A Day at Swan Lake

So it's a pond, not a lake. They're certainly swans and we had such a wonderful visit. My Father-in-law lives in the house the family always summered in and yesterday the whole gang got together for a cook out. It was terrific. Of course, I am always staggered when one of the nieces shouts out her age. I think they're all still 12. How did all this time fly by? Rather than think about that I will turn my attention to the swans and their habitat. How serene and lovely.

A Lovely Cool Place

Here she is, my girl has found the source of cooler air. Now that she has found relief the weather is changing and who needs it anymore? That large dark object her nose is almost touching is a very large fan. I'm surprised her ears weren't blown back since it is quite a wonderful air moving machine, although I must say, the air doesn't go very far with her in front of it as she has been. The humidity seems to be lifting a bit. Sssshh! Don't speak too soon.

Spa Days

Everything around here is so damp and the humidity won't quit. Nothing is drying out including me...I guess it's like a day or more at the spa with the steam facials. No extra charge. The husband has ordered a de-humidifier for the basement. We used to have one that finally gave up the ghost as they say. Things are truly so damp that mildew is imminent. It's like living on a ship at sea I think, not that I ever did but I can imagine. Off for my walk for which I need two towels upon my return. Later!

Thought for the Day

When all else fails - or when what you want to say is too abrasive and you need to think about it and tone it down a bit - reach for the email. Here's a good one.


Inner Peace

If you can start the day without caffeine,

If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,

If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,

If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it,

If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time,

If you can take criticism and blame without resentment ,

If you can conquer tension without medical help,

If you can relax without liquor,

If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,

...Then You Are Probably The Family Dog!

Just the Two of Us

This is a picture of me at home for the evening with the husband. I don't know how this person captured us so perfectly but ....

A bit of info

Look at how the time has flown. Where have I been for all these days? Here and there and nowhere. This weekend is a mad whirl. I am off to stay with my cousin and have a girls' night which means she will drink wine and I will drive and we will get a pizza. I would drink wine too but I am driving. We will come back to her house where we will eat the pizza and more wine will be poured but truly, after I eat I am done with wine. We will then blah blah blah until my eyes are screaming at me to close. A good time will be had by both.

The next day I will be off to my neice's where I will tell you later what's going on. Sunday will be safe to say just in case she finds me here on the net. I have to not blab things for that reason.

The husband is so excited because he can stay home, have a couple of guys over and they can belch and burp and scratch their privates, spit too if they choose. Heaven, huh? They think so. NO GIRLS ALLOWED. Until Sunday.

My dear friend Julie has tagged me...I am working on it Julie.....honest.
And that's the point of the tag...honesty. I will deal with this after I duck and bob on what's up at the neice's.

Old Barns, Old People & Old Friends

I don't know who to credit for this but I am posting it here because it is such a lovely essay. I will move along the email I am taking this from but I want it to be here, in this journal where I try to think and search and - this is saying everything for me today.

Enjoy

Old Barns, Old People & Old Friends

Oh how I would love to restore and live in one of these !! -
but then , at my age, maybe I already do



A stranger came by the other day with an offer that set me to thinking.

He wanted to buy the old barn that sits out by the highway.
I told him right off he was crazy.

He was a city type, you could tell by his clothes, his car,
His hands, and the way he talked.

He said he was driving by and saw that beautiful barn
sitting out in the tall grass and wanted to know if it was for sale.

I told him he had a funny idea of beauty.



Sure, it was a handsome building in its day. But then, there's
been a lot of winters pass with their snow and ice and howling wind.
The summer sun's beat down on that old barn till all the paint's
gone, and the wood has turned silver gray.
Now the old building leans a good deal, looking kind of tired.
Yet, ... that fellow called it beautiful!!



That set me to thinking. I walked out to the field and just stood there,
gazing at that old barn.

The stranger said he planned to use the lumber to line the walls
of his den in a new country home he's building down the road.

He said you couldn't get paint that beautiful.

Only years of standing in the weather, bearing the storms and
Scorching sun, --only that can produce beautiful barn wood.



It came to me then....
We're a lot like that, you and I....
Only it's on the inside that the beauty grows with us.
Sure we turn silver gray too... and lean a bit more than
we did when we were young and full of sap.
But the Good Lord knows what He's doing.
And as the years pass He's busy using the hard weather of our lives,
the dry spells and the stormy seasons, to do a job of beautifying
our souls that nothing else can produce.



They took the old barn down today and hauled it away
to beautify a rich man's house.

And I reckon someday you and I'll be hauled off
to Heaven to take on whatever chores the Good Lord
has for us on the Great Sky Ranch.
And I suspect we'll be more beautiful
then for the seasons we've been through here....

and just maybe even add a bit of beauty to our Father's House.



May there be peace within you today.
May you trust God that you are
exactly where you are meant to be.



And ........,
I do sincerely Thank God for my wonderful friends and
family who care about me even though I show signs of weathering!

I say Amen to all of the above

After the 4th

Happy after the 4th of July. We had such a nice holiday weekend. For the first time in my memory, we had no company at the house and no plan for the neighborhood piling in. We were guests! One of the neighbors had a cookout on the 4th which began at about 6pm. One of our outdoor tables and many of our chairs were called into service and we also brought some marinated shrimp on skewers to throw on the grill but other than that we were bone idle. What an amazing feeling! The street was milling with people and many stopped in at the outdoor eat-in to snack or sip. Later at the end of the street where the beach is many fireworks were in order and this year they were light up the sky beautiful. It was so clear that we could see the fireworks in the Vineyard way off there in the distance. Little colored bright flashes just hanging there at the horizon. Hope everyone enjoyed as much as we did.

Time. Flying.

July second???????? Cut it out!! How? As someone in the family once said, "Seems like just yesterday it was July 1st."

Rain, Rain Won't Go Away

The sun is out and it's warm too! Have to hurry before it goes away. Today is changeover day here in the summer area where I live all the time or will in the near future. The past week has been rain and gloom and damp and cool and here, on the last of the vacation day rentals, the sun bursts out to hurry these cool, damp, cabin fever riddled folks home. Go away. Make room for the next renters. The sun will more than likely fade and the rain clouds will roll in around 4pm or so as the unpacking for the upcoming rental week begins. Such is the rainy summer on Cape Cod.

Memories

Cruising around the net and read about happy hour here on Cape Cod. It is not legal anymore. There can be no cut rate drinks but oddly enough most thriving places, aka bars, get by with 1/2 price appetizers or dollar specials. A spot we always went to and still go once a summer was mentioned and it brought to mind a song that was always sung there by the wait-staff and bartenders.

Put something on the bar besides your elbow.
Something like an old 10 dollar bill.
Put something on the bar besides your elbow.
You can't ring up your elbow on the till.

I think it is still sung to this very day. Now if I could only remember how the story of Rindercella and the Prandsome Hince goes....I do know that when the clock struck 12 she slopped her dripper.

Let me ponder that for a while. Later.

Is There a Lincoln in the House? the Senate?

I'm reading Lincoln by David Herbert Donald. It is really good. Just read this statement he made when he challenged a proposed railroad project and I thought it could well be used to challenge just about any of the projects coming out of Washington today...most especially health care.

"However high our imagination may be heated at thoughts of it...there is a heart appalling shock accompanying the account of its cost."

Of course our esteemed Madarins in Washington don't really delve into the cost - the true cost - of any of their high blown proposals and what costs they refer to are entirely pulled out of the air.

