seems the way that Mandy found out what Jorge was up to was because when she got up this morning, she noticed some strange noises coming from the foyer area and upon checking into this, saw the Mama cat, scaling this "wall" with the fattest of the kittens in her mouth and somehow, by the Grace of the Good Lord, she managed to get up and over that barrier with no harm to the babies at all!
Later today, when Kurt's speech therapist arrived, Mandy went to take her to show her the kittens and lo and behold, one of the kittens was missing! We figured maybe Jorge had decided to start moving her babies again back under the sewing machine and looked there but found no kitten! We hunted high and low for almost two hours for that baby until Mandy finally found it -kind of wedged between a box under an old dresser in my room and the dresser beside the sewing machine! We then decided to just move the whole box into my room. Like I have so much room in there to spare you know. Well, what the heck is one more box in that small space that's already pretty jumbled up to begin with if it gives Jorge that much extra peace of mind, ya know!
Tonight, my son came down for supper with Mandy and the kids and me. It was a "normal" meal with him here as he loves to tease the 16-year-old as much as possible along with lots of barbs getting tossed back and forth between him, his sister and me in the process too. Always a fun time with him here. And, he -like Mandy - is also very much a cat lover too so he wanted to have a chance to spend a little time watching the new babies a bit too before he goes back on the road early this morning now and will be gone for probably the next 5-6 days. By the time he gets back home, no doubt these babies will have grown a lot and changed a good bit in their appearance too.
About 90 minutes after he finished supper and left, he pulled up in front of the house and came running in here to grab Mandy as he breathlessly began to tell her about a dog that her sister-in-law had discovered while out walking along the woods this evening with her two children. She could tell the dog was emaciated, had most likely been dropped off and she, like my son -and Mandy -gets really worked up over an animal in need. So she texted a message to Clate about this dog and how something needed to be done to help it.
So Clate had dropped everything and drove out to where she had found the dog, got him loaded into the cab of his pickup truck and was here then, looking to see if we had anything like dog food here that we could give him till he and his roommate could get things set up at his house for the animal. Of course, Mandy went running out to check on this poor dog and me, right behind her too.
But I have to tell you this much, although my kids and I all tend to favor large dogs -and the last dog my son had - Andrei -was a very big German Shepherd and Akita mix, nothing prepared me for the size of the beast in my son's pickup truck!
Folks, I kid you not! At first glance from the sidewalk, it looked like he had a pony in the cab of his truck! This dog is ginormous! Yes, indeed it is!
He looks to be a mix of either a Great Dane and Mastiff or possibly has a bit of bloodhound in him, judging by the face and jowls. He's also obviously a much older dog too - has a good bit of gray hairs around his muzzle. But the eyes and his very quiet demeanor just begged all of us to "please, love me, won't you?"
Yep! That's exactly what Clate's going to try to do too! The dog is now up at his house and Clate and his roommate Dan, are trying to figure out now what they have to do next to ensure that the dog has the best chance possible to being put on the road back to better health.
The poor thing is -for all his size - really very scrawny right now so he must have been on his own out in the woods for a little while. Hopefully, regular feedings, some good old-fashioned loving care and he'll make for a good companion for Clate and his roommate to have in the house.
Clate said he seems to have "decent enough" manners and was trying to get a little accustomed to their house. Although Clate had told Mandy to call Dan and tell him to herd Nina, the cat, into one of the bedrooms, Dan hadn't been able to do that before Clate brought the dog home and into the house. He said that the dog was sort of sniffing around the living room when Nina decided to come downstairs -totally unaware that there was a strange animal there much less one almost the size of Sasquatch! She (Nina) had made her way down almost to the bottom of the stairs, mewing a bit in her special way of announcing that she is coming to visit and grace you with her presence ya know when suddenly, the dog stuck his nose around the corner and she was face to face with his imposing presence! Clate said the look on her poor little face was absolutely priceless! But she didn't go running away -just stood there, eyeing him up and kind of doing a little sashaying around him then as delicately as possible. And he didn't seem to get upset to have a cat face to face with him either. Just a look that kind of said "Well, so be it!"
So now it should be interesting to see how this latest addition to our family will deal with the cat, with my son, with Dan, his roommate -and if they can nurse him into fairly decent health now too in the process!
Say a little prayer for the dog - the guys named him "BON" -after some musician in AC/DC apparently -and for reasons I won't go into on my blog! Some connotations there that are best left unsaid, ya know!
Time now too for me to go join Jorge and her babies to catch some sleep - in my room -for a change! Since Kurtis is now doing so much better at falling asleep at more reasonable hours and also, not awakening several times during the night, I've pretty much finally been able to sleep in my room again instead of camping out, night after night, on the living room couch! Gives me a chance to finally rest my back now for a change -and I'm really happy about that!
