The Twins are here, the twins are here!!

Just a quick update to announce the arrival of our two little bundles of joy.
I will be taking a blogging break for a while as we adjust to the newest additions to our brood.

Take care all!

SM

Wildlife tunnels??

I read an article in the paper yesterday about the widening of the Garden State Parkway and the effect on certain species of wildlife. In order to lessen the negative effects on certain species of lizards, amphibians and snakes, someone came up with the idea to build "wildlife tunnels" under the roadway. In theory, this sounds like a wonderful idea. The little critters (in theory) will utilize these handy dandy tunnels to cross from one side of the busy road to the other and won't have to worry about traffic.
Now, here's my mental image of the project.
A newly widened superhighway winds gently through the midst of the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Various species of animals have set up residence on both sides of the highway. These animal families need to get to the opposite side, of course, for food, fun, and frolic. (Hey, animals have extended families too, and everyone loves a good family reunion!) Unfortunately, there is a nearly continuous flow of traffic. Way too many cars to allow the safe passage of a tiny frog or lizard. But WAIT! Not to worry! The brilliant humans have solved the problem. There are tunnels UNDER the road. Now Sal the Salamander can cross with ease.
Here it is from Sal's point of view:

One warm sunny day, Sal A. Mander crawled lazily from his murky puddle. As he did every morning upon waking, he pitter pattered over to his favorite mud spot and settled in for his morning bath. Sal sensed something different this morning. Something big.
"What is this strange vibration I'm sensing?" Sal wondered. (Salamanders are very sensitive to atmospheric change, you know.)
Then he saw it. The giant flat snake had grown even larger! Sal would have jumped right out of his scales, if salamanders had scales, that is. His heart pounding, Sal scurried to higher ground for a closer look. He could hardly believe his eyes. Now there were even more of those strange creatures with the round legs zipping over the giant flat snake's back.
"Those crazy humans must be feeding it again," thought Sal. "Now how am I going to get to Sally's house? Those zippies don't care what or who is in their path - they'll run right over me!"

Sal crept closer to the flat giant and bumped into Timmie, the cheerful timber rattlesnake.


"G' Mornin' Sal," quipped Timmie cheerfully.
"Hi Timmie," Sal said glumly.
"What's wrong, Sal?"
"Are you kidding, Timmie? Look at that! How am I supposed to get to Sally's house now? I'll never make it across the giant flat snake with all of those zippies up there!"
"No worries, Sal! Look at this." Timmie wagged her tail at a strange little tree-like object.
This was unlike any forest flora Sal had ever seen. It was a flat, shiny, yellow thing atop a green stick. There were markings on it that resemble all sorts of floor dwelling forest creatures walking, hopping and slithering into a long black hole. Sal was certain that it was some strange graffiti created by a flat snake artists trying to lure them all into the giant flat snake's belly.
Timmie sensed Sal's anxiety and explained the sign to him.
"Sal, this is a sign that the humans put here for us. Look over there - that is our safe passage to the other side of the flat giant."
Sal blinked, realized that he wasn't wearing his glasses, and quickly put them on. Now he could clearly see what was in front of him. Just a few yards away was the "black hole". Just outside of it was posted a sign, "WILDLIFE TUNNEL".
"Wild life?" wondered Sal aloud. "But I sort of enjoy my dull every day existence. Why would I want to enter the wild life?"
"No, no," chuckled Timmie, her tail rattling with glee. "Wildlife Tunnel - that is our path to the other side. We no longer have to cross over the top. Now we can go THROUGH."
"Ohhhhh," said Sal in amazement.
"C'mon, let's try it out!"
Sal and Timmie ran and slithered through the tunnel safely to the other side of the giant flat snake with hundreds, no thousands, of unaware zippies zooming along overhead.

So, do you think the brilliant engineers will post signs directing the fauna to the tunnels (like the one's that are posted so that the deer know where to cross)?

Hairy Tongue and other random thoughts

Baby Ruth apparently has a hair on her tongue. She is holding her "Baby Tad" which is covered in dog hair despite having just been vacuumed, and pitter-pattering over to me with her tongue hanging out. This can mean one of two things - she ate something disgusting, or there is a hair on her tongue. My vote is for hair.....yep, that's it......a hair......
All is now well in our little toddler's world. Hairy Tad is on the floor, collecting more hair, and Baby Ruth is bouncing and spinning on the "Bounce and Spin Zebra".

If you happen to read my posts on occasion, you will notice that I removed the "Chinese Horoscope" thing. I dunno....thought it was dumb after re-reading it and it seemed to throw off the Feng Shui of my page.

Since my last post, the majority of my spare time has been spent training for the aforementioned Black Belt test. No amount of push-ups seem to be enough to get me to where I need to be. (In fact, as I type I am doing push-ups - mentally.....sort of like learning by osmosis.....I'm sure it will help, won't it?)

This afternoon I took my darling little canines for a walk. We came upon a house in the neighborhood that has been for sale for quite some time. It is a tiny little bungalow type cape thing with window boxes that hold very brightly colored FAKE flowers. There is a large "LUXURY - TWO BEDROOM" sign in one of the windows. As the dogs and I trotted by, I couldn't help but wonder how this place could possibly be luxurious or contain two bedrooms. Okay, two bedrooms maybe, but luxurious? If you're a hobbit, perhaps. Then, as I continued to stare, I suddenly got an image of the basement of this home. (I don't know if it actually has one or not.) In my mind, the basement is the complete opposite of the image that the seller is trying to portray on the outside of the house. It is dark and dingy and there are shackles on the wall. There are wooden benches along one wall with large eye bolts in them so that the "prisoners" can be chained there. Then there are the fingernail marks on the walls and blood spatters on the windows which are covered from the outside.
I don't know why this image came to mind, nor do I want to explore it further. I know one thing - I will NEVER attend an open house at that place, no matter how curious I am about the inviting "Luxury Two Bedroom" sign! (The place probably hasn't sold because all of the prospective buyers are now chained to the benches in the basement until an appropriate offer is made.)

Methods of Thought

Earlier today I received an e-mail with the following link (thanks Mom):

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/law-of-attraction-should-be-renamed
-the-law-of-distraction.html

I purposely did not make the link "clickable", as I do not really want to promote this individual's ideology. However, reading the article would probably help you make more sense of what I am about to say. So, the link is there - just copy and paste it into your address bar if curiosity gets the better of you. ;-)

This is what my Mommy wrote in her e-mail. I have included it because it provides a quick summary of the article:
Here is a blog to read from someone who doesn't like the idea of the Law of Attraction. I agree with him in that many people may have the idea that you don't have to actively do anything to create what you want because you can just think it and then have it.

For those of you who know me, you most likely know that I am a firm believer in the "Law of Attraction". Of course, until the recent media hype, I had no idea what to call it, but now I know the buzz phrase. What is the "Law of Attraction", or, to be super cool, the "LoA"? Check out my sidebar link to The Secret for an in depth description. In my mind, though, the "LoA" can be summed up in the following statements/quotes:

"What we think about, we bring about"

"Like attracts like"

"If you build it, they will come"

"Energy flows where attention goes"

In other words, we are in control of our own lives and our own destiny, and it is up to us to choose wisely both in our thoughts and actions.
The debate comes in to play when portions of "LoA" lectures, videos, books, etc. are taken out of context. I liken it to taking a quote from the Bible without reading the rest of the passage. (Yeah, like THAT would ever happen)

Anywho, in case you still have no idea what I am talking about, I'll explain a bit further......many proponents of the "LoA" use health and wellness as a big selling point for the theory. The idea (very simply put) is that, through the power of positive thinking and conscious awareness, we can control the health and well being of our own body. This even includes healing oneself of a potentially terminal illness.

The skeptics will say that this is impossible; That only a deliberate and well planned regimen of pharmaceuticals and western medicine will affect the healing process. (Please understand that I am looking from one end of the spectrum to the other. There are many levels/schools of thought to this....very gray area, not black and white as I just made it sound.)

As the author of the.....oh, heck, here's the direct link.....Article
states, some people interpret the "LoA" to mean that they can get anything that their little heart desires simply by sitting around and thinking about it. The author begs to differ, and therefore titled his article "Law of attraction should be renamed the Law of Distraction".
Prior to reading his article, this was my reply to my Mother's e-mail:
I haven't read the blog yet, but wanted to comment on the not liking the Law of Attraction. The way I see it, like it or not, the law exists. It is somewhat like gravity, in my opinion. People may not like the fact that if they leap from a building without something to propel them upward, they will inevitably fall to the ground at the rate of 9.8 m/s/s. As for thinking and not doing, that is simple ignorance. Back to the gravity example, if I simply think about flying from a building and not plummeting to my doom, it won't work. However, if I align my thoughts and actions to this desire, then I will find a way to acquire a jet pack and will then fly rather than fall.

After reading his article, I find it very interesting that he claims to be such a skeptic of the law of attraction.
He sums it up in this one point:

this is a quote that the author used from a proponent of the "LoA":
"(4) Proponents say that by abiding by these, and avoiding "negative" thoughts, the Universe will manifest a person's desires."

Here is the author's rebuttal:

My experience tells me that (by and large) the only person/thing that will create forever positive change in my life is ME... yes, thinking plays a role but typically it's more about my actions, my life choices, my ability to persevere and deal with discomfort, my ability to adapt and... my drive to create something from nothing."

YES!!!!!!! Craig (the author of the article), that is exactly what the "LoA" is stating!!!! It IS up to you, the individual, to make your own life choices and adapt - to create something from nothing, if that is what you want to do! The only additional piece of information that the Law of Attraction proponents include in their statements is that an individual attains his or her goals with the ADDED ASSISTANCE of POSITIVE THINKING.
BTW, I fully agree with this, especially as it relates to health - whatever ailment someone has, if they TRULY believe that their chosen healing modality will bring them back to health, and they go forth with the "treatments", then they will find good health again. (Is there more to it than this simple statement? Yes, but I will only have your attention for a limited time, so let's leave it at that for now.)

Now, I do agree with Craig that there are people out there who misinterpret, or, I should say, under-interpret the whole concept. It is not through thought alone that we can achieve our wildest dreams. It is through the alignment of our thoughts, our actions, and (I'm going to take it one step further) our attitude that enables us to achieve our goals.

With all of that said, I do think that the whole concept of the Law of Attraction is becoming way too commercialized. It's one of those things that is much better received when it is not about making money. Alas, we are all learning a little something from it, and it is proliferating some sort of intellectual thought. Please realize also that this is not a new concept. There are books upon books about the power of thought and positive thinking, some of which date back centuries!

(keep in mind, that if your "wildest dream" is to become a green sea monkey and swim to the enchanted underwater forest where you will live out the rest of your days in bubbly paradise, you might want to rethink your goals.....or wait for your next incarnation - uh oh, another can of worms opens with that one, no?)

Please, send me your comments, e-mails, whatever....I'd LOVE to hear from you about this "controversial" topic!!!!

I have been Tagged for the first time

It seems that I have been "tagged" by Ciar Cullen. Gosh I feel so special to be part of the game.....

Here are the rules:
A. Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves.
B. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.