Just sayin'

Fathers' Day Blessing

Happy Father's Day!

Went to brunch with my husband's dad and brother and his family and my nephew and husband of course. One of the nieces brought her friend who is a boy...not a boy friend mind you. We really had a nice time. Lots of food and talk and laughter and kindness and love all at the same table.

My husband has reconnected with his long lost family from his first marriage. Way back in the mid sixties he graduated from high school, joined the Air Force and while stationed in the deep South met and married a lovely, very young lady from Mississippi. They moved where the Air Force sent him and after two children in a short three year marriage, while he was overseas again, she determined that she wanted out and moved home with her parents. Broken hearts and young men and women don't make for a friendly breakup and when she remarried he totally went down the poor me road. His grandmother was the only connecting string and she passed away quite a while ago. In the past few months he has made a connection with both his daughter and son and although the story more than likely has twists and turns to come, this year he received his first ever Fathers' Day card. His daughter calls him several times a week or he calls her. His son is a bit less connected but I am sure when they meet, and they will this fall, that will move in the right direction. On the way home from brunch his phone rang and his daughter put his granddaughter on the phone. His son has 2 children and they are visiting with her for the week. As he talked on the phone I watched and I have never seen him so truly content. This is a huge blessing. He has had these missing pieces rattling him for years. Thank you God for putting the puzzle together.

Hope everyone had as blessed a day as we did.

Jesus is Street Smart but He Throws His $ Around

All right so here is what hit my mind on my walk today. When I'm done you may wonder why I ever walk. Me too.

Of a sudden a memory hit me from so many years ago. There I was, maybe 7 years old and trading things with the only girl in my neighborhood and she also happened to be about 7. We had known each other forever. She went to kindergarten with me and now was in whatever...maybe 2nd grade. I have to say though, she was way more able than I was. Hard to explain but I was always a little smushy. When I was 23 or so I dated this fellow who was older and he said to me one day, "How the hell did you
ever get to this point in your life without knowing anything?"

I had no idea what he meant and asked him. It seemed that he meant I had no "street smarts" and in fact I didn't know what they were. He was right. I knew nothing. Which brings me back to the 7 year old me and my this morning thoughts.

At seven all I ever wanted was a Cinderella watch. I know the meaning of covet from that time in my life. My friend got one for Christmas or a birthday or whenever but she had one and I did not. I wanted one. More. Than. Anything.

I had something she wanted but I really didn't know she did. See? If I had "street smarts" I would have worked that angle. I traded something really great for a broken Cinderella watch and I came home like a crazed woman. I was thrilled and dancing for heavens' sake. Man oh Man Happy as a whatever in whatever....YES! That Happy....

Then.. dum da dumm dumm.... Mom arrives and says "What do you have?" and, you know, being a non-street smart person I say, "Look at what I have Mom. A Cinderella watch. I have always wanted one. I am so happy, and look at her blond hair and the blue watch band and I love it I love it."

"It's broken and how did you get this piece of garbage?"

"It's only a little broken and her hair is still blond and the band is still blue and I traded my only friend in the neighborhood my doll and all her clothes for it."

I think something like "You're an Idiot!!!" might have been said and off we went to undo the deal of a lifetime.

My heart was broken and I realized that not only would I never have a Cinderella watch but also I was lousy tradesman.

So after all that, there I was walking this morning and being grateful to God for sending his son Jesus to ransom me and I thought, "What if Jesus is a bad tradesman too?" What if on that day when I turn up at the gate, God turns to Jesus and says, "You paid for this??? Are you nuts? Look at this and think about what you spent. You're going to get your money back."

Would he do that do you think? Will Jesus say "I always wanted a Gemma and I don't care if she doesn't keep time. I just like the blue band and the blond hair and no matter what I paid, I'm glad I have her." Or will be march back with Dad and return me.

I hope he keeps me.

I wish I had that watch.

I do know Jesus is way stronger that anyone I know. I hope he doesn't march back with his Dad and undo the trade. I just hope he doesn't think he paid too much for me. I think He has street smarts don't you?

Yeah. Me too.

UPDATE:

I just read this and from my logic, if Jesus had street smarts then he wouldn't have bought me at all. Thank you Jesus!

Press or Propaganda

I remember when I was way younger and the press was bringing Nixon down. There was no doubt that the President felt he was above the law back then. He was doing things that were, in his eyes, necessary but perhaps also, in his eyes, if not illegal then bent to the point of broken. The press beat the drum. The drum beats were constant. The story became a part of our personal fabric. Watergate. Watergate. Watergate. Endlessly pounding and pounding.

Now the silence towards the law breaking being done by this administration is deafening. I mean political party when I say administration. When the power shifted, the press got lost. They became the Goebbels of our time. All Obama, all the time. In the same way Nixon was brought down, Bush was declared selected, Obama is coronated and sanctified. Every day the press anoints him anew and we are to be dazzled by his sinless brilliance. I, for one, put my undazzlers on long before I saw what the press was capable of during the Nixon years.

Just sayin'

UPDATE in the same vein:

“Iran is not ruled by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but by the head ayatollah, the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and his pigsty of brutal mullahs. Mr. Ahmadinejad never misses an opportunity to pay craven tribute to these unelected agents of harsh Islamic rule, always with a bending of the knee and a kiss for every outstretched holy hand”

I forget where I got this from but it struck me that we could substitute the USA for Iran, Obama’s name for Ahmadinejad and I’m not sure who we would substitute for the Kamenie and the pigsty but there are names to be used there. The frightening part is that here, in the land of the free, we don’t know who is truly in charge. Soros? I wonder. I used to be afraid it was Soros, now I am even more fearful that it isn’t.

Flowers for all Seasons

Did I already post this pic? If so sorry - it's just so darned cute I had to put it up here.

Daffodil Days never end around here do they? The daffodils are gone til next year though, now here comes hydrangea season and yes this is the exact color that springs out every year...amazing isn't it?

The Times they are A-Changing

I have a head full of things I would like to spew forth. Right now it's all whirling around like a Dairy Queen Blizzard....yum on that by the way. The weather has been very chilly and damp..what's new? Thank heavens for Global Warming or we'd be shoveling I'm sure. I said that to a friend and her reply made me realize how much pounding people are taking to be politically correct. She didn't want to jump on my wagon and ride to the "Al Gore is an IDIOT" tune but she is my friend so she said, in her most constricted voice....the one you use when your mother is pinching the under part of your arm, "Well there is a climate change occurring and it is cyclical." Huh? That's how free we seem to be to voice any opinion other than the accepted one. No one was there but the two of us and, as we talked later, because of the subject matter she felt she had to tread very carefully. I don't care if she agrees with me or not. She used to know that. I told her she was watching too much Main Stream News. I was right, she never watches Fox or uses the net. She feels that this subject is like politics and religion...we don't go there. Scary!

I guess all those years of organized everything for the kids is paying off. In addition to training kids to never have a rogue opinion, I heard this morning that businesses have to train new employees to make decisions. So it seems the system has trained the younger generation so well in this team effort that they have trouble with risk taking and independence. Yow....ya think???? I was always one who kind of hung back to see what the trends were before I either bucked them or went with them so I never thought I was very courageous. I made decisions only after tons of fact finding. In a business meeting I cringed when a co-worker leaped into the fray before we had the whole picture. Now....I feel like Captain Courageous and yet, my style hasn't changed at all. I guess it's true. Just wait a while -- don't change -- the world will.