Nite all!
When I got up this morning, Mandy informed me that good old Mama cat, Jorge, had decided to up and move her family -lock, stock and barrel! Seems that sometime in the early morning hours, she had decided the location of the box we had fixed for her and her babies was too risky, creating too much disruption for her and her little ones, not safe because of a certain little over zealous four-year-old who wants to hold, cuddle, and darned near squeeze the living daylights out of these sweet little kittens, so she went in search of a new, safer abode.
Her decision, as Mandy informed me where she'd found Jorge and children, was to move them into my bedroom and try to stash them in a dark corner under my sewing machine! I decided I wasn't in favor of that move and promptly managed to get all four kittens out from that corner and placed them back in the box just outside my room! Wish you'd seen the dirty looks that Mama cat gave me too when I moved her children out to where they'd been.
The really funny thing about this move though -and I wish I could get a picture of this to show you - is how she must have struggled to move the kits from the box to the area under my sewing machine.
My bedroom used to be the sunporch on the house. It's located right off the front entrance and in fixing this up as my bedroom, my son put up a partial wall that split the sunporch into two segments. The larger part (which really ISN'T all that large) is my bedroom and the smaller segment serves as a sort of foyer between the front door and the dining room. But that wall doesn't go from ceiling to floor. No, it has about a foot gap from the ceiling down to where the wall begins. The top of that wall is also lined almost solid too with shoes - children's and baby shoes belonging to Maya and Kurtis!
Seems the way that Mandy found out what Jorge was up to was because when she got up this morning, she noticed some strange noises coming from the foyer area and upon checking into this, saw the Mama cat, scaling this "wall" with the fattest of the kittens in her mouth and somehow, by the Grace of the Good Lord, she managed to get up and over that barrier with no harm to the babies at all!
Later today, when Kurt's speech therapist arrived, Mandy went to take her to show her the kittens and lo and behold, one of the kittens was missing! We figured maybe Jorge had decided to start moving her babies again back under the sewing machine and looked there but found no kitten! We hunted high and low for almost two hours for that baby until Mandy finally found it -kind of wedged between a box under an old dresser in my room and the dresser beside the sewing machine! We then decided to just move the whole box into my room. Like I have so much room in there to spare you know. Well, what the heck is one more box in that small space that's already pretty jumbled up to begin with if it gives Jorge that much extra peace of mind, ya know!
Tonight, my son came down for supper with Mandy and the kids and me. It was a "normal" meal with him here as he loves to tease the 16-year-old as much as possible along with lots of barbs getting tossed back and forth between him, his sister and me in the process too. Always a fun time with him here. And, he -like Mandy - is also very much a cat lover too so he wanted to have a chance to spend a little time watching the new babies a bit too before he goes back on the road early this morning now and will be gone for probably the next 5-6 days. By the time he gets back home, no doubt these babies will have grown a lot and changed a good bit in their appearance too.
About 90 minutes after he finished supper and left, he pulled up in front of the house and came running in here to grab Mandy as he breathlessly began to tell her about a dog that her sister-in-law had discovered while out walking along the woods this evening with her two children. She could tell the dog was emaciated, had most likely been dropped off and she, like my son -and Mandy -gets really worked up over an animal in need. So she texted a message to Clate about this dog and how something needed to be done to help it.
So Clate had dropped everything and drove out to where she had found the dog, got him loaded into the cab of his pickup truck and was here then, looking to see if we had anything like dog food here that we could give him till he and his roommate could get things set up at his house for the animal. Of course, Mandy went running out to check on this poor dog and me, right behind her too.
But I have to tell you this much, although my kids and I all tend to favor large dogs -and the last dog my son had - Andrei -was a very big German Shepherd and Akita mix, nothing prepared me for the size of the beast in my son's pickup truck!
Folks, I kid you not! At first glance from the sidewalk, it looked like he had a pony in the cab of his truck! This dog is ginormous! Yes, indeed it is!
He looks to be a mix of either a Great Dane and Mastiff or possibly has a bit of bloodhound in him, judging by the face and jowls. He's also obviously a much older dog too - has a good bit of gray hairs around his muzzle. But the eyes and his very quiet demeanor just begged all of us to "please, love me, won't you?"
Yep! That's exactly what Clate's going to try to do too! The dog is now up at his house and Clate and his roommate Dan, are trying to figure out now what they have to do next to ensure that the dog has the best chance possible to being put on the road back to better health.
The poor thing is -for all his size - really very scrawny right now so he must have been on his own out in the woods for a little while. Hopefully, regular feedings, some good old-fashioned loving care and he'll make for a good companion for Clate and his roommate to have in the house.
