Monday, November 30, 2009

Too Much In Common

I'm off on Monday's now. The recession has reached me and it's such a great thing to have more time for me. I love "me time."


I hit the gym this morning and did a sweet thing for a friend. Came home. Got my easel upstairs and the paints out. All my playthings ready to go.

The phone rings. It's my aunt. My other aunt's at her house and they both want me to come over. I'm in my painting clothes. A t-shirt, sweatpants and a fleece sweatshirt. Tacky. But I'm just running over for a little visit.

I get there and all of the neighborhood ladies are coming over for lunch. What a blast we had! Talking about their old days. The men that courted them and only wanted in their pants! How the things in my crackers in the kitchen are pantry moths. How we don't take shit anymore!

I called my friend to check in with her and told her what a great time I had.

Me: We laughed and talked and who knew old ladies would be so much fun?

Her: Well, you have a lot more in common with them now!

I'm only forty-four!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Yesterday Really Felt Like Thanksgiving

My Love has been working on replacing our light switches and outlets. Last week....there was a noise and no more electricity in the living room and my upstairs bedroom. Something happened.

I called my cousin, an electrician, who I know...but I don't really KNOW know him.

He's about 15 years older than I am, so we missed each other's teenage years. Never played together. But his parents, I knew really well. They would stop by our office and talk for hours. I loved them dearly. My uncle, his dad, died a few years ago and his mother is now mentally gone. I miss them so much.

Yesterday, he arrived around 9:45am. And we started talking. We talked and talked and talked some mroe. Told stories about every one of my uncles. Some of the aunts. Talked religion.

I heard stories that I never had heard before about my family. I heard the whole story of my cousin that killed himself at my grandmother's house when I was ten. I was left in the car that night in front of her house and was too young to know what went on.

We talked about my Daddy and his and how they used to have to sneak off to drink a beer when they'd all go camping and fishing.

My Love came home. She sat in and listened. My mother came over. We all talked some more. Around 4pm, he finished with what should have been about a 30 minute job. I offered to pay him and he said, "Merry Christmas and I love you!"

That was the final message from his Dad on his deathbed. That we need to tell each other we love each other. And so I say to you, tell the people that you love that you love them. It's important.


Friday, November 27, 2009

My Mother


I have two dogs that live IN the house. I wasn't raised that way. I was raised to be "clean." And dogs in the house, to my mother signifies "dirty."

Although, I do a pretty good job keeping up with the fur. For me, that's the biggest issue.

There's been a rash of robberies in our area. We live in the country, but now they've build a mall within 5 miles of us. Sitting on my front porch, you'd think podunk. But I can be at a Starbucks, Target or Theatre within minutes.

Me: Maybe you could get a small dog for inside the house. You know, having a dog in the house is the biggest detterent against thieves.

Her: I couldn't possibly have a dog in the house. They're dirty. They pee. They poop. They throw up. I just couldn't do it.

Me: Thanks for letting me stay in the house when I was a baby.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Pass The Turkey



Here's wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with women cooking in bras and aprons!!!!

P.S. I'd bet my mashed potatoes that Jay just drooled.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

I Love It When That Works


I'm sitting here at the computer as she's getting undressed behind me. I turn around,


"Flash me your boobs!"

::pulls shirt up and smiles::

And that's just one of the reasons that I'm thankful this holiday season!

Something To Think About


"To love or not, in this we stand or fall."