Gotta Love It!!!!

Shred the Past and Move Along

Tuesdays feel like Mondays around here......and now it's Wednesday. Where does the time go? We - the husband and I - are doing a lot of ditzy things that really feel like you're doing nothing. Trying to empty out one house so we can sell it and the move to the other, much smaller, house is happening in fits and starts. One of the things we have accomplished is the removal of cartons of legal stuff that relates to every member of my family over the past 40 years. Everyone had the same attorney and that attorney passed away recently -- all the family members have also passed away, except for me of course. Thus, I have inherited all the cartons of paper in the attorney's basement that dealt with my family. I am shredding and shredding and shredding. Oh, the memories that all of this brings back, divorces and spouses who passed away and law suits and - - what a soap opera this family I was born into has lived. The book will be forthcoming and no one will believe it.

I feel like I have lost weight as this paper goes away. The shredding is like giving it to God. Let it go! Did I mention that we are on our second shredder? First one stopped never to start again. We have the heavy duty top of the line - at least for the home office. Back to the job at hand.

ZZZZZZZZZ

More rain and gloom today but the tears are clearing up..the wet air drops the pollen down and it certainly feels better. The house is so quiet right now. My husband had a sleep test last night or maybe I should say a couldn't sleep test. He flunked! He couldn't stay asleep long enough for them to figure out the apnea thing so he has to do a do over. Right now he's here...sleeping. The dog, who missed him more than oxygen is sleeping too. I don't think she slept a wink either. She kept expecting him to come home and she ran from her bed to the window a lot of times. I slept like a dream thank you. Had the bed to myself and the dog was awake so no one was snoring. I was up and down my usual two times and conked out each time. The radio was not playing ever and - - I missed him too! A good night's sleep isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Aches Pains and Tears

How did this week get by so fast? I have been moaning and groaning my way through the past couple of days. The weather is gloomy and spitting rain every now and then and it's chilly. Every bone and muscle in my body is creaking or cracking or aching and paining. Over the weekend I walked and walked and walked and that may have something to do with the aches and moans since I haven't been doing much at all since January. The age thing and the arthritis thing might also play a role here. Today, another gloomy and chilly day but since I took two days off I MUST get out the door and walk some more. Maybe that will work the creaks out.

At least the rain is washing the pollen off the car..all the puddles around here have a green film floating on them. Sneeze much? Well sort of but the worst of it for me is my watery teary eyes. Everyone I meet on my walk thinks I am running away from home after a fight with the spouse. No matter how many times I explain the allergy eyes I get a lot of sympathetic nods and you know the look? That oh yeah sure look? At least I give the neighbors something to mull over.

Hold on to the Wisdom

Made a huge mistake and checked the news. As a result I had to go to a source of wisdom and strength. I found a site where these gifts were received.

"The world cannnot exist without God's consistent spritual energy" That is a true blessing and I must internalize that. Here is the real keeper.

"To the arrogant and wicked, theirs is only a world of mirage and they should not think with such posturing they will succeed." Amen

Let it Go

On the road again. Trying to get my house ready to sell and it involves moving 60 odd years and every family member's unwanted belongings out in some way. I had an antique dealer in and he treated everything as if it's ready for the junk pile. He would give me something and then he talked about how much man power he would need to expend to move it all.

Well, in my head I say to myself, "if it's that much bother and work then why pay me anything? I should be paying you."

So that thought makes me reconsider and decide to look for another dealer and then I think, "You have been sitting on this stuff for years and it is just in the way."

Then I think of the monkey story. You know the one. The monkey is given a coconut with a hole drilled in it big enough to fit his hand through. Inside the coconut is a bunch of really tasty food. Once the monkey reaches in and grabs as much as he can, his hand full of food won't fit to get back out of the hole. If he would let go he could get his hand out. He won't let go. He is tied to this coconut which means he can't move and so he sits and starves to death. Am I the monkey?

It is so hard to let go.

It's a Jungle Out There

Can it possibly be Tuesday already? Where did the days go? No place memorable obviously. We have just been trudging through the chores of life and seemingly making progress..then we sit down and look around and wonder what the hey? It's a jungle out there.

Watched a movie last night. The Changeling. What a good job Angelina did. She is really a good actress isn't she? Skinniest lady I have ever seen though. Can that be healthy?

I certainly have a lot of questions today don't I? Look. There's another one.

Have to go now and move that jungle back a bit. It's always trying to grow over us isn't it?

Man Plans - God Giggles

So misty out there it feels like rain. This is the kind of weather where it rains under the trees. The moisture gathers on the leaves and drops to the ground. There are huge wet spots under each tree limb.

Have to travel a bit today. Long story but we're bringing bags of pellets for a pellet stove back to a store. Each bag weighs 40 pounds and we have 40 of them. The plan A was a friend was to be here with a van so we could haul them all in one trip but he just called to say the van wouldn't start. Plan B. Load the pellets in our car which can only hold a dozen at a time...the weight is too much otherwise. This now means at least 3 if not 4 trips......Oh dear. Do I hear giggling?

The View

Forever I have said that I am going to take a picture of the trees on my street when they burst into bloom. Then, time goes by and it's snowing again. How does that happen? Well, this year, meet the new me. I am doing what I say I will do. Sort of. At least I took these pictures of my view down the street. It really is something isn't it? Have a great day...I am still ostriching.

Not Much Here

I really would like to do these ten on tuesday and 11 on thursday and what are you up to on Monday things but I have no idea how to link to things and get those cute logos on the top of the page. I just learned about the pictures and feel as though I should have a degree hanging on the wall after that learning adventure. How on earth do I do those other things? I will be looking into it and hurting my brain whilst I do. At least it will keep me away from the news.

I must say how much I LOVE Alistair Begg and wish I could hop over to Cleveland to visit his church. Just sayin'

I Am an Ostrich

I'm going to try to not read or listen to the news today. Call it the ostrich approach. If I hear or read anything by accident, I will wait one full day before comment. Right now I am praying and reading the Bible.

This Administration is sooo Scary

When does a community organizer stop organizing..?? When do we consider his skills less than global? Will the NYT and the WH Press Corps protect us from the damage that might be done in the MidEast? When did we start hating the Jewish people? When did we start denying the Holocaust.... What is wrong with us..... Someone please make this stop!!!! It is not cool if there is hate in his heart....is it there???? Someone look and see.... I am so unsettled and what the hey...truth is not true any more is it?

Happy - AAAAH Choooooo- Mothers Day

Happy Mothers' Day to all. My husband has given in to what I have been fighting and today we sound like that flu ward of the hospital..cough snort sneeze blow your nose cough some more. Our brunch has been cancelled and the smell of Vicks is in the air. Later. Hope everyone is enjoying their mothers or their memories or their children.

A Ponder from the Past

I have been so consumed with health issues that I have done very little, if any, searching and pondering. I came across this diary entry and thought I might share it since it is truly a pondering piece that resulted from my usual search of me.

I think this took place 2 weeks or so ago.

A lot of reality rocks were tossed my way this week. Each time the truth hit, a chunk of armor dropped to the ground leaving an open wound of tender, I don’t know who I am, flesh. I am sad and mourning the used to be parts of me. It’s better to know the truth, I guess, but when it hits it can be really painful.