Clate said he seems to have "decent enough" manners and was trying to get a little accustomed to their house. Although Clate had told Mandy to call Dan and tell him to herd Nina, the cat, into one of the bedrooms, Dan hadn't been able to do that before Clate brought the dog home and into the house. He said that the dog was sort of sniffing around the living room when Nina decided to come downstairs -totally unaware that there was a strange animal there much less one almost the size of Sasquatch! She (Nina) had made her way down almost to the bottom of the stairs, mewing a bit in her special way of announcing that she is coming to visit and grace you with her presence ya know when suddenly, the dog stuck his nose around the corner and she was face to face with his imposing presence! Clate said the look on her poor little face was absolutely priceless! But she didn't go running away -just stood there, eyeing him up and kind of doing a little sashaying around him then as delicately as possible. And he didn't seem to get upset to have a cat face to face with him either. Just a look that kind of said "Well, so be it!"
So now it should be interesting to see how this latest addition to our family will deal with the cat, with my son, with Dan, his roommate -and if they can nurse him into fairly decent health now too in the process!
Say a little prayer for the dog - the guys named him "BON" -after some musician in AC/DC apparently -and for reasons I won't go into on my blog! Some connotations there that are best left unsaid, ya know!
Time now too for me to go join Jorge and her babies to catch some sleep - in my room -for a change! Since Kurtis is now doing so much better at falling asleep at more reasonable hours and also, not awakening several times during the night, I've pretty much finally been able to sleep in my room again instead of camping out, night after night, on the living room couch! Gives me a chance to finally rest my back now for a change -and I'm really happy about that!
Nite all!
Monday, May 26, 2008
The Babies In the House
Last week, if you remember, I posted about the new additions to our family. Our pretty little cat, the female with the male name (given to her by the 16-year-old -another story if you recall), presented us with four of the cutest little kittens you could ever hope to see!
I haven't tried to check the sex on these but, regardless of whether they are male or female, the 16-year-old has insisted since before they were born that Jorge would have four kittens (ok, she was right on that count) and that their names should be Jose, Javier, Enrico and Estevan. She also insists these kittens are"legal Mexican immigrant cats" too. Whatever that may mean, who knows. And sometimes, her logic is way too convoluted to even think of trying to figure some things out -this being one of 'em!
But anyway, here's some pictures now -finally -of these little sweetheart kittens.
Here's Maya, seated in her little "camp" chair (which Jorge also had taken a very strong liking to napping in it for the past 3-4 weeks) as she was watching and waiting for the kittens to arrive last Wednesday evening.
Here's Jorge shortly before the fourth kitten arrived. There are two kittens who are grey in color with markings almost identical to their mother and the other two are black with grey stripings - all four are really cute.
And here's Jorge with all four of her babies shortly after she got the fourth one all cleaned up and presentable.
And here's a picture of just the four little babies. They arrived in the following sequence - black, grey, grey and black and the smallest of the four - in the left hand corner -was the last one born. One of the grey kittens is apparently a little bit of a hogger as it is growing like wildfire! Getting really chunky, very quickly and apparently being that well-fed, it seems to be the calmest and quietest of the litter.
Needless to say, Maya is still very fascinated with all four of Jorge's children and the hardest task we have most every day is trying to keep Maya from strangling one -or all four -with her loving squeezes. So far, so good, in that department. Kurtis, on the other hand, seems to be totally oblivious to the presence of these four little ones - which is really a big relief to both Mandy and me. But then too, he's never paid too much attention to Jorge most of the time. Now, when we had Nina - the orange cat that my son took to live at his house -Kurtis was very aware of Nina's presence. But that was because he loves to kick the footrest on his high chair all the time and Nina loved to take lively little swats at those fast moving feet, ya know. I think Kurtis was more relieved than anything when Nina moved up on top of the hill with "Uncle Clayton." At least, Jorge has never tried to attack his legs and feet while he's eating anyway.
Now, before I wash up the last of tonight's supper dishes, I think I'll have to go have another peek too at Jorge's babies. Since the kids are both in bed and I can gaze at them by myself, in peace, ya know!
I haven't tried to check the sex on these but, regardless of whether they are male or female, the 16-year-old has insisted since before they were born that Jorge would have four kittens (ok, she was right on that count) and that their names should be Jose, Javier, Enrico and Estevan. She also insists these kittens are"legal Mexican immigrant cats" too. Whatever that may mean, who knows. And sometimes, her logic is way too convoluted to even think of trying to figure some things out -this being one of 'em!
But anyway, here's some pictures now -finally -of these little sweetheart kittens.
Here's Maya, seated in her little "camp" chair (which Jorge also had taken a very strong liking to napping in it for the past 3-4 weeks) as she was watching and waiting for the kittens to arrive last Wednesday evening.
