Today...a big thanks

Medora, ND

A few years ago, the DH and I were on a little jaunt through the northern part of the US visiting family and my old hometown contemplating a move back. One of the sites to see...and there aren't that many in North Dakota...is Medora which is situated in the Badlands. Incredible scenery, a favorite of Teddy Roosevelt and steeped in history. Every night, they have a musical which plays to a packed house. Talent auditions from all over the US to vie for a spot in the show. Tickets must be reserved in advance...it is a big destination and draw...for ND that is.

On this particular evening, the tribute was to the veterans who have served in war. The DH, after being drafted, served for quite some time in Vietnam and was in quite the thick of things..Plaicou and other areas. There was not a day that he wasn't shot at or privy (if you can call it that) to some kind of skirmish. He does not speak of this time often to me or our family...I venture to say that most people who know him would not even know that he served. He rarely acknowledges the fact or is boastful about doing so. It was, after all, his responsibility and job. On this evening, the musical was spectacular and one that made you proud to be an American. The announcer then asked for the veterans in the crowd to stand so that we could honor their service calling out each war with the men and women standing when their service time was announced. When the Vietnam War was called, I looked at him and he back at me. He then slowly stood up. I can tell you that I had tears in my eyes and total pride knowing that my husband was one that was standing amongst a sea of many.

Today is Veterans Day...a day to remember the men and women that have fought for our America. Even though we may not agree with the political agendas set forth with each war, the fact still remains that there are people that fight and go to war for us on a daily basis. It is a holiday, yes...but there is a meaning in this holiday. Let's not forget what it truly is all about and the servicemen that do strive for our peace.

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Instant Gratification

I think we're all a little guilty of this mental state. We want everything and we want it now. From instant cereals to cellphones and texting. Then there's the health care...instant service, diagnosis and cure. Education? Instant job, high wages and wealth. Shopping? Gotta have those shoes for the upcoming party to match my dress or better yet, let's go for the whole shebang and buy a new outfit. Lets not get into the physical aspect...take a pill and be thinner tomorrow. What you say? You can't pay for it right now? That's ok...we'll just finance it for you or put it on the charge card.

Sometimes, it doesn't surprise me with the economic times we live in today. I remember in my younger days when we got sick, we took an aspirin and did a home remedy. If we really got sick, we got a shot of penicillin from the local doc but I rarely remember going to see him. We never really went to the emergency room and I know there was not a thing called "emergent care clinic". If you wanted to talk to someone on the phone, you sat in the chair in the kitchen hoping someone on the party line wasn't listening in. If you were on a road trip, there were no gameboys, ipods much less cell phones. It was so nice to sit back and enjoy the ride. If you needed to make a call...which never happened..you had to wait till the next town to find a phone. Christmas shopping meant planning ahead for my parents deciding what they could afford and what each child needed. The presents I remember the most are the ones my Mother made for each of us from the jammies to the knitted scarf and hat.

So how does one cure themselves of this addiction? A tough question. I spent yesterday doing a little shopping on the internet and as these thoughts were racing through my brain, I stopped and asked myself, 1. Do I really need that or do I just want it? 2. What is the personal cost to me or my family if I decide to do this? 3. Is what I am doing really important in the scheme of things or will they work out as is? And the most important part thing I always try to remember is that instant gratification is temporary. I really do have everything I could ever possibly need or want and then some.

“The gratification of wealth is not found in mere possession or in lavish expenditure, but in its wise application.”
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

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The Dunce in the corner...

That's me for sure...the little guy in the corner with the dunce cap on promising to be good. You see, I have been very remiss in posting several awards that I have gotten. I had them written down on a piece of paper and when cleaning up this past week for the big soiree, I swear, the shop-vac sucked up the sheet! So without further ado and what my addled brain can remember..I'm going to send out some big thanks you's!Sarah at Cottage Garden Studio gave me this very special award. In Sarah's words, "one common virtue, they are loyal friends regardless of race, creed, political affiliations and geography. To honor womanhood and friendship and there is nothing more wondrous a blessing for anyone than for a friend who came and never left your side." I tune in to Sarah's blog every time I'm on blogger and always leave with sound advice or something to think about in my daily life. To you, Sarah, I'll always be there...thank you for the honor! I'm going to pass this on to Kelly over at The Chic Geek. A fabulous blog...really go have a good read!