1. I don't know 8 people with blogs to list at the end of this.
2. I used to manage a clothing store and now feel compelled to refold items (even ones that I didn't touch) when shopping.
3. I don't shop often, thankfully - see # 2.
4. I sometimes rearrange my basement "lair/office" space and then feel as though I've gotten new furniture.
5. My job at the Paper Mill ROCKS!
6. My first job was working in the bakery section of a "butcher shop" - I made hundreds of cookies. mmmmmmm.....
7. Please don't ask me to make cookies now, unless you want 90 dozen and have a very large mixing bowl.
8. Ciar Cullen is still my friend, even though she tagged me. :-)

I am tagging Hope. My only other blogging buddy that I know of.

To Terry, Sandy, and others who have gone before me

Once again, I sit and work on my Black Belt written test. I have put much thought into it since the last post, but have not had time to actually work on it. Right now, I am taking a break from the hard thinking and am attempting to enjoy the beautiful weather outside in my backyard. I say "attempting" because of the ridiculous number of mosquitoes that quite enjoy my "sweetness". So much for sitting in my "thinking garden".
Now, perched on the deck swing, I shall explain my title......

First of all, it is important to note that those mentioned in the title are still physical entities on this Earth. Where they have gone before me is on the same journey which I am now experiencing. As I prepare for the upcoming big day, I can't help but look back over the past few years of training. (The view is an interesting one.)

Training for this test has been a great adventure thus far, and help along the way has come from numerous sources. This opportunity is something that I have anticipated for many years. Although I may not have been fully aware of it at the time, my training for this test began at least six years ago when I first entered our school. Many life changing events have occurred outside of my Martial Arts career, but I now am beginning to understand what was happening the first day that I stepped into the Dojo.
It was, if I recall correctly, one week (or so) prior to a Black Belt test. I was there to complete my registration form and pick up a uniform. As I completed my little tasks, the doors to one of the training floors opened and out came a bunch of very sweaty, very exhausted people. Something more than the sweat and fatigue caught my attention, however. (that is, aside from the thought of "Holy S*#T! What have I gotten myself into?") I noticed that this group of people of varying ages and walks of life appeared to have a certain bond with one another. I recall overhearing conversations about what they were going to have for breakfast the following Saturday and what they should eat the night before. There was a particular "energy" about them that I did not recognize as well as a certain amount of "aloofness". (I mean this in a good way.) (I came to find out moments later that they were preparing for a Black Belt test which was scheduled for the following week.)
Up to that point and for some time after, I must admit, I had thought of Martial Arts training as simply a class that people attended. Nothing more, nothing less. (Of course, I knew that historically speaking there was much more to it than that, I mean, I did see the original Karate Kid!) I just didn't expect to experience the "more".
I officially met Terry at my very first class. She was one of the people in that group that I mentioned earlier. I had the honor and privilege of learning the "rules" and proper basic techniques from Terry. I have not stopped learning from her to this day, although she is not presently training with us. I am frequently reminded of little "Terryisms" during my own training, and they are invaluable! Although I miss her fine tutelage at our school, I feel quite fortunate to be able to continue to receive the "isms" through the cyber world and such. ;-)
Another member of the aforementioned group was young Sandy. Sandy has also since moved on to more pressing endeavors at the present time, but as with Terry, I continue to learn from the lessons that Sandy taught me nearly two years ago.

What I am really trying to say is, I am now beginning to understand that "fog" that those sweaty, exhausted people seemed to have around them. It was a fog of knowledge and understanding. It was a fog of realization that we all have limitations and that in order to get past those individual limitations, we have to rely on those around us. It was also a fog of energy and intent and the ability to manifest things that we never thought possible before. (It was also the fog of stress, pressure and a boatload of information floating around inside a human brain.)

So, Sandy, Terry, (and the others) Thank you for being there at the beginning of my journey and for providing me with many of the tools that I need now as I approach the steepest part of the climb. I am truly grateful, and am thrilled to have this opportunity!

Greetings, Earthling it's all a BIG TEST

Do you ever get the feeling that you are from a different planet?
I have been convinced for many years now that some day, "my people" will come back to get me. Maybe it has something to do with the dreams I had as a child of the space ships in the sky just beyond our neighborhood. Just thinking about it, although it is more than 20 years later, gives me a feeling of awe and excitement. In reality, I think that either "my people" forgot that they dropped me off, or this is all some cruel joke. Today, I feel quite sure that whether or not I am actually from another planet, it appears to other "Earthlings" that I am.
All right, here is the background on the alien thing. Bear with me....I'll get to the point in time.
The day began as any other non-work day. I got up, had coffee, walked the dogs, read the paper, etc. The plan for the day was to work on the written portion of my Black Belt test which is due in a couple of weeks. Now those who know me, and especially my fellow classmates (current and former) know well how consuming this testing experience is. The preparation in and of itself is enough to make you feel alienated from the rest of society. So, after my initial morning activities, I hunkered down with my test, laptop, and a few other resource materials and dove into the typing. This lasted for approximately 20 minutes before I got antsy and began exploring the ins and outs of the new laptop. Then, I built a new bird feeder and removed icky bugs from the window overlooking our backyard and new bird feeder. (Yeah, I was like this when I was actually in school too. It's amazing that I have a degree!)
With all of those necessary activities out of the way, I felt able to truly concentrated on the test materials.....so I made an egg burrito. It was one of the best darn egg burritos I have had in a long time!
Procrastination finished, I plopped back down and actually finished one question. (Essay questions, not the True/False jobbies) Actually, the questions are interesting and thought provoking and fun to research. So, being that they are such fun to research, and research can be done with books, and books can be found in a book store, it seemed high time to head off to the book store! Lady M and Baby Ruth also thought this seemed like a good idea, so off we went! (I did take along the test and laptop with the intention of working on the material in the cafe.) The next big decision was which store to go to. I chose Borders because, although on the other side of town, the cafe' is roomier and the whole place has a better feel to it. Of course, I inadvertently began heading towards the local Barnes and Noble and had to turn around to head back to Borders......should have followed my instinct, though. We arrived at Borders and braved the rain only to find that the Cafe' was closed (I assume for renovations based on the large tarp around it.....otherwise, I don't want to know why it's closed.) So, off to Barnes and Noble we go, but not to the one that I initially drove towards. This one is inside a little mall. Perfect for Lady M and Baby Ruth. They trotted off into the mall and I headed straight for the cafe' area for some coffee and a scone.
(This is where the "from another planet" thing comes into play)
I patiently awaited my turn in line, mouth watering over the coffee with soy milk and the blueberry scone that I was about to devour. The experience went something like this:
BARISTA 1: [mundane look on his face] "Can I help the next customer?"
ME: "Yes, could I have a grande coffee of the day with a little bit of soy milk, please an"...[he interrupts]
BARISTA 1: "OK that will be $1.87" *ka ching* goes the register
ME: [annoyed with being interrupted AND potentially missing out on that mouth watering scone that I shouldn't be eating anyway but now MUST order] "Uh, AND a blueberry scone, please."
BARISTA 1: [begrudgingly adding it into the total] *sigh* "blueberry?"
ME: "Yes, blueberry. Sorry, guess I didn't say it fast enough." (OK, uncalled for, but give a customer a chance to order, will ya? I had my scone, which was not spit on because I watched it the whole way to the counter and I slid over for my coffee which I witnessed being poured into the cup. Barista 2 placed the 3/4 full cup in front of me and placed the lid on it saying, "you wanted soy?"
ME: "Yes, please"
Barista 2 nodded and cocked his head toward the 3/4 full cup of very dark liquid.
ME: "Oh, is it in there already?" I asked while removing the lid and gazing curiously at the dark coffee.
BARISTA 2: "Yeah, it's in there."
ME: "Oh, uh, really? Uh, could I add a bit more, perhaps?" (my inner alien is saying, "it's in there? are you f-ing kidding me? I just watched you pour the coffee into the cup and it's just as black now as it was then, besides the fact that I just paid nearly $2.00 for a cup of coffee that isn't even full!")
BARISTA 2: "You want to add more?" (apparently he speaks inner-alien, because he sure gave me an odd look!)
ME: "Yes, could I?"
[BARISTA 2 gets out the soy mild and pours a few globs into my cup]
ME: "Perfect, thank you very much" - trying to sound pleasant.
Again, BARISTA 2 looks at me like I just came out of a steam room and forgot my robe.
ME: "Heh....gee...(yes, I said "gee") I feel like I'm from a different planet today."
BARISTA 2: [no smile, not even a smirk] "yeah, like us all, some days"
ME: [thinking, OK, now we are on the same page] "Heh heh....I just wish I remembered the trip, I bet it was a good one"
BARISTA 2: absolutely no comment, grin, smile, or other indication of amusement as he turns his head and looks at me as though I just turned green and began to beam up right in front of him.

I never did get beamed up, but I did have another interesting experience before we left the store. I met a lovely young man in the martial arts book aisle who was looking for a particular book. Prior to us speaking, I pulled a book off of the shelf to read the back cover. He glanced at it and said happily, "Oh, that's the one that I was looking for." I handed it to him and said,"looks interesting, enjoy". I had to convince him that I did not want to buy it because I was looking for something by Prof. Wally Jay. He inquired as to who that was and what sort of book I needed, so I proceeded to explain Small Circle Theory Jujitsu in 30 seconds or less. (This was good practice for me, as I need to talk about it on my test.) He then realized that the book he now had was not what he was looking for, but rather one with a similar title. I happened to know the book well ("The Way of the Peaceful Warrior" by Dan Millman) and informed him that he would have better luck in the fiction or Spiritual sections. We ended our chat, he went in search of the "Peaceful Warrior" and I levitated over to the Bargain books where I soon came across a bargain copy of "Peaceful Warrior" and "Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior" combined under one cover. What a deal, I thought, as I grabbed the book. I must find that guy and give him this book!
Utilizing skills learned from watching The Secret, I found the fella sitting with a lady friend at a table. He had a new copy of "Peaceful Warrior" and I happily presented him with the bargain that I found. It occurred to me only after a brief exchange and a couple of silly comments on my part that it must have seemed very odd to his lady friend that a stranger came trotting over to their table and presented her beau with a book that he had been looking for earlier and had, in fact, already found. (oh well)
Finally, once again utilizing skills learned from The Secret, I managed to "manifest" and empty table and sat down to answer another question on my test. It was just about that time that Lady M and Baby Ruth showed up and were ready to check out.
So, here I am, twelve hours after beginning the work on my test, still trying to finish it...........Today's experiences reinforced for me the need for patience, kindness, and the importance of helping one another even in the most unlikely of ways. Also important virtues in the world of Martial Arts.......I think I just answered another question from my test......

Welcome Beni MLK Bu

Please join us in welcoming our new friend, Beni MLK Bu! (Pronounced "Benny milk Boo")

Baby Ruth (18 months in a couple of days, for those who have been out of the loop for a while) received a gift card from her aunties K and L, and we made a very special trip to Build A Bear today. It was a very difficult decision as to who to stuff and bring home. The finalists were Shrek, Winnie the Pooh, and the little guy in the picture. Obviously, the turtle won in the end and is now enjoying his new home on our living room floor.