Here's Jorge shortly before the fourth kitten arrived. There are two kittens who are grey in color with markings almost identical to their mother and the other two are black with grey stripings - all four are really cute.
And here's Jorge with all four of her babies shortly after she got the fourth one all cleaned up and presentable.
And here's a picture of just the four little babies. They arrived in the following sequence - black, grey, grey and black and the smallest of the four - in the left hand corner -was the last one born. One of the grey kittens is apparently a little bit of a hogger as it is growing like wildfire! Getting really chunky, very quickly and apparently being that well-fed, it seems to be the calmest and quietest of the litter.
Needless to say, Maya is still very fascinated with all four of Jorge's children and the hardest task we have most every day is trying to keep Maya from strangling one -or all four -with her loving squeezes. So far, so good, in that department. Kurtis, on the other hand, seems to be totally oblivious to the presence of these four little ones - which is really a big relief to both Mandy and me. But then too, he's never paid too much attention to Jorge most of the time. Now, when we had Nina - the orange cat that my son took to live at his house -Kurtis was very aware of Nina's presence. But that was because he loves to kick the footrest on his high chair all the time and Nina loved to take lively little swats at those fast moving feet, ya know. I think Kurtis was more relieved than anything when Nina moved up on top of the hill with "Uncle Clayton." At least, Jorge has never tried to attack his legs and feet while he's eating anyway.Now, before I wash up the last of tonight's supper dishes, I think I'll have to go have another peek too at Jorge's babies. Since the kids are both in bed and I can gaze at them by myself, in peace, ya know!
Senility Zone?
Boy, this time I think I've really gone over the edge! Yes, I am late posting this week's Bushisms but the reason - believe it or not -I got done in by the three-day weekend. Yep, was just sitting here tonight thinking about posting this week's Bushisms and I was thinking too that I was doing pretty good to be posting them tonight since they weren't late because, after all, it's only Sunday night ya know!
And that's when it dawned on me that no, this is NOT Sunday night. That was LAST night. Tonight, I finally realized, is actually Monday night! I kid you not. My mind was twisting around and thinking tonight was Sunday night. Talk about getting lost in space, huh? My own space, for sure there. So, anyway, here's this week's Bushisms and I shouldn't have to worry about screwing up my dates with a long, three-day weekend again now until September and Labor Day!
Monday, May 26, 2008 - 239 days left
"Finally, the desk, where we'll have our picture taken in front of -- is nine other Presidents used it. This was given to us by Queen Victori in the 1870s, I think it was. President Roosevelt put the door in so people would not know he was in a wheelchair. John Kennedy put his head out the door."
--Washington, D.C., May 2006
Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 238 days left
"I always jest to people, the Oval Office is the kind of place where people stand outside, they're getting ready to coe in and tell me what for, and they walk in and get overwhelmed in the atmosphere, and they say, man, you're looking pretty."
--Washington, D.C. 2004
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 - 237 days left
"So on behalf of a well-oiled unit of people who came together to serve something greater than themselves, congratulations."
--Addressing the University of Nebraska women's volleyball team, May 2001
Thursday, May 29, 2008 - 236 days left
"This administration is doing everything we can to end the statemate in an efficient way. We're making the right decisions to bring the solution to an end."
--Washington, D.C., 2001
Friday, May 30, 2008 - 235 days left
"I'm goinna talk about the ideal world, Chris. I've read -- I understand reality. If you're asking me as the president, would I understand reality, I do."
--Hardball, May 2000
Saturday and Sunday, May 31 and June 1, 2008 - 234 days left and 233 days left
"Actually, I --this may sound a little West Texas to you, but I like it. When I'm talking about --when I'm talking about myself, and when he's talking about myself, all of us are talking about me."
--Hardball, May 31, 2000
Phew! After reading those Bushisms for this week, it's no wonder I'm confused and got my days mixed up is it. I've been reading so many Bushisms it's causing my sense of reality to get all discombobulated too I think!
And that's when it dawned on me that no, this is NOT Sunday night. That was LAST night. Tonight, I finally realized, is actually Monday night! I kid you not. My mind was twisting around and thinking tonight was Sunday night. Talk about getting lost in space, huh? My own space, for sure there. So, anyway, here's this week's Bushisms and I shouldn't have to worry about screwing up my dates with a long, three-day weekend again now until September and Labor Day!
Monday, May 26, 2008 - 239 days left
"Finally, the desk, where we'll have our picture taken in front of -- is nine other Presidents used it. This was given to us by Queen Victori in the 1870s, I think it was. President Roosevelt put the door in so people would not know he was in a wheelchair. John Kennedy put his head out the door."
--Washington, D.C., May 2006
Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 238 days left
"I always jest to people, the Oval Office is the kind of place where people stand outside, they're getting ready to coe in and tell me what for, and they walk in and get overwhelmed in the atmosphere, and they say, man, you're looking pretty."