John Milton

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Legislating Wealth

"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation.. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."


~~~~ Dr. Adrian Rogers from Ten Secrets for a Successful Family, 1996

Friday, November 20, 2009

I Wish


My Starbucks cup got me to thinking. It says:

When you wish
The world becomes brighter
So wish, it's what makes
The holidays, the Holidays

What would I wish for?

I wish that the people and animals that I love would never die.

What would you wish for?

Thursday, November 19, 2009

I Am Desperate...

to put up my Christmas decorations. And apparently, I'm not alone. I'm seeing people's houses lit up like never before!

I want to light up mine. Red it up. Deck my halls, get festive and totally in the spirit.
But my love says it's too early. Scrooge.

Tell me....is it too early? Yes or no.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

You Know What I Love....

about being over 40?


I don't take any crap off of anyone. Ever.

And, I love knowing that I'm not ever going to take any crap ever from anyone ever again. I'm smart enough now to know that I don't have to. I wasn't always that savvy. I used to take crap. Be nice. Suck it up.

I don't anymore. And I love that.

Monday, November 16, 2009

I Think I Can Handle The Truth


Waaaay back in the day, my best friend dated an older guy. Nowadays, we call them pedofiles. We were 15, he was 26. He was incredibly cool, or so we thought.

My love and I just had a conversation about codes in songs. On the radio played, "The Other Woman" by Ray Parker Jr. He sings...

I'm in love with the other woman
My life was fine (Yes it was)
Till she blew my mind


That's when I brought up how my best friend's boyfriend had told us what "blew my mind" was "code" for. My Love says ain't no such thing.

Now, I'm feeling like I've been duped by Mr. Pedofile. Was he just wanting a BJ or is it code for a BJ?

Someone tell me the truth!

Saturday, November 14, 2009

The Rules for Being Human

I received this eons ago, probably when I was in my 20s. Every time I read it, I am blown away. I just found it again tucked away in a little drawer. I think I may need to leave it out.


The Rules for Being Human

You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for as long as you live. How you take care of it or fail to take care of it can make an enormous difference in the quality of your life.

You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time, informal school called Life. Each day, you will be presented with opportunities to learn what you need to know. The lessons presented are often completely different from those you think you need.

There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial, error and experimentation. You can learn as much from failure as you can from success. Maybe more.

A lesson is repeated until it is learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it (as evidenced by a change in your attitude and ultimately your behavior) then you can go on to the next lesson.

Learning lessons does not end. There is no stage of life that does not contain some lessons. As long as you live there will be something more to learn.

“There” is no better than “here”. When your “there” has become a “here” you will simply discover another “there” that will again look better than your “here.” Don’t be fooled by believing that the unattainable is better than what you have.

Others are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself. When tempted to criticize others, ask yourself why you feel so strongly.

What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you create with those tools and resources is up to you. Remember that through desire, goal setting and unflagging effort you can have anything you want. Persistence is the key to success.

The answers lie inside of you. The solutions to all of life’s problems lie within your grasp. All you need to do is ask, look, listen and trust yourself.


(From the book "If Life is a Game, These are the Rules" by Cherie Carter-Scott)

Friday, November 13, 2009

Swag Thanks

I just have to say....if you ain't Swagbuckin', you are totally missin' out!

I've amassed over $100. Seriously. Just by using them as my search engine. I use it whenever I think about it. It's most certainly not every day. But on days I don't, I kick myself.

I want to thank Allison, Angela, Laura, Julie, Janelle, CG, Dominic's in for a hundred Swag Bucks, and so are Karen, Kelli and Linda! When you refer someone, Swag Bucks will match their bucks up to 100! Thanks guys, you rock!

For every 45 bucks I earn by searching, I earn a $5 Amazon.com gift card. There are lots of options for using your Swagbucks, but that's what I use mine for. You can get darn near anything at Amazon.

I just wanted to say thanks to the folks that help fund my shoe addiction.

Search & Win

P.S. I finally got the Kitchen Aid mixer for my birthday!

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Welcome to the Gayborhood!

Last week, as you may remember, I dropped off a little something for my new neighbor. I'd seen his truck come and go and I just kept missing him. I wanted to deliver it in person, so that I could say hello and welcome him. But it wasn't in the cards.

A few days after the droppage, I hear a knock at the door. AND IT'S HIM!

Perhaps I'm a little over excited to have a neighbor. You see, my old neighborhood was like Mayberry. Everyone knew everyone. We'd gather outside for movies in the cul-de-sac, hang out and chat and well, be neighborly.

Here....I've had no one close by to say, borrow an egg from. But now....NOW I do! And he's so wonderful! And friendly! And sweet as pie! And honestly ya'll....I just love him.

Oh, where was I?

I let him in and we immediately hit it off. He loved everything in the "goodie bag" and was so grateful. His daughter stole the pretzels and took them off to college with her.

He toured the house and the "gardens." (I crack myself up. You'd have to see the yard to understand.) We sat on the big brown couch and chatted the afternoon away drinking wine and beer and loving every minute of it!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Veteran's Day



Thanks to Dana, a vet herself, over at Amid Life's Crises. Today she posted the story below and I want to share it with you just in case you don't go by her place. Thanks for serving us, Dana!

My uncle John served in WWII and died in service. I missed meeting my uncle because he gave his life so that I can have such a fantastic one. Live in a free country. Say what I want. Be what I want. Who I am. I am free because of so many people.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By