The whole experience went rather well. Baby Ruth was enthralled by the stuffing machine and very much enjoyed collecting the little hearts that go into the animals. You're really only supposed to put ONE in the critter, but we sure tried for more. Then, of course, there were the shoplifting attempts. Apparently, according to Baby Ruth, anyway, a turtle just can't have too many skirts and "Hello Kitty" tank tops. Lucky for us, we found them in the bottom of the stroller before leaving the store. (My previous retail career taught me to always keep an eye on those "empty" strollers - now I REALLY know why.) It's the toddlers that you have to watch out for!
As it turns out, skirts really don't fit well on turtles - sort of makes them appear to be in "drag". We, therefore, opted for the "overall" look instead.
After the outfit shopping, it was time to name the little fella. Baby Ruth didn't want to say his name aloud, so she typed it right into the computer. The actual spelling was "BEN I,,,MLKB U", but we were able to translate.

Once again, Beni MLK Bu, we welcome you to our humble abode!

Perspectives from the dirt

Once again, it has been quite a while between my posts. It really all goes back to the earlier post "Life gets in the way of itself". Busy busy busy.
Actually, it's not that I've been any busier than usual. I mean, there are the everyday chores, the doctor visits for Lady M and the Twins that she is "brewing", that thing called "work", and the training for the upcoming Karate test in August (this one's sure to be a doozy), but really, nothing "extra". I've just put the blogging on the waaay back burner. Enough excuses?

OK.

Lately I have been pondering perspectives. I ponder frequently, and try to do so from different points of view when possible. What got me started on this particular ponder was a recent softball game.
I play in a local "bar league" (AKA "lolly-pop ball") and this year am the manager of my team. (This sort of fell in my lap by default.) We play only on Wednesday nights, and have a blast each time we play. There are quite a few of my "co-workers" from the paper mill on the team, as well as pals from outside the mill. Many of us are former college players, either softball or another competitive sport. Now, we are older, wiser, and have day jobs. We are in the "B", or maybe even "C" league. I don't know which letter, but it's really more of a "beginner" league. We don't even have playoffs at the end of the season. I think the idea is for teams to earn their way into the "A" bracket, but we see things a bit differently, it seems. We are PERFECTLY content where we are.
We get together on Wednesday nights and play in the dirt. We try to tell ourselves that we don't care if we win or not, but being the natural competitors that we are, deep down we really want to score more runs than the other team. BUT, regardless of the final score, we have FUN. We blow off steam, we goof off, we take too long getting on or off the field (not on purpose, of course).
Here's where the perspective thing comes in. The other teams seem to take it so much more seriously. (I guess they really want to get to the "A" division.) They get upset when they make an error, and by upset, I mean angry. The umpires also get their panties in a twist on occasion. Very few smiles when things are going a bit awry.
This isn't the MAJOR LEAGUE for Pete sake!
We must drive them all crazy! We simply enjoy getting out there on the field. What is the difference? Are we more well-adjusted and happier with our lives? Perhaps.
I'm thinking, though, that we, as individuals and as a group, simply look at things from a different point of view. Our team consists of two current Div. I college softball coaches - they get paid to win games; numerous former scholarship players - they too, in effect, were paid to play; and quite a few people who are responsible for the lives and well-being of many people on a daily basis.
When Wednesday night comes around, it's all about the bat, the ball, and the dirt. It's fun. There is no pressure (as long as we have enough players....which is another perspective in and of itself).
My personal point of view, as team manager, has shifted slightly since last year. Although I have a ton of fun at the games, I do find my own panties in a twist each week as we scramble to find enough players from our roster to field a team. Most of the time we manage to get at least 9 together for a game. Then, the lineup must be done. My method of creating the lineup, prior to tonight, was ALPHABETICALLY. Do you think that is how they do it in the Majors? Tonight, I decided to live on the edge and go completely at random.
The absolute best part of all of this? Despite our fun-loving, care-free attitude and "strategically masterminded" line-ups, we have managed to WIN all of our games thus far!
Of course, it is not about winning or losing. Every one knows that it's how you play the game. Beyond that, however, it is how you perceive the game (life). There is a time and a place to be serious, no doubt. It is during those in between times (the "Wednesdays") that we should all take a moment or two to just go play in the dirt.

Tragedy and The Little Things

Earlier this afternoon, I began a post about the satisfaction that I felt after rearranging a small area of our home. The beginning of that post is in italics below, just as I left it prior to heading out for our days activities. I am not finishing the post in the manner originally planned due to a recent local newsworthy event which occurred at my Alma Mater. It was (and is) an absolutely tragic occurrence that has hit rather close to home in a sense. Before I go on about the "news", here is the beginning of my original post:

It is the smaller things in life that I find very exciting and fulfilling. I just finished the most lovely project, and I must say, I feel lighter on my feet. (NOT, however, lighter in my loafers, if you catch my drift - I'm light enough there as it is.)
What did I do?

I REARRANGED our computer station! Now, instead of turning sideways to reach the keyboard and see the monitor, we have the option of sitting in front of it! If you know us and have been to our house, you know that we try to maximize the space that we have by cramming as much into one room as possible.

Now, about this tragic story.
Last Wednesday night into Thursday, a Fraternity at a local college (my Alma Mater, as I said) held a party as part of the "pledging" process. As is expected at a college frat party, large quantities of alcohol were being consumed. A freshman, Gary D., who was pledging the fraternity, participated in the festivities. Gary consumed significantly more than his share of alcohol, passed out and was later taken to the hospital where he died the next day. I know of this only by reading it in the newspaper, so I have only the perspective provided by the reporters. I do not always trust what is written, but over all, the coverage of this event thus far seems o.k. According to quotes in the articles, Gary was not one to drink frequently or in large amounts. Unfortunately, this particular night was different. Gary did what was apparently expected of him in order to become part of a group (fraternity).
I do not mean to imply that Gary succumbed to peer pressure. I did not know Gary, but based on the quotes from those who did know him, he seems more the sort who would stand by his principles and do the right thing. Again, I did not know Gary.
What I do know, however, is that his story is one that should not be. It is also one that has been told before, and unfortunately one that will likely be told again with someone else as a main character. This is partly what makes it so tragic. I mean, it goes without saying that when a young person loses his or her life that a tragic event has occurred. The real tragedy here is that it is not a "freak accident". It is an avoidable event that finds away to repeat itself. In Gary's case, it seems that alcohol poisoning led to his death (this is an assumption, as autopsy/toxicology results, to my knowledge, have not been released). For other "young" people, it may be an alcohol related motor vehicle accident, or a drunken stunt gone wrong. (For those of you who know me, you know what I do for a living, and although I have not seen as much "devastation" as some, I have seen enough from both sides to know the pain and suffering that ensue.) Whatever the "reaction", the catalyst is often overuse of alcohol (or other drugs) and the result is all too often death or serious injury.

I mentioned in the beginning that Gary's story hit rather close to home. What makes it somewhat personal is that I attended the same school. I lived on campus, played two sports, was involved in many campus activities and am well aware of the fraternity that he was pledging. This is a relatively small school with a small campus. It has been 10 years since I graduated, and I still feel part of the "family". That is the beauty of the school. It is like a large, extended family.
The other reason that brings it close to home is that one of his Professors is someone whom I consider a very good friend. Prior to reading a news article this evening, I did not know that he was one of her students. As I was reading one article, she came very clearly into my awareness and I thought, "Wow, I think he was one of K's students." Before I could talk myself out of this thought, I glanced at the next article and right at the beginning was a quote from one of his professors - my Friend.
"Professor", I am not sure what the psychic connection is there, but it was interesting.

What is it that makes teenagers and early 20-somethings think that they are invincible? Clearly I was there once, but I just don't recall my thought processes at the time. (I'm a bad barometer, though - I was more of a "goody goody" - no drinking, no drugs - I can HONESTLY say that I didn't inhale. *wink*)
What does all of this have to do with my title, Tragedy and The Little Things?
Well, as I read the articles and glanced back at my blog, I thought about perspective and the little things in life. Today, as I bask in the glory of my newly arranged furniture, a family (immediate and extended) mourns the loss of a loved one.
Does this mean that I should not enjoy my new setup? That others who were touched by this story, or any other story of heartache should not find enjoyment in their daily lives?
Absolutely not.
What this means is that all of us should take time to appreciate what we have, appreciate those we love.
Express gratitude to those who love us and to those who help us along life's paths, as we lend a helping hand to those who need our love and guidance. Be patient and kind to one another and most importantly, ENJOY THE JOURNEY.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Gary's family and friends.

Our Zoo

Our humble abode is never lacking in excitement, depending, of course, on what you consider "excitement". Most this is now due to a very busy toddler, but the rest of our "clan" is never far behind.

Today, as we do many a day, Lady M, Baby Ruth, Big Dog, Little Dog, and I went for a nice walk in the park. These are always lovely until another dog passes by and "Little Dog" - a Jack Russell - tries to eat the passerby, regardless of the breed or size. She is a very "tough" little dog, despite the fact that she has only two top front teeth. Thanks to our brave "Little Dog", we made it safely through our walk without being accosted by any large dogs. It was upon our return home that our brave "Little Dog" showed her true nature.

One of our birds has a new favorite toy. A large plastic ball with a smaller ball with a bell in it inside the large ball. Birdie loves to jingle the bell, pick it up, drop it, etc. (She is actually obsessively trying to get the darn little ball out. - we have O.C.D. issues around here.) Anyway, as it turns out, our brave "Little Dog" who will readily take on any Doberman, German Shepherd, or any other large breed that she encounters is TERRIFIED of this ball and bell!

From the first jingle, "Little dog" began panting, pacing and darting from room to room until she could finally get to her "safe haven". It seems that as long as she is tucked securely inside her travel crate, all is well in her world. I guess it makes her feel like she is finally going to get out of this joint.

Joke of the day

I just had to post this one....

"11 minutes to go"

A cop was patrolling late at night in a well-known spot.

He sees a couple in a car, with the interior light brightly glowing. The cop carefully approaches the car to get a closer look.

Then he sees a young man behind the wheel, reading a computer magazine He immediately notices a young woman in the rear seat, knitting. Puzzled by this surprising situation, the cop walks to the car and gently raps on the driver's window.

The young man lowers his window . "Uh, yes, officer?"

The cop says: "What are you doing?"

The young man says: "Well, Officer, I'm reading a magazine."

Pointing towards the young woman in the back seat the cop says:

"And her, what is she doing?"

The young man shrugs: "Sir, I believe she's knitting a pullover sweater."

Now, the cop is totally confused. A yo ung couple. Alone, in a car, at

night in a Lover's lane....and nothing obscene is happening!

The cop asks: "What's your age, young man?"

The young man says :"I'm 22, sir."

The cop asks: "And her ... what's her age?"

The young man looks at his watch and replies:

"She'll be 18 in 11 minutes."