One thing I have learned is that I always did stuff, family stuff, run and fetch and let her do it stuff because I wanted whoever I did that stuff for to like me. I would have paid them but I never had money so my currency was my willingness to put my wants and needs over there somewhere and do for someone else. The person throwing the truth at me recently didn’t bring up that bit of knowledge. I worked that out on my own.

What the person opened up for me was that door where once you enter you can’t turn back. That door brought me into a place where I realized that no one in my life ever just loved me. Aww, poor me. I don’t say it in that manner, although to tell the truth, and I will try from now on, to tell the truth, I did at first. I realized that unconditional love fairy tale is just that, a fairy tale. You always have to work at something for that love to wash over one or both of you. I guess I just found it easier to operate that way because for my childhood life there was always the “If you would only. . . . , then . . . ” That was the method of communication in my family. “Your father won’t like you if…..” Note, it was never, “Your father won’t like IT” “I am going to my room and won’t come back until….” Those were Mother’s opening shots, Father’s always were “I am so disappointed in you” and that, of course, was due to some doing or other on your part.

I am now working on what to do now that I know that’s what I do. Shall I continue to do even when I don’t want to because it seems to work with the person I’m doing for? Or should I only do what I enjoy and if nobody likes it well then…..

I see some relationship wreckage in my area even though I did and did and did. Those people I did for are not here now and when they left it was because I didn’t do something or other for them, in most cases things I was not able to do. I guess, as I think about it and I do with more frequency than is healthy, I am really better off without them since if they were here, they would only want more from me and I am truly worn out right now.

Turning the Corner

Good night's sleep. Sun is out. Fresh coffee brewing. Bunch of fresh flowers on the table in front of me. How good is this? I have a feeling that the corner is turned and way behind me. Can it be true? My breathing says it is. Deep breath. No wheeze. No cough. Ssshhh! Just keep going. Don't mention the war.

That's from Fawlty Towers in case you're wondering. One of my most favorite shows ever. "Whatever you do....don't mention the war."

The Deparment of Energy

Almost finished with the antibiotics and I am certainly feeling better....not back to best yet but better. Today my complaint is this, oh yes I have to have one every day it seems, I don't want to leave the house. I am quite content to sit and stare. My energy level is below the line. I barely have enough for the keyboard. Maybe more coffee will do it. I will go now and make some.

I Give Up

So I gave in to the nagging and went to the doctor who has no idea that I have been to see him more often than any other person on earth, in my mind. I guess I have a different opinion of my quality of being remembered than others do. Funny. I must remember that!

The nurse took my temperature and no one was more surprised than I when she said 101 degrees. What? Then the doctor saw me and he remarked that I couldn't have a temperature that high and not look as though I did. He took it again and it had dropped to 100. Listen to the lungs, look in the ears, check out the throat and home I go with antibiotics and some cough syrup with codeine. The diagnosis is almost bronchitis but not quite, not pneumonia, thank you Lord, and call back on Thursday if I see no remarkable improvement. I will now be on the couch and if I can keep the words from bouncing around, I will read a book.

What a Revoltin' Development This Is

Still with the wheeze and sneeze but at least this morning I feel human....my husband has been hammering me with "Call the doctor, call the doctor, call the doctor" to which I have been replying "Cough! Cough! Cough! Wheeze! Sneeze!" then I blow my nose.

Then I say, "It's the weekend....they're closed. The only choice is the Emergency Room and I'm not going. I'll call on Monday."

Well, it's Monday and if Monday had been yesterday I would have so called. I felt miserable and could not take a deep breath. I was sure my lungs were filled with concrete. This morning? Not so bad. Just unending coughing which is okay since there is a reason to cough if you know what I mean....I hate to think about it but it is a better thing than yesterday. So now....what to do? Call the doctor or ride it out? I hate to be the girl who keeps crying "See me see me see me" He, the doctor, will dismiss me as a crank when a giant problem looms. What to do what to do?

I Could be in the News

Still coughing and sneezing and sniffing and wheezing. Feeling better though. Checked through the headlines and all I can say is it's a darned good thing I don't have a plane ride coming up...they would ditch me over the harbor for sure with this stuff going on. If I oink do you think I would start a panic?

Well I will stay home and not make the headlines tomorrow. Later.

AAAH choooooo!!

Well, my allergies have hit very hard and I have that bronchial wheezing croupy kind of cough I remember as a kid. I am covered with Vicks Vapor Rub and breathing menthol like it is my last great hope. I would say Swine Flu but this is my worst time of year anyhow and right now I have to take my medecine and go away....bye for now....I'll be back when the Kleenex run out and I have to surface for more.

I Do Love Nantucket

Yes, more Nantucket stuff.

I have so many pictures from that one day...most of what I have already downloaded are from the car parade..the others are with my husband. I ran out of memory so he gave me one of his whatevers and he told me I couldn't get the pictures off, he had to because there were so many (not mine) that he had already taken it would take too long to do on my computer. And now - I'M WAITING!!

I took pictures of the ladies in their daffodil hats and men in their yellow shirts and blue bow ties wearing their seersucker suits...yes, you heard me, seersucker. Honestly, I highly recommend at least going for the day and make it Saturday when all the stuff is out. A couple of years ago I went but on Sunday and all the field day things were over...the shops were there and the window boxes were stuffed with daffodils but the people were back to normal clothes and not a dog was dressed up. Go on Saturday...better yet .. stay for the weekend. Yes! That's the ticket!! Empty your bank account and get a room! Look, I'll show you the difference. Here's the square this year on Saturday.



Here's the square a couple of years ago on Sunday.



See? There are people there on Saturday. Later when I get those pictures from the Hubby's camera...you will see people at their best daffodil silliness. What fun!

Dressing up the Pooches

And then the dogs marched by.....couldn't wait to put this one up -- there will be more....

The Parade Begins

What a fabulous day we had....this is what we got off the ferry to .... this is only a preview of the great pictures I took of a super terrific visit. This is a car in the daffodil parade of old cars. You have to see it live to really appreciate. Later with more

Off to the Daffodils

I am so excited. Today is the off to Nantucket day for the Daffodil Extravaganza. There will be a parade of old cars decorated with fleurs...a dog parade....a flower show.....shops and restaurants and the church steeple to climb and the whaling museum and I feel like I am 12 and going on that field trip. Oooooh! a bus or in this case a ferry. I will post pictures and pictures and pictures. The sun is shining and it's a glorious day. Hope everyone has a good one too.

Misery

Just read that Ann Coulter's mother died and what Ann wrote and I have been crying for quite some time. Meanwhile the husband and I have been having some discussions and I feel that he does not love me unconditionally (who does but God and yet it always surprises me). I am such a bag of cats today....

A Sad Anniversary

Oh, President Obama....you are no President Reagan.

Here is what he, President Reagan said, on the anniversary of the Holocaust....try to keep your eyes dry..copy this and put it in the search place because I don't know how to link this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOiorN0UdPI ..what did President Obama say ??? Oh, right. Nothing...he shook Hugo's hand. God help us

Holiday Table

Oh, the week ends. We are having company...well, family isn't really company but on Easter Sunday we treat everyone as company. There will be nine of us at the table and my husband, bless him, is the chef of the day. He will be roasting a giant leg of lamb and putting all the finishing touches on it. My brother in law will peel every potato ever grown in the Northeast and mashing them till they scream. One year he stopped peeling before the bag was empty thinking that surely ten pounds is overkill, that was the year the family calls the mashed potato famine since we ran out of them. Anywho.....here's a before picture of the table....would have taken an after but couldn't find the camera....I think someone ate it.