--Washington, D.C. 2004
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 - 237 days left
"So on behalf of a well-oiled unit of people who came together to serve something greater than themselves, congratulations."
--Addressing the University of Nebraska women's volleyball team, May 2001
Thursday, May 29, 2008 - 236 days left
"This administration is doing everything we can to end the statemate in an efficient way. We're making the right decisions to bring the solution to an end."
--Washington, D.C., 2001
Friday, May 30, 2008 - 235 days left
"I'm goinna talk about the ideal world, Chris. I've read -- I understand reality. If you're asking me as the president, would I understand reality, I do."
--Hardball, May 2000
Saturday and Sunday, May 31 and June 1, 2008 - 234 days left and 233 days left
"Actually, I --this may sound a little West Texas to you, but I like it. When I'm talking about --when I'm talking about myself, and when he's talking about myself, all of us are talking about me."
--Hardball, May 31, 2000
Phew! After reading those Bushisms for this week, it's no wonder I'm confused and got my days mixed up is it. I've been reading so many Bushisms it's causing my sense of reality to get all discombobulated too I think!
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Diversity In Action?
If I told you I'm running way behind on so many things right now, would you be surprised? Probably not, since lately that does seem to be the only way I operate -late!
Yesterday, was a long day. Starting with only about 2-3 hours sleep (and not because Kurtis kept me awake but simply because I have been having difficulty falling asleep almost all week) and Kurtis had a doctor's appointment at 10 a.m. yesterday. So, I had to get up and get ready to go with Mandy to take Kurtis in for this checkup, mainly so there was an extra set of arms available to hold him down when the doctor tried to check little things -like his ears, heartbeat, etc. No needles were involved in this visit at any time however he has already developed this innate fear of doctors, stethoscopes, little lights - you name it! Mandy held his upper body down; I held his legs and feet and the poor doctor fought tooth and nail to try to check him over, listen to those little sounds while he screamed, kicked and carried on like a little raving maniac through the entire procedure. I know, I know - he's just a baby and he's frightened but boy, doctors trying to check toddlers -whether it's a general check-up or because the child is ill, really deserve every penny they charge for those appointments!
After the appointment, we spent close to 45 minutes at the garage where my son-in-law used to work (my brother-in-law still works there but unfortunately, he had taken the day off yesterday) so the shop manager tried to figure out what my son-in-law had disconnected in my van the other night when he was trying to keep my van running until he could get the time to work on it and fix a problem that often makes some switch or other malfunction, thus keeping the dome light burning and running the battery down. Whatever it was -some fuse or something -that he disconnected kept the battery from running down but it also disconnected the power windows thing which meant we couldn't open any of the windows in the van! Very disconcerting to ride in a closed up van with the sun shining brightly on you and the heat building up, etc. The poor shop manager couldn't find whatever it was that Bill disconnected so we ended up leaving there with the windows still tightly closed.
From there, it was off to Wal-mart for a bit of a "stock-up" shopping deal and then home before Maya got home from school at 3 p.m. Needless to say, I was bushed and as soon as I got the groceries put away, supper fixed, I headed for the couch for a nap. I had to do that then because I needed to be awake enough sometime last night to bake a batch of Swedish rye bread for the bake sale our church youth group was having today to get funds for a trip they are planning this summer to assist people in some other community with clean-ups of the property and such. After about a three hour nap, I got up, got my bread baked and back to sleep then around 2:30 a.m.
Today, I had to make another trip back to Wal-mart to buy a new portable mixer because last night while I was mixing up my bread dough, wouldn't you just know it but the motor on the mixer I have had for almost two years now burned out on me! Fortunately, the bread dough was at the point where I didn't really need the mixer to finish up as it was where I needed to mix the last of the flour in by hand and knead the bread to blend it in completely. Too stiff a dough to even think of doing that with ANY mixer actually.
I took Maya with me while I found another mixer and picked up a couple small items I had overlooked getting yesterday. After leaving Wal-mart, we then stopped at a nursery about 3 miles from home to buy flowers to put on the graves. The couple who own this particular nursery are around my age (not quite as old, but close) and their oldest daughter is one of my older daughter's best friends. They know me and they also know Maya a little bit but even so, as I got her out of the van and led her into the greenhouse, I was lecturing her over and over to please "DO NOT TOUCH THE FLOWERS!" She promised me she would listen, be good, not take off from me, not get into anything -the whole nine yards. Needless to say, she's a bit of a story-teller though and was trying her best to select all kinds of flowers that she felt I should purchase. I wouldn't have minded had she merely pointed them out but it was the picking some up by the stems that kind of made my heart flip-flop a bit as I could just picture having to buy a dozen or so slightly mutilated flowers that would never even survive the ride home much less to the cemetery, being transplanted and live for an hour beyond that ordeal.