Myself vs. I

Thank you for your patience during my extended meditation exercises. If only my personal experience was as relaxing as the cartoon me appears! I could attempt to explain myself for allowing so much time to pass between blog updates, but I simply have no excuse. Just like everyone else, we are a busy family. My work at the Paper Mill seems endless, but this is a good thing, as it pays the bills! I think that one part of my "anti-posting" campaign is due to a type of writer's block. It's not that I have nothing to write about - there are plenty of day to day events that could be construed as amusing, anecdotal, or educational. The thing is, as I read back over some of the past entries, I feel a lack of "funny" come over me. I want to "hear" that side splitting laughter coming out of my screen when others read what I have written. If not laughter, then a strong sense of "hmmm....." is good. Bottom line is, I've suddenly (ok, it's not so sudden) begun a heated competition with myself to see who can have the best blog entry, and since I know that I am the best, there is no competing with me! (When I say "the best", I mean in the competition between Myself and I - there is no comparison to be made with some of my other blogging friends -- i.e. TheEverythingGirl, Ciar Cullen, to name a couple.)
I am wondering, (Ciar Cullen, perhaps you can answer this) is this normal? I mean, in the "writer" sense. Not that I consider myself a writer, really, but there are a couple of things brewing that I intend to finish one day.

So, where does this leave us?
It leaves me sitting on the couch with a laptop right where it belongs - on my lap, pondering what to do next. One phrase keeps coming to mind - an entry that I have had in my drafts since August. (Where does the time go???) Now seems like an appropriate time to review that one. . . . . stay tuned.........

Life gets in the way of itself

Have you ever felt that life had a tendancy to get in the way of itself? What I mean is, do you ever feel so busy and aspire to do so many things, whether it is in one day or over the course of "time" that very little is accomplished? Sort of like running in circles, but more like an outward spiral. In keeping with previous posts regarding "The Secret" and other motivational inferences, I prefer to take a more positive view than this sounds so far. First, though, I think I need to explain more fully what I mean. Strap on your seatbelts - I am about to take you on a journey through my mind.....are you scared yet? *sinsiter cackle*

Wow! This is more challenging than I thought! All right, I'll begin with daily "aspirations". For me, as for everyone, I suspect, these things change depending on the day. It could be walking the dogs, petting the birds, cleaning the fish, playing with Baby Ruth, grocery shopping, house cleaning, laundry, an oil change for the car, or perhaps all of the above. (OK, so I don't do much of the grocery shopping, but I pitch in everywhere else......supermarkets frighten me.....so much food....so many people........) In addition to these tasks, which are on-going, there are the larger "one-time" projects - painting the doors, replacing doors, a bit of sewing, painting the trim, building a room or buying a house (this last to accomodate our growing family). As the weather warms, there is landscaping to think about. Next we have the walks in the park, blog updating, other writing, time for meditation, planning for the upcoming rec. softball season, and for me a very important part of life, Martial Arts - which leads right into the daily dietary considerations - to fast or not to fast.....and a wealth of other contemplations when it comes to deciding what to consume.....green things are good, processed things are bad.....and what about the air that we breath? the plastic toys? the "mainstream" diapers? aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!
(hey, I warned you that this was a journey through my mind......)
All right, so there are many activities that are available to be accomplished and completed. These are in addition to that little thing called "job". I love my job at the Paper Mill, and often welcome the opportunity to go there. Not because I want to get away from home, but because I enjoy what I do. It does, however, take time from the other things that I want to do. Overall, I feel very fortunate to have so many opportunities to do different things. BUT, the big BUT.......this is where life tends to get in the way of itself. Corporate folks might take the "time management" perspective and say that it is just a matter of managing my time and that I should, perhaps, keep a daily planner and stick to it. What that says to me is, "aaargh! one more thing that I have to do....I have to take the time to sit down to figure out how much time I have for each activity." -- not so helpful.

Where is the positive message in all of this? (A very good question, that is!)

Clearly, priorities must be set, and met. Family first. This includes SELF. We are no good to anyone else if we are not good to ourselves first. This is not an act of "selfishness", although it may sound like it. As I said, I am thankful to have so many opportunities to accomplish different things. The challenge for me lies in my effort to "quiet my mind". I am making an increased effort to set aside some time for daily meditation, in one form or another. The other things to be done are still going to be there afterwards, and if I am lucky, the Fairies (remember the Fairies? - scroll down....) will return and do all of the painting for me!

So, while life does sometimes get in the way of itself and trip us every now and again, we must focus on simply being. Everything will come together in its own time - just enjoy the journey!

Remember: "What we think about, we bring about!"

Weekend with Gram

My Mom came to visit this weekend. She used to come to see me, but not so much any more. Now that Baby Ruth is with us, she is the star of the show, as she should be. We had a lovely time going to the park, eating, and playing. Baby Ruth and Gram both seemed to enjoy themselves very much, as did both of our dogs. The little one loves to have someone new to snuggle with at night, and Gram fits the bill quite nicely!
As for the dogs, we seem to have some mixed up priorities in our household. We came to this conclusion one evening as we were playing on the floor with Baby Ruth and the dogs came pouncing in. With glaring eyes and a stern voice, Lady M, pointing at the sofa said, "GET UP THERE AND LAY DOWN!"
Who tells their dogs to get ON the couch so that the humans of the house can have the floor to themselves?? (uh, that would be us)
So, now the dogs have the right idea. They come into the room, see us playing on the floor, and hop right up where they belong - on the furniture. The big brown dog wanted to demonstrate this to Gram this past weekend as we were taking a short break from the movie that we were watching.
Into the living room she trotted and seeing Baby Ruth on the floor, promptly hoped onto the couch next to me. Now, it is very important for a dog to have things arranged just so, and the blanket that was on the cushion was simply not positioned properly. So, in large doggie fashion, she dug and flipped the blanket with her head, tossing it to and fro when suddenly her concentration was broken by a noise from the kitchen. Brown Dog popped up facing the kitchen, front feet on the arm of the sofa, with the blanket draped so daintily around her head and shoulders. We began to chuckle, and then we saw it. Lady M had been folding laundry and apparently an article of her clothing had been left behind. Well, Brown Dog found it. Standing with her front paws on the arm of the sofa and the blanket draped around her, Brown Dog was proudly displaying on her neck a rather large bra hanging by a single strap.

I know that it is not nice to laugh at others, and I did feel somewhat guilty for howling with laughter when I saw the confused look in the dog's eyes, but it was one of the funniest things that I have ever seen!

Please pardon my absence while I meditate......

I'll be back soon..........

Cartoon ME in the magical forest with my pet dragon

Dream

I know that I said that my previous post would be my last for 2006, but I wanted to share this dream that I had last night. It was quite strange, to say the least, but in the end seemed to have a good lesson.......get comfortable, it’s a long one.....oh, and please pardon any changes in tense and person that may occur......

The dream began with a woman with blonde hair, who I think was supposed to be me. Perhaps this was me from a past or future life. This woman was in a car crash or something that occurred suddenly and sent her into a large amount of water. This incident involved something contrary to the law. Perhaps drinking and driving (we all know this is a no-no, right). My recall is a bit fuzzy, but I know there was water and she was in it. The next thing that I recall is her in the grass next to what may have be softball fields. It seems that she has just climbed out of the water and has been handed a blanket with a pink ribbon on it.

There is a blank period here. Next, I recall seeing her in a building with other people. (I should mention that while I am “seeing” this action from the third person, I am also experiencing it as this woman.) She is in a room. She knows that there was an accident of some sort and knows that she may be in serious trouble, but then through either her own realization or by overhearing a conversation, she realizes that no one was ever able to identify her. (Apparently, she is thought to be dead, but is clearly alive and well - with no identity. By “identity” I mean that she has nothing to call herself. She “knows” who she is, but there is no word or name for her now.) There are people there who she knows, yet she says that she doesn’t remember who she is and this seems like the truth. In her mind, although she feels that it is real, the images of the crash seem like a dream.

She is walking around this building which seems like a dormitory or a hospital or a research facility of some sort. The people whom she knows from before the “incident” all look exactly the same, as does she. They know her, but also know that she doesn’t remember her name, so they don’t either.
(This CLEARLY was a very strange dream! It was like a time paradox or something. The more I write, the stranger it seems........alas, I digress......)

She is shown to her room, which looks like a large dorm room and she will share it with four others.
(please bear with me as I skip around a bit. some images are lost, while others just pop up at random)

She sees a calendar. It is a large white “wipe-off” board with all of the rooms listed. A square around the room means that that room has mail. She goes to get the mail. It is in what appears to be a nurses station. She is handed the mail and has some herself. (I don’t recall what it was, just that it seemed very strange to get mail in this place.)

She is walking around/exploring. She sees a date on a newspaper - a year. It is 5639, or something close to that. It is nearly 3000 years from our “local present time”. She asks multiple people what year it is and all confirm that it is 5639 (or so). Perplexing!

She is talking to one of her “old” friends, who still looks the same and has the same name. She asks how this is possible and her friend just shrugs, giving her a “you know how it is” look. She asks her friend how old she is. Her friend says that she is 15,000 years old - or was it 1500? - either way, it didn’t add up and didn’t make sense to her.

Again, everyone confirms the year.

She is, once again, walking around and exploring outside the building. She is walking on a pathway around the side of the building. Concrete steps are bordered by shrubs atop stone walls. It is very pretty. Beautiful green grass covers the grounds. There are other people around as well. Near the top of the walkway there is larger wall. Above this wall is a giant talking bird. The bird seems to be preaching or giving out some sort of directive. At first, from a distance, this bird seems real, but when she gets closer, she realizes that it is mechanical. She can see the wires holding it up. Now the entire area seems like a movie set. There are also large wild, black cats with large fangs wandering around. She is not sure if they are real or not, but they don’t bother anyone.

After this, there is some more blank space.

She is inside looking at a newspaper again. She is reading over someone’s shoulder and is looking at the dates on the tops of the pages. The dates all seem different. She perceives that she is only supposed to see the first page. (year 5639) To her, this also seems like a movie prop, but when she asks the date, she is again told “5639”. The person turning the pages seems to turn very quickly to the page with that date. She is now beginning to feel uneasy. Something does not seem right.

She is back in her room. A bed needs to be made and one of her roommates is working on it. She says that she is going to go get the mail, but the person making the bed needs help first. She helps, then goes to get the mail. She feels as though she should not be seen, quickly reaches in for the mail and leaves.

She is in a house with someone else - a friend. They are looking for something. The house seems empty. As she goes to the back down a long hallway, she notices that there is a large amount of “stuff” here. Many shelves of books, papers, toys, etc. line the hallway. She tries a couple of doors - knocks on them, I think. An old man’s voice is heard from behind one of the doors. She and her friend both feel the need to leave, but she continues back the hallway. She encounters a snake coiled on a chair. It is real, but looks like a “beanie baby” snake - it is bright blue and green with some other colors. It lifts its head and hisses. She backs away and hurries down the hall.

She feel strongly that things are not right and that she needs to leave this place. In a previous discussion she had asked someone about some sort of “old” tool or device - something that we use today, but should have been obsolete in that time - a pencil sharpener or something - it seemed primitive for that time period. Although she feels that everyone here seems somewhat aloof and secretive, she also senses something much more powerful. Everyone seems to have a very high level of awareness. She can feel it, and feels that she has it too, but her fear of the unknown - unknown place/time/consequences - seem to be keeping her from experiencing it fully.

