Anticipation...a fancy word for wait and see

It is a grey morning. No sun shining in the many windows on the east side of the house.  A storm is brewing in from the southwest.  Spring is here.  I sit here wanting to write something.  The news comes on to tell about a big storm on its way.  They have been breaking in every half hour for the last hour and a half that I have been up.  Rain, hail, thunder, and lightning.  Oh yeah, don't forget the gusty winds. Yep, sounds like a storm to me.

Living in the Midwest, I swear you can see a storm five days away.  No mountains within hundreds of miles. Sounds boring doesn't it?  It's not.  We are waiting with our umbrellas, weather radios, and a clear path to the basement (you never know). You see, anticipation is what our lives are about.  I would add it to the list of things that bring joy.....and peace......and clarity.......and contentment.

Anticipation is what you do before the big change.  If you couple anticipation with plan then you really have something good.  I try to incorporate a bit of anticipation in all aspects of my life.

Anticipate, according to dictionary dot com, is an expectation....a hope. To foresee, to look forward to, to expect.  I like all that. Isn't that what we are supposed to do?  I think so. It provides purpose to all actions or our lives.  If I were to come up with the opposite of anticipate, I would say dread.  Let's not go THERE.

Examples of some of the events we anticipate are:

Vacations and Trips.  Holidays.  Birthdays.  Sporting events.  Concerts.  Births.  Deaths.  Homecomings.  Taxes.  The next meal.  Payday.  The Amazing Race.  Reading a book.  Appointments.  Pray time.  Meditation time. Seasons.  The garden.  Children.  Marriage.  Love. Gift giving. Healing.  Health.

Simply put, anticipation is what puts the zing into life.

Emails and texts my daughter and I have shared

The Daughter and I share emails frequently.  Yes, we live in the same town.  Yes, we talk on the phone a lot.  And yes, we see each other on a very regular basis.  But sometimes, a little story has to be sent right a way.  Here are a few actual emails and texts we have shared with each other.


2011 email:

Dear Daughter,

You know your mom, always a kitchen bomb (what I call kitchen mishaps) or something going awry at my house.  I really think this stuff does not happen to normal people.  You decide.


I keep a laundry basket in the laundry room for the dirty tea towels and such.  It takes me a while to get an amount that is load worthy.  Anyway, I scooped them up, along with a couple of aprons and tossed the load into the washer.  Pushed the magic buttons and went on with life.
Fast forward an hour.  I am getting ready to go grocery shopping and decide to throw the stuff into the dryer while I am gone.  Does that qualify as multi-tasking?  I think it does.  So, I set the green bags, my keys, and my purse down and proceed to unload the washer into the dryer.
I noticed a plastic thingy in the washer right as I opened the door.  Where did that come from?  What the heck is it?  Is my beloved trophy of a washer broken?  Are my laundry days put on hold?  I tossed it in a dish on top of the dryer and decided I'd probably figure it out later.  I had groceries to buy.  Multi-tasking is not for those of us with older folks ADD.  Off on another tangent and I'm trying to go to the grocery store. 

So, I grab a handful of laundry to toss into the dryer.  Problem is, it ALL came out in one pull, so much so, it plopped on the floor.  WTF?  You know how much I love my F bombs.  There was this brownish/tan hairy stuff wrapped all around EVERYTHING. I know long hair causes problems in the vacuum and all over the house.  But, in the washer?

I started looking at the mess.  It wasn't hair....it was thread.  Yes, thread.  Wait a minute, not just thread, but and entire, unraveled spool of thread.  Wrapped around every corner, and piece of laundry.  Do you have any idea how much thread is (was) on a spool???  It was the large spool.  It was measured in yards, not feet.  Like, 500 yards of thread.  Do the math Algebra Girl, that is over a thousand feed of thread randomly and ever so scarily wrapped and twisted around my tea towels and aprons. shit.  Mystery of the plastic thingy solved.  Good thing: washer not broken Bad thing: