How children perceive their Grandparents...

We could all use a could chuckle on Friday morning...right?!?  :-)

She was in the bathroom, putting on her makeup, under the watchful eyes of her young granddaughter, as she'd done many times before.  After she applied her lipstick and started to leave, the little one said, "But Grandma, you forgot to kiss the toilet paper good-bye!" I will probably never put lipstick on again without thinking about kissing the toilet paper good-bye.   My young grandson called the other day to wish me Happy Birthday. He asked me how old I was, and I told him, 80. My grandson was quiet for a moment, and then he asked, "Did you start at 1?"   After putting her grandchildren to bed, a grandmother changed into old slacks and a droopy blouse and proceeded to wash her hair. As she heard the children getting more and more rambunctious, her patience grew thin. Finally, she threw a towel around her head and stormed into their room, putting them back to bed with stern warnings. As she left the room, she heard the three-year-old say with a trembling voice, "Who was THAT?" A grandmother was telling her little granddaughter what her own childhood was like. "We used to skate outside on a pond. I had a swing made from a tire; it hung from a tree in our front yard. We rode our pony. We picked wild raspberries in the woods." The little girl was wide-eyed, taking this all in. At last she said, "I sure wish I'd gotten to know you sooner!"   My grandson was visiting one day when he asked, "Grandma, do you know how you and God are alike?" I mentally polished my halo and I said, "No, how are we alike?'' "You're both old," he replied.   A little girl was diligently pounding away on her grandfather's word processor. She told him she was writing a story. "What's it about?" he asked. "I don't know," she replied. "I can't read."   I didn't know if my granddaughter had learned her colors yet, so I decided to test her. I would point out something and ask what color it was. She would tell me and was always correct. It was fun for me, so I continued. At last, she headed for the door, saying, "Grandma, I think you should try to figure out some of these colors yourself!"   When my grandson Billy and I entered our vacation cabin, we kept the lights off until we were inside to keep from attracting pesky insects. Still, a few fireflies followed us in. Noticing them before I did, Billy whispered, "It's no use Grandpa. Now the mosquitoes are coming after us with flashlights."  When my grandson asked me how old I was, I teasingly replied, "I'm not sure." "Look in your underwear, Grandpa," he advised "Mine says I'm 4 to 6."   A second grader came home from school and said to her grandmother, "Grandma, guess what? We learned how to make babies today." The grandmother, more than a little surprised, tried to keep her cool. "That's interesting." she said... "How do you make babies?" "It's simple," replied the girl. "You just change 'y' to 'i' and add es   A grandfather was delivering his grandchildren to their home one day when a fire truck zoomed past. Sitting in the front seat of the fire truck was a Dalmatian dog. The children started discussing the dog's duties. "They use him to keep crowds back," said one child. "No," said another. "He's just for good luck.." A third child brought the argument to a close."They use the dogs," she said firmly, "to find the fire hydrants."   Grandpa is the smartest man on earth! He teaches me good things, but I don't get to see him enough to get as smart as him!   My Grandparents are funny, when they bend over, you hear gas leaks and they blame their dog.   Have a good weekend! Take care and God bless!  :-)

Friendship and cancer

I have a very dear childhood friend, Kathy, who just recently found out she has breast cancer.  She had a double mastectomy yesterday and will be starting chemo most likely in 2-3 weeks that will go on for a year.  My husband and I went to the hospital last night to see her and she’s doing very well and it didn’t go into her lymph nodes which was a huge worry.  Thank God!!  What shocks me is that they’re sending her home today!  WTF?!?!?  She had the surgery yesterday!!  Not just the double mastectomy but also breast reconstruction surgery!  She has 4 drainage tubes coming out of her!  After my gastric bypass I only had one drainage tube and it was a pain in the ass.  Four has got to suck!!!  Yes…I am using a lot of exclamation points here because I’m still in shock that they’re sending her home after such major surgery!! 

Anyway…we have known each other since the fourth grade and grew up together.  She got married shortly after graduation to her high school sweetheart and they are still happily married with two grown children and a grandson.  I went into the service a couple months after their wedding and married my first husband shortly after I got out of the Army.  Kathy and I kind of went our separate ways…not intentionally…it just kind of happened.  We saw each other a couple of times, but in general, it wasn’t until my second marriage 14 years ago that we started getting back in touch.  It's only been a few times though but we have been keeping in touch on Facebook.

When I found out about the cancer, I don’t even know how to describe my feelings.  Fear and panic were the top ones I guess.  I have seen and talked to her more in the last month than I have since our childhood.  One of the things we have both been going back and forth over is the regrets we have of not staying in touch.  We have both had memories come flooding back of growing up together and realized just how much fun we had and how much we’ve missed each other.  We’ve promised each other that it’s going to change.  It’s amazing what cancer can do.  It’s just so sad to me that that’s what it took to get us to realize how important we were/are to each other.  I love her dearly and when she starts losing her hair from the chemo….I’m shaving my head!  That’ll be something new.  J

Take care and God bless!