Emmy at Emmy Mom gave me this super Dragon's Loyalty Award. Love that colorful picture and it is a new one to me! I am new follower on her blog and really enjoy the enthusiasm and verve this young lady exhibits. I'm a commenter..as you prbably haven't guessed already...and this is Emmy's way of saying thank you! I'm going to pass this one to Snap from Tales From Twisty Lane.


Barbara over at A Bird In My Hand honored me with this Kreativ Blogger award. Thank you, Barbara, but truly...this lady is THE creative blogger and then some. She's a published author and writes the best stories on her blog. Even though she may be new to the blogging world (so she says but she writes too darn well to be brand new!), she has taken to it like a duck to water. I'd love to shake her hand...it's even passed the muster of Clint Eastwood ;) and the lady has been on the set of Mad Men. Definitely after my heart! I'm going to pass this award on to PJ over at Seens From The Back Of My Eyelids. I'm new there too but really enjoy the posts!
This one is hilarious...not for me..just my blog! Bhavesh Chhatbar over at Information is Everything sent this present my way. Bhavesh is a writer, traveller, photographer and designer from India and brings the most interesting information out in his blog. I love traveling so is not a wonder that I enjoy reading his blog. I get to live vicariously though his travels!

How lucky can I be? This Honest Scrap award was given to me by two great blogs that I thoroughly enjoy! Matty over at Matty Thoughts is an ardent Phillie fan...he could use some of your love right now as he's feeling World Series pain! He really is a poet and doesn't know it...you must read his acceptance of this award..totally creative... honest to a tee and a loyal commenter. A great blog to check out!
The Divine Mrs. D from Love Is A Verb is the other lady who sent this my way. She's been to 18 or 19 countries, names rats in the New York subway and does MTV voice-overs. Currently fighting bedbugs! I just had to add that last one as you have no idea the trouble it is to get rid of the little buggers! I'm going to pass this on to several people...Sandra at Worlds End Farm , Sara at Twillypop and Vicky over at The Westra World.

If I have forgotten one, please accept my apologies..and let me know! I really would like to to take off this hot dunce cap and stop writing on the chalkboard...my hand has cramps!!

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Just what you really wanted to know...

Anyone that reads this blog knows that I am a word person...or maybe you didn't know. It's one of those seven random facts that you just needed to know..HA! The fabulous Eclectic Element honored me with being her guest blogger so go ahead and click to read the interview here. Meanwhile, if you haven't used a wordle and want to kill some time, it's loads of fun..that is if you have time to kill! Judging by your responses from my last post, we all seem to spend too much time in blog land. It is addicting!

Have a great weekend all

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Too much time...

Just a few random thoughts for Thursday.
I know today that I need to hide my make up brushes as it appears that when other people who will remain nameless use them, I end up with huge red puffy eyelids that droop over my eyes and I can barely see anything.
I also know that the roll on migraine relief stick my DH got for me should have been tested on a less conspicuous spot other than my forehead as I now have a large red warpaint band across the front of my face. Other than looking like I'm still wearing a Halloween mask, I'd say today is a pretty good day...I'm still kicking!






I do have to say, this matchstick art is pretty cool...if you have a lot of time on your hands! Which brings me to the question... how much time do you spend in blogland every day?

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Stop to smell the roses...

My dear friend sent this email to me the other day. I am sure many of you have read it before, but it was a new one to me.

Washington DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. He played six
Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx 2 thousand people
went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a
middle-aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and
stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the till
and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his
watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes:
A 3 year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly, as the
kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the
child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated
by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced them to move
on.

45 minutes:
The musician played. Only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20
gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32.

1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded,
nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

I did check this out on Snopes to make sure it was true. One has to wonder how many things of beauty we pass by on a daily basis because we're just too hurried to take notice. Seems we all should take the time to smell the roses.

Happy hump day all!

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MIA Blogger...That's me!!

Call me bad...really bad! I have been away from posting for a few days which also means that I haven't been commenting....I'm a missing in action blogger...that's me! I wish I could say that I've gone fishing, but not the case. Seems I volunteered about four months ago to host a whole group of women at the house yesterday and today which entails lots of cooking, cleaning and basically "puttin' on the dog'"! Since we have been having a month of solid rain, it has made for lots of mud in the house and anyone that knows me, knows I hate to clean. That must be one of the seven things you just have to know, right? Top it off..the vacuum broke so I have been using a Shop-Vac! Those can really suck dirt! Don't be cringing out there...I'm sure someone can relate...please tell me they do so I don't feel like a total idiot!

Pumpkin caramel cheesecakes are ready, silver polished, house semi Shop-Vac clean and I'm good to go. Now I just need to stretch those gray cells and memorize a couple of pages of dialog and I just might make it through the night. I didn't realize that after 50, you can't remember a darn thing. Why is it that I still procrastinate? I'll be checking out some of you wonderful new followers and commenting back to my tried & true buds by tomorrow. It may be a threat, but you know I just love to comment!

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I wish I was a kid again...

Our kids getting ready for Halloween...years ago!!

Decisions were made by eeny-meeny-miney-mo.

Money issues were handled by who was the banker in Monopoly.

Being old was referred to anyone over 20.

Spinning around, getting dizzy and falling down meant for great laughs.

War was a card game.

Water balloons were the best weapon.

Baseball cards in spokes transformed your bike into a motorcycle and drove the neighborhood nuts.

Taking drugs meant orange flavored chewable aspirin.

The worst thing caught from the opposite sex was cooties!

Abilities were discovered from a double-dog-dare.

I'd love to be a kid again, wouldn't you? What would you do?

From lovethissite.com

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The English Accent

There's something about an English accent that just makes me stop, listen and be totally enthralled. Perhaps it's the romanticism...who knows. The DH and I often watch English made movies and it takes me at least 5 minutes to start to understand the lingo or the speech patterns. Australia, Great Britain and America all speak the same language but the accent and vocabularies of each country sets them apart. Referring to the "hood" of a car as a "bonnet" is just so much more descriptive to me. Of course, accents in America from region to region can be another story in itself.

Both the DH and I are Northern born so we pretty much have nonexistent accents. This gets passed down to our kids just by listening to us speak. Shortly after we moved to the mountains of North Carolina, our daughter who was in second grade at the time came home from school all excited that they were going to be doing a project.

"Mom, the teacher is asking all the kids to bring something to school to help with the project."
"Great...what are you supposed to bring?"
"Awl."
With my limited carpentry skills all I could think of was a whole group of second graders wielding this sharp object around and thinking this was NOT a good idea. So I politely asked our daughter to ask the teacher again if she was sure that's what she wanted her to bring.

The next day, I pick up our daughter and she emphatically told me the teacher said "awl". I'm not a budinsky parent but this just wasn't my idea of safe. It just didn't make sense that the teacher would have her bring this tool to school, especially in light of the fact that kids get frisked for having any sharp object now. So I told her to have the teacher write me a note figuring I had better cover my daughter's and my you-know-what so we wouldn't get in trouble.

The note arrived the next day saying, "Please contribute "OIL" to our science project. A 16 ounce bottle will do. Thank you!"

Don't you just love the English language!

Happy Tuesday and many thanks for all the well wishes....we're working on it!

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Monday Art...

Last weekend, we had a family get together with kids, grandparents, moms and dads all enjoying family time. Seems that one of the lot was carrying this dreaded flu that is going around and now everybody is fighting it off. I apologize if I haven't been commenting on blogs of late...I will be back in full swing asap! I think it is a good thing to have a forced rest...it's the chicken soup I'm not fond of!

I thought I'd share a bit of farm humor for a Monday. Art? Let's just say the kids don't get bored out here in the boonies! Happy Monday all!

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Shopping for shoes...

I was recently cruising the internet shopping for shoes. Don't all women have a shoe fetish? Really...who could wear these?

Have a great weekend!

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Miss Manners, where are you?

"Dude, watcha want?"
This was the greeting given to my husband while ordering at a restaurant. Dude? My husband is a dude???

Gone are the days when manners were second nature. We can blame things such as gang culture, hoodies and many other things, but it really is society as a whole that has stooped to this lousy manner endemic that in one single generation, has turned into something that my parents wouldn't recognize.

