Pinecones & Memories

While scrolling through some old photos I ran across this one.  I remember it all too well.  This was my parent's 25th Anniversary.  We had them over to our tiny house, along with my brother and his wife and my Granny and my sister.  We either grilled steaks, fried chicken or grilled it, don't remember that part.  That dirt part behind me (I'm in black) is the garden that I was working on and became my way to exercise and lose the baby fat after my first daughter.  25 years, and now we are approaching our 49th year.  The only ones left from this photo are me and my brother and his wife.  Kind gets me, A LOT!  

There is a lot going on this week.  Yesterday was that daughter's 45th birthday!  I AM NOT THAT OLD, but sadly I am.  A friends husband passed away very suddenly and his funeral is this week.  We just saw him last month.  We lost a classmate of ours and we are getting ready to have our 50th class reunion this weekend.  Yes, and that is on my plate.  Lots of "i's to dot and t's to cross!"  We also have a pre-party at on of the committee members house way out in BFE (an old term bum f**k Egypt) on Thursday evening.  That is clashing with the reunion, the fair and dances that "he" wants to attend.  I WANT him to go with me to my reunion stuff but I won't force him.  It would be nice for him to be by my side and he will for part of it.  I've given him some options for attending and we will see which ones he opts for.  I'm good with whatever.  

Today’s sketch is a plain Jane pinecone. I say plain Jane but sketching it is anything but. This is a very complex little object and at first stumped me on how to start. THIS was a challenge. I started drawing from top to bottom, like I usually do, that did not work, so I erased. Next bottom up, nope, more erasing. By then the paper was smudgy, so I embraced the smudges, especially the darkness in the center or core. I enhanced some areas and then started taking out some dark areas to release the individual scales and bracts (looked that one up!) I used the pencil to create deeper darks and the eraser to release the lights and before long, I saw a pinecone. Maybe there is a lesson to learn from that. That even though there are the darks in your life just keep pushing through and you will come to light, the answer you seek will become clear. Deep or what!

Growing up on Main Street, in our front yard, my grandfather planted a pine tree when they first bought the house from Mrs. Koshow (later to become Mrs. Schumacher). She built two houses next to each other, almost identical, living next door. My parents bought the house when I was in 3rd grade from my grandparents. The pine tree was a steady fixture in my life until I think late 80’s early 90’s. That tree grew to be the tallest thing I have ever seen. The pine cones were few, and the ugliest things, long and skinny. One night, there came a storm and it was struck by lightning. Daddy was in bed, and when it struck he was absolutely knocked out of his bed. They were lucky it didn’t strike the house, but I seem to remember some appliances were damaged. Daddy was so shook by it, and I can’t remember if Momma had a story to tell about the hit. The tree died and had to finally be removed.

There’s not many places in BA that are still standing from my life. All the houses I ever lived in are gone. My high school is gone, my elementary is still there, but renamed. Sometimes I feel erased from my hometown, but the memories are still very strong and the love for the once small town I grew up in will remain forever. I miss that pine tree. It has been erased but not from my memory.

 

Children Are Our Future

Oh my goodness, the director of the museum where our show hangs sent these darling photos of the summer art camp from down the street.  They toured our show! I LOVE that these kiddos are experiencing art at young ages.

These kiddos, so close to my heart, have spent some quality time together this past week.  I had Snicklefritz three nights and she spent one night with Min.  Min absolutely ADORES Snicklefrtiz and Af said while they were on their trip to NY she often called out for Snicklefritz.  

These babies are my heart.

Sweet Snicklefritz and I spent a lot of time playing cards (Uno, Old Maid, Connect 4, etc...) and just visiting.  One evening she just wanted to hang in the backyard and swing in the swing.  She found the bubbles and I captured this wonderful photo of her in all her awe.  She finally was home on Saturday after we spent time at the studio.  She was great help with hanging some paintings and organizing a bunch of stuff.  I think it's about in shape for our OVAC Studio Tour.  She no longer got home but within an hour she was facetiming me to show me her turtle that lives in her backyard.  She talked about it a bunch and wanted to share with me.  She is such a wonderful little lady.

