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[Sep. 26th, 2008|06:31 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  frustrated | ] |
Maybe I would like a bail out too!!! Except mine wouldn't involve 7 billion dollars.
This country can be so frustrating with fat cats and CEO's and greedy people making it hard for the average Joe. |
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| thots and observations... |
[Aug. 23rd, 2008|12:42 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  thinking | ] |
Lately is seems like everyone I come in contact with is under the impression that we must be happy 24/7. This fantasy isn't even possible. Since I work in a child aftercare it allows me plenty of opportunities to observe human behavior. One of these behaviors is a lack of contentment. I can't tell you how many times a day I hear "I'm bored", "what are we doing next" , "when is this over" "do I have too"?
Everyone wants to rush through activities, crafts or whatever we are doing to get to the next thing only to complain. I can't seem to instill in them the idea of enjoying the moment. I believe in "stopping to smell the flowers" or as my children remember "stopping to roll down the grassy hill"!!! Simple pleasures in life leave these kids with a sigh and a comment of "I'm bored". What happened to the days of being content with oneself? I'm talking about down time. Time spent thinking...pondering. Time spent dreaming. Time spent with oneself using their imaginations. Time spent putting real effort into something to be proud of. Time spent in productive conversation deepening relationships with others. Who or what is responsible for all this discontent?
Who tells us this lie of expected 24/7 happiness? The fact is...life is just not happy all the time. Life is not full of entertainment and activity all the time. Real life is hard. Real life can be sad. Real life hurts. Real life can seem unfair. We should be glad that life isn't fair. We win most of the time. If life were fair, we would all win the lotto and we would all get the money stolen from us. We would all drive Roll Royces and we would all get cancer. Thank God life isn't fair. I like the odds better the way it is.
I think if people would come to the realization that life is not going to be fluffy bunnies and cotton candy all the time, they would be more content which would lead to being thankful for what they have and not always wanting what they don't have. |
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| why is everything lately a business opportunity? |
[May. 24th, 2008|06:10 pm] |
I recently changed my home phone number because I was getting constant bill collection calls for "Dave". I have no idea who this Dave is and I'm tired of the phone ringing on Saturday mornings in an attempt to collect his past due bills.
Now on my new number I'm getting calls from solicitors. Since my number is "new" everyone and his brother from this area has to try and sell me something or introduce themselves to me and offer me their services. After the 3rd call I immediately signed up for the "do not call" list. I hope it works.
I was recently trying to find out what the recent sales of the homes in my old neighborhood are but every site that google referred me to required an email address in order to get information. Now I'm not about to give that out. I'll have every realtor in the country emailing me enough spam to make checking my email a chore.
Oh and those sites that claim you win stuff for free. Yeah right. Don't even get me started about that. |
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| love is the greatest gift of all... |
[Apr. 10th, 2008|11:41 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | thought provoking | ] |
Everything is going to be alright after all.
I'm 49 years old and it seems like everyday is a learning experience. The broader my world gets, the more understanding I have. However, I remain clueless about many things. The saying "to walk in another man's shoes is to really understand him" is so true. I wish we all had a chance to walk in each others shoes. I think this world would be a better place to be if we did. How can we love others if we live in our small selfish worlds and cast critical judgments all the time? That's not love at all. |
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| aftercare fun... |
[Mar. 16th, 2008|09:21 pm] |
I made a big 'ole pot of corn beef and cabbage today. The Irish heritage in me wants to eat if for the next couple of days.
I really enjoy my aftercare job at the school. I like being part of kids lives. I enjoy their personalities so much.
I've tried a few new things that they seem to like. I make up really outlandish stories and get them all in a circle listening to my tales of adventure. Right when it gets exciting, I say.....to be continued! It kills them to be left hanging but they beg for more.
I've incorporated a theme song for my group. "We are the Champions" by Queen. I brought the CD and had them sing along for two days this week. They really, really like it. The ones that didn't know it....know it now!! They get into it so much. I want them to feel like champions.