She is outside in a forest-like area. She is running, perhaps for exercise - it doesn’t seem to be for escape.
She is climbing up rocky steps. The seem to just rise out of no where. At the top of the steps is a rock path with a metal railing. The path just stops at random and a wide stream of muddy water flows through . The walkway continues on the other side. At first it seems that there is no way across, then she realizes that people have now developed the ability to run across water. As she realizes this, another “jogger” runs by, on the water. She knows that if she believes, then she can do it too. Her friend is with her and can’t find her way up the steps. She directs her friend.

Next they are in an area with a thick pink liquid. She gets in and begins to swim. She gets it in her nose and it is hard to breath. At first she begins to panic and starts to sink. Then she realizes that she must relax and she becomes very buoyant. Her friend wants her to taste the liquid. She does not, but it smells like strawberry. She “swims” to a chair holding a black bunny with pink ribbons. The bunny is mechanical. It says to take a ribbon and it will help her “hop” along. She knows that this ribbon will enable her to jump and nearly fly. She marvels about this to her friend and her friend points out that she had a pink ribbon on her blanket earlier, but she didn’t use it. She now olds the ribbon and begins to “hop” along the top of this liquid.

This is where I woke up.

No, I am not crazy. I just have very vivid dreams, and am certain that there are many important messages in there. Perhaps the messages are not just for me, as I felt compelled to post this particular dream for all to read.
What came to mind as I finished writing this in my dream journal was this:
In regard to the ribbons: Sometimes we are given “gifts”, but we don’t know what to do with them. It is not until sometime later, perhaps after some Life Lessons and a reintroduction to the “gift” that we figure out how important it was to begin with.
Our challenge, our goal must be to recognize these “gifts” immediately as we receive them. The “Universe” will help us learn to understand and recognize them.
Be careful what you wish for, and express gratitude for what you have.

I absolutely WELCOME any and all comments on this one!!

SEASON'S GREETINGS!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, Everyone!!!!!! To everyone who celebrates Christmas, that is.......

Happy Hanukkah, to those who celebrate Hanukkah......

Happy Winter Solstice, for those to whom it applies.......

And a HEARTFELT Seasons Greetings to anyone and everyone!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope you all have a wonderful, joyous Holiday Season and an even Happier New Year!

Please accept my apologies for the lack of posts lately. The busy season is upon us, and I too have been caught up in the hustle bustle of everyday life. Times are tough at the "Paper Mill" these days and I've had to work extremely long hours just to keep the fires lit. It's tough, but someone has to do it.

For now, I leave you with one last post for 2006........(see below).........

(Wholesome) Parents of the Year (??)

I am quite certain that, based on the last week, Lady M and I are going to be nominated for "Parents of the Year". (yeah, right....)
Again, I do apologize for the lag in posts. Obviously it is a busy time of year for all of us, so I really have no excuse, other than to say that I've been trying to work as much overtime as possible at the "Mill" so that we can get "Baby Ruth" some nice presents this year. *wink*

Anyway, on to the award explanations.......

A very good friend of mine who, until fairly recently, was a closeted Romance writer, recently had her first book signing. (WAY TO GO CIAR!!!!) (By closeted, I mean that I did not know that she was such a phenomenal writer....in fact, I had no idea that she wrote at all.)
Unfortunately, I was working the day of the signing, and because it is crunch time at the factory, I couldn't get the day off. So, I badgered "Lady M" until she conceded and agreed to go purchase a signed copy of Ciar Cullen's "Lords of Chi" for me. At the time, I could think of no reason why this would not be a good idea. "Lady M's" comment of, "Oh good, I'll get my Dad's magazines while I'm there" should have been a clue, however.
(I should mention that the book is technically -Ciar, correct me if I'm wrong- EROTIC FANTASY FICTION.)
So, long story short, I sent my wonderful partner and our beloved offspring to Borders in the local mall to purchase an Erotic novel and Playboy magazines ("Dad's mags")!! I can only imagine the thoughts going through people's heads as "Lady M" approached the counter with a signed copy (which I am VERY proud to have, btw) of "Lords of Chi" and a stack of Playboy magazines with a toddler in her arms.
I imagine things like, "Oh, that poor child! What kind of environment is she being raised in?" and "Oh, you filthy woman........what do you teach this child?"
The reality is, most likely no one noticed or cared, but in my mind, this is strike number one against us for parents of the year.
Strike two came when young "Baby Ruth" decided to titter totter up to the Christmas tree, snatch one of the light bulbs off and pop it in her mouth. This has been a recurring activity, hence strike number two.
I'm giving myself credit for strike number three.
In an effort to get us out the door on time, I decided that I'd try my hand at multitasking. Nothing Earth-shattering, just thought that I'd let the dogs out while changing "Baby Ruth's" diaper. So, out go the dogs (btw, it is rather wet outside) and I set to changing the diaper which, of course, was full of poop. As any well trained young human will do, as soon as I pulled off the dirty diaper and applied the diaper cream, "Baby Ruth" demonstrated her quickness and scurried across the floor. At the same time, in came doggie number one tracking muddy paw prints across the freshly cleaned carpet. I recovered "Baby Ruth" and finished the diapering process. I then grabbed a baby wipe in an effort to clean the floor. During the second that it took me to turn around, "Baby Ruth" began her investigation of the poop filled diaper. I quickly recovered the diaper and turned my attention to the dirty paws afoot. Again, "Baby Ruth", the investigator extrodinaire, turned her attention elsewhere. I glanced back (again, maybe a second or two later) just in time to see a little tiny pointer finger jammed into the opening of the diaper cream.)
Needless to say, the baby wipe that was meant to be used to clean paws was used to clean little tiny fingers.

Although we may not be candidates for "(Wholesome) Parents of the Year", I think we are doing OK. I mean, at least we're not running a "meth." lab in the basement and turning tricks on the nearest street corner! (not that I know anything about this sort of thing......uh.....I mean.....I just overheard something like it at the "Mill" the other day.......yeah, that's it.....)

Fairy Update

The Leaf Fairy has returned! Seriously! I spent a few hours the other day raking and mulching leaves, only to have more blow into the yard the next day. On Saturday, I looked out the window and could see grass again in the rear of my yard! It can mean only one thing, I'm certain......the Fairies are back in action!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Stick Fairy also returned, in the form of my neighbor......she came to collect sticks for firewood and said she wants more! (This must be a work of magic!)

Has anyone else seen evidence of their return?

Yet another "Secret" example

The other day, I made a rather unfortunate discovery in our house. Our cable wire, which enables our internet connection as well as television reception, had been chewed through by a cute little mouse. (I no longer think of the little mousie as "cute", by the way. Well, it is fuzzy and what not, and I still want to use a humane trap to get it out of our home, but it has lost some of the cuteness factor.)
Anyway, clearly it is important to have that internet connection, so I set my mind to getting a new cable wire. The only problem was, where to find it. I thought that I may need to contact the cable company to get that particular type of coax....or perhaps an electronics store.......then I began to brainstorm....perhaps while driving, I might come across a cable company truck and ask the technician what kind of cable and where to get it.
That day at work, I happened to be in a day long meeting and told the cable eating story to a few co-workers, along with the hope that I would come across a cable technician who would help me. On the way home, my co-worker and I spotted just the truck that I needed. Unfortunately, it was on the highway. I dropped off my passenger and continued on my way home. Then, like a flashing beacon on a dark and stormy night, there it was. A CABLE TRUCK pulling out of a gas station. I followed the shining star over the river and through the woods (ok, so it was through a neighborhood, but 'tis the season). I figured the driver was going to a job.....actually, I followed him home. (oops)
I excused myself for being so bold and asked the technician about my dilemma. He was very kind and friendly and just happened to have an extra bit of cable, just the length that I needed!

The moral? "If you think it, you will bring it"
Or, for the movie lover, "If you build it, they will come".

WATCH "THE SECRET"!!!!!

I received this in an E-mail from a good friend (for whom I am very thankful) and want to share it with everyone. Enjoy, and HAPPY THANKS LIVING!

Holiday Lessons to Live By...

You may be aware that while I was growing up, my father was a Protestant minister. For years, I attended service three times per week and, like most kids, often just wanted it to "hurry up and get over with."

However, with my current understanding of the mind, I now know that while I sat in service and doodled, fidgeted or pestered my little brother, my unconscious mind was wide open and received many great teachings and truths.

One of those teachings came back to me in my meditation this morning, and I thought it was very appropriate for this week.

I remember my father saying almost yearly from his pulpit, "We need to not only practice Thanksgiving but 'Thanks Living'."

It's definitely no accident that a major portion of my teaching in The Secret is centered on gratitude. Likewise, I devoted an entire chapter to this technology (and I use that term intentionally) in my book The Science of Success.

While some who don't understand the power of energy, vibration and attraction may think that gratitude is not a big deal, I can promise you that:

Gratitude is the mother of creative vibrations.

You see, when you're grateful for what you currently have in your life, it focuses you on the best. And that puts you in a vibration (feeling) to attract and receive more of the best.

When you have a lack of gratitude in your life, you're focusing on the worst, and that puts you in a vibrational feeling that attracts to you more of the worst.

Life is a self-fulfilling prophecy and YOU are the prophet.

Now as you stop and think about this, it's very practical.

Think about the person who's constantly ungrateful and full of complaints and problems. Do you want to be around them... much less help them? Probably not.

Conversely, think of someone you know who's constantly grateful and appreciative in life. Same question: Do you want to be around them? Would you like to help this person if possible? Probably so.

The universe and all its inhabitants line up in support of the person who's in a vibration of gratitude.

Here's my recommendation as you move into the Holidays this year: Make the theme of the Holiday Season "giving thanks."

While eating turkey and watching football may be the norm around your household, sit down for a least a few minutes and have each family member (including you) list out loud at least 3 things that you're grateful for.

You'll be amazed at how positively this affects the energy in your household. Who knows... you may find it addictive, and you'll find yourself one step closer to "Thanks Living."

Thanks, Dad.

Your success coach,

James Arthur Ray
President/CEO
James Ray International

P.S. Please feel free to share this message with your family and friends this Holiday Season.

The Secret

The other day Lady M and I watched a wonderful movie. Actually, it wasn’t so much a “movie” as a documentary type film. Either way, it was excellent! It is called “The Secret”. I highly recommend it! It seems to only be available on the website at the present moment, so I have included the link. I’m not going to go into detail about it, because that would ruin the “plot” and give away “the secret”. With that said, however, I do feel that “the secret” is something that should be shared. It is better, though, that you enjoy the secret when you are ready. That is when it will make the most sense and be best put to use.
Curious yet?
Here’s a little story.....