You know I've always said, as did my mother, that you raise your children to leave you.  You teach them to be able to stand on their own in the world, make their way but let me tell you I love having them close to me right now.  It's really exciting to see the light in these babies eyes as they learn about the world, good and bad, it's all teachable moments.

 

MY Life in the Fast Lane

At our art show/opening the other night a friend commented to me that she didn't know how I did it all.  I honestly haven't heard that from anyone since my girls were young and you, well, you have children and work and some sort of a life.

My oldest is in that world right now, going and going and going.  The youngest is getting ready to jump into the world of motherhood, the roller coaster of parenthood.  It's a world where you can get lost in the daily minutiae of life in general, the me is no longer.  I remember those days, I want to say fondly, but not really.  It was hard work getting them to and from their lives and trying to work and trying to find a smidgen of a second for me.  

I thought that when they were grown and gone that life might slow down, and it did in a way.  So, why not mask, you have a few minutes...LOL!

When they were little there was of course all the school to and fro, the after school activities and I did a bit of volunteering at the schools.  Plus I was also still working at the office but often brought it home in the evenings to do spreadsheets or pay bills, etc., after everyone was in bed.  When they were older and my driving time was not necessarily needed I went back to school myself.  I traded the running around with them to me and my head stuck in a book.  I really never had too much down time.  

Then they flew the coop, we moved, I was still working, and then dealt with the losses.  What to do but PAINT!  The other night I realized that I traded a lot of those tasks for yet another aspect of my life, my art journey.  It takes a lot of time and effort to not only create works of art but, if you want to sell, compete or make a name, it is hard to do.  I am constantly looking at the various venues to have shows, or online on the websites that broker the art shows all over the country.  I can spend days reading the prospectuses of the ones I want to enter and then you have to fork out entry fees, have the right size jpeg scans of your images (after you take them to scanners - another cost).  It is almost full time, plus I'm STILL working at our office.  I go there and pay bills, payroll, meet with accountants or insurance people.  I luckily don't have to actually be in the office as much anymore, thank goodness but it's still time away from what I really want to do.  Yet our business is what has allowed me to do my painting, enter shows, and travel to workshops. 

Whew, I need the weekend to just relax my mind sometimes.  Hammock time, rats it's raining, so screened porch it is.  

Ashamed

Honestly I am ashamed to be an Oklahoman today.  What is wrong with our state.  We are traveling backward step by step by step.  We are letting our children down by demolishing our education system and now we are letting women down and turning us back to pre-70's.  I am ashamed.

Weekend Fun

What a glorious weekend it was.  The weather was just fantastic and we all reveled in it at the cabin.  The blue skies, the warm weather, oh what a wonderful time.  I took a ride on the golf cart to check out the damage was from the recent flooding.  It is truly a mess but spring will hopefully bring renewal again.  

We've always had a plethora of turkey buzzards but wow... 

they were just everywhere... 

The water was very serene. 

My new camera was quite fun to capture this handsome one (haha).   

On our ride home I told The Hubby to slow down at one of the farms to capture this bull.  He was in the same place a few weeks ago and I wanted to capture his photo to possibly paint. 

We did have some news though of our sweet Snicklefritz.  She has been sick and she in turn has passed it to me but hers just got worse and worse.  She had a cold that developed into an ear infection and then on Saturday a rash popped up.  That was concerning and her momma was told to take her to the emergency if a fever came.  Well, Saturday afternoon she had a fever of 101 so off the the emergency she went.  They ran a bunch of tests and ruled out strep and flu but this morning they got the rest of the results, RSV.  Egads.  Most children get it by the age of 2 and it can cause problems for young babies and elderly if their immune systems are compromised.  Fortunately for her she is three and healthy otherwise.  She still has a nasty cough and the rash doesn't seem to want to go away.  She was on antibiotics for the first time and it might be a reaction but she is actually through with them so the doctor said it could be a secondary virus.  Good grief.  That kiddo has only had 3 days of her little school and been sick, sick, sick.  At least she is in good spirits and let the doctors do all kinds of things to her without complaint.  I will be looking after her a lot this week as she needs to not go to school for a bit till well.  