I've even started a club called the MPI (Mrs. Pnutz4me's Investigators) and it's sorta like the FBI. My kids go around and solve mysteries whenever an incident comes up that needs solving. We solved the case of the sand all over the girls bathroom floor. The kids went around asking questions and looking for clues and the mystery got solved. The one who solved it got promoted to Chief Investigator. They love all this imagination stuff. I like getting them using their imaginations instead of sitting around talking about being bored.
My goal is for them to feel confident and good about themselves. I feel like a lot of them feel ignored and unimportant to their parents. |
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| local folks... |
[Mar. 4th, 2008|10:48 pm] |
Friday night Linda and her beloved Emmaus Friends stopped in to spend the night. I love meeting Linda's college friends! I only wish they could have stayed longer and we could have done something together to make a memory. Yay for Rob, Joy, Sherie and Anna....and Deanna too!!!
Today Steve came to my school and met some of the kids. I told them that MR. pnutz4me was coming and they got all excited. They never met him before. When Steve got there he did some of his coin magic tricks and made instant friends.
After we left the school, I drove Steve up to Salt Springs to meet up with his BCC friends for a 3 day canoe/camping trip. Salt Springs is a town that if you blink your eyes, you miss it. There is one grocery store and one restaurant. Of course we had to patronize both! The restaurant was called "knife, fork & spoon". They had home cooking and it was good. They closed early because towns like that roll up the carpet at 7pm and all is quiet. Next we went to the grocery store to pick up some stuff for Steve's breakfast and lunch at the campsite. Outside the store were the two cashiers on "cigarette break" smoking away. When they saw us coming, they put out their smokes and went back to their cash registers. There was only one guy and his kids in the store and everyone seemed to know him/them. When it got time to pay we asked the cashier if there was anything else to do or go to in the town and she said..."you can eat at the knife, fork & spoon where I used to work for 14 years" I thought that was funny that she worked at the only two places in town. The whole scene reminded me of Lloyd and Harry on their road trip "mingling with the laid back country folk".
In order to get home I had to travel alone for 50 miles on dark back roads with no cell phone signal. I kept praying that I wouldn't get a flat tire or have car trouble. Ever since my road trip disaster when my mini van left me stranded in Lake City, I have this ongoing fear of having car trouble. The fact that I have a 12 year old car doesn't help get rid of that fear either. Needless to say, I got home safely.
I got a job promotion at work. I have more job duties, I go in earlier and I get the same pay. Doesn't that sound wonderful? Actually, it's not that bad. I didn't want to take the new position and I was kind of forced into it by default but it's been ok. They think a lot of people will be losing their jobs next year due to budget cutbacks and since I took this new position the likelihood of me getting cut is very slim so in light of that I'm ok with it. My old job was more low key without deadlines and I liked that. Now I have daily deadlines which ads a little (not a lot) of stress. |
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| The ACLU sucks... |
[Dec. 4th, 2007|12:57 am] |
On Saturday night I met up with some friends from school and went downtown to a Mexican place for dinner. The whole main street was blocked off. Both sides of the streets were lined up with chairs with no one sitting in them in preparation for the parade.
It's nice to live in a town where you can leave your chair to save your spot without some idiot stealing it or vandalizing it. The parade lasted for two hours. We saw lots of kids from school and when we called their names and waved at them they got excited.
What excited me most was baby Jesus was everywhere! There were at least 20 floats with nativities and many other floats with singing choirs actually singing the words to Christmas music. No one was afraid or intimidated to actually say the "J" word or express the real meaning of Christmas. It was a far cry from Hallandale where manger scenes are not allowed and everyone has to go around saying Happy Winter Holidays because Merry Christmas has become politically incorrect.
I like this small town living! I wonder how many years it will be before a night like Saturday night is only a fond memory? |
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| One year and counting... |
[Nov. 3rd, 2007|10:46 pm] |
Next week marks my one year anniversary of me moving up to Central Florida. It's been a hard year to say the least. There were many lonely nights and weekends...too many. There were many tears of regret. So many times I questioned myself whether I made the right choice or not. I left a job I loved to come to the unknown. It's been very difficult to come to this place where I knew ....NO ONE and start from scratch. I didn't think it would be so hard.