Exactly!!

This is exactly what I have tried to explain to someone.   In order to basically save your soul and release the pain and anger from your heart, you have to forgive.  It doesn't excuse the act that caused the pain though.

Cary Grant's Daily Prayer

I read one of Cary Grant's books years ago and this was in it and was something I have always remembered.  Supposedly, he kept this prayer in his wallet. 

Lord, you’ve known me a long time.
You know me better than I know myself.
You know that each day I am growing older and someday may be very old,
so meanwhile please keep me from the habit of thinking I must say something on every subject and on every occasion.
Release me from trying to straighten out everyone’s affairs..
Make me thoughtful, but not moody.
Helpful , but not over-bearing.
I’ve a certain amount of knowledge to share; still it would be very nice
to have a few friends who, at the end, recognized and forgave the knowledge
I lacked.
Keep my tongue free from the recital of endless details.
Seal my lips on my aches and pains.
(They increase daily and the need to speak of them becomes almost a compulsion)
I ask for grace enough to listen to the retelling of others’ afflictions,
and to be helped to endure them with patience.
I would like to have improved memory, but I’ll settle for growing humility and
an ability to capitulate when my memory clashes with the memory of others.
Teach me the glorious lesson that on some occasions I may be mistaken.
Keep me reasonably kind. I’ve never aspired to be a saint.....saints
must be rather difficult to live with.....yet on the other hand,
an embittered old person is a constant burden.
Please give me the ability to see good in unlikely places and talents in
unexpected people. And please give me the grace to tell them so, Dear Lord.
Amen!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving turned out to be such a wonderful day! Erik joined us for the first time in like 10 years (we tried to do both or split it the first few years and it just didn't work out...we've had separate Thanksgivings since. Because of the crap his brother is pulling, he made the decision to come with me this year). There were 16 of us and the only ones missing were the two nephews Ty and Jared who are both in the military and were missed very much! There was a lot of conversation and laughter. :-) We really had a good time!
(I know it was hard on Erik though. Thanksgiving is especially difficult for him because of the death of his mother four years ago on the 29th of November. She is still very deeply missed by all of us).

One of the things that happened that was...(I don't know if I should use the word funny or...I don't know what word to use here because although everyone laughed, at the same time I know that each and every one of us had a variety of emotions that went through us)...my mom, who I mentioned before has alzheimer's...ok...wait a minute....before I go any further I have to mention that my sister, sister-in-law and I BEGGED my parents to let us handle Thanksgiving this year and they absolutely would not give in....we have actually been arguing with them for months about it and finally gave up. We did manage to get everything but the turkey and dressing taken off their hands (although that's what we were fighting them so hard to let us do...they just wouldn't let us). S' anyways...I called my parents on Tuesday after work to ask a quick question. My mom got on the phone and said "Ronda...I have to tell you this because I know your dad is just dying to tell you so I'm going to tell my side of the story.

The first Thanksgiving dinner I made when your dad and I got married 51 years ago...Ronda...you know how to make stuffing, right? You have to cook the celery and onion in butter before adding to the bread...right?!?! (I said...yeah)....mom: well, I didn't know that and the stuffing wouldn't hold together and the celery and onions were crunchy. It was terrible. I learned the next time what to do. So..51 years later...today to be exact...your dad came home from work and I was so proud that I had everything ready for him to help me stuff the turkey. I had the celery and onions all mixed in the bread and ready to go. Your dad asked if I cooked the celery and onion. I said no. O_o. So your dad and I have spent the last 45 minutes picking through the bread and pulling out all the celery and onions." My mom was laughing her ass off while she was telling me about it and when we were all sitting around on Thanksgiving and it was brought up...everyone laughed...but you could see the look of worry all the way around. I will say this though....they both agreed they don't want to do it anymore. FINALLY!

I guess I look at it this way, my mom doesn't realize what's going on..or if she does, she refuses to face it. If she can laugh at herself, or if she just thinks it's silly...then fine...so be it. I would much rather she be laughing than crying.

So...get this...Erik has been trying to figure out what to get me for Christmas. We don't always buy for each other, but since he got that there Samsung watch of his...he said to consider that his Christmas gift and if there was something I wanted, let him know. I had honestly not been able to think of anything..I was looking at watches..but nothing really popped. So, after dinner on Thursday, my mom handed each of us, (my sister, brothers and I) an envelope. Turns out, that my grandma (who died two years ago)...her estate was finally settled and each of the brothers was given a little money and my parents took half of their amount and split it between the four of us.

We're not talking a fortune here...we're talking a few hundred dollars. AWESOMESAUCE!!! So, then my mind goes from a watch, to maybe a Kindle Fire!!!! WOOT WOOT!!!! Well, on Friday morning, Erik and I did some research trying to figure out what would be better....a Kindle Fire, an IPad or a Samsung Note 10.1. I finally decided on the Note 10.1, which I am typing on right now and is most awesome! Now the funny part. The reason I chose the Note was because I felt it could take over enough for my laptop that we could sell that to make up a little of the difference in cost. Erik thought that was a great idea.