This evening then Mandy and both kids and I went up to the cemetery where my parents are buried and got several of these flowers planted there. Not the best transplant -or arranging - jobs but they should last at least through next week if I am lucky!
Back home and time to start trying to figure out what to cook for dinner tomorrow -and how much to prepare too considering I have no clue right now how many will be here! Typical! The older daughter and her fiance are supposed to be coming up "sometime tomorrow." That could mean they will be here as early as noon or maybe not till as late as 4 or 5 p.m. Then there is my son who should have arrived back home from his weekly trucker run around 9 p.m. tonight and would be at his girlfriends' house tonight and who doesn't know if she is planning a cookout at her place tomorrow or not. But, considering he has to put a new starter on his car tomorrow, he says even if she is going to have a cookout, he probably will be down to eat but he'll just have to "double dip" then tomorrow - meaning eat here, go do something and then go to her place to eat again - or maybe reverse the order of where he will eat first and last. Who knows!??? So, to be prepared, I made a big batch of macaroni salad (Bill's favorite dish,) fixed a bit batch of deviled eggs and then, got Mandy to give me a hand fixing a big container too of Broccoli/cauliflower salad. Tomorrow, after church, I just have to fix a pan of potatoes to bake some oven-fried potatoes and mix up a cake while someone checks out the grill and does some burgers and maybe some pork chops too!
If you are wondering why I am prattling on about all these little things I've done yesterday and today and what sense this stuff makes with the title of this blog, the answer is NONE! It's merely my way of trying to tone myself down from going off into a huge rant about something Mandy saw on some of the autism parenting sites she visits online which totally angered both of us. I just felt I had to write about something totally different in order to stay a little calm, not be using tons of the really bad language my mind had been wanting to say earlier when I learned about this.
Did you all hear - or read -about the kindergarten teacher in Florida who had her class vote on whether to allow a little five-year-old boy in the class remain with the group? What's that all about you ask? Well, it seems according to one report I read that she was trying to teach the children about voting and they voted 14 to 2 that this one little boy should be voted out of their class. The kicker here is the little guy who was ousted is in the process of being evaluated and diagnosed with autism. Ah, now you know why this article caught both Mandy's and my attention - and our anger and ire as well.
To put a child of that age - and with a learning disorder such as autism, regardless of whether he is severely autistic, in a medium range or high functioning - to both Mandy and to me -was outrageously wrong, wrong and wrong again!!!! One report I read about this deal was that the children were only voting him out of the class for the day but try explaining that to a child on the spectrum! Lack of sensibility, lack of empathy, pure lunacy or idiotic behavior on the part of the teacher is what comes to my mind in this case -regardless of whether it was a move for one day or for the rest of the school term.
Is this a way to teach a child -or a classroom -about diversity and acceptance? Children understand diversity and acceptance when the differences that exist are not pushed on them and choices forced on them but rather by learning in an open-minded fashion to accept those differences, whatever they may be then on their own terms.
This has been a week that somehow doesn't show me how our society has advanced so much over the years in the acceptance of others who are different. First, the case of the 12-year-old autistic boy in Minnesota whose parents received a letter and citation about bringing their son to church. Yes, the priest at their family church had papers sent to the parents telling them they were not to bring the boy to mass any more because of the disruptions and fears he caused the parishioners apparently. Then, to add insult to injury, this case with the five-year-old Florida child being "shunned" buy his classmates. How ludicrous do things have to get before people will realize this is all just effing ridiculous!
I know my grandchildren can be disruptive in a church setting but still, Mandy and I both believe that they need and deserve the opportunity to learn the proper behavior in church. However, if they get too restless, too loud, Mandy will take the offender - or both if necessary - out either to the narthex, try to quiet them, calm them and then, if possible, come back in a pick up with the rest of the service. We did go through a period of about 13 months from May of 2006 until June of 2007 though when we did not take Maya to church at all because of her behavior issues. We had taken her from the time she was two weeks old to church and prior to that May, she had been doing fine but all of a sudden, totally out of the blue, she began to go into meltdowns as soon as we walked in the door of the church and then, it was as soon as we pulled into the church parking lot. So, to save our own sanity and preserve the peacefulness of the church service, we elected to leave her at home with her Dad until she became more willing to go with us, unafraid of whatever it was that was so dreadful and fearful to her in her mind. Today, she does very well in church -but as I said above, that wasn't always the case.
I know I can't compare Maya's behavior to that of this young fellow in Minnesota as it appears he has many more issues than Maya has had but I can understand the parents wanting him to be able to worship freely or as much as is possible for him to cope with at any rate. If it were me and my child, to be honest, I wouldn't try to force the child to deal with more than he is able to at this point -but then, that's just me there. It may be frustrating to other parishioners when he acts up and such but the only way he is going to ever learn too is by being able to be part of society too. A little more understanding on the part of the priest, the other church members too might be better for all concerned there too.
