THANKS GIVING

Yes, folks it's that time of year again. Time to cook all night and day to set the table with the most delectable of eats only to have your family ruin it. Yes, Thanks Giving has been long since associated with the family tales of yesteryear, good or bad, funny or sad. It seems everyone has a bone to pick with everyone else and for some reason they most likely wait for Thanks Giving to unload, why? My family is no different.

Most of our stories though have been funny ones, Thank You God. My Mother is the Head Chef in the family so Turkey Day is hers. She starts cooking the night before and works all the way up to time to sit down and eat. She won't go first, even though she's the one who put all of this together. Nope it's the Grand-Kids, my Brother, Sister & her husband, Me, my Dad and finally after everyone else has plates full, drinks and seated, will she then fix her plate.  We try every year to get her to go first so she can sit down and rest after fixing one heck of a meal to no avail.  

And yet I'm Thankful for that. Thankful that I have a family and warm home to go to on this mother of all Family Holidays. Thankful for the family that will sit down to eat with me. Thankful for the food most of all. Thankful for one more year of the guessing game to see if this year is the year that so-and-so blows their top and ends up out on the lawn in a knock down drag out with so-and-so in front of all the neighbors until finally Mom comes out with a switch and puts and end to it. 

Yeah, any Holiday or Occasion where you get the whole family together under one roof for any length of time is a powder keg waiting to blow. Let's hope it's on the funny side this time, but to tell the truth either way I'm entertained. Well, Thank You Dear God, for This Life I'm Given-warts and all........

Strange

I had ordered the book "Deal With It!" and it's companion Workbook a few weeks ago. Yesterday I was reading the books and suddenly realized something.  The Author's name.....Paula White.

June 29th, 2010, I lost my Very Best Friend-whom I referred to as Sis.  She passed just a few weeks before her Fortieth Birthday-Her name........Paula White.  I hadn't realized it until that moment, at least not consciously, that their names were the same.  Maybe my subconscious knew, but it didn't clue me in until that moment. Maybe that was one of the things that I needed to, "Deal With It!"  I don't know the answers, but it was a little strange to say the least.

So far things are moving along smoothly with these books, that is other than the strangeness of the Names. Well, not much else I can say about it, other than " I miss you Sis, Love you"......................

THANK GOD FOR FAMILIES

Yes, that's right, THANK GOD FOR FAMILIES!!! Especially my Parents.

Now let me start first at the beginning of my most recent reason for Gratitude. My Parents new home has a rather small utility room which could not accommodate their nice, fairly new Washer & Dryer set. So with the stipulation that they would visit when their laundry needed cleaning (that is until they can purchase a new set) they gave my Brother and I the set to replace our crappy ones. 

Of course we have no problem with that arrangement at all, heck I'll even stop by after work someday to pick up their laundry, bring it back here, do it for them and then deliver it again if they want. I'm just so glad to be able to Wash clothes using Hot water and Dry them all in the same day-even the same hour (almost). Yeah, that's right the old Washers Hot water setting didn't work and the dryer took two days to get the clothes dry. It went like this, run the dryer, open the door to find the clothes still damp, run the dryer again and again until the next day they were finally dry. I don't know if they were dry because it had finally worked or from sheer exhaustion from all that tumbling.

Now thanks to God's infinite wisdom of giving us Great Parents we will no longer have that problem. So in the spirit of Thanksgiving-which is swiftly approaching-I give my Thanks to God and my Parents for this gift of inconvenience for them, but a helping hand for us. And of course..............................................................

!!! HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE !!!

MEMORIES

Okay gang I know I'll be dating myself, but I can't help it. Last night my Brother and I watched episodes of "The Smothers Brothers", courtesy of youtube. Now does anyone else recall them? I know I sure do. In fact I not only remember them, but, uh-I can't believe it but I have to tell this story.

You see there was this performer that was on their show when I was 6-7 years old by the name of Jim Stafford (hope I spelled that right). After seeing that show I then decided that he was my imaginary boyfriend. Stupid I know, but heck I was a stupid kid. It was this way until I recieved, for Christmas one of those life size dolls. She was about my height with dark hair like mine and the box said that if you held her hands and walked she would walk with you. Well, her name was Julie and we became best friends. Yes, we were the best of imaginary friends for a while, that is until that Imaginary HUSSY, STOLE my Imaginary CHEATING, BOYFRIEND from me.

We didn't speak for a long time as you can imagine. The next Christmas I got a knock-off of the Barbie Cruise Ship and by then I had made nice with Julie & Jim, was invited to be her Matron of honor at their Wedding (It was a beautiful ceremony). As a wedding present I gave them the first (and only) tickets for the maiden voyage of the S.S. Patmore. We were at the beach the following summer, I with ship in hand waded into the water. The ship sank like a rock.  Some say it was defective, others that it was just not ready for the waters of Ozzy Bottoms. Only I know the truth, I sank the back stabbers and went on with my day.

Now, I know that might scare some of you, but you must remember two things; First-I AM A FICTION WRITER and Second-THAT THEY WERE IMAGINARY FRIENDS.  No real people were harmed in the comision of this crime. Trust me if any of it had been real my Mom would have had me in therapy for the rest of my life. That is if she didn't kill me first.

Watching those old "Smothers Brothers" shows reminded me of the fact that I'm not young any more, that I put my imagination on paper now and that it's not just in my head, but most importantly that...................The more things change-The more they stay the same.  "The Smothers Brothers Show" was somewhat controversial  in that they fought against censorship and that they spoke the truth when the truth was being smashed down and hidden.  It was Freedom of speach at it's best. After watching an interview with the Brothers, I realized that they wouldn't have been such a big deal if not for the censorship and the CBS faux pas of firing them when all they wanted to do is play to their audience. Americans have always been smart enough to think for themselves and do what they felt best, but now just as then the Government thinks it knows best. Sometimes they should just but out and leave it up to WE THE PEOPLE.

