To Be Happy

After having a rough past couple of weeks of my own, I was feeling pretty good when I started writing this, and that frozen strawberry margarita was just the thing to makes me wax a bit more poetic.

When you find that you are not content with where you are in life right now, here are some questions to ask yourself.

First, you have to know what it is you are looking for. 
What will make you feel whole and balanced and happy? 
For many of us, that is a huge question. 
But if we don’t know the question, how will we recognize the answer?

Know what you want.

Close your eyes and imagine what love means to you.  
Keep ‘em closed. 
What does happiness feel like? 

If you know what discontent feels like, does that mean you can recognize “contentment”?
Know what you want.
Once you know what you want, don’t settle.

What if we are happy, now that we look a little closer!
Talk about a time-saving bargain!
No emotions were hurt in the production of this post.
Happiness is a level that can be achieved by any one.
Happiness cannot be bought, nor sold.
Happiness is a state of mind.
Happiness is…
But those other emotions have to come back so we can appreciate being happy!

I guess you can fill in the blank with any emotion….

Bitchiness is a level that can be achieved by any one.
Bitchiness cannot be bought, nor sold.
Bitchiness is a state of mind.
Bitchiness is…
But those other emotions have to come back so we can appreciate being bitchy! <–Don’t know if this one applies…..

I was shocked to hear Michael Jackson had died. There have been so many rumors and innuendos about him and his family, but who among us KNOWS the truth? My truth is that he was an awesome singer and dancer. Thriller…who knows someone who didn’t have either an Lp or cassette collection without at least one copy of Michael Jackson singing something. Someone in the family had a 45 of “Ben” and maybe “ABC’s” on the flip-side.
I don’t know what kind of man he was, but the music world has lost a vital legend of influence.
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While searching the news to find more about Michael, I also learned that Farrah Fawcett had died.
She was always so beautiful, whether she was the flirty undercover angel, or the “don’t start none” had enough beaten wife in “The Burning Bed”. The woman had spunk.
It is good to see Ryan O’Neal on Bones which is about the only way I didn’t associate him with Farrah. I also learned that she had always said no to marrying him, she’d finally said yes! I guess that’s about as close as one can get to a “happy ending”.

Farm Town

I’m really liking this game.  I can walk away from it without planting grapes now.  So I am in recovery.  But the interesting thing is that I asked my husband to get some watermelon (and even pumpkin) seeds so our 8 year old son could plant them. He isn’t involved in 4-H.  I’m not even sure his school has one.  But I thought it would be a good thing for both of us to learn.  My thumb has always been pretty black.
If you’re a member on facebook and you have tried this game, Farm Town, then you know how many people are addicted to playing it.  You can grow your crops and as you level up, more options become available.  For more coins, of course.  So I shouldn’t have been surprised when my husband tells me that not only is the Walmart out of watermelon seeds, they have no seeds of any fruit or veggie in the store.
You might consider doing a bit of shopping on the sides of the road as opposed to the supermarket this summer!  Talk about FRESH!

Any farmers with green thumbs have some tips to share in case we do find a seed to two to plant?

–pix removed

Then and Now

Not to give away my age, but to consider how things are different now than they were just a few years ago, I wanted to share a couple of thoughts.

First, I was trying to remember when I didn’t hate drinking water. I was thinking back to when I used to go out to eat as a kid…the table always had a napkin, fork, spoon, knife, and a glass of ice water for each person. Sometimes there were a couple of packets of crackers too. I used to drink that water and save my coke for the meal. Refills weren’t free.

That was also back when we drank water out of the tap, the waterhose, and the school water fountains that may or may not have been filtered. It was the best tasting water and it was free!

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Of course that was during a time when a different kind of recycling was big. You had a 6 pack of 32 oz glass bottles of Coke - that you would return to the store to get your deposit refund. I assume the store sent these back (or let them be picked up by) the coca cola company to be cleaned, refilled, and re-sold. That was before you had to call to see what days the recycling center was taking cans.