Don't you love the color scheme? And that table cloth? $2.99 at the Christmas Tree shop and this marks the first ever time that nobody spilled a thing...not a thing. My linen and crocheted heirloom thing? Every year -- red wine, gravy and wax from the candles. This year? Nothing.....I can use that $2.99 baby again. How does this happen?

Pay Attention Much?

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood! Sun is shining and birds are singing and I'm off to get a haircut after missing my last week's appointment. My husband, of course, told me what a great haircut I had not knowing I missed the appointment so now we know how much attention is paid to the way the hair looks. That's not always a bad thing but, I ask you!

Later, and we'll see what he says today.

Put in My Place

In my daily rounds I visited a woman whose political views are totally not like my own. I don't go there for the politics but because the pictures are pretty. No, seriously, I like the pictures. If I haven't been there for a while I scroll down and check out the days I have missed and today. . . there was a political entry about that demon woman, the witch of the world, the "gasp" almost a heartbeat from the Presidency, the lovely Sarah. It was a snarky bit about her sister-in-law being arrested for something and my, how fortunate we are that we were spared and she did not attain the heights of VP. The comments were silly and I was forced....forced I tell you to respond by stating that Sarah's in-laws have as little to do with her character as Obama's do his and my, aren't we shallow and snarky.

I was beaten back with, if you don't like what I say, don't read it. Wow. I guess that I won't. Thanks. I have been put right in my place. I think though, she meant to say, if I don't like what she writes and I don't like the comments made then I should read it and shut up. Guess what political party espouses that behavior.

Actually I am disappointed in the attitude taken by that lady since she, in a lot of ways appears to be very lovely. I guess I won't be looking at those pictures again. sigh!

A Curiously Naive Congresswoman

Just read through The Hill briefly. thehill.com is all about news from our esteemed elected officials and what is going on in that part of the world. It's a good quick look at our controllers. Today featured an article by a reporter Susan Crabtree and the headline of the article is:

Sen. Stevens got Screwed by Justice

The whole thing is interesting but this really caught my attention -- a quote from a Congresswoman, and I quote:

"Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) charged that the Justice Department “ruined” her former colleague’s political career. "I am pleased with the news that the Justice Department will drop all charges against Sen. Ted Stevens, but I am deeply disturbed that the government can ruin a man’s career and then say, ‘Never mind,’ ” Murkowski said."

Is she serious? Doesn't the press do that all the time? Doesn't Congress have a long and strong history of that very same thing? Oh, maybe it's the never mind that got to her. Once a political victim has been mauled and left for dead, our elected leaders rarely look back to say never mind do they?

Hamilton Wright Mabie and A. Lincoln

Found a really old book while cleaning out a bookcase in the house we will be selling. It is Volume XIII LES-MAB of the Library of the World's Best Literature. It was published in1896. One chapter is devoted to Abraham Lincoln with an overview of President Lincoln's life written by someone called Hamilton Wright Mabie. Anyone familiar with the guy?

Mr. Mabie detailed President Lincoln's love of reading and his study habits as a youth. Although his formal education was meager, Lincoln was always the student. This paragraph absolutely hit me in all the right places:

"But Mr. Lincoln's possession of certain rare qualities is in no way more surprising than their possession by Shakespeare, Burns, and Whitman. We are constantly tempted to look for the sources of a man's power in his educational opportunities instead of in his temperament and inheritance. The springs of genius are purified and directed in their flow by the processes of training, but they are fed from deeper sources."

How wonderful that truth is. I wish there were more Mr. Mabies in our world.

A Save the Children Idea........

Just a thought. With all that is changing and hoping, if you know what I mean, this Volunteer Youth Organization/AKA Indoctrination Camp run in School at taxpayers' expense and turning out who knows what that will eventually be loyal to what?

I just read that Homeschooled children will be exempt from drinking the kool-aid. I have happened upon job creation opportunities. What about a pool of people who will home school other people's children in their home....sort of like a nanny who doesn't live in and clean and do laundry. I used to be a teacher. I am retired.....I would love to teach again. There are lots of parents who both have to work, especially now, and yet hate having the kids in Government Clutches - I mean schools. Why not be creative....start a new enterprise and save the children. Sing with me now .... Save the Children .... light your Bics and wave them...... Save the Children.

I think this is an idea whose time has come. I will visit many blogs and spread this idea and ... yes I am like Johnny Appleseed...../Gemma start an idea and hope that it will catch and spread. I think this is a keeper.

Tuesday's Child

She's really bored and sick of winter. She also thinks she's the size of a kitten. Good thing it's a big table so it stays put when she leaps up to answer the door. Our last pooch, a bit larger than this girl, would get under the coffee table and when he leaped the table went with him.

I said I was going to regress to childhood days and since I said that I have been remembering an album we had when we were kids. It consisted of 2 or 3 78RPM records and was made by someone called Uncle Don or was it Ed? Anywho, he sang nursery rhymes and giggled through the silly ones. I loved it. Here are the words to one and I'll bet you will love it too:

I saw an old lady tossed up in a basket ,Twenty three times as high as the moon. Where she was going I could not but ask it, for in her hand, she carried a broom.

"Old woman, old woman, old woman," said I, "Whither, oh whither, oh whither, so high?"

"To sweep the cobwebs off the sky. I'll be back again, by and by."

Now you can see why we love childhood. All things have to do is rhyme, not so much make sense. I'll have another for tomorrow if I can remember the middle. I know the start and the finish but . . sigh. . .childhood was a long long time ago.

Happy Monday Visual

Since the weather forecast says snow - thanks to Global Warming no doubt - I thought the daffodils should make an appearance. They are always a help to me and my winter doldrums. We are off to see my father in law today as well as truck to my former office and pick up whatever the mailman has left there. That get out of the business thing is like trying to unwrap a ball of scotch tape, it's easier when someone else is doing it. Anyway the other chore is to go to our house which will be readied for sale in a month or so, if it ever stops snowing, and check on the furnace and see if the mail has not been forwarded but left all over the front steps.

That's my day. I pine for Spring. Soon soon soon. Spring has sprung, the grass has ris', I wonder where the birdies is.

Later gater.

A new Approach

Here's my new approach. I'm old enough to have lived through any number of international messes and to be honest with you, during the 50's when the Korean War was ongoing I went to school and came home and played jump rope and dodge ball and hop scotch and I don't recall my parents or aunts and uncles ever expressing dire thoughts about our future. I lived through the under your desks drills in school when the bomb, you know which bomb, "the BOMB" was an issue and to their credit, the teachers never left any of us with a traumatic over the top panic about dying feeling at all. Vietnam came and went and except for my fury over the Jane Fonda's and John Kerry's of the world, and of course the loss of many of my peers, I can't say that I was deeply marked. Now, with the doom and gloom crashing all around us, deliberately so I believe, I am retreating into the world of my youth and will watch from a distance. Best I can do.