But the kindergarten case just totally disgusts me. How cruel a method to try to teach something like "voting" to a class by encouraging them to discriminate then against another child and to also have each child in the class TELL him why they voted him out of the class too!
Makes me wonder if we really are the intelligent ones of our species after all. Makes me wonder about what is our society coming to when, after all these years of trying to learn acceptance and lose the discriminatory aspects, will we allow things like this to go on?
Yesterday, was a long day. Starting with only about 2-3 hours sleep (and not because Kurtis kept me awake but simply because I have been having difficulty falling asleep almost all week) and Kurtis had a doctor's appointment at 10 a.m. yesterday. So, I had to get up and get ready to go with Mandy to take Kurtis in for this checkup, mainly so there was an extra set of arms available to hold him down when the doctor tried to check little things -like his ears, heartbeat, etc. No needles were involved in this visit at any time however he has already developed this innate fear of doctors, stethoscopes, little lights - you name it! Mandy held his upper body down; I held his legs and feet and the poor doctor fought tooth and nail to try to check him over, listen to those little sounds while he screamed, kicked and carried on like a little raving maniac through the entire procedure. I know, I know - he's just a baby and he's frightened but boy, doctors trying to check toddlers -whether it's a general check-up or because the child is ill, really deserve every penny they charge for those appointments!
After the appointment, we spent close to 45 minutes at the garage where my son-in-law used to work (my brother-in-law still works there but unfortunately, he had taken the day off yesterday) so the shop manager tried to figure out what my son-in-law had disconnected in my van the other night when he was trying to keep my van running until he could get the time to work on it and fix a problem that often makes some switch or other malfunction, thus keeping the dome light burning and running the battery down. Whatever it was -some fuse or something -that he disconnected kept the battery from running down but it also disconnected the power windows thing which meant we couldn't open any of the windows in the van! Very disconcerting to ride in a closed up van with the sun shining brightly on you and the heat building up, etc. The poor shop manager couldn't find whatever it was that Bill disconnected so we ended up leaving there with the windows still tightly closed.
From there, it was off to Wal-mart for a bit of a "stock-up" shopping deal and then home before Maya got home from school at 3 p.m. Needless to say, I was bushed and as soon as I got the groceries put away, supper fixed, I headed for the couch for a nap. I had to do that then because I needed to be awake enough sometime last night to bake a batch of Swedish rye bread for the bake sale our church youth group was having today to get funds for a trip they are planning this summer to assist people in some other community with clean-ups of the property and such. After about a three hour nap, I got up, got my bread baked and back to sleep then around 2:30 a.m.
Today, I had to make another trip back to Wal-mart to buy a new portable mixer because last night while I was mixing up my bread dough, wouldn't you just know it but the motor on the mixer I have had for almost two years now burned out on me! Fortunately, the bread dough was at the point where I didn't really need the mixer to finish up as it was where I needed to mix the last of the flour in by hand and knead the bread to blend it in completely. Too stiff a dough to even think of doing that with ANY mixer actually.
I took Maya with me while I found another mixer and picked up a couple small items I had overlooked getting yesterday. After leaving Wal-mart, we then stopped at a nursery about 3 miles from home to buy flowers to put on the graves. The couple who own this particular nursery are around my age (not quite as old, but close) and their oldest daughter is one of my older daughter's best friends. They know me and they also know Maya a little bit but even so, as I got her out of the van and led her into the greenhouse, I was lecturing her over and over to please "DO NOT TOUCH THE FLOWERS!" She promised me she would listen, be good, not take off from me, not get into anything -the whole nine yards. Needless to say, she's a bit of a story-teller though and was trying her best to select all kinds of flowers that she felt I should purchase. I wouldn't have minded had she merely pointed them out but it was the picking some up by the stems that kind of made my heart flip-flop a bit as I could just picture having to buy a dozen or so slightly mutilated flowers that would never even survive the ride home much less to the cemetery, being transplanted and live for an hour beyond that ordeal.
This evening then Mandy and both kids and I went up to the cemetery where my parents are buried and got several of these flowers planted there. Not the best transplant -or arranging - jobs but they should last at least through next week if I am lucky!
Back home and time to start trying to figure out what to cook for dinner tomorrow -and how much to prepare too considering I have no clue right now how many will be here! Typical! The older daughter and her fiance are supposed to be coming up "sometime tomorrow." That could mean they will be here as early as noon or maybe not till as late as 4 or 5 p.m. Then there is my son who should have arrived back home from his weekly trucker run around 9 p.m. tonight and would be at his girlfriends' house tonight and who doesn't know if she is planning a cookout at her place tomorrow or not. But, considering he has to put a new starter on his car tomorrow, he says even if she is going to have a cookout, he probably will be down to eat but he'll just have to "double dip" then tomorrow - meaning eat here, go do something and then go to her place to eat again - or maybe reverse the order of where he will eat first and last. Who knows!??? So, to be prepared, I made a big batch of macaroni salad (Bill's favorite dish,) fixed a bit batch of deviled eggs and then, got Mandy to give me a hand fixing a big container too of Broccoli/cauliflower salad. Tomorrow, after church, I just have to fix a pan of potatoes to bake some oven-fried potatoes and mix up a cake while someone checks out the grill and does some burgers and maybe some pork chops too!
If you are wondering why I am prattling on about all these little things I've done yesterday and today and what sense this stuff makes with the title of this blog, the answer is NONE! It's merely my way of trying to tone myself down from going off into a huge rant about something Mandy saw on some of the autism parenting sites she visits online which totally angered both of us. I just felt I had to write about something totally different in order to stay a little calm, not be using tons of the really bad language my mind had been wanting to say earlier when I learned about this.
Did you all hear - or read -about the kindergarten teacher in Florida who had her class vote on whether to allow a little five-year-old boy in the class remain with the group? What's that all about you ask? Well, it seems according to one report I read that she was trying to teach the children about voting and they voted 14 to 2 that this one little boy should be voted out of their class. The kicker here is the little guy who was ousted is in the process of being evaluated and diagnosed with autism. Ah, now you know why this article caught both Mandy's and my attention - and our anger and ire as well.
To put a child of that age - and with a learning disorder such as autism, regardless of whether he is severely autistic, in a medium range or high functioning - to both Mandy and to me -was outrageously wrong, wrong and wrong again!!!! One report I read about this deal was that the children were only voting him out of the class for the day but try explaining that to a child on the spectrum! Lack of sensibility, lack of empathy, pure lunacy or idiotic behavior on the part of the teacher is what comes to my mind in this case -regardless of whether it was a move for one day or for the rest of the school term.
Is this a way to teach a child -or a classroom -about diversity and acceptance? Children understand diversity and acceptance when the differences that exist are not pushed on them and choices forced on them but rather by learning in an open-minded fashion to accept those differences, whatever they may be then on their own terms.
This has been a week that somehow doesn't show me how our society has advanced so much over the years in the acceptance of others who are different. First, the case of the 12-year-old autistic boy in Minnesota whose parents received a letter and citation about bringing their son to church. Yes, the priest at their family church had papers sent to the parents telling them they were not to bring the boy to mass any more because of the disruptions and fears he caused the parishioners apparently. Then, to add insult to injury, this case with the five-year-old Florida child being "shunned" buy his classmates. How ludicrous do things have to get before people will realize this is all just effing ridiculous!
I know my grandchildren can be disruptive in a church setting but still, Mandy and I both believe that they need and deserve the opportunity to learn the proper behavior in church. However, if they get too restless, too loud, Mandy will take the offender - or both if necessary - out either to the narthex, try to quiet them, calm them and then, if possible, come back in a pick up with the rest of the service. We did go through a period of about 13 months from May of 2006 until June of 2007 though when we did not take Maya to church at all because of her behavior issues. We had taken her from the time she was two weeks old to church and prior to that May, she had been doing fine but all of a sudden, totally out of the blue, she began to go into meltdowns as soon as we walked in the door of the church and then, it was as soon as we pulled into the church parking lot. So, to save our own sanity and preserve the peacefulness of the church service, we elected to leave her at home with her Dad until she became more willing to go with us, unafraid of whatever it was that was so dreadful and fearful to her in her mind. Today, she does very well in church -but as I said above, that wasn't always the case.
I know I can't compare Maya's behavior to that of this young fellow in Minnesota as it appears he has many more issues than Maya has had but I can understand the parents wanting him to be able to worship freely or as much as is possible for him to cope with at any rate. If it were me and my child, to be honest, I wouldn't try to force the child to deal with more than he is able to at this point -but then, that's just me there. It may be frustrating to other parishioners when he acts up and such but the only way he is going to ever learn too is by being able to be part of society too. A little more understanding on the part of the priest, the other church members too might be better for all concerned there too.
But the kindergarten case just totally disgusts me. How cruel a method to try to teach something like "voting" to a class by encouraging them to discriminate then against another child and to also have each child in the class TELL him why they voted him out of the class too!
Makes me wonder if we really are the intelligent ones of our species after all. Makes me wonder about what is our society coming to when, after all these years of trying to learn acceptance and lose the discriminatory aspects, will we allow things like this to go on?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)