While watching an old "To Tell the Truth" the other day on you tube, the DH and I stopped at the end of the show and just looked at each other. "Did you hear and see that?", he asked me. "Plain as day..impeccable manners." Now this was only a mere 50-60 years ago. Even the first question started with "What is your name, please". Please?

No longer do people say automatically please, thank you much less ma'am or sir. There are signs in buses that tell you to give your seat to the elderly. We need a sign? Or one of my favorites is sitting in a restaurant or movie theater only to hear a ringing cell phone. I know, they tell you to turn them off...this should just be common courtesy. We shouldn't have to be told to do so. If you complain, you're greeted with a barrage of rudeness. Then there's a little something called road rage..honking and abusive gestures. Or the doctor that keeps you waiting for an hour for your appointment. A one second response of "I'm sorry" would be nice. The list can go on and on.

Perhaps some..just a little... of this may be due in part that the new generation womens lib found it demeaning to have a door opened, bag carried, help putting on a coat or even walking on the outside of the sidewalk (if you understand that one, you are clearly over 45!). However, manners towards each other became outdated no matter what your sex, age or class was.

Many of you know that I live in a small town and I can say that manners abound in both the adults and the children. Please, thank you, sir and ma'am are all part of the speech. I think that as grownups, we need to set a high standards for our children and lead by example. Not "do as I say" but "do as I do". My parents practiced this and we, in turn did this with our kids. Manners should not be an option. They are a form of respect and common courtesy and this goes both ways for the kids as well as the adults.

"Good evening, sir. What would you like for dinner?" Aaahhh...now that sounds better!

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Sentimental Fool that I am....

I'm pretty sentimental and I can tell from the comments on some of my posts that most people tend to be sentimental, too. Don't we all yearn for the feeling and emotions of love, nostalgia and idealism? We all hold on to something in the past be it in our thoughts or through a memento. So many things hold a special meaning or tell a story that brings a smile.

The Victorians were notorious for having sentiment and using symbolism. Take for instance this Gutta Percha (a latex produced from the sap of trees) mourning cross necklace. The roses are signifying the person being mourned was a loved one and older as the flower is in full bloom. The person was someone who had been with the wearer of the cross for some time as the daisies have a meaning of youth and innocence. It's kind of like reading a book.

Now I used to think that hair jewelry was gross! The thought of braiding someone's hair and turning it into a bracelet, necklace or watch chain to wear was...well...just plain weird. But then I realized that even in today's time, we save locks of hair. When our dear Collie died a year or two ago, my DH cut a lock of his fur and placed it in his wallet. He's carried it ever since and occasionally pulls it out and smiles at the memory. We save our child's lock of hair after their first hair cut or put a snip of hair in a locket with a picture of a loved one. The list goes on and on.

I like to think that we all want a slower paced time where we can appreciate sentimentality and revel in nostalgia. I know...I'm just a idealistic, sentimental old fool but I think there's one in just about everybody.

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The Dating Game

The other day I happened upon an old video that had The Dating Game on it. You know the old series where three young men vied for a date with a young woman who was hidden from their view She would ask questions that would reveal their nature and later choose the one with home she wanted a date. It was also played with a bachelor choosing from three young ladies. Our modern day version would most likely be the Bachelor altho this guy gets to see the girls.

Out of curiosity, I posed the question to the DH and our two daughters as to what would be their criteria for choosing someone. Talk about varied answers! One daughter said definitely grammar...must have raised that one right! The other said it was important to have manners...chalk up another one! Answers like being clean, having a certain style, confidence, good hair cut, wear cool shoes, compassion and the list goes on and on. Some were fluff reasons and others were deep rooted. All three of them could find reasons that they agreed or didn't agree with the attribute. The one thing they all agreed on was humor....which brings me to a quote Joanne Woodward, wife of Paul Newman, said:

“Sexiness wears thin after a while and beauty fades, but to be married to a man who makes you laugh every day, ah, now that's a real treat.”

A huge thanks to Lenorenevermore for beating me to the punch on the quote..great blog by the way..check her out!

So what would be your criteria?

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It's a dogs life...

Yesterday, we woke up to several inches of snow and it didn't stop until this morning making for a slushy mess. With the drastic weather change, I'm a bit under the weather with the old sinus pressure. I just can't but wish that I were lazing on this glorious beach. I'm just not ready for snow...not yet anyway!

It can be a dog's life at times!

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