Reading a Good Book

When I was a child one of my most favorite books to read was Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry.  While going through my Facebook feed yesterday morning I saw a report by PBS about the 90th year of the swim of the ponies of Chincoteague.  Then I saw a report from NBC about a sweet boy in Salt Lake City, Utah asking his mailperson for junk mail for him to read because he no way to get to a library or money to buy books.  His book shelves are now very full of books after the mailperson put out the plea.

These two stories reminded me of where my love of reading came from.  Reading was something my mother always insisted on.  She read to us and we read, read, read, all three of us.  The Misty book I still have and recently found again in a box from storage.  Granny and I read the book together and it made a huge impression on me.  I remember that book so very well even as a 59 year old woman it is a memory I cherish.  There are certain books I read as a child that are still a strong memory.  We used to go to the library a lot when we were young.  The shelves and shelves of books were intoxicating to me and I still love to own books and look at then.  Going to a book store is a dangerous place for me, and my credit card.  Books like The Boxcar Children, Little House on the Prairie, Helen Keller's biography, That Quail Robert, and many more.  I can NOT wait to share with Rio my love of reading.  She already goes to the library and we read books all the time.  Reading a good book is a wonderful pathway to the whole world.  

Proper Etiquette and More

A question from Conflicted in the "Ask Amy" section of the newspaper this morning gave me the idea of my topic today. Her main question was whether her friends bad actions in public could influence her children.  That aside I was more intrigued by the action itself.  When they go out to dinner with said friends, the friend orders water then proceeds to serve themselves from the "self-serve" soda fountain.  She called it a theft.  I totally agree and would never, ever do that but I do know some people that would.  I think that is just plain WRONG.  It's the same when I go to multiple movies.  I will watch the first movie, then walk totally out of the theater and buy a ticket for the next movie.  I know that people do not do that most of the time, they will just walk into the next movie like they have a ticket.  Again, I think that is WRONG.  Am I an oddity, no, I follow rules, I am law-abiding, I am fair, I am trustworthy.  How can you take advantage.  To me it goes back to the small stuff you are taught as a child, or that I was taught as a child.  You never butt in line, you say "thank you, please, and excuse me."  Manners and rules!  Sunday while I was pushing furniture around the living room I had the television on to TruTV called The Principal's Office, honestly I could not stop watching it and it was on a marathon run.  It was different high schools around the country and the crap they have to deal with in these kids of today.  Let me tell you the attitudes of most of these kids were appalling and I don't think I could have put up with the crap they were doing.  Really parents is this our future or, "hopefully", it is just a few out of millions that happen to make good TV.  I so hope that is it because if not, we, as a culture are in very, very big trouble.  Really, you should watch some of the episodes and see.  For those parents who think their precious little Tommy or Sarah could do no wrong, WATCH!  

Just Thinking

I've been thinking...oh, now that can get me into a lot of trouble.  If I have too much alone time on my hands my thinking can really bring me down and it has lately.  Dealing with Daddy, the siblings, work, construction and not hearing from friends has me in a funk.  I've been thinking a lot about my life, my growing up and what shaped the person I have become today.  Remembering the influences in my life that caused me to take certain paths of maturity.  The actions of family members and friends can certainly influence a young impressionable mind like I was.  As a little girly I was very wild and free-spirited.  Mother and Daddy had a hard time keeping me from getting into everything I could.  Momma said that I would have one hand into something and they would be "patting" my hand saying no-no while the other hand and the mind was grabbing onto something else, not even worried about the other hand and that trouble. 

One story was of them waking up one morning to find a trail throughout the house of Malt-o-Meal leading from the kitchen, over the couch, under the dining room table and down the hallway to the bathroom where I was asleep in the bathtub, hugging that box of Malt-o-Meal.  I was a busy little girl.  When did I stop being that child, one that had no fear of being in trouble.  Mother said that going shopping was a nightmare with me, that I would just take off.  One day she lost me on purpose but still had me in her line of sight.  She said I freaked out when I couldn't find her.  Maybe that is why I have a horrible fear of being lost.  That one little incident scared me for life and after that, I was the mother hen with my two siblings.  They never got so far away that I wasn't herding or corraling them together.  That is still a bad problem for me. 

First grade, six years old, sitting in Mrs. Rhodes class I can remember her going by my desk petting my very long hair. She was the nicest lady and my favorite teacher ever. I loved her and school. That world was changed when my parents decided to move to Siloam Springs, Arkansas. I was halfway through first grade and was the happiest girl ever.

We moved to the country, way out in the country.  It was a two-story farm house on a hill and was a wonderland.  We had a pig sty but no pigs.  We did have chickens, lots of wasps and snakes and a dog named Sally Rand.  (Trying to add link but won't let me...Sally Rand was a burlesque/fan dancer.  Funny that at the age of 6 I knew what that meant.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Rand)  Moving meant a whole new school and that school was in town so it was the bus for me, a whole new experience.  Living in the country and being small town and the times, 1962 or about, meant small school system too.  The bus was very scary because it was 1st grade to 12th.  The older kids were very mean and used to tie knots in my very long hair.  I made a friend on that horrible bus.  Her name was Sharon and she lived up the road from us.  Her family was still using a wood stove to cook and there were tons of kids in the house.  They reminded me a bit of Ma and Pa Kettle.  She also had a racoon for a pet.  It was awesome.  She was my protector on that bus but she couldn't protect me from school. 

The school was in a two or three story brick building with metal fire escapes through the windows that we had to practice in.  My teacher that last part of first grade was my nightmare.  I can't or won't remember her name because of the impact she made on my life, changed the person I was.  My fear of getting up in front of people or crowds was born in that classroom.  Each classroom had their own bathroom and she had a special treatment she used in that bathroom.  It involved a cake of soap.  She was unmarried, a spinster lady that should NEVER have been allowed to be near children.  One day in class I needed to go to the bathroom so bad I could not stand it but it was my turn at the chalkboard for something.  I block out a lot of stuff then.  I stood there trying to write on the board and I asked if I could go to the bathroom.  She flat out said no but I was in dire need.  I had to stand at that board and write something.  It may have been something that started with "I will not ask...".  After a very long time I couldn't hold it and wet myself in front of the whole classroom.  I was horrified and she had no sympathy sending me home on the bus in wet panties.  My mother was livid and she defended me with the principal but the damage was done.  I carried that fear of being in front of a classroom or people until my forties and still have it to an extent.  The next year that building was bulldozed and the teacher was forced into retirement. 

The precocious little girl was broken and it has taken me a lifetime to recover.  I was a complete wallflower all through my school years, never being able to come out of my shell.  It's those little incidents in our childhood that can shape our entire lives.  I'm working hard to change that, even though I'm 55 years old, I am always going to try and better myself.  See what sitting around Just Thinking can do, make you go places in your head. 

Ettiquette 101

I have a question for you.  Do you write thank you notes?  Do you send out graduation invites, wedding announcements, birth announcements, birthday cards, etc?  Do you expect them?  I've written about writing letters before as I love to write and continue to write to friends and my pen pal for nearly 40 years.  Somewhere in my upbringing I learned from my grandmother the importance and proper way of these things.  Granny taught me how to set a proper table and how to iron your pillow cases and sheets.  I was taught manners; no elbows on the table, napkin in your lap, you know all the right things.  Somehow a close member of my family did not embrace those lessons.  This family member has NEVER sent a thank you note or birthday card out in their life and now I find out that they are not going to send out graduation notices for the graduating senior in their family.  Let me tell you something, I send birthday cards to their children every year, with cash included, and one year when I had not gotten around to it I received a phone call wondering where it was, with the money!  What in the world happened here.  We were raised together.  I don't understand, and you know I am very, very tempted NOT to send a congratulatory card and "money" to the senior but that would not be fair to the child.  I questioned why and the family member just said they didn't want to but and the announcements were too expensive.  I think it is sheer laziness and not showing the proper stuff to the child.  For goodness sake you can make your own and at least send them to immediate family.  Am I missing this or are all of these lessons not important anymore!

