Why it is so hot.....................you can fry an egg!

We've been having rather hot weather the past few days 100+ but  we had a welcomed thunderstorm this morning and it has cooled things off to the mid 90's.  When I was a kid I was oblivious to the weather.  As long as it wasn't lightening outside we were out playing no matter what the temperature was.  Sometimes the hotter the better.  I remember our science experiment of 1959 when we cooked an egg on the driveway.  I guess the biggest reason we were not bothered by the heat was that we were acclimated to it.  Most of us didn't have central air conditioning back then so it didn't matter if you were inside or out.  I remember at my best friend's house they would put a fan behind a huge block of ice and that was their cooling system.  All the kids would get a salt shaker and sprinkle salt on the ice and then sit in front of the ice block and lick away. 

I miss the sounds of the summers of my youth.  Every night there were neighbors sitting outside and kids laughing and playing or waiting for the DDT man to come down the street spraying for mosquitoes.  It is a wonder that we are not a generation of adults glowing in the dark as a result of running in the fog behind the DDT truck.  I remember I just loved the smell....but our parents would yell at us to get out of it and not breathe it but we did it anyway.   All summer we would play kick-the-can after dark or hide and go seek.  We didn't go inside until our parents called us in.  

But, now I seldom hear children playing outside.  Their little lives are as scheduled as business executives.   I guess they are never home to play.  I just wonder if they are having the opportunity to explore and build their own imaginations.  If someone is always organizing your activities for you how do you learn to entertain yourself?  I'm just curious. 

Sometimes we find ourselves when we aren't even looking!

Today I am feeling reflective about my life. I was only 27 years old when my husband announced one night that he was afraid life was passing him by and myself and our 2 children were to blame. So away he went with his 21 year old girlfriend. I couldn't believe I was being replaced by a younger woman at the age of 27 but it was true. 

So....there I was, 27 years old, with no college education (I quit school to help my husband finish and he left 1 week before receiving his graduate degree) I had 5 year old twin daughters and no job. Now that was a pickle! At first I grieved, then I got angry, then I sucked up what little self-esteem I had left and enrolled in school. I took an exec. secretarial course because I needed to brush up my skills and I needed to get a job as quickly as possible. About 5 months into the course the school hired me to be their deaf education secretary. I worked there for 6 years and then decided to go back to college.

We had very little money and I often worked 2 jobs but we made it.  As in most everything in life, timing is key. The girls were old enough by then to be a huge help.  They were great tutors and learned astronomy right along with me.  They flourished with the added responsibility and it was during this time that they learned to cook and sew.  They basically ran our household and I am still proud just remembering how they stepped up to help me while I pursued school.

Dating was just about out of the question though. Who in the world had time? Between work, school and spending time with the girls there just were not enough hours in the day. I decided early on that I would just put my personal life on hold until after my girls were grown and on their own. It isn't the right decision for every single mom but it was the right one for me. I don't think I could have combined motherhood and a new husband let alone a blended family. (I greatly admire those who manage to do just that)  Sometimes I felt guilty that my children didn't have a father (he was never involved in their lives after he left) and I sometimes wondered if we were a real family. But now I know that kids can make it just fine as long as they have at least one stable, dependable parent. They just need to feel secure and even a single parent can provide that security. What was the most difficult time in my life turned out to be the greatest opportunity for personal growth. I found out just exactly who I am and what I'm capable of doing. I will never be afraid of losing myself again. 

Then the timing was right to fall in love again.  It was unexpected but oh so welcomed.  I am married to my best friend and now that I'm about to be 62 years old, I can say I have it ALL and I wouldn't change a thing.

BE POSITIVE

"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort."

I absolutely love this quote.  I have always been a positive person...seeing the glass half full rather than half empty.  I have also annoyed more than just a few people along the way with my attitude.  It seems that worriers don't like to be shown the positive side of things.  It messes with their brains or something.

I have always wondered just how much of our personalities are inherited through our gene pools.  My dad was a very positive, upbeat person who always said he wasn't stressed he was just a carrier.  He said he'd probably never get ulcers, just give em.  My mother was a worrier.  She was a self-schooled medical professional of the Reader's Digest School of Medicine.  She had you diagnosed before you ever set foot in a physician's office.  I guess I'm somewhere in the middle.  I tend not to worry about things I have no control over.  I fix what I can and move on.  But if worrying will solve my problem.....I'll get right on it.

I remember when the doctor told me I was having twins.  My first question was, "Is there anything I should be worried about."  He replied, "Nothing that worrying will change, just go home and take it easy."  Now, I got right on that "Take it easy" part and I didn't worry at all.  I delivered full-term twins weighing in at 6 lbs and 5 1/2 pounds so my strategy must have paid off.   