I find myself FINALLY getting the feeling of community. Every time lately when I go out I see someone I know. It makes me happy to be in a store and hear someone call my name with a friendly hello. I finally have people from work to go out to a restaurant with and enjoy a meal.
I've even "adopted" a few kids from school that I take to our schools family fun night at Chick fil-A and Cici's Pizza twice a month. Having kids in my life is what makes me the happiest. Kids are great!
I broke down and bought a LARGE PRINT Bible. Ever since my 40th birthday it's been harder and harder to see small print. I can't even read a phone book anymore without a magnifying glass! Forget a label on a bottle...can't see it. This aging stuff sucks. I went to one of my students baseball games the other night and someone asked me if I was his grandmother!!!! That hurt...I'm not old enough to be his grandmother....he's 10 years old. I mean technically if Lisa had a baby at 13 years old then I could be his grandmother but I still didn't like the comment. One consolation is...grandmothers are looking younger these days! |
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| craigslist blunders... |
[Aug. 25th, 2007|11:29 am] |
Seriously people....If you really want to sell something on Craigslist here are a few pointers.
1. Always include a picture
2. Tell as much as you know about the item such as...brand, model, type, condition, age etc...
3. Return emails right away.
I get frustrated when people list ads that say "washer and dryer for sale. They came with the house and I don't need" What does this tell me besides nothing. Wouldn't it be better to save your time and mine by not requiring needless emails asking questions?
Oh and this one is classic. If you are selling a sofa...don't show a picture of the sofa with your THREE bulldogs lounging around all over it. I don't think anyone wants a couch that stinks like your dogs.
I also love how "mint condition" mean different things to different people. The meaning of the word "mint" is "Excellent condition, like brand new" Come on people, don't say something is "mint" if it has rips, stains or scratches. Under those conditions, it is considered "fair" condition. Learn the lingo!
Ok.... now if you want to buy something off Craigslist...
1. If you make an appointment to look at something....show up
2. Bring Cash
3. GoogleMap directions ahead of time so you're not calling the seller all lost and flustered. |
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| RIP Tammy Faye... |
[Jul. 21st, 2007|10:53 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  grateful | ] |
One rainy Saturday about 2-3 years ago there was a "Surreal Life" marathon on VH1. I had never seen the show before. I saw that Tammy Faye was going to be on it.
I always thought Tammy Faye to be flaky, a bit crazy and overly emotional. That whole PTL scene made me suspicious and I remember the fall of that empire. She embarrassed me because of that whole PTL fiasco. I wrote Tammy Faye off as just one of those over the top people giving Christians a hypocritical name. That whole eye makeup thing only added to my embarrassment. Often times I would cringe when she was being interviewed because of her personality.
I sat down to watch an episode of surreal life to see what that crazy lady was up to. I secretly wanted to make fun of her and see how she was going to screw up again.
As they introduced the characters I saw that she was going to be co staring with porn star Ron Jeremy. I thought "oh brother...of all people to pair up Tammy with...why him"?
As I watched the show and watched the interaction between the cast of characters, I saw Tammy being a complete representation of Christ. Since it was a marathon, I was hooked into each following episode. I watched as she made decision after decision based on love instead of judgement. She gracefully bowed out of some of the activities (fortune telling and a nudist colony visit) because her bible told her not to be involved in such things. Others tried very hard to convince her to join in on the fortune telling saying it was not a big deal but she replied that she just couldn't. She never once judged any of the other cast members for any of their activities.
Tammy befriended Ron Jeremy and showed him care and concern. She had a book signing where many of her fans were gay and lesbians. She showed them all love during the entire 6 episodes.
During the final show, Sally Jesse Raphael interviewed each cast member. She asked specific questions about how everyone got along. Many of the housemates had complaints and arguments but NO ONE had anything bad to say about Tammy. Even Ron Jeremy said that he expected her to be stuffy, judgemental and critical of him when in fact he admitted that it was him who judged her at first until her knew her.