Just Ranting

Does anyone actually know what the vision of Obama is? What does he see us all doing in a year or two? Will we have jobs? Will they be government jobs? Will we be able to stay warm in the winter without reasonably priced heat sources? Will we be able to own cars or homes or land? What about guns? Will we be able to own them? What about our news sources, will they be free to speak out if corruption is occurring? Will our Justice Department investigate anyone who commits a crime or only Republicans? Will citizens be impugned, as Joe the plumber was and is, and investigated if they speak against or merely question the policies of the people in power? Will the resources of our glorious "free press" be used to investigate all of the potential leaders or only the Sarah Palins? Will we have access to the internet? Will we be able to congregate in public places? What is it the Dems have in mind for us. We will obviously not have private retirement funds since they have destroyed our portfolios or 401Ks. We will have very little private enterprise that is affordable since the unions will run every shop. We will . . . I give up.....does anyone know what their plans are? That's what I thought.

Have a Spot of Tea?

So now my husband wants to get involved in the Tea Party movement.....after all, here we are in or near Boston, the location of the original. Why not? He is a passionate and fed up guy who only wants to have a tad of what we earned and saved for retirement available to us for things we worked and saved for. I know, all those things our dear leader has said we have no need of, all that "stuff" we have been piling up. Well we were thinking of things like heat, lights, and food and I guess he's right. If we had those things then we would just hang on into old age and drain the resources of this planet which should be used for others, younger and healthier. What was I thinking? Anyhow, my husband is determined that we should be able to hang on for a couple of years yet..at least until he can collect social security. In order to do that we will need to keep a couple of the dollars we earn and it seems that with the vision and brilliance of the new administration we won't have those foolish 401K's to fall back on. I guess the only thing we can do now to feel less than totally helpless is to go to the harbor and dump in the tea!! I think that here, in Boston, April 19th would be the perfect time to do it.....that shot heard round the world day and the tea somehow seem to go together. Later.

East LA all over again

Does anyone else think of the LA looting spree following Rodney King's beat down when the news comes on about the next newest budget spending spree the Dems are pulling off? All I envision as the next trillion or so dollars are moved along are people breaking huge windows, grabbing armloads of goodies and running for who knows where. "Start the car" is being screamed out as the next Obama spree is enacted into law. Good grief what have we come to?

I Heart Geert Wilders

Why is the film by Gert Wilders such a horror show for the Muslims? They threaten to bring 10 thousand screaming maniacs down on his head and this is from the religion of peace. I don't get it. The scenes from the film are from newsclips and publicly available ventings of hatred that the religion of peace spews forth daily from their mosques and schools and press conferences.
Why on earth is there such a to-do about showing it all in one sitting? Silly peaceful loving people that they are.

My Opinion

Sean Penn? Total Ass! Excuse my language. What a maroon he is.

Colorful Monday

I am loony with the pictures lately. This is a beautiful bouquet, in my opinion. It is in a vase which my girlfriend's mother gave to me on the occasion of my long ago first marriage. I have always loved the brilliant color scheme and honestly have never understood how that dear little, rather colorless lady ever selected this from all of the choices in the world. She made a statement and that's for sure. How beautiful is this?

By the way, my grandmother crocheted that doo dad under the vase....it is supposed to be placed on the back of a chair and there were arm rests that matched and in the years and the moves....sigh.....someday they will reappear I'm hoping.

Sunday Picture

On a recent cold day. Waiting for her man. She's quite the sweater girl isn't she?

Another World for Sure

Found a new place to wander through...I find it fascinating and I'm not sure why. It's newyorksocialdiary.com and I can't look away. There are party pictures that are merely captioned with the names of the people photographed. The names alone are worth the visit. Dominick Dunne couldn't get enough of these people. They pose, they vamp, they are such a hoot. Go there. Check them out. Sorry if they are people you know or you even, I am not judging I am merely enjoying another world. I wonder who they all voted for last election. Hmmm, let me think.

It's all about the goals

Just a quick note. Evidently Hannity had some kind of montage of Big O spouting his usuals and he used the word crisis over 30 times. The blogger noting this said that he found it odd since usually during a time of "crisis" our leaders would try to hold us steady and not foment panic. Well that blogger was assuming the goal of our leaders was other than their goal. I believe our new leader is working from an old playbook. How can the peasants revolt if they are not foaming at the mouth fed up with the money lenders and corporate greedy capitalists? The peasants can see that the comrades in DC are spurning the ideals of capitalism. The comrade leaders are urging communal sacrifice. Those who have plenty will suffer with those who don't our comrade leaders will see to that....how divine that a ton of racism can be thrown into the mix so that in addition to greedy capitalists finally suffering, they happen to be white. Huzzah!! And so my theory as to why no one in DC is trying to relieve the angst and growing panic. The peasants are more malleable when they are driven by terror.

Signs of Spring

Well the weather today is cold and turning to rain and maybe snow and that "I need me some Spring" post from earlier is heavy on my heart. This makes me need it even more. Daffodils and baseball....sigh.

I Need Me Some Spring

I truly do need some Spring....and as a result I have started to plan my excursion to Nantucket for the Daffodil Days weekend. It will just be a day trip but it should be as refreshing as the flower show used to be. We always went to that until the prices skyrocketed and the people who worked there behaved as if you were intruding on their domicile. Nantucket is way better...the cost of the ferry is a bit much but hey, we get a ride on the Atlantic and we wind up in the midst of beauty and history. Everytime I talk to a friend I talk about the trip and they want to come and we are going to have quite an entourage. I haven't been excited about much for quite some time and I am getting excited about this. I have that 10 year old can't wait for my birthday feeling beginning. From the pictures taken during my last excursion on a cold and almost rainy Spring day....you can see why.

Happy Valentine's Day

One more thought. A friend sent me this for Valentine's Day. It certainly made me feel better about all those elementary school Valentine's parties where the decorated box at the front of the room was emptied and the cards given out. It's all clear now.

A Ray of Light

From the Anchoress - sorry but I can't get the hang of linking today so I am referencing and copying and I must say that, as I sat down and reviewed the news this morning (Happy Valentine's Day by the way), I was most discouraged. Yes, more so than last time I posted. I prayed earlier and earnestly for God to bless me with hope and faith and I wanted very much to see a ray of light somewhere. Then, I read this... tell me now that prayers aren't answered. Mine has been. Thank you Lord.

"Be creative and broad in your prayer. Ask your Guardian Angel to carry your prayer before the Lord of Hosts and to remain there, a while, in prayer for Nancy Pelosi. Ask Anna - the woman who lived in the temple, “praying day and night,” to pray for Pelosi, whose name is a derivative of “Anne.” Ask Padre Pio, the great, famously cranky Franciscan confessor and reader of souls to pray with you, for her. Invite the great teacher ardinal John O’ Connor into your prayer. Ask Mary, the Mother of Christ - who is a mother, like Pelosi, and the Patroness of the Unborn - to pray for both Pelosi and the pope. Ask Pope John Paul II to pray for Benedict and support him in their meeting. Ask some of our presidents, Washington, Lincoln, even Reagan - to pray that God’s will be effected in the life of Nancy Pelosi. Otherwise, what’s the point of confessing the Communion of Saints in the Apostles Creed?
Pray every day for our leadership, but during these next 8 days, why not pray for Pelosi, especially, in this way?
And then trust. And do not be afraid. All things work to God’s purposes, even when we cannot imagine how. Surprises and mysteries are the most joyful and interesting part of the life of faith! And praying for others will only strengthen our own faith, hope and charity.
It’s good training for Lent, too, which begins on February 25."

and I leave you with that. Thank you Anchoress. You always lighten my heart by pointing me in the upward direction. Go read the whole thing at http://theanchoressonline.com

Doing the Limbo

I am at such a low point. It's February, the month of the endless gray and biting cold and crummy snow piles dirty and reminiscent of that scene from the Deer Hunter. Bleak. Bleak. Along with bleak rides hopeless. Here is my hopelessness rant. I recognize that my hope is in the Lord so I am not at all hopeless. I have merely allowed the constant drumming of the media to echo through my head. Here is where it has brought me.