I'm Speechless

I am really speechless about this.  What in the world.  I WOULD NEVER get this for my daughters, EVER. 

Breast Milk Baby Doll

What do you think?

Our Children

I'm sort of at a loss for words when it comes to this subject, our children.  It is not "MY" children but the world's children and what is happening right now at my back door.  In the past week we've had the most horrendous stories with crime against children and it just makes me sick.  Here are the links to them if you dare to read.  I can't say too much because it just makes my stomach knot up.  What in the world is going on here.  Our children are ... oh, just tears is all I can put here.  We, as mothers need to stand up and fight these crimes, just horrible. 

Church day-care worker charged in abuse had clean background check - this lady had background checks, was cleared, yet now we are finding out there were other incidents.  Really.

Man arrested after Muskogee child stabbed to death


Mother charged with child neglect  - Really this was much, much more than child neglect.  It is drugs and the idiocy of DHS when clearly she was a drug user and the baby had the effects of the drugs and DHS had already take two of her children.  This should not have happened and makes my skin crawl. 

These are just a few of the stories that have graced our local paper from our area but there are more and I'm sure there are more around the country.  Parents we have got to take back the safety of our children and stop the drug use and creepy crawlers that lie in wait for the innocent children.

Scars

I was having a hard time trying to come up with an idea today which explains not posting till now.  I thought I would check on the National Blog Posting Month website for a prompt for Friday and found something I think I could attempt.  The question for today is "Do you have any scars? How'd you get them?".  Easy peasy I say. 

My first scar is in my right eyebrow.  It's a bad spot which effects how I tweeze my thick eyebrows, right through the middle.  I got this fine reminder when I was 3 years old, the day before my mother had little Sis.  I had climbed upon the stand that held the television set and WHAM, Humpty Dumpty fell down, TV and all.  Probably explains when Sis was born. 

The second scar is on my tummy.  Sometimes I even have a hard time finding it but it is there and it has a story.  We three kiddos were in the front yard with Momma and Daddy, this house, in the driveway.  I don't know what we were doing but I was climbing all over our car in the drive and I slid down the trunk onto the very sharp license plate and slit my stomach open.  In those days the doctors still made house calls and I remember the doctor coming to the house to have a look.  I thought, and so did my parents, that I would have to get stitches but he said that it was not that bad.  Looked bad.  He taped it together with band aids or tape or something and that was it.  I think I was a very lucky girl.  Both instances happened in this house.  I don't know how old I was with the license plate accident.  Guess I could ask Daddy.

The third scar is like so many other children that get chicken pox.  I have a scar on my forehead that is from the chicken pox that all three of us got.  I believe my girls have scars on their faces too.  We were all lucky it was not worse, very lucky. 

My more significant scars are from a surgery.  I sometimes think I should not talk about it but hey, I'm not embarrassed by it.  At the age of 32 years I decided that I was tired of carrying around the massive boulders that hung off my shoulders.  I had a breast reduction.  I believe they took about 3-1/2 pounds off of me.  It was the absolute best thing in the world and would do it again in a heartbeat.  My scars are there but now are fading a bit.  They go from just under my arm pits to the middle, like a half moon on each side and there are some around the nipples where they detached them.  Those are not even noticeable anymore.  Again, it was the best thing I have ever done and every time I see a woman lugging around those boulders I want to go up to them and tell them, "DO IT!"