I have searched to find a 32 oz bottle of coke on the net, and have failed to come up with one. I cannot remember if they came in a 6 or 8 pack. Best of luck if someone can find a pic.
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I remember before they asked if you wanted paper or plastic. And I remember reluctantly helping my mom carry in groceries in paper bags, which used less bags in my opinion.  They were certainly always heavier and bulkier and full of groceries that were bagged by a professional who knew not to put cleaning supplies in the same bag as meats.  I also remember rushing to help our neighbor when she came in with groceries. She was nice and made us feel so heroic about helping her. Plus she gave us a quarter. And then those paper bags were reused. We had to fold them and stack them. I don’t remember what we used them for. Although one time we did find a couple of brown bags full of pornomags behind the hedges when we were young. I don’t think the two were related, but who can tell?

Volume versus Frequency

During this hot summer day, I have told my young son to be quiet, numerous times.  It’s not that he’s loud, but he’s constantly chattering.  We were playing a video game and I would have to ask him if it was his turn.   This being such a frequent occasion here, I’ve even made a “rule”.  This is  the  “rule” of  “no talking when it’s not your turn”.  Obviously, he can be quite distracting.

If you knew him, you would without a doubt recognize that he is a very astute eight year old.  And before an afternoon was out, I suspect the thought running through your head would be more like “who can talk that much?”

Obviously I was blaming him for my low golf score…or would that be “horrendous handicap”?  Either way, I was aggravated.  Deciding it was time to cook dinner, I walked away from him and the tv after that last game of golf.   And it wasn’t long till I heard him jabbering away again.  I asked who he was talking to, and my talkative youth answered “myself”.  I corrected myself to say, “well y’all are going to have to be quiet!”  He thought that was so funny, and soon I couldn’t help but laugh at him laughing.

Just after dinner he started again.  It was like he’d just refueled with a tankful of high octane, and he was full-steam ahead, all over again.  I know that’s lot of preps, but I just want to make sure you understand! 

I advised him to be quiet with a bit more determination this time.  I told him that the next time I had to say “Be quiet!” it would be with great volume.   As I was stating this, I was getting louder.  I told him that I’d been thinking about it, and that he doesn’t really pay attention to what I am saying until I yell.  And I could see the realization in his eyes.  In this case, volume comes out the clear winner.

I think we’ve both learned something on this week of summer vacation.

I’m hoping that tomorrow will mark a difference, for both our sakes.

Recruiting on a Sunday

I’m not actually bitching here, but I found this kind of funny and wanted to share.

Yesterday was Sunday, (Happy Flag Day America!) and around 11am there was a knock on the door. It was a couple who were trying to bring my family into the Seventh Day Advent church. Now, I find this oddly amusing, as I was raised a Southern Baptist. I don’t want to go all into religions and beliefs, but if you are familiar with Southern Baptist churches, you may understand why they are having to reestablish their churches and congregations to get young people back through those doors. Which is why I was home on a Sunday around 11am in the first place.

My initial thought was how odd it was that they were coming around during church hours to invite. My husband had answered the door and when I asked him what church they were from, and he told me, it made a bit more sense. But in a way, isn’t that rude? To go to someone’s door on a day that most consider holy, inviting them to join a church. Working on a Sunday….etc. Several things came to mind to object to this, but most of them were tossed into the wind with the knowledge these were Seventh Day, which means they consider Saturday to be their holy day.

I am not one to be a regular attendee in church, obviously. I am not one to go out looking for people to save either. I do put the word out when I have the urge, but I try not to push my spirituality onto deaf ears. The whisper gets more than the shout.

I wanted to ask how a Seventh Day person would react to a Southern Baptist (or other organized religion) would feel if someone knocked on their door on a holy day to invite them to try a different route. Then I realized that Saturday is the day that a lot of recruiters (including Baptists) go out to bring the sheep into the church. So they (the SDA) could be equally offended. Supposing they weren’t in church and were home to answer the door, of course.

Just one of those odd thoughts I wanted to share and hope you find a bit interesting.

-While looking for a picture to make this article pop, I found one that seems to have caused a lot of …commotion.  I can’t seem to get it posted here, but you can google “Pimp My Church” for the image.  Most of the comments I read were negative, as was my first reaction to seeing the image. Then I am reminded of the movie, “The Fighting Temptations” and how they went about getting people into the church. If it gets someone there, learning something they didn’t know, then isn’t that the goal? What do you think?

Internet Rant

I have done a couple of searches to see if I could find anything to inspire me.  The only thing that really has set me off a bit was going to a site  to see if it existed.  The search I did was for “www.madeinalabama.com”.  I found it, it linked me to another site, and I am certainly not recommending it.  It was something pink…and it appears to be a porn site.

Don’t get me wrong, if you are a fan of porn, and you go on the internet looking for it, that is your business.   However, when you go to a site that in essence has little or nothing to do with porn, such as made in Alabama, I think it sucks bigtime that they can throw out a page asking that you be 18 before you can enter.  I’m sure you might have to break out a calculator if you are underaged to get the right year.  But of course no child would think of doing that.

I know there is a place to report such a site….but since the name in the address changes, and since you have to prove that you are over 18, does this make it acceptable?  Legal? I need to know more about the Pissed Off Mommies.com.

That’s my gripe for today!

WHO: Swine flu pandemic has begun, 1st in 41 years

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE.

From:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jTkkEKE5LtPih_5Jcc-3MpD0gOYQD98OH0U00

Find out more about WHO’s level 6 preparedness here:

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/phase/en/index.html

This is not to panic..just to make you aware so you can inform others….

And here is a bit more info from a source at Wikipedia:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/AntigenicShift_HiRes.png

If you are sick, stay away from high risk persons (elderly, children, health poor) AND their CAREGIVERS!

Other than that, it looks like its a ride-it-out and hope you’re saved sort of thing!

CONsPIRACY Theories

Today I had intended to come in here telling you about the wasp conspiracy.  Only to find that mike likes my posts so much, he stated he would become a subscriber.   Yeah well, before I got the big head and became overly flattered, I clicked to see the whole of what he had to say.  And would you believe it was a direct link to his site?  Now, isn’t that just rude?  What if I went to mike’s site and put in a link to mine?  How would mike feel about that? I marked it as spam, and am heartbroken to have to label a potential subscriber, but alas, I will get over it and this too shall pass.

So on to some edu-ma-cation, as a certain college girl likes to say.  I am fairly decent with spelling words, and its because I have this thing in my head where I divide the word into smaller and easier parts.  Conspiracy is a perfect example. I do fine with the con, but in order to make sure I get the back end of the word correct, I have to think “piracy”.  So how does this work?  Con is a negative term…or perhaps a negative prefix would be more accurate.  Then piracy…also full of negative connotations.  I remember something about two wrongs don’t make a right.  No, that wasn’t it.  Two negatives become a positive.  That was it.  Does this mean there is some truth to CONsPIRACY?  Something to think about at least.

Now for the reason I came to talk today.   I have this issue.  And without going into grave detail, I was in vulnerable position when I heard the distinct buzz of something bigger (and meaner) than a fly.  I decided my…project could wait and asked the person responsible for letting the wasp in handle it’s exit.  I finally had another opportune moment when I heard that distinct buzz again.  Another one!  Only I couldn’t find this one, so I have hoped it would go away before the next time I would be in that area.  I had a third opportunity and was in that same vulnerable position for a longer duration when I heard it again.  This time, I looked a lot harder for it and could see a lot better because it was already daylight outside and there was a window nearby.  Luckily, when I saw it, it was on the edge of the window.  By the time I could get to it, I couldn’t see the ugly red wasp with the big stinger, but I went ahead and shut the inner window in hopes he was trapped between it and the outer window.  I am proud to say that it is now trapped between those two windows, and with the heat the sun has been putting off for the last two days, I suspect that he will no longer be a threat, immediately (because of the windows surrounding him) nor later, in case someone opens a window, because he should be well-done  and extra crispy by noon or so!