And so the week goes on. The Secretary General of the UN dubs Castro a saint. Jane Fonda’s despicable behavior during the Vietnam years is rewarded with the release of a previously suppressed documentary which chronicles and more than likely lauds her traitorous self. The stimulus pushes us all closer to bankruptcy…oh no…not all….just us middle class tax payers. Don’t tell us that we aren’t the most generous people on the planet, send us your poor indeed. We don’t need no stinking citizens to help out…..by that I mean the article in the bill that would have provided this emergency help to citizens has been removed so that we are extending help to ALL.

Are we there yet? You know. There. The end of the road for capitalism, freedom, democracy. Are we at the point where the happy socialists will skip to the bank with anyone’s money but theirs? Are we sunk into the malaise of the poverty stricken third world countries led by tyrannical egotists? Are we all Zimbabweans yet? I think we have a president for life in the white house. Dear Leader may only serve 2 or 3 or 4 terms since he will for sure alter the constitution to accommodate the needs of the people but following his sterling leadership we will have someone like him or worse to bring us further down.

Get thee to a home church and pray. Home churches will spring up everywhere since organized religion of the Christian variety will be spurned by the state. Only religions of other sorts will be approved. Pray long and longer still.

See? It's like the limbo. How low can I go? I am happy to say....I truly have hope and my hope is in the Lord. I know who is on the throne and in charge of the entire universe. These specks of dust who think they can run the world are pathetic when you think about it. I will sit back and watch the show. I know who will have the last word. He, after all, is the word.

Pumping Up

Several things are gnawing at me. One is this A-Rod nonsense. Everyone is soooooo stunned and "shocked" (say that in a Tom Daschle whispering soap opera voice). A friend of mine back when he first took these drugs were watching a game here. My husband and hers were involved in stats and hoo ha and my friend and I were into who is cute and who isn't. There was A-Rod and we both looked at each other and said, "What the heck has he done to himself?" Come on folks, he was a skinny little stick figure and turned into the hulk and all we got from the so-called experts in the sports world and the ever vigilant press was "He has been working out". Baloney and double baloney. If two old broads miles away from the fray can take a look and know....don't try to cover.

More on the duplicitous press corps later...I mean folks - if you can't trust even the sports reporters how the heck do you read that international stuff and sleep at night? You know, when they tell you that there are no threats to us as a country except when we don't grovel and apologize..then boy are we in trouble. We create problems when we behave with confindence and push back. Do we tell that to the poor kids on the playground...you know the victims of bullies? Just give them your lunch money and they'll leave you alone. There I go digressing again....but really not.

Monday Morning Thought

As I do each morning, I zoom through the different favorites in my news folder and shake my head over the stuff that now passes for news. I learned that two lesbian heiresses, Casey Johnson and someone else are back together after a fight which included setting hair on fire. These two are "well known celebrities". What does it take? A few billion dollars, wasted days and nights of being wasted and there we are. How cool is that? This whole decade is the age of mouth breathers who happen to be rich, therefore they rule. They also, in some cases, get elected and trust me people, I happen to be a fan of GW so don't go off on him look at your other choices would you please? Yes. I am referring to the Kennedy crowd for example....take John Kerry and yikes for the sake of all who work for a living please consider Al Gore as a prime example of a lunatic in charge of the asylum.

Go Teams! and a Movie Review

I give up. It's SuperGadzooks Sunday and FOOTBALL is everywhere. I will sit back and pass the snacks and chili and I mean pass. This stomach thing is getting better but not that much better. While the corn bread (made with creamed corn and whole kernel corn and sour cream and corn meal and oh my it is GGGGOOOODDDD!!) is being munched along with the husband's buffalo wings (made from scratch he does) and chili (again, the man is a miracle worker with food), I will satisfy myself with possibly a baked potato. Sounds good right? You say right or else!

Saw a movie last night, Pride and Glory, and I am still mulling this one over. Jon Voigt was in it and he is such a great actor. Colin Farrell was his son-in-law and he played a rogue cop with every one of his emotional breakdown tricks. His eyes were WIDE open and he frequently pounded a wall, you knew from those moves that he was a man on the verge. Ed Norton I usually love to watch but for some reason he was like a robot in this thing. He was Jon Voigt's son and maybe because he played so many scenes with Voigt who, as I said, is so great. Maybe that's why he was distinctly unbelievable and when I say he read his lines....yeah. He read his lines. Very disappointing. The whole thing was ok and passed the time. Too bad. It had some real potential. The other guy who played Voigt's son was Noah Emmerich. I have to say he was great and the woman who played his wife really stole the whole thing.

So, there you have my movie review for the week. If I had spent a movie ticket amount on it I would be most unhappy. I had a promo code for redbox and so it was FREE and therefore I have no regrets that I spent my Saturday evening watching it.

Transparency - We See Right Through You

I have been operating at half speed around here with the after effects of a long lingering stomach virus. I do, however have a thought or two and naturally it is current events inspired. Remember current events in school? We used to get a small newspaper called the weekly reader and it had various stories in it. It came out once a week and as I recall that was current events day. In addition to the weekly reader we were to bring in a story from the newspaper or the tv or radio news and each would present it and the class would discuss. In that way we were children aware of the world around us. The stories were our choice and we were not led in any mind altering way to have opinions other than our own. Ah. Those were the days. Now, it seems the stories in the papers and on the radio and tv are the mind altering events. No longer can the world of media rely on someone out there to bend the minds to their agendas. They have to bend the facts and . . . but I digress.

What this started out to be was a quick blurb on some scattered thoughts I have had. One concerns the transparency of this new twist in the political fabric. Seems to me the only transparent thing is that we are now more able to see through the moves made on the Hill. None of what occurs seems to be what it began to be. It is clear that the grab for money has nothing to do with stimulating the economy for us, the people working the gerbil wheel that keeps it going. That grab is more about feeding the bunch of clucking chickens who want pay back for putting this gang in office.

What's that bill about emissions the big O just signed. How can we be throwing money at the car industry to keep them floating and yet passing bills that restrict how they can do business. Here's a bunch of money (that's for the union that supported this push into office - not the union members by the way....the union management) and now try to stay open with the rules and regulations we will force upon you (that's for the greenies that put this group into power) and when all fails this government will step in and take over the industry totally (that's to accomplish the real goals of this new dream team - total socialization of this country). See? Not so hard to figure out now is it?

My Theory is True

To start my week-end, I just read an article in the Chicago Boyz blog that is headlined "California's Tipping Point". Basically it echoes one of my favorite over the top rants. When the public sector is more heavily populated than the private sector, slavery has returned. The plantation managers are the public servants and the slaves are the tax payers in the private sector. Oh sure, the public sector pays taxes too but let's face it, they have a great return on those taxes, pensions, health care, salary increases on a regular basis. We have suffered that here in Massachusetts for years and years and years.....need more money in the budget to meet those demands for health care increases and you would never think of reducing the benefits or asking for any employee participation.....easy! Crack the whip and get those tax paying slaves to give more. Oh and they have to give with a grateful attitude. They must be happy and never speak out. They won't because now with Kelo, the plantation managers can seize their property and put them out for auction.