Waiting For Superman

This morning the Today Show brought to my attention what has been bubbling in the back of my mind for awhile, our education in the United States and our children in general.  The movie, Waiting For Superman, is being released in select theatres and I want to make sure I see it.  It is about the eduaction lottery, children trying to get into charter schools and whether they are doing what they promised.  Hell, I don't think our regular schools are doing what they promise either.  The Today Show is kicking off the week about education.  Meet the Press is also dedicating their Sunday morning hour to education and the debate.  I don't have children in the "system" anymore but that does not mean I don't care.  My goodness, the children we are educating or not educating are our future too.  They are who will keep the wheels of our country squeaking and we are doing a disservice by not giving them a whopping good education.  We have got to step it up and start paying our teachers more, keeping our schools in better operating conditions, and providing top quality supplies like books to help our children and having the best of the best teachers.  My mother's mantra was that if you can get a child to read you give them the world.  She was a bulldog with my siblings and I about reading and it shows because all of us read avidly and so do my girls.  So very important! 

Life Moves On

Tuesday morning and I'm sitting on my favorite spot on the loveseat.  There is no sound except for my fingers tapping away on the keyboard and the roar of the A/C trying to keep the house cool at 8:30 in the morning.  Summer in July has hit.  I let Clayton out at 5 this morning and the air was so thick with heat you could cut it, but I like Oklahoma summers.  I went to workout, rushed home to shower, then maybe paint this morning, yet, here I sit.  The TV sits silent I'm letting my mind wander as it often does.  Sometimes my brain is so full of different thoughts that it makes me a bit nuts with all the ramble in the head.  I'm remembering being young and newly married today.  Not sure why that has popped up, but it has. 

When I was a girl the one thing I wanted more than anything in the entire world was to get married and have children.  Of course this made sense, there was not much of a future promised for me anyway.  I was brought up in the era and small town era of marriage and kiddos.  Oh, there were girls that went to college, but I was not encouraged to follow that kind of dream.  I wanted to be a lawyer first, then an archeologist and then a veterinarian but you have to want to do good in school, I didn't so much.  I didn't do any of those  careers, but that's okay.  I had a dream and I did fulfill that.  The schooling came later.  When The Hubby and I and married we were both 19 years old and I thought I had all the knowledge about being married, I was WRONG!  I didn't realize that you had to do stuff when you set up house like wash dishes and clothes and cook.  I could all of those things and had for awhile, but I realized very quickly that they were my new responsibility, FOREVER!  No one told me that those chores and more were what moving out and having a house of your own would mean.  I am still rebelling against it all.  I'm good at it all but hate it too.  My brother, sister and I always had chores at home, that was a given, but they were chores.  You didn't realize that they could become your life.  The first few months of our marriage I remember working all day, coming home and cooking dinner and then crying into the sink while washing the dishes because I was tired and didn't want to clean up.  You don't realize that the refrigerator needs to cleaned out once in awhile.  The laundry does not wash itself.  Floors get nasty dirty from a ditch digging, attic crawling husband comes home everyday.  We do have to eat you know and how about the trips to the grocery store and the neverending menu planning.  This, my friends is what you sign up for when you get married, actually, it is what you sign up for when you just flat move out of the comfy digs of living with your parents.  It is called life and it carries on.  No matter how much your parents try to teach you to survive on your own you won't truly know until you live it. 

Nothing At All

I really have nothing at all to say today but felt the need to at least post something.  I'm getting up there in blog posts, I think 823 or something like that.  This month will also be my 4 year anniversary of blogging and Friday (June 4) will be my 54th birthday.  Lots of stuff going through my head right now about age with the impending B-day.  54, that is just a bit too close to 60 and I'm not liking that at all.  I will just have to continue to exercise and live life to the fullest and do what I want to do.  I want to read, enjoy the hammock, have fun with friends, paint, enjoy the family, do what makes me happy.  Happy, healthy and content will get me hopefully get me a longer life.  I think that this should be the second or third or fourth phase of my life and I hope to live it to the fullest.  I was thinking about this yesterday, about the phases of "my" life and they may be different for everyone else.  I had the younger years with Momma and Daddy and Bro and Sis, the formative years.  Then it was on to the newlywed years (3) before we dove into the children years.  The children years go on for the rest of your life but there are stages there too, baby, toddler, school, young adult then adulthood.  Now I'm into the empty nest and all about me years.  I like all about me.  Haven't had that and I'm still struggling to fine tune the all about me.  It's kind of hard when you have a partner that has to be included in the all about me phase and that is just fine as long as he is working with me to achieve it and vice-versa.  Oh I am ramblin' today I see.  Think I need another cup of coffee to get my mind running straight.  It is a Monday on a Tuesday. 