And this is why we don’t stand at doors holding them open for any length of time, right dear?

Heat Wave

What shall I bitch about today? Let’s see. Yesterday was the hottest day of the year so far, and our a/c unit, which is less than 30 days old, decides to freeze up! We called the guys who installed it, and they are coming out today.

I was awakened by a huge chunk of ice falling off the intake part of the unit at 7:30am. After doing a few things online and then showering, I decided it had been long enough for the unit to be operational again, especially since it is already getting warm.

Earlier we were discussing this situation and he was disappointed that I had turned the unit off last night. He said I should have left it on so they wouldn’t come and tell us that there was nothing wrong with it. I asked if he would feel the same way had the unit burned up. He said yes, because at this point, it will still be under warranty. My answer was if they come out today, and can’t find anything wrong with it, then tonight I would leave it running so it would be frozen by the time they come tomorrow.

Now, keep in mind that today looks to be just as hot as yesterday was. Hubby tells me he’s called the company and the repairman asked that we leave the unit off until they get here. GREAT! I asked when they might be expected and he said in a few hours. UGH! Not so great.

But I must say that it’s funny how I usually bitch about the things I ask the man of the house to do, that don’t get done. In this case, I am glad that he left that ugly window unit still in the kitchen window. Because yesterday and today, it will be useful!

Smoke-free for 30 days

OnTuesday, May 12, 2009, I smoked my last cigarette. I have been smoking for over 17 years. I have quit twice, and started back harder and heavier than before. On a recent visit to the doctor, I was told the sinus infection I had, because of the smoking, had turned into an upper-respiratory infection and I was likely to keep getting them once they started. I was also told I would likely be on oxygen if I didn’t stop smoking soon. I’m already not in the best shape ever, actually, now I am in the worst shape I’ve ever been in during this lifetime. And I decided to take this as a wake up call.

I’d considered quitting when I turned 35, and just decided I wasn’t ready. I really enjoyed cigarettes. The time was not right. Nor the next year, nor the next. Now, 38, I see that there is not going to be a time when I am “ready”. I enjoyed it or I never would have started and kept going for 17 years. Right?

Now the price of cigarettes has jumped, at least twice this year alone. These cigarettes that I started buying 12 years ago for $9.99 per carton, now cost close to $40 per carton. Finally, unlike years past, it is cheaper to purchase the nicotine patches and gum to help me quit, than to keep buying the cigarettes, even if the health problems weren’t an issue.

So, one month later, I am on the Stage 2 patches. I just started the 2’s this past weekend. But here’s the weird thing…. I had done great for the first couple of weeks. Then last week, I was craving a cigarette. I considered going to buy a single pack and just smoking one. Yeah, I know it wouldn’t have worked out that way. I know myself well enough to know I would have smoked the whole pack, and I didn’t go. But I haven’t wanted one that bad since I started quitting.

I must say that the patches have worked great though. They have let me have the nicotine, and gradually lower it, which has really helped. Because the last time I tried to quit, I realized that this was a two-issue problem. After smoking for so long, it became evident to me that the nicotine was only part of the problem. The biggest thing was actually having something in my hand, and in my mouth. So chewing gum has helped with having something for my mouth to do. And straws, cut to the length of cigarettes, has been great for having something to twiddle with when I usually would have had a cigarette and never even remembered lighting it. Two habits to break, instead of just one. And while the progress has been slow, I feel like, and have had encouragement from a previous smoker who quit, that once I am past this stumbling block, the worst part of quitting will be behind me.