So, I spent a good part of yesterday clearing off my laptop while Erik set up my Note. (I had gone right out to Best Buy yesterday and gotten the Note 10.1 2014 32GB). Last night, we were watching TV and I was on my laptop and we heard this loud whirring sound. We're both like...what the hell??? My laptop blew a fan!!!! Erik can't even get it to turn on right now!!! Seriously!?!? What are the odds??? Just too funny!!! So, he's going to fix that and sell it. In the meantime...I am not without computer power!! This thing ROCKS!! As does my most awesome husband!! ;-)
Tomorrow we're putting up decorations and I'm fixing us our own little turkey dinner and gonna watch the Bears game! Oh...by the way...still sober! ;-)

Take care and God bless! :-)

Epiphany

I’m very upset right now and I’m trying to keep my temper and my language to a reasonable level. We have an anonymous person that keeps posting to my husbands post that I’m 99% sure who it is. I could be wrong, but because of certain wording…I’m pretty sure. Saying that I am correct I would just like to say a couple of things.

You seem to think that my husband and I brag about the things that we have and we do nothing to help or to give to other people. Not that it’s anybody else’s business, but first off…what my husband and I have we have worked our fingers to the bone for and if there is something we want and we can get it…we will. Second, if we want to give everything we have away, we can choose to do so. We have given many things away to people…family, friends and strangers alike. My husband has also given his time freely to help people with computers and such because that is what he is good at. I have given my time at food pantries, I’ve made up bags with hats, mittens, toys, toothbrushes, etc., for the last few years and given them to shelters. I’ve given several items to homeless shelters including food and clothing.

I say prayers all the time for those in need and if you are who I think you are, I have on two separate occasions said a prayer that God take my life instead of your wife because her son needed her. Since I have no children I felt it was more important that I be taken instead of her. Yet she thinks I’m an EVIL person. Because I don’t throw my whole life out there for others to see (until now)…doesn’t mean that I don’t care and just because I’m an alcoholic (recovering), doesn’t make me a violent, terrible person. I have my own demons that I have dealt with my entire life, but I don’t make them who I am. I don’t let them make me a victim to the circumstances.

I’m going to let you in on a few secrets…yes, I know this is a public blog, but at this point I don’t care…I’m not ashamed of who I am. When I was two years old I had almost all the skin ripped off my right arm and breast from a coffee burn accident. I have scars…but that’s not who I am. When I was 6 years old, I was molested by a janitor at the school. I never told my parents or anyone about it until about two years ago, but it wasn’t who I was or who I am. When I was in the Army I was raped…twice! Once by two MP’s and once by a guy I was dating but I was blacked out and it was in a room full of people. I was embarrassed and ashamed and I never turned anyone in or told anyone about it until recently. It was not who I was or who I am. I refused to let them make me a victim.

It wasn’t until yesterday that for the first time in my life I realized a had allowed myself to be a victim and that was when I had my miscarriage and was not able to have children afterwards. My anger towards my husband and myself was bad but my anger toward God was unyielding! I stopped talking to God for three years. I lived in a deep black hole and during that time I gained 100 pounds and don’t remember hardly anything. I just remember being angry. It took years for me to deal with this and it wasn’t until just recently over the last few years of counseling that I’ve come to grips with everything. Unfortunately, in the process, I had also become chemically dependent on alcohol. That started really when our niece was taken from us after staying with us a few months and given back to her drug addict parents. This was like an epiphany to me yesterday morning….it dawned on me that all these years of fighting against being a victim, I had made myself a victim of my circumstances. So, now I’m pissed! I will be going forward on from here. Things are going to change….I am no longer going to feel sorry for myself, or envious of people with children and grandchildren. I love my nieces and nephews to death and will continue to spoil them rotten whenever possible.

If in the end, I have no one but myself and a bunch of dogs and cats surrounding me and I die with them eating me to survive…that’s okay!! So long as they’re ok till someone gets to them. ;-)

Ok…I’m not pissed anymore…feel much better. :-) Anonymous…screw yourself!

Take care and God bless ya’ll!! ;-)

I should file for disability!! >-/

Why not?!?!? Everyone else is! I use my fingers for typing and it's getting harder and harder for me because I'm losing blood every minute from PAPER CUTS!!! I feel faint...alas! Woe is me!!

See what I mean?!? I NEED MY FINGERS PEOPLE!!

Why shouldn't I be able to get other people to pay for me to live my life? Why should I have to work to pay for them?? It's so NOT FAIR!!

I think, I should at least get workmans comp...come on now!

Sigh...well at least I have pretty purple Herbie the Dinosaur bandaids to heal the hurt. ;-) hehehe!!

Take care and God bless! :-)