Friday is birthday and this month I have to renew my drivers license.  Think I'll wait till the gray is covered for the picture.

McLinky Monday: Why Do I Blog

The McLinky Monday question of the day from the RHOK is Why Do I Blog!  Interesting question and actually I am asked that a lot by people who have no idea what a blog is or even what a website is (scary.)   My first blog was June 28, 2006.  It was 3 months after my best friend passed away very suddenly, I turned 50, my mother was dying, we moved and became empty nesters.  I had a lot going on then and needed to vent somehow.  I have journaled for years and years and so blogging was the next step for me.  I like to write.  I'm not necessarily good at it but I like to write.  Writing gives me a good outlet to express and before it just stayed between me, myself and I.  Blogging is me, myself, I and the world!  I like that.  I like an audience, even though it is somewhat a hidden audience.  Back to June of '06, I was in deep depression and total sadness and the blogging helped me to vent and let out some of it, still does.  I blog to let the world know a little about me.  I blog for my health, my mental health.  I blog because I have found friends, never meet kind of friends sometimes but I like that too.  I have always been a big letter writer.  I even have a pen pal that I have written too since I was about 15 years old...I'm 54...you do the math.  I blog because in a way I feel not so lost in this world.  Blogging is fun and I encourage anyone to do it.  I blog!

Tulsa Blog Meet Up

What fun we all had.  The call was put out and it was answered by about 50 Tulsa area bloggers to meet last night.  Of course I didn't bring my camera so no pictures will be here to show what a blast it was.   B went with me and I was glad she had the chance to smooz a bit to promote her craft show in June.  As we were walking in Joe Momma's Pizza the first person I met was Cindy from Cindy's Clipboard.  We were glad to share a table with her and get to know the person behind the blog. 

Some others in attendance: Tasha Does Tulsa, the brains behind the shindig; Kellyology, my friend and traveling buddy (remember BlogHer'09); Redneck Diva; Have Spork, Will Travel who I met last year just after I won a potholder on her blog; and The Southern Mama who I have met before.  These are just a few I can remember and there were many. 

While there B's phone beeped she had a message and mine didn't show a call for me even though I had one from The Hubby.  It seems that A, the California girl, had a little accident.  She was indoor rock climbing and took a fall.  The fun of the evening was cut short as we waited to hear whether she had broken her foot or sprained it.  The news is good, only a severe sprain with a jacked-up hip, probably from jamming it.  You know that kid has the toughest feet.  When she was in grade school she was talked into jumping from a 2nd story stairway onto pillows which led to severe bruising the bottoms of both of her feet.  She is a tough cookie, thank God.  It's hard to have her so far away and injured.

Boo

Have I told you how much I dislike Halloween.  I have never been a fan of Halloween, even as a kid.  Oh I must admit that it was fun when I was very young and the neighbors would make homemade things like popcorn balls and candied apples to give away, when it was innocent, the days of innocence.  As I got older and realized that you had to go out in public and actually wear a costume, well that was not fun for a person that wanted to blend in with the scenery.  I was not a fan of standing out in a crowd.  It has taken me a lifetime to overcome that fear.  As I got older the fear of embarassment was just too overwhelming and I avoided at all costs any kind of get-ups.  I even hated trying to come up with the ideas for costumes.  Just hated it.  The only thing I ever really did was dress up like a gypsy because Momma had a cool dress with glitter and rick-rack on it to make me look pretty.  I was always that gypsy.  When the girls were old enough to dress up I just refused to go out and buy a costume.  It was such a waste of money and besides it brought up the fear again.  Then the problem of having the damned candy in the house.  I LOVED the candy but it was a killer for whatever diet I was trying to attempt before the holidays and my downfall until the end of the year.  It was a vicious cycle that I have broken.  When the kiddos are little you just have to let them have some of the candy but I would secretly throw it away a little at a time (or eat it.)  Then it got to the point that whatever candy I would buy to give out would be the kind I didn't like.  Now, and for the past several years we go to the cabin on Halloween (if on the weekend) or I just don't turn my lights on.  I avoid the grocery store and the candy aisles if I can and just try to get past the day.  I don't have any kind of religious affliction against the holiday, it is just a horrible fear from childhood.