After watching “The Secret”, I decided to fix myself a nice bottle of water with lemon. In order to do this, I first had to remove the pieces of lemon that I had had in my water from earlier. Using a fork, and not giving much thought to the task, I successfully removed the first piece of lemon. I immediately began to ponder the ease in which that lemon came out. I wondered why it hadn’t fallen off the fork or gotten stuck in the opening. I started to picture in my mind all of the ways in which this lemon removing task could have gone awry. (In other words, my mind was wandering at random.) I began to fetch out the second lemon piece. Wouldn’t you know, that darn lemon wedge would NOT stay on my fork! Again and again it fell off. I tilted, poked, prodded, did everything but turn the bottle upside down and dump the water and lemon out. All to no avail. Then, I remembered “The Secret”, and thought, “Hmmm............well, it’s worth a try”. So, I applied “the secret”. Within seconds that lemon was on the fork, out of the bottle and in the trash.

This probably doesn’t seem like an earth shattering or space shifting event, but I found it to be an excellent little experiment. If applying “the secret” can have such immediate consequences with a rather mundane task, what can it do for bigger events? I’m not sure just yet, but I intend to find out.

Enjoy “The Secret”

H*ll no, we won't go....H*ll no, we won't go.....H*ll no..

(Jeninius, this one's for you)

Has anyone else been having issues with things just not getting done as quickly or easily as they once did? Things like the laundry or dishes. Perhaps there is an excessive amount of dust around the house, and you (or the responsible party) just can’t seem to get rid of it. Does your house seem to be in a constant state of disarray - inside and/or out? Like us, is the clutter overwhelming? How about those leaves? Where do they all come from? Are the trees really that big? They just don’t rake themselves, do they? Does anyone else feel stress over these things?
Well, everyone will be happy to know that I have found the reason for this stressful “mess”. (Notice I didn’t say that I’ve found a solution)
I was commiserating with a friend this evening about the many tasks and little time available to complete them when it came to me. There is a strange phenomenon occurring right now. I’d like to say that this is the first time that it has ever occurred, but I doubt that. I think it has happened many, many times before now, and will likely happen many more times. What is this strange phenomenon, you ask?
The FAIRIES have gone on strike! Yes, Fairies!
You know, like the “laundry fairy” (not to be confused with the “sock monster” - that one is still working, as my miss-matched socks will attest), the “dust fairy”, the “landscape fairy”, the “pooper-scooper fairy”, and many others.
I really am surprised that I didn’t figure this out sooner. All this time, my partner and I thought that we just were not using our time wisely. How WRONG we have been! It’s not that there are not enough hours in the day. The problem is that the FAIRIES ARE ON STRIKE! I know this because I can hear them getting their little signs and things ready at night. For the longest time, I thought that we had a mouse in the house. I thought that it must be a smart mouse, because it just would not get into the trap. (A humane trap, of course.) Well, as it turns out, it’s not a mouse at all, but rather a gathering of striking fairies.
This revelation makes me feel much better about the state of our house and our abilities as “housekeepers”. I’ll admit, I was starting to feel quite a bit of stress about my own lack of competence, thinking that I just do not know how to budget my time. Then I realized, it’s NOT my fault! It’s NOT “Lady M’s” fault! We are doing the best that we can, given the circumstances. If the fairies won’t work, there is not much that we can do but sit back and wait. Oh, we’ll do our best to keep things in order until the little buggers return to work. I mean, we don’t want them to be overwhelmed as soon as they get back. But, the point is, we will no longer feel inadequate. We can’t possibly be as efficient as a magical little fairy, so why try to live up to it!
So, for anyone else who has been feeling a bit behind on the “chores” lately, don’t fret! It is NOT YOUR FAULT!
If anyone reading this has any ideas for bargaining tools to end the fairy strike, please let me know.

Lessons at the Fair

Yesterday Lady M, Little S and I had a lovely trip to a very large fair with Lady M's parents. We'll call them "Jorge'" and "Cinderella" for the purposes of this post. (just randomly chosen names, no specific reason for them)
We began our adventure by forgetting the stroller for little S and having to return home to get it. Thankfully we were only about 10 minutes into the 2+ hour trip. Now, I am not at all fond of these type of events, so when we pulled back into the driveway to retrieve the stroller, I did consider running away to hide under a shrub. Unfortunately, we don't have any shrubs,
so off we went.
Our drive was lovely. Only one pit stop was needed (by me, mostly) and it would have been a quick one, had it not been for the three tour buses filled with senior citizens - mostly ladies - who filed into the restroom just before my fair maiden Lady M got there. (oops) Then, of course, there was the bus that parked directly in front of the parking lot exit because, in the words of the bus driver who I found strolling out of the rest area, "well, first thing's first, ya know." I used my "authority" and "gently" requested that he pull the bus forward a few feet so the cars could get out.....he kindly obliged and we were once again on our way.
We arrived at the fair, and my educational experience began.
(A bit of history)
Growing up, I recall attending a few festivals/fairs. The memories of the one annual festival that we attended consist of riding the Ferris Wheel with "Pap.", throwing ping pong balls in goldfish bowls, and getting annoyed with the other little kids who were riding the train with me and kept ringing the d@mn bell. (yes, I was prudish even as a little tyke.) We attended the other semi-local event primarily for the horse shows, if memory serves correctly. All in all, I know little of Fair etiquette.
(Back to the present)
As it turns out, the main goal of fair attendance is to eat as many different things as possible and play as many inexpensive games as quarters will allow. Shopping must also be squeezed in throughout the day. The way to attain these goals is simply to PACE yourself. Do not eat too much at one time. Choose the order of cuisine based mainly on the layout of the fair, and choose one's path through the fair based on the level of hunger (or nausea as it may be). My personal goal was to have a semi-nutritious lunch and some rice pudding. So, we started off with pierogies (very nutritious). The rice pudding, although nearby, was to come later, when it was time to leave. (This was where I learned my food lesson - Lesson One.)
After snack number one, we began the migration. We formed a sort of train. Jorge' and Cinderella on the motorized scooters, Lady M with the stroller containing Little S, and I following the slow moving caravan, not sure of where to go and somewhat afraid of getting lost among the farm animals.
We soon came upon a balloon man trying desperately to hold onto his large supply of character/animal balloons. (It was a bit breezy and he had a LOT of balloons.)
Grandma (Cinderella) wanted to get Little S a balloon, so a lovely pink dolphin was chosen. Unfortunately, as I was attempting to tie said dolphin to the stroller, the wind blew it at little S, thereby frightening little S and eliciting blood curling screams any time the pink dolphin floated in her direction. The dolphin spent most of the rest of the day tied to the back of Grandma's scooter and I spent most of the day chasing Grandma on the scooter to re-attach the dolphin to the seat so that it wouldn't whack her in the head. The good thing about the balloon on Grandma's scooter was that it made her much easier to find. It is amazing how easy it is to lose "elders" on scooters at a fair. (I should mention that it was senior citizen day and scooters can be rented at the fair).
(Lessons two and three - bring a fish net? or Buy a smaller balloon (2) and Attach a blinking light on a pole to the rear of the scooters (3))
Little S enjoyed her first fair game. She got to pick up swans from a little pool. She's a good picker and even gave the swans back to the game lady. She won TWO prizes - a stuffed beetle and a crab - she picked them out herself. Little S continued her string of victories throughout the day, winning a stuffed frog, dog, unicorn, and lizard of some sort. Not bad for a 10 month old, no? (ok, so she had some help)
(Lesson Four - bring a wagon for the "loot")
All in all, it was a "fair" experience. I learned important lessons, we left with a trunk full of stuffed things, and I got my rice pudding. The best part (for me, anyway) is that the adventure will not occur again for a full year!

Where Are My Pants?!?

Have you ever asked yourself (or someone else, for that matter) the question, "Where are my pants?"
It happened to me a couple of weeks ago . . .

Wow, that sounds a bit risque', doesn't it? Hmmm....well, read on. It will all make sense in a moment.

As I prepared to leave the house for the gym/martial arts school where I train a few times a week, I realized that I had a Gi (Karate uniform) with no pants. Perplexed, I looked around the basement, in the laundry, in my gym bag, any place I could think of where my pants could be hiding. I have an uncanny knack for putting things in strange places when I get distracted, so believe me when I say that I looked everywhere. No pants. Of course, I'm now running late and feeling quite frustrated that I have no bottoms. (I do have other pairs, but that's not the point.)
"How can someone possibly lose a pair of pants?" I asked aloud, exasperated.
"Did you check the laundry?" offered "Lady M", trying to be helpful.
I'm sure she was stifling laughter, however, at my latest frantic search for some important article/item that I absentmindedly misplaced at the most inopportune time. (Not that this happens often, or anything.)

So, off I go, pantsless, to the gym. (How's that for a mental image?)

Let's clear that up. I was wearing shorts, and I had a complete uniform in my bag. Just not that particular pair of pants.

I tend to do my best thinking while driving in the car. (Whoever decided that hand held cell phones are the hazard is wrong, btw, it's the thinking thing that gets me in trouble. I do digress, however.) So, as I'm driving, I go through in my head the last time that I was at the gym. I mentally finished class, went to the locker room, changed my clothes, packed my bag...WAIT....back up....finished class.....YES......that's it.........
On this particular night, I had rushed to change clothes and scamper out because I was meeting some co-workers for a late evening cocktail. OK, so now I know that I had been in a hurry to leave, but that just didn't explain the missing pants.
Then, another image came to mind. I had been at the gym one afternoon since then. I had seen a pair of pants lying on the counter in the locker room. Of course, I had no reason to think that they were mine, but now I was not so sure.
When I arrived at the school (gym - interchangeable, really), I asked "Ms. R" (a friend and lovely lady who works at this place of fitness fun) if she had, by chance, found a pair of pants in the locker room. Her eyes widened with a look of shock and a hint of disgust.
"Geesh," I thought, "what's the big deal?"
Ms. R confirms that she did find a pair of karate pants, then she adds, "They had a pair of panties with them."
PANTIES?!?!?!? (she said panties - this always makes me giggle. I don't know why.)
Sheepishly, I asked what kind, then realized, before she replied, that this may not have been appropriate. I mean, it's one thing to find someone's pants, but quite another to find two pairs. Really, in that sort of situation, are you going to check out the brand of underpants that someone wears?? Ms. R's reply pretty much supported that statement. I never knew her voice could go that high.
"I don't know, I threw them in a locker, I didn't look!" She retorted in a high pitched, faced paced tone.
I slinked my way to the locker room and checked the locker in question. There, in a balled up heap, was a pair of karate pants. I carefully extracted and unrolled them. In the mess was a lovely pair of pink jockey underwear. Yep. They were mine. Of all days to leave my britches behind, I pick the day that I wore PINK UNDERPANTS. How un-macho. I'm not sure which was more embarrassing. The fact that I forgot my pants, or the color factor. (I'm kidding - any color of forgotten underwear is quite disconcerting.)
As I was self-consciously stuffing my pants into my bag, Ms. R. walked in.
I informed her that they were indeed my pants and told her how sorry I was that she had to find my sweaty drawers.
"Hey, at least you know that they were mine," I said, trying to ease the grossness of the situation. (This, apparently, was little solace.)

In the end, we had a good laugh over it, but, from now on, I will DEFINITELY check and recheck to make sure that I have all of my pants.