Those welfare, long term unemployed? They are the house pets of the plantation owners, the house slaves if you will. They are a large enough force to keep the plantation managers on their job and keep those tax paying field slaves also known as private sector employees moving and shaking.

You think I'm crazy???? How much of that 850 trillion did you vote to spend? Yeah. I thought so.

Political Courtesy - an Oxymoron?

No one probably is that interested but.....do you think that Gov Paterson let Caroline know he wasn't going to select her to replace Hill so that she could issue a press release that she was withdrawing her name? I do.

Just Tired of All of It

Happy MLK Birthday. Some of us are working and others are not. I have been doing my usual circling around the blogs and naturally there is a lot of hype about tomorrow. It is very exciting to see true freedom in action and that is evidenced daily here in my country, tomorrow being the pinnacle of true freedom in action. Inaugurating a president is impressive and we have had many of these events - probably no one living ever voted for each and ever president who was inaugurated. There have been many I didn't vote for, didn't agree with and honestly, from a purely instinctive reaction, I didn't like on a personal level, not that he cared. I can honestly say that even those I was disgusted with had my loyalty.

I know Clinton was not someone I would want in my house but the abuse heaped on the man made me uncomfortable. He was our president after all. The past eight years have found me to be embarrassed for our country. Leaders, adult people with great responsibilities, educators, authors, neighbors I thought were grown up, I could go on but I won't, anyhow all of these people spread untruths and innuendos as if they were truths and plain old nasty insulting horrible names about a man they may not have liked but who was their president. (Take all that stupid adolescent "He stole the election " foolish talk which has long since been debunked and by the NY Times at that and zip it) He was our president and it really made me ashamed of a whole lot of people that he was always referred to as "BUSH" with a sneer. Obama by the way has been referred to only as President-Elect Obama and never "OBAMA" and certainly never with a sneer. Nothing but respect is shown and it should be - f0r the office. The man will earn respect as he goes....the office earned that respect many years ago.

I am reminded of the 6th grade when I check in on some of these blogs and see the nonsense they promote. You remember 6th grade don't you? Whatever little girl or boy was better looking or smarter or more popular or seemed to have more stuff, that little boy or girl was fair game. Whatever stories you heard could be spread around...never had to check to see if they were true, as long as they were mean and tore that kid down - then you felt better. Well that's what we have been inundated with for 8 years. Stories that were not true or sort of true or really what we want to hear - we don't care if they are true or not...put them on the front page. At least in the sixth grade we knew that gossip and rumors were to be spread in whispers and secret. We had an inner sense that it wasn't right to do that. In order to be on the front page, there should be some facts and the whole story should be told, not just the part you salivate over because it fits your agenda.

Donald Trump, in the NY Post today said he had seen that Nixon Frost movie and he wondered where Nixon's daughters were. Why weren't they defending him? I have wondered where our voices have been for the past 8 years. Why haven't we defended our country, our heritage, our President. Why have we cheered when horrible things have been said about our country which is our family. Where is the loyalty that Trump is looking for?

I pray that all will be well with this new administration...at least those rumors and smears will die down. The party that promoted all of that has finally got the power seat. I know from the past how they will use it. I will pray for us all.

She Lives

Coming up for air. I think I'll make it. I'm up and moving and after a feast of rice pudding and broth, which has hit me like a Thanksgiving feast by the way, I'm ready for anything....mostly the couch.

Stay away from this one whatever you do. We have to go to a friend's surprise birthday party in a week and honestly, I want to wear rubber gloves and a haz mat mask (is that what they're called?). I will pull a Howard Hughes and use Kleenex to shake hands, I will not eat anything I didn't prepare (note to myself, bring a bag of snacks), I will use the Listerine spray which I will have upon my person and whatever I touch will be clouded in a mist of same, rubber gloves may not be all I need.

I am now weak and silly and ready for what I hope will be a good nights sleep, first in days. But before I go, does anyone else want to call BO's team the Bell bottoms, you know, they were in and then out and now they're in again....just thinkin'

Struck down

Stomach Virus. Four days in. Does this ever stop? Oh, I know, it slows down and fools you into thinking it's settled and then, WHAM, it's back and although not as bad....it's still here. I don't remember being this ill with the stomach thing ever. I can thank my husband for this. He's about a day and a half ahead of me and for the first time he is able to eat real food. Oh, nothing major but not liquid or jello. There is hope for me.

New Faces

Ok....I'm back. So I met the new doctor and he is me! No. That's just a joke. I did meet him and I think I'm ok with him, the word OBESE however, appeared on the sheet that was copied for me and when I first walked into his office he looked up from the computer and said, "Are you retarded?"



I wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. "Do I look retarded?" There's one. "Why do you ask?" There's another. "I thought that the politically correct thing to say is, 'Are you challenged'?" is another. I ran out of responses and just said "What are you talking about?"



It seemed that he had searched the local doctors' data base of whatever the Dr Google thing they do is and he found a person with my name and about my age in the medical wonder history and she was evidently "retarded". I advised him that I had a mentally challenged nephew living in a group home and he called himself High Functioning which made him go deeper into the muck by getting into a discussion of whether he could blend with a group and if after 15 minutes someone could tell if he had "issues".

So that was the beginning and since there are no other doctors in the area accepting new patients and since he is young and I will die before he does I won't have to go search again. He's cute as well and that always helps.

A New Year - A New Beginning

And now for the rest of the story. Right now there isn't one. I am stuck in a too much time to do things so who wants to do them anymore kind of mood. You know? Here's how I always felt, I know you're dying to know this. I would be at work and all the time, in my head would be, "If I were home I would so be scrubbing the tiles in the shower, or the kitchen floor, or cleaning out those closets." I would be at home and my head would be all "If I were in the office I would get that presentation completed, finish that report, work on that lesson plan."

Here I am home, lots of time, my entire office function is here with me and yet . . . . here I am. I am only here, typing because the last thing I want to do is scrub the tiles or finish that report. What is my head to deal with now? It has no idea what to think. Happy New Year for heaven's sake.

Oh and by the way. . those Resolutions? I never did get to them so I have decided to accept myself as I am and see what happens. I mean, really, I have been working on change for decades and as I look back I can see that the changes I wish to make are the same, year after year after year. Therefore, I conclude that the changes I was making the efforts to accomplish are probably not very good for me. I will accept myself as I am and if a change should occur, why I will accept that as well. So I guess you could say that my resolution is to relax and - - now there I go....after I said there would be only that acceptance thing. I'm quitting now while I'm ahead.

I am meeting a new Primary Care physician today. It's January 1st, time for the annual change of health insurance thanks to the company I retired from. Actually, it's the 2nd but everything changes on the first. That means the next couple of months will be devoted to lining up the PCP, then the Cardiologist, the Dermatologist, the Eye people, the prescriptions all have to be re-done since whenever the year is up, the changes that are made are such that the group I lined up the year before don't accept the insurance I have for the coming year. I guess that former company of mine would prefer to have as few retirees as possible on the pension account so they figure ways to up the stress level and some of us are bound to succumb to it and honestly, when you have to spend hours dealing with the customer service people those insurance groups submit you too...a stroke isn't far away. Wish me luck.