Jenks Football

I usually don't have a lot to say about high school football but today I will have to voice a little.  Ever since my girls were in high school, not at Jenks, I have heard rumors that players were "shipped" in to play for the top two schools in the state.  That they were given housing/bills paid, etc. so that the teams were set up with top notch players to win the state championships.  Well, today the rumors are much more than rumors according to the news and newpapers.  I knew it, I knew it.  It was just too good to be true.  I am very sorry for the schools and the kids for the missteps of the adults.  It is a shame and does not show good leadership at all.  We'll see how this all pans out won't we.  Jenks Football

Consideration

Get ready for a rant!

This is just my observation but we have failed our children or someone has failed to teach consideration and courtesy. Time and time again I have been faced with inconsiderate people. In the grocery store people will stand in the middle of the aisle looking at the shelves oblivious of anyone waiting to get through. I've had to flat out turn around and go the other way or loudly say, "excuse me." They either move very nicely or they will move just barely enough for me to pass. I don't get it. Even when I pass in front of a shopper that is out of the way and is looking at the other side of the aisle I will say, "excuse me" as pass in between them and the aisle. It is called courtesy.

Yesterday I was faced with the inconsiderate way of hogging a space on an off ramp on the BA Expressway at the Sheridan exit. The lane is divided to go left or right, but this idiot guy in a Lexus was right in the middle of the two lanes. This was at the first of the off ramp and it was backing traffic up onto the expressway. No one could go around him and he continued almost to the light to stay in the middle of the lane. He had plenty of room to move but he didn't. Did he not look in his rear view mirror and see what a mess he was leaving. I mean really, what an idiot!

People, teach courtesy and manners please. Teach your children to say excuse me. Teach them to be aware of the people around them so that they can be courteous in the grocery store aisles. Teach them to re-hang the clothes they try on in the dressing rooms, zip the zippers and button the buttons. Teach them that it is not polite to run around or crawl under the table at the restaurant while other people are dining. Teach them that other people's credit cards on tables are not to be taken. Teach them not to hover over the tops of the booths, dribbling food or drool on neighboring diners. If they do not learn courtesy and consideration in their young ages then we are stuck with the inconsiderate boobs in the grocery store or the off ramps on the BA Expressway. If children butt in line at the drinking fountain in elementary school then they will butt in line at the movie theatre as adults, they don't think of others. Take control of your children. Teach them to say please and thank you and be aware of others as we all have to live on this earth together and it is getting a little too crowded to be nasty.

The television programming is not helping our society. Look what is on VH1 lately. Rock of Love, I Love Money, Charm School, or Tool Academy just to name a few. Fighting, cursing, name-calling, just nastiness. A lot of the shows on TV in general have moments of disgust but we are drawn to them, I'm no exception. America's Next Top Model, Celebrity Apprentice, Survivor, Hell's Kitchen, they all have cursing and name calling and disrespect for other people. Are these role models that we want our children to identify with? I say absolutely not. I have to admit I'm a reality show addict and watch these shows but they do go too far, I am an adult though and have been taught that these behaviors are not right. Young people are so impressionable and many are not taught that those behaviors are not acceptable. Spitting, cursing, hitting, disrespect, those are what our young impressionable children are learning on TV. A lot of the children in the US are not supervised and guided, they are left to learn about life and the world on TV. Take a stand people and teach your children consideration, love of people, courtesy.

I am stepping down off of my soap box now. I'm sorry for the rant. It has been building for a bit so I was on a roll.