My Morning's (mis)Adventures

What a morning!
It started off great with a trip to the car doctor, AKA Toyota Dealership service center to get the oil changed in my lovely wife’s car.
Somehow, I find it quite entertaining to sit in these places every now and then. It’s not like I go there weekly just to sit at the little make-shift cafe tables or anything, but when the opportunity arises (when a car needs some professional attention), I sometimes prefer to wait rather than leave the premises.
It was oddly quiet in there, library-like, most everyone reading a newspaper or jotting notes on paper. Their was a lovely lady to my right (an older lady) who was enjoying a small snack (which she had brought in a plastic bag) while sipping her FREE cappuccino that she had obtained from this new fan dangled machine after a brief lesson from another customer. She, too, was reading the newspaper.
Then, of course, their was the lady who walked in wearing one pink and one yellow sneaker. What’s that about? hmmm....
I always enjoy people watching. Whether at a car dealership, coffee shop, or just out on the street. I can be entertained for hours. As it turns out, the dealership was BY FAR the best time of my morning’s adventures. The rest of the trip went something like this:

While at the dealership, I discover that the registration for wifey’s car was two months overdue. This is not good. Driving with expired registration is bad. So, with fingers crossed, I leave the dealership en route to the DMV. Quick phone call to Lady M, and she says not to worry, it’s registered and the card is in her wallet. “Phew”, I say, and direct my travels to Shop Rite to purchase Lassie’s best dog food for our canine companions.
Phone rings (I have now passed the DMV).
Lady M: “uh...this is a 2005 card...I guess it’s not registered”
Me: “ugh...great....all right, I’ll go back to the DMV after Shop Rite...I’ll just get cash at the store”

I arrive at Shop Rite and head directly to the rest room - too much coffee. I enter the rest room to find three young female employees laughing and having a loud conversation. As I walk in, the three become silent for the moment that it takes me to enter the stall, then their conversation went something like this:
Obnoxious teenager # 1: “Fag”
Obnoxious teenager # 2: “You’re gay”
Obnoxious teenager #1: “You’re a faggot”
Obnoxious teenager # 2: “Lesbian”
Obnoxious teenager # 3: “You know it. That’s actually a complement for me”
All three obnoxious teenagers break into hooting laughter and indecipherable profanities and other rude utterances as they make their way into the hallway.
Perhaps I am becoming a prude, or just a bitter old maid, I don’t know. Regardless, I was beyond irritated with these three, and perhaps even a bit intimidated. Actually, I think I was most aggravated by the fact that I couldn’t pee until they left....fight or flight had set in. I was ready to fight, and my bladder decided to help by not releasing anything that may come in useful in battle.
As I left the rest room, I could still hear the obnoxious laughter and banter making its way down the steps and out into the store. As a former store manager (clothing), I would have been mortified to see my associates behaving like this in front of customers.
“The ‘Warrioress’ must take action,” I thought. Since I left my sword at home, I decided to march straight to customer service and request the presence of a manager. In a very “Warrioress -like” way, I explained the situation to the manager and he immediately knew the three individuals that I was referring to. He assured me that he would turn the matter over to his HR manager and the situation would be dealt with accordingly.
Mission accomplished. Almost. Still need the dog food and have no desire to speak with another store associate. Thank goodness for self-checkout. (NOT! and the hits just keep on coming.....)
With my trusty bag of Lassie’s Best, I pitter patter over to the self checkout aisle where Earl (not sure of his name, but we’ll call him Earl, the keeper of the Self-Checkout lanes) watches my every move, then provides me with a pretty orange paid sticker on my bag. Earl continues to hover behind me as I complete my transaction using the pin pad device as directed by the computer terminal. I happily request a cash back amount of $50.00 (DMV, remember?) and press ENTER.
The machine whirrs, and whirrs, and whirrs, and doesn’t give me any money. Earl, observing the travesty, comes to my aid. He feverishly punches in his password and code, and like any hero would, reads the instructions on screen. The screen says that it is having a problem dispensing $10.00 bills and that the tray should be removed and checked. Earl exits the screen and valiantly struts to his phone to request assistance.
I hear: (Earl) “Oh, really, court? Not here, huh? OK. So, I should just ask him to leave his name and phone number and tell him that we’ll call him when Mike gets back?”
At this, I interject, “If you are referring to ME when you say Him and His name and number, that is completely unacceptable and I am not leaving this store without my money!”
To make a very long story a bit shorter, it took 3 store associates and me nearly shedding a tear to come to the understanding that I would absolutely not leave my name and phone number in the hope that “Mike” would soon return from court to retrieve my money from that particular register. AND, I am not “Him, His, or SIR”. (I was wearing shorts and a tee shirt, for G’s Sake! I know I’m not well endowed, but there is something visible above the waist!)
What were these people thinking? I have been out of retail for a few years now, but has it changed that much? I never would have dreamed of sending a customer away without their change, let alone a direct debit from their bank account!
Finally I got my money, and do you know where they got it? Such trouble these people went to....they had to reach below Earls terminal, into a zippered bag, and pull out $50.00. Wow. Later, they will have to replace it from the drawer of the bastard register that would not dispense $10’s. And, Gee, the customer left (somewhat) satisfied - after nearly 20 minutes of “discussion”.

The DMV, btw, was not a success story either. As it turns out, the registered owner of the vehicle must register in person or have a notarized form indicating permission for another individual to complete said transaction.

This all occurred prior to 10:00 AM.

The Moral of my story?
Hmmm....People-watching is fun, Shop Rite is not, and you might as well just sleep ‘til noon.

Warrioress

Thanks so much, Ciar Cullen, for the great quiz you posted! After years of soul searching, I have finally found my true identity!

Look out world, here I come!

Dilemma

Today I am taking a slight diversion from the style of my previous posts. The fun, sarcastic, silliness shall give way to my introspective, moral side. Well, maybe. Anyway, I have found myself in a quandary this morning. May I begin, however, by saying what a beautiful morning it is! It rained a bit last night, just enough that I won’t be needing to water the plants, and the air is cool and energizing. Not chilly, just comfortably cool. The dogs and I are actually outside right now, blogging. Okay, so the dogs are actually checking their e-mail (that is to say, wandering around sniffing the grass and whatever else they can find to sniff or roll in).

My dilemma.....
I was flipping channels earlier and came across the Science Channel’s “How It’s Made” program. I love this show. I love all of those Discovery type shows and channels....anytime I can find out what makes something or someone “tick” I enjoy. I do digress.
So on this particular installment, they were talking about chicken hatcheries. I have seen fish hatcheries, but never a chicken hatchery. Do you know what these poor little chickies go through just a few days after hatching???
First, all of the eggs, hundreds of them, are in these large trays that are incubated. The chicks hatch, all jam packed together, they dry off, then off they go in the large trays which are stacked on top of one another. They are rolled down the stark hallway of this institution like building by a skinny man in a white coat. Then they go on a conveyer type thing where the chicks are separated from the shells. How, you may ask. Well, the conveyer is made of rolling metal bars that are just far enough apart for the little chicks to fall through onto another conveyer. So here go all of these cute little fuzzy chicks, scrambling over one another and clutching at smooth steel with their little tiny feet to avoid the fall into the unknown and suddenly FLOOMP.....there they go, one by one....down to the gender sorter.
The next conveyer takes them round and round while other people in white coats with earpieces in their ears (I didn’t get that part....are they communicating with the mother ship?) snatch them up one by one and check the gender. (this, by the way, is done by comparing two rows of feathers. If one row is longer than the other, it is female. If both are the same length, it is male) After the gender checking, they are tossed, not placed, but TOSSED into a tube which sends them plummeting to a gender specific conveyer belt.
From this one, the get tossed again into large (but not that large) trays, or as they called them, “special shipping containers” (plastic trays with holes in them) - 150 chicks per tray. If the buyer has requested vaccinations, the tray gets misted with a spray to ward off bronchitis infection.

I’m not sure where they go from here. I was too upset to watch any more. The chicks all had looks of panic in their eyes and were breathing so hard that it’s a wonder any survive.

Here is my dilemma. I eat chicken. I eat eggs. I like green eggs and ham, Sam I am. (oops sorry)
I no longer feel morally sound eating this. I thought about changing to the free range option. I mean, why support such a horrible industry, right? I don’t eat veal or lamb because of the treatment of the animals. (I don’t eat red meat at all...mostly because of the physical issues that I get after eating it.)
Free range chickens are happy chickens, right? They run around, free to do and eat as they please, snacking on their organic grains (which are probably grown right next to the pesticide ridden farm next door, but that’s a whole other discussion). So, I thought for a fleeting moment, no more institutionalized chicken for me. It’s free range all the way.
Wait....why should I eat the happy chickens who live the good life? Shouldn’t they enjoy their life? I should eat the ones who are destined for misery. But wait. If I do that, I’ll be supporting their miserable existence and thereby perpetuating the cycle of violence and destruction.
And what about eggs? For me this one is easier. I think I will switch to free range eggs. They are more expensive but I will just limit my consumption of them.

So, do I not eat chicken anymore? What about turkey? Ham/pork? It’s all basically the same process, right?
I have dabbled in a meatless diet before. It’s not the easiest thing or cheapest thing to do. I think, today at least, I may be headed in that direction once again.

What do you all think? (this is my pleading way of soliciting comments so that I know if anyone actually reads my dribble drabble.)

Our Beach Umbrella

How about this beautiful weather we've had recently? Wow! Such a difference from the heat wave, no?! I thought that, in honor of the glory of Mother Nature, I would post a little something about the "fury" of Madam Mother Nature. (No, this is not a Katrina story or anything so dramatic....merely a recent experience of mine at the wondrous Jersey Shore) Read on, my little sea turtles, read on......