Bob Greene, CNN Contributor
Editor's Note
: CNN Contributor Bob Greene is a bestselling author whose new book is "Late Edition: A Love Story."

(CNN) -- The woman's Halloween costume featured a Third Reich motif.

This was last weekend in a sprawling bar-and-restaurant complex near U.S. 41 on the west coast of Florida. I had made the miscalculation of stopping by in pursuit of a quiet cheeseburger, not realizing that adults in trick-or-treat costumes were making the rounds on this sultry evening.

The woman (or the costume shop from where she had purchased her uniform) at least had the good sense to omit the actual swastikas, but that was the only bit of subtlety. The Heinrich Himmler high-fronted military cap, the boots, the swagger stick she kept slapping against her palm. . .some of the customers, playing along, did little comic goose steps as they passed her.

I looked up from my newspaper and tried to surmise if anyone was going to be offended enough by this odious display to leave. She beat them to it; she and her friends made a few quick passes through the aisles of the place, then returned to the night, ready to continue their revelry elsewhere.

Halloween in the United States is an increasingly odd holiday, no longer child's play, but on this evening I was thinking about another holiday, this one official, that is coming up this week: Veterans Day.

And, having unexpectedly encountered the woman in her getup, I found myself wondering what, six and seven decades ago, they would have made of it: what the 16 million Americans who served in the armed forces during World War II, who were sent across the ocean to defeat a brutal enemy, would have thought about this scene.

They're old men now, the soldiers who remain; many are frail and in ill health. It can be easy for us to forget that, when they were uprooted from their daily lives in the 1940s, no one knew what the history books would eventually say. No one knew the outcome. They were little more than kids, many of them; they were in effect told by our country:

Are you in school? You'll have to leave it. Have a new wife? You'll have to say goodbye to her. Working at a job you like? Tell your boss that you have to quit.

We need you to go halfway across the world, because we need you to save the world.

And they did it. Some 292,000 U.S. soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines were killed in battle during World War II; another 114,000 died from noncombat causes. Some 671,000 U.S. troops were injured, many of them grievously.

The uniforms they put on were not Halloween getups; neither were the uniforms of the enemies they confronted across the oceans. On their way to fight the war, it's a pretty fair guess that they were scared and lonely. They understood that there was no guarantee they would ever be coming home.

Each November we are asked to pause and honor them, which is, or should be, an honor in itself. After the events of the last week at Fort Hood in Texas, with their reminder of the sacrifices that the men and women of the military make for us, Veterans Day will hold special meaning this year.

This November also marks the second anniversary of the death, at age 92, of my friend Paul Tibbets, who I got to know extraordinarily well during the last years of his life. I'd like to say a few words about him here.

At the age of 29, out of all the men and women in the U.S. military, he was selected for a task of almost unfathomable importance. He was told to recruit, organize, supervise and command a group of soldiers and airmen who were to train in absolute secrecy. If he succeeded, he was told, then the war could be won.

Someone had started a terrible fight; he was asked to finish it.

He did. He got his unit ready. And on an August day in 1945, he flew a B-29 he had named for his mother, Enola Gay, to Japan, where he and his crew dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. It was the single most violent act in the history of mankind, and he carried it out without flinching because he believed, in the deepest part of his heart, one thing above all others:

He could end the long war. He could stop the killing. All of the American soldiers who were on their way to the shores of Japan for a land invasion could turn around and go home, could raise families, could live again in a world at peace.

He understood the controversy, and the anger, with which his mission would be received by some. He understood that there were people who would forever hate him. He and I talked about it many times before he died. After the war, he told me, President Harry Truman asked him if people were saying unpleasant things to him because of the bomb. Paul Tibbets told the president that, yes, some people indeed were.

And Truman said:

"You tell them that if they have anything to say, they should call me. I'm the one who sent you."

So it's November again. Veterans Day is upon us.

There is a quotation variously attributed to Winston Churchill or George Orwell. Regardless of our individual politics, regardless of our beliefs about the rightness or wrongness of a particular war, the words are worth reflecting upon anew this week:

"We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm."

And so, to all who have served us, then, now, and in the future, a word of somber thanks, from those of us here at home.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Go Ahead, Hate Me


This morning, my Love says, "Hey, let's go to the condo for the weekend."

I feel like a cad complaining, but I'm a control freak. I like to plan. I only like to be spontaneous if *I* am the one doing the spontaneous stuff because I've planned like hell in my head!

I have so much to do. I'm not a "throw a few things" in a bag and take off kind of girl. I *think* I am, but today I'm realizing that I'm not.

I'm a control freak and a planner.

But I'm a control freak and a planner that's spending a three day weekend on the Redneck Riviera.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Define Frump

Because, frankly, I feel like my picture should be there. Right there in the dictionary under frump.


I need new clothes. I would love some new jewelry. A trip to Sephora? Yes, please. Wants and needs.

And then I end up being defined by what I own, instead of who you are. How well I can entertain someone. If I can make them laugh. Feel good about themselves. If I'm loving and willing to spend time bringing someone else up that might be down.