That show gave me a new respect and a new perspective on Tammy and on ME. I realized that this little woman of God has been unfairly mocked and judged by the media and by ME.
Watching that show and seeing Tammy Faye love people that she doesn't agree with made a change in me. She inspired me to change a lot of my attitudes. She helped me to see that there are some things that as a Christian I shouldn't partake in even if it doesn't seem like a big deal. For that, I'm thankful to Tammy Faye. I'm glad to know she's with the Lord and not suffering with cancer anymore. |
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| all good things must come to an end... |
[Jul. 21st, 2007|12:43 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  happy | ] |
In early June, I was in California visiting my brother and his family for 2 weeks. He was a wonderful host and showed me all kinds of things in California. My little niece Layla is a sweetheart and I love her.
On the 4th of July I was in Maryland and got to see the fireworks from the 28th story of a tall building downtown Washington DC overlooking the Washington Monument. The best part of that trip was hanging out with Lisa, Andrew, Sarah, Landie and Rall.com. I also enjoyed meeting Andrews parents and sisters.
Yesterday, I returned from two weeks up in Massachusetts visiting family and friends. We celebrated my Dad's 75th birthday while I was up there.
I love having a school job with summers off!
Now I'm back to reality and I'll be back to work in about 2 weeks. I'm also ready to start getting a pay check again. |
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| What Motherhood means to me... |
[May. 12th, 2007|11:47 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  content | ] |
Motherhood
dedicated to Lisa and Linda
By Nancy Partain
1. Instantly loving her with the strongest love imaginable.
2. looking at her while she sleeps and thanking God for her.
3. willingly putting her needs ahead of my own.
4. watching in awe as she grows
5. getting excited about every new milestone in her life.
6. getting excited about those first steps as she walks towards me with the biggest smile on her face.
7. being her whole world.
8. wanting the absolute best of everything for her and willing to do without, so she can have it.
9. having her in mind before purchasing anything.
10. being excited when she first utters “I luk ew” (I Love you)
11. protecting her from bad food, bad people & bad accidents.
12. dreading sending her off to kindergarten because that means she will no longer be with me all day anymore.
13. agonizing over what school is the best school.
14. being concerned about every child in her class and the influence they will have on her.
15. being a volunteer in the classroom and on field trips so I can be with her.
16. being proud of her getting in the spelling bee and feeling bad when she spells the word “of”, “UV” but telling her she sounded out her phonics really great.
17. sitting through the Christmas program at school and loving it even though she really can’t sing well yet.
18. getting really angry when someone hurts her feelings.
19. fighting for her cause no matter what it is.
20. guiding her in the best direction for her personality not mine.
21. guarding her heart.
22. being a girl scout leader so I can spend more time with her and get to know her friends.
23. letting her have her friends over even if I didn’t feel like it.
24. driving her and her friends to the skating rink every Tuesday whether I’m tired or not.
25. making a homemade birthday cake every year for her.
26. preferring conversation with her over television.
27. talking to her about anything and everything.
28. being silly with her.
29. being proud of the example she’s been to her classmates.
30. being proud of her choices as an adult.
I'll probably add to this because there are literally hundreds of things that I love about being a Mother to Lisa and Linda. |
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| Scrubs needs to scrub it's language clean... |
[May. 3rd, 2007|09:39 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  disappointed | ] |
I heard the "F" word on network television tonight. That was a first for me and I'm quite sure it won't be a last. It's bad enough hearing it on cable tv and in Movies but now this? I wonder if this is some new thing that has passed?
I remember reading that the I love Lucy show couldn't say the word "pregnant" when Lucy was pregnant. She had to say "expecting". hahaha. We've come a long way baby!
I didn't like the office tonight. It was full of potty jokes. I hope the show isn't going down the drain. That show has some of the best humor/characters any show has had in a while. I hope their writers don't ruin it by resorting to jr high adolescent comments now. |
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| Let God be the judge... |
[Apr. 1st, 2007|10:03 pm] |
"Don’t be a busy-body. Mind your own business. Tend to your own concerns. Don’t be shocked at the world. Don’t so condemn the world that it doesn’t look like you aren’t a human being yourself. Follow Christ yourself first, and be less concerned about how someone else is not following Him."