A few weeks ago, my sister flew in from the Midwest to visit with us. We thought that it would be lovely to take a day trip to the beach, so we packed up our things, our many, many "things" and off we went. For those of you who are not readily familiar with our "group", the "things" included a cooler (obviously, I mean, we ARE going to the beach!), chairs, blanket, umbrella (which we purchased JUST for this trip), personal beach gear for three adults and ALL the fixin's needed for an almost 7 month old who had never been in the sand before.
We headed out about mid-morning, amid sunny skies and a lovely inland temperature. On the way we stopped for sandwiches to fill the cooler, (What ELSE would go in there? Geesh!) along with our water bottles. We parked nice and close (sort of...there was a mini-dune hike involved) and unloaded the goods. Now, I pride myself in the ability to carry a LOT of stuff at one time, but this was a load that even I couldn't handle. (or could I.....) Anyway, off we went, three adults, sharing the carrying duty, and one little "monkey", in the arms of her Aunt.
We found the perfect spot and set up camp. It went something like this:
Blanket down....uh oh....."Wow it's windy down here".....Okay, blanket down....ugh...."someone put a shoe on the corner"....Okay, blanket down, cooler on this side..."yeah, that's it".....aargh......"now you got sand all over it!"......oh well......"I'll get the umbrella ready" (that's me, SM)......umbrella in the sand.....oops....forgot the twisty posting thing....twisty posting thing in the sand...."hmmm, should it be that deep?".....umbrella in the post...."Wow, that's short, well, we do plan to sit under it"....crawling under the umbrella......"uh, should it be this short?"........
So camp was set up and we ate our lunch amid the sand and wind and sun. Quite tasty and relaxing (yeah right) so far. As I attempted to adjust the umbrella a bit, the "little Monkey" was carted off to check out the shoreline. (I should mention that just prior to this, we looked down the beach and noticed quite a bit of haze forming.) Apparently, the ocean is quite intimidating to a 7 month old.....she did calm down after a few minutes and some sea shell distractions. (NO, she was NOT in the water, just near it and held by her mother). It was about this time that I headed back to the car for something. I gingerly picked my barefoot way across the stone covered parking lot and just as a reached the car, I felt rain drops. "Gee, glad I came back", I thought as I put up the windows.
As I turned to head back to the beach, (a little rain never hurt anyone and a passing shower is to be expected in the summer, no?) I noticed the rather ominous clouds that had made there way up the coastline. I had almost made it across the stones before the first CRACK of thunder. Over the stones, up the dune, down the dune I ran....Sprinting towards me with the (now screaming) "little Monkey" is Aunt K, closely followed by the nearly EMPTY HANDED (remember all of the "stuff" that I mentioned earlier...Yeah, well anyway....) lovely "Lady M". The rain was really coming down now. Big, HUGE drops. Very cold. Our dialogue went something like this:
Me "Here, take the keys"
Lady M. (breathless) "It...Gone....Uh....There (pointing into oblivion)....Gone...."
Me "WHAT?!? What's gone? Huh??"
Lady M. "Thing....Gone....Wind.....Blew....Away.....there...."
Me "The umbrella??"
Lady M. "YES....gone....there" (pointing down the beach)
There it was. Tumbling down the beach amid stirring sand and blowing sea water. Our beautiful new $19.99 beach umbrella which we planned to use on our deck after the trip to the beach. Now I had a choice to make. Obviously, I was about to test the limits of my pack-horse capabilities, so did I want to try to salvage the umbrella, or did I want to let some lucky stranger find some free shade down the beach. I looked again, and there it went, further down the beach. Now, the choice was obvious. I MUST HAVE THAT UMBRELLA! I looked at our low lying blanket, anchored down by shoes and cooler and folded up chairs and bags, then back at the umbrella (now at least 300 yards down the beach and blowing).
The race was on. There's nothing like a good run in the sand. (NOT) Down the beach I raced, sea spray, wind and sand particles coating my face and lungs, getting closer, hoping the wind will cooperate for just a few more seconds. Not going to happen. Another gust and into the ocean goes the umbrella. I MUST HAVE THAT UMBRELLA! "Determination and effort" was the motto of my high school athletic department. I felt it kick in.....(I do not like to go into the ocean....big waves, lot's of water, many things on the bottom that you can't see).....Into the water I went....out went the umbrella with the tide....further into the water I went.....IN CAME THE UMBRELLA WITH A WAVE.....toward the beach I ran away from the wave....out went the umbrella with the tide....except, THIS TIME, I grabbed it as I stepped off the sandbar and ended up in the water up to my chest. Not to worry, I can swim just fine, I just choose not to do it in the ocean when possible. That being said, have you ever tried to swim or even wade while dragging an open umbrella (beach umbrella) through the water? Yeah, it's rather challenging.
All right, use your imagination for the rest. Suffice it to say, I retrieved the umbrella and on the way back to our "campsite" I dropped off the beach chairs that belonged to the people nearest us. Upon arrival at our little site, I stuffed the soaked and sandfilled umbrella into its bag, packed up all of the "loose ends", hobo style in the blanket, hoisted the yet to be unpacked folding chairs onto my shoulder, draped the bags around my neck, scooped up the cooler, looped the umbrella pack around my other shoulder and tossed the "hobo-pack" over my back. I began the trek back to the car as the rain poured down and thunder cracked all around. Frustration had just begun to set in when I suddenly realized that I was carrying a lightening rod (my beautiful new beach umbrella) in the middle of a beach during a thunderstorm that was directly above us. "OMG...."
Imaginations again, please.....picture a fairly small person "running" - term used loosely here -through the sand with a whole lot of stuff in their arms.....
I made it back to the car where everyone else was nestled quite comfortably. They were rather inquisitive as to why I was soaking wet and covered in sand. (I won't repeat my retort here....it might be flagged as objectionable content.) Oh, and by the way, at this point the sun was out and the rain had stopped. (Just in time to rinse off the sand, pack the car and head home)

The umbrella sure looks lovely on our deck.

Language Barriers

I would like to start this off by saying that it is not intended to represent political views of any sort. I write based only on my own experiences or the experiences of those close to me and represent only my own perception of things. blah blah blah

Not long ago, there was a fair amount of chatter in the newspapers and on the news about an area establishment that had posted a sign indicating that non-English speaking folks were not welcome. Apparently what they really meant was that if a customer did not order in English, then the employees would not understand them, as the employees were unfamiliar with other languages. I hadn't thought all that much about it at the time. It really didn't affect me, I mean, I don't eat cheese steak and I do speak English, so why be bothered. At the same time, however, I thought (think) that it is a matter of respect that, when taking up residence in a new place, one learn the language or dialect of said place. (At least carry with you a handbook of common phrases.) I realize that this is a very touchy subject for some, and I don't wish to ruffle any feathers (if anyone even reads this) - my apologies if you're already ruffled. In any event, a give and take is necessary here. We would all do well to expand our minds with some "extra phrases".
To get on with my own experiences with the language barrier, I seem to be running into this type of obstacle more and more lately. It is not always a "language" issue, but rather a general communication barrier. It may be something that occurs at work, where I will present instructions to someone only to have them do the complete opposite of what I said.....is it in my delivery, or is it a problem with the reception? It may come in the form of a simple misunderstanding....Me: "What?!? You want me to put the dog in the fryer??" M: "No, you J*ck*ss! Check the clothes in the dryer!"
Or, it may be an actual problem with language. For instance, I was in Staples the other day looking for a refill for my favorite pen. Of course, I was having quite a bit of trouble locating the proper refill and said to the kind looking customer next to me, "why is it, when you find a favorite pen, you can never find the right refill". The lovely lady looked at me with the blankest (is that a word?) expression I have seen in a long time. She pointed toward customer service and said, "You go ask help there". Yeah, English was not exactly her first language. Oh well. So much for small talk in the pen aisle.
This would not have struck me so funny if not for a recent softball game that I played in. (yes, there is a connection between pen shopping and softball playing)(?huh?)
So, in this game, I thought that I recognized one of the players on the opposing team as someone that I played basketball with a few years back. At one point in the game, while we were on defense, I took the opportunity to ask one of the base runners the name of this player. I looked at the runner on second base and said, "Is your teammate's name Jennifer?"
The runner looked at me, right in the eye, pointed to her ear and mouthed the words, "I'm deaf".

What are the chances of that??

I love to talk to people, so tend to do that wherever I go. Perhaps the recent situations are a hint to me to just shut up. Hmm.......

Today I am Bob

This evening, the family and I went out to enjoy a lovely dinner at our favorite Tex/Mex feeding trough, followed by a visit to the omnipotent coffee joint, Starbucks. We placed our beverage orders, and the barista asked for a name to put on the cup. Now, for whatever reason, I am always a bit taken a-back by this. I mean, it's not a big deal to tell the person your first name and have it written on a cup, right? (sometimes people pay money to have a mug with their name on it - we were getting it for free!)
In any event, as it came time to give my name, I proudly stated my full first name. I pondered this for an instant, thinking, "wait, I could tell him ANY name, and he wouldn't know the difference". I then blurted out, "WAIT! Can I be Bob today?"
I thought that I would get a little giggle, or at least a grin from the "friendly" barista, and then he would shrug and pass the cup on to get filled.
However, without so much as a smirk, he took his little blue sharpie, scratched out my name, and wrote BOB ever so big and bold.

I thought this was the best thing since sliced bread. I asked to be Bob, and he made it so! This Barista ROCKS!

Then I noticed that he still wasn't laughing.

Hmm....I guess I'm not the first person to ask to be Bob on their cup.

Sh*t rolls downhill

Everyone has heard the saying "sh*t rolls downhill", right? You know, when your boss gets an earfull from their boss, then turns to you, gives you a slap on the wrist, and you are then compelled to find an even more lowly being and give them a good solid PIECE OF YOUR MIND!

Well, I want to let it be known that sh*t does indeed roll downhill. I know this because I witnessed it first hand. This event actually took place a while ago, but I was reminded of it yesterday during a similar experience.

We enjoy frequent family outings to the local park for a nice jaunt and discussion of the laws of nature. The family, of course, includes two adults, two dogs and a mini-human (stroller size). So, on this particular visit, we are strolling along, marveling at the ducks, geese, other water fowl and the many droppings of same that litter the walkway. (Many people find these droppings a nuisance. We don't. They are a delicacy for the dogs and it saves money on dog food.)
(I'm KIDDING-animal rights types)

So, anyway, we're walking, talking, pulling the dogs away from the droppings and trying to keep them next to us like the darling little angels that they are at home. yeah, right. It is important to know that to our right, at the bottom of the hill, are quite a few people playing games, sunbathing, eating, etc. All of the fun park-like activities. It is at this point that our Lab decides that she must relieve herself, but certainly not on level ground! I imagine her thought process was something to the effect of "Gotta go, gotta go, where do I go, ooh, ooh, this is perfect....." So, off she goes, just off the walkway, as any well trained polite dog will do. The unfortunate thing in this instant is that just off the walkway is a very steep, sloping hill, leading right down to where the other park revilers are frolicking. She squats, and realizing what is about to happen, I grab a bag and jump down next to the squatting dog. Now, usually, the "doggie doo" is oblong and in a pile. Not this time. This time she manages to create lovely solid round balls. Off they go down the hill as I try to scoop them up ever so gracefully. Unfortunately, our other little canine has become confused. "Where ever shall I stand, shall I go here? Shall I go there? I know, I'll go 'round and 'round!" Yep, around my legs is what she meant. Now here I am, scurrying down this rather steep embankment, trying to catch the poop without letting go of either leash while hopping to get my foot out of the tangles without stepping on the Jack Russell.
(Remember the frolickers? Yep, they're all still there, along with other walkers, joggers, etc)

The moral of the story?

Sh*t DOES indeed roll downhill.

(btw, I did manage to collect all of the "balls" and stay on me feet)

Sunny Daze?

Yeah, whatever that may mean.
So, now I have a Blog....now what? I actually meant to sign in so that I could post a comment to Hope at THEEVERYTHINGGIRL.blogspot.com (hint hint...check it out), but somehow took a wrong turn and ended up with my own blog. Now I feel compelled to post something on it.
Yes, I could have stopped signing up, rather than trying to come up with some fancy, creative name for it, but.....the idea sort of intrigues me.
And so was born "AllSunnyDaze".

If anyone should happen to read this, don't get excited (or worried, as the case may be). It is not likely that there will be any consistency with my posts. BUT, ya never know.....