Well, that's my trip down MEMORY LANE and my small rant about politics....................what's yours?

Long day at the computer

I've been spending the past few evenings at my computer working on my Web-Site.  It's been long and tiresome to say the least.  First finding all the things that I wanted to put on there, then getting them into the computer in a format that would work with the site. Part of my problem is in the fact that I have what I call a chicklet of a computer. It's tiny, no cd rom drive or floppy disc drive. So I have to manually type everything in or go to another computer (a bigger and better one) and scan each item then download it to my flash drive. Then back to my chicklet to upload the information and move it around.

So, as you can tell it's a lot of work that I should have done a long time ago.  I'm proud of myself for getting it done now and I think it looks, (as Billy Crystal's character would say on SNL) "Marvelous".  Give it a once over and see if you don't like it too....well, I'm signing off here for a while-I really need a break from this chicklet.........................

Want to read something funny?

It use to be (when I was a teenager) that I could stay up until five in the morning, go to bed and get up again at six to go to school.  Somehow I managed to stay awake all day (don't ask me how-I slept through that part) only to return to the same routine again that night. Now.........I return home after a day of hard work, enter my bedroom, slip off my shoes and socks, then lay back on my bed for thirty minutes to an hour before I can even think about supper.  

Now, can someone tell me exactly when I got wiser, cause I sure don't think I am older, or wiser for that matter.  For instance this very afternoon someone asked me the name of this very blog (that I started, is all mine, I named it and everything) and I totally blanked on the name.  "This so called life of mine, I think???" is what I said.  Now, like you sitting here looking at the name which clearly states, "THIS LIFE I'M GIVEN",  I feel like a total moron.  

Another funny thing about life as I know it right now...is the fact that I had (like most people) became addicted to television.  Had to watch it almost all day long.  Now out of necessity I have been slowly weaned off the tube.  First it was the dropping of cable television to save money.  I got a digital converter box so I at least could get the local channels, but I find myself not wanting to turn the set on more and more.  I've actually remembered what a library and library card is, so I'm reading more.  I would listen to the radio or my collection of tapes & cd's, but I've only turned my radio on once or twice.  I love to WRITE, but I think my muse has died of imagination starvation.  I should have gone to the funeral, it was a great muse, that is whenever it felt like it.  I enjoy crochet & knitting, although I'm more into knitting right now.  And, of course, I've become a blogger again.  

I might even start up my web-site again.  I had one of those before that I featured my writing on-well some of it anyway.  I don't know, I don't want to over do it and become addicted to my computer.  I kinda dig the peace and quiet around here......

Family Time

Sunday we all went to Holiday World something my family hasn't done in a long time.  My Mom is a Nurse and before she retired from the local hospital we would attend the hospital picnics there.  So once every year we went to Holiday World and had a great time together just the five of us (Mom, Dad, Me, My Brother & My Sister).  

Well, it goes without saying that we haven't been there in a very long time as a family.  Mom has retired from the hospital, Dad is a retired Army Vet. and Caretaker.  Money-while the paper it's made on does grow on trees, you can't just go out and pick it.  Times got hard, and lives happened, changed and marched on.  My little Sister is married and has five kids now.  My Brother has been married and divorced, has three kids and one grandchild.

So flash forward to yesterday and for the first time in a long time we all went to Holiday World.  It was my Sister's treat, but we all had a great time. The five of us went through the Holidog 3-D adventure together, I know cheesy, but that's my family.  

Though my feet and lower legs were killing me by the time we left, I still had a great time TRIPPING DOWN MEMORY LANE!...................

Today

Today I received an email from my sister, regarding yesterday's post, that had this Bible verse in it, Eph. 3:20 which reads as follows: 

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,-King James version

Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.-New Living Translation

She followed it with this quote, " Dream BIG because He is a BIG God! "

While I am very grateful to my sister for even looking at my post and for her wonderful comment, I must admit that I'm not quite sure what this means.  In the post yesterday I ended with questions about my desire to live in Scotland, my desire to write yet never finishing anything and the dreams I have of things I will never be or have, asking why?  I'm not sure how that answered the questions, so sis-if you're reading-perhaps you could help me to understand.  Be patient with me, I'm a slow learner people.

THIS LIFE I’M GIVEN

This is my so called life...

I used to have a blog, but because life was a little hectic I decided to get rid of it.  Now that things are somewhat calmer (in that I no longer have cable and get bored) I decided to start one up again.  So here it goes........

I may not always like this life I'm given, but at least I have one to be disgusted with.  When things don't go the way I think they should-there is God whispering in my ear "Is that what I wanted for you?"  "Is that where I told you to go?"  "Is that what I told you to do?"  "Are you listening to Me?"

I've run aground a lot and it's all do to the fact that I haven't always listened or waited on His leading.  I've read my Bible and I pray when I think of it.  Mostly for friends & family that are ill or hurt or in need.  I feel so selfish when I ask for things for myself and I kick myself when I don't pray at all. 

I guess I am slowly learning every day, emphasis on slowly.  I thank God for my Salvation, Family, Life, Job, but I'm not always sure that I've done it right or enough.  I know without  Him I am nothing and going nowhere.  Yet, I do have questions sometimes.

For instance why do I have such a strong desire to live in Scotland if I'm never meant to be there?  Why do I have such a desire for writing, yet I can't finish anything?  Why do I have such wonderful dreams of things I will never be or have?  Why?

For now I am content with This Life I've been Given and I guess that's all there is....