 

Follow your instincts..................

Sometime ago I wrote about my neighbor Menopause Maude.  Well, at the time I thought she was 84 years old but yesterday I found out she is actually 90.  Well for sometime now I have been keeping an eye on her house and I watch make sure I see her every day.  Yesterday when I came home I didn't see her on her porch.  I watched the rest of the evening and still never saw her.  I commented to Ron that maybe I should go check on her but got interested in something on tv and never did.  This morning she was outside and called me over to tell me she had been sick all night and to please call her son.  I immediately called Darrell and he took it from there.  Now what I'm feeling bad about is that I didn't follow my gut instinct and check on her last night.  She's such a character that you never know if she's exaggerating her condition or not but I figure at 90 years of age it really doesn't matter.   I just need to keep an eye out for her.

Mrs. P's mother lived to be 106 years of age so Mrs. P will probably outlive me.

Under My Umbrella

My daughter Julie and I like to create children's picture books. This is one we are working on now. I write the poems and she does illustrations. We just make them for her class but they are fun. Julie didn't do this picture but I didn't have her drawings on my computer. She does beautiful drawings complete with animals etc........ (of course I'm not bias) :)

I have a big umbrella
Under which I like to hide.
I close my eyes and there I see
The things I feel inside.

Underneath my big umbrella
There are endless things to do.
I can be a movie star
And a super hero too.

Last night I talked to mermaids
Underneath the deep blue sea
And all the whales and dolphins
Swam around with me.

I went way up to outer space
Just the other day.
I hugged the moon and kissed the stars
And rode the Milky Way.

The rain forest in India
Is where I learned to climb
Of course the monkeys taught me how
They do it all the time.

I led a jungle safari
Where I was the bravest guide.
On my own, and without help
I tracked a lion pride.

Tomorrow I might fly
In an airplane across the sea
But you can bet my umbrella
Will be along with me.

When I am under my umbrella
There are endless things to do
My only wish is to do them all
With a friend like you.

But now my mom is saying
It’s time for me to sleep
But all the thoughts I have inside
Are mine alone to keep.

Because I have a big umbrella
Under which I like to hide
Where I can close my eyes and see
The things I feel inside.

Things to think about over an egg enjoyed from an egg cup!

Stay loose.
Make friends with freedom and uncertainty.
Cry during movies.
Swing as high as you can on a swing by moonlight.
Do it for love.
Take lots of naps.
Give money away.
Believe in magic.
Celebrate every gorgeous moment.
Read every day.
Giggle with children.
Listen to those older than you are.
Get wet.
Write more letters.
Eat a soft-boiled egg from an egg cup with a candle on the table.

Take time to be quiet.
Listen with your heart.
Don’t waste time trying to make sense of the senseless.
Believe in your spiritual self.
Lie down in clover.
Walk barefoot through mud.
Walk hand in hand with someone you love.
Imagine.
Believe in miracles.
Be comfortable in the dark.
Learn how to flirt.
Reach for the unreachable.
Trust yourself.
Eat blue mashed potatoes
Live your life with dignity end it with grace

Take a rain day.
Don’t become too predictable.
Don’t let your spirit die before you do.
Be willing to pay the price.
Take life as it comes.
Draw beauty and pleasure from each moment.
Experience life one moment at a time.
Be sensual.
Change the color of your hair at least once.
Live juicy
Breathe with another.
Look in the mirror and like what you see.
Learn from a child.
Be a role model.
Don’t be afraid to love.
Laugh often and wholeheartedly.
Respect power tools.
Know where your arrow may fall.
Take a chance on important personal matters.
Talk to a friend.

Once a year go someplace you’ve never been before.
Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.
Discover what is truly meaningful to YOU!

Hail, Hail, the gangs all here!

The sky opened up and the wind started blowing 70 mph sideways from the North and then God started throwing rocks at us!  If the rapture had been predicted for yesterday I would have thought it was indeed the end!

I was at work about 7:30 pm when this all started.  In the middle of the meeting we lost power and then it just sounded like the roof was being pelted with baseballs.   LOTS OF BASEBALLS.  When we went to the window you couldn't see a foot ahead because the hail was coming from the North and it just looked like a white wall.  I've never seen anything like it!  It seemed like the whole storm lasted about 45 minutes.  We finally finished our meeting by candlelight and by the time it was over so was the storm.


The city is a mess with broken power lines and trees snapped.  Fences are down everywhere and several roofs were torn off.  My new siding looks like it has pock marks.  I'll be making a call to the insurance adjuster.


The power of nature is impressive!