I hope she is right. And it has been less of an issue the past day or two. One day at a time. I’m not quite there yet. But its getting closer to that kind of thinking. If you’ve ever been a smoker, or had any other kind of bad habit you were trying to break, you know that one minute to the next is the beginning of a long hard road. And a day at a time is too big to even consider.

I will keep you posted on the progress of this in hopes of inspiring another, and in keeping for myself some kind of record to show how far I’ve already come. 30 days may not seem like much to just anyone, but to me, its a major accomplishment. That and the fact that I have done no one physical harm in this process…. I’m thankful for the helping hand because my willpower is not nearly so strong as it used to be when I was a stubborn and rebellious teen.

Pepper Spray

Channel surfing earlier today, I thought the show was Cops.

There was a guy driving who appeared to be inebriated in some way, a blonde girl in the passenger seat, and a cop in uniform coming up to the driver’s door asking the driver to step out. I heard something about going with your first impression when you get pulled over, and the guy got out of the truck with his pants down around his ankles. Thankfully he still had his boxers in place.

I was still searching for something to watch when driver got a bit aggressive with the cop and the cop pushed him backward. When I heard something that sounded like broken glass and the guy starts screaming, I put the channel on full screen and forgot my search.

This man is in obvious pain and yelling and scooting around on the asphalt like he is trying to put out a fire. The cop looks through the driver’s side and asks the girl what is wrong with this man. She gets out and starts walking away as she said “you’ll figure it out”.

And then they explain that for whatever reason, this man had a can of pepper spray shoved up his anus, and when he was pushed back and hit the truck, the can started spraying and had nowhere to go. Apparently its quite painful to be sprayed with pepper spray in the face and/or eyes, but even so, there is air and the spray can be distributed differently than if it is enclosed in a body cavity, like the situation the man found himself in.

They showed an image of how the spray was irritating the insides and turning into blisters or ulcers, then busting and dripping, and one can only imagine the pain, the torture this man was feeling. But here is the kicker. It killed him!

The show was called “1000 Ways To Die”, and I decided if this was one of them, I had no interest in knowing what the other 1000 ways were. I was astounded that it killed him. Certainly great discomfort, but….it just blew my mind.

Which leaves me with the question of why it was there in the first place? Obviously I didn’t see the very beginning, but I can only hope that whatever was going on before the cop showed up was the best sex he’d ever had!

Structure damage

Today’s gripe is this:

On reading a local paper, The Extra, “A Service of the Times-Journal”, I found a story with volatile contents.  Lindsay Slater wrote a piece called “Local Tornado Donations Dwindle”.   To catch you up, if you are not familiar, on April 10th  (and 12th), tornadoes hit Sand Mountain, AL.  Here are some excerpts from her story:

“The cities of Sylvania and Powell suffered extensive damage.  Directors at the Upper Sand Mountain Parish, Salvation Army and Red Cross say donatons are very low, if existent at all.”

Upper Sand Mountain Parish Director, Tayna Rains said that parish has received less than 10 percent of what they received after the Pisgah tornado last year.  “The economy is  very different right now.”

DeKalb Emergency Management Agency Director Mike Leath revealed to the DeKalb County Commission on Tuesday that President Barack Obama denied the county individual assistance, which would help those who are under-insured or have no insurance to rebuild.

The state is appealing the president’s decision.

With all the funding and bailouts for large companies and banks, I am curious as to why President Obama is not helping these people rebuild their homes and lives.  I can’t help but wonder what his priorities are and where his loyalties lie.

I don’t know how to go about helping with the appeal, but I am posting this in hopes that someone who does know, can help these Alabamians, these citizens of the United States, get the help they need and deserve.

For more pictures and a chance to purchase them, click here: http://times-journal.com/pictopia.lasso?view=gallery&ewcd=9340e938726170d9

Thanks for your interest in this rant, and for any help that you can give our neighbors.