I read the above paragraph a while back and liked it so I decided to post it. I've decided to take it personally. |
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| Rocket Jay... |
[Mar. 14th, 2007|12:42 am] |
Does anyone know why this guy looks so relaxed and happy eating his free lunch? It's because he doesn't have to look for a place to live anymore! He and his family decided to move into my attic rent free and set up housekeeping. I started hearing noises above my bedroom ceiling. Steve checked it out and found their pathways and their stash of acorns. Too bad they have to be evicted. No free rides here! I did think about renting out one of my rooms in my house but not my attic and definately not to a non-paying squirrel!
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| Noises... |
[Mar. 7th, 2007|06:05 pm] |
I thought I heard something outside my window so I opened the curtains and saw this...
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| Important News Flash! |
[Feb. 19th, 2007|11:26 pm] |
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It's pretty pathetic when our biggest news stories are about Anna Nicole, Brittany's shaved head, Paris, Lindsey or one of the Olsen twins. You can't even turn on the TV without hearing about one of their latest escapades. I'm tired of hearing about people of financial priviledge wasting their money on drugs, booze and rehab centers. |
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| It just missed me... |
[Feb. 2nd, 2007|04:22 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  shocked | ] |
As I was winding down to go to sleep last night around 12:30AM I noticed a banner across the bottom of the TV with a tornado warning. I watched what area they said it was going through and I saw that it was north of me. I wasn't worried about it. I threw my cats outside, set my alarm, pressed the 30 minute timer on the TV and fell into a deep sleep.
This morning as I was getting ready for work I was watching the TV and they were showing pictures of the devastation from the tornado. It went through only about 1/2 a mile north of my house! The middle school was destroyed. My Sonny's BBQ just down the street was completely destroyed. Trees with hugh trunks were snapped in half.
They didn't cancel school at my school so I still went to work. Luckily I only have a one mile ride to work and the roads were clear so I was able to get there quick. Many teachers were hours late because they were detoured so much due to debris. We only had 232 out of 721 students come to school today. The phones were going crazy all morning.
There was a situation of a bus load of kids that were detained and detoured in traffic for several hours and still couldn't get to our school. The bus driver took those kids to another school a couple of miles away from us. They were safe and fed their lunch. After a while the roads were cleared up and they were brought back to our school. Parents were all confused and angry about it saying they had no right to bring their kids to that other school and that they should have brought the kids right back home. Duh...what if the parents weren't home to accept the children?? People act so weird during a crisis. They get so angry about the dumbest things and want to blame everybody for things out of their control. One woman stormed out of the office saying she was going to "give it to them" down at the school board. That lady ought to be happy that her house wasn't destroyed and that her kid was safe. Some people waste energy on the stupidest things. Why can't she put her energies towards something good and productive? |
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| I'm going to call a friend... |
[Dec. 19th, 2006|05:32 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | optimistic | ] |
Since I've been living in DeLand and I'm making this my home and routine, I've been wondering what it will feel like when I go "home" to Hollywood now.
When I was in college it was the first time I heard the saying "You can't go home again". I wasn't quite sure what that meant until I experienced it. I remember after my first year at school, when I returned home for the summer everything felt different. The dynamics had all changed. Some people weren't around. People had changed. People seemed to respond and act differently. The inside jokes weren't there anymore. The familiarities were gone. I had changed and acted differently too. Pretty soon I lost touch with most of the people that were important to me in my young life.
I don't want to lose the friends I left behind in Hollywood and I'm not going to let it happen. I don't want things to become awkward and unfamiliar. I know that friendships that are worth it are worth working for or they go away. It takes effort and work to stay in touch. Sometimes I've wondered why others don't work as hard as I try to in keeping a friendship going but that's just the way it is. I don't let that bother me because I don't think people purposely let good friendships slip away. They just get busy. Busyness is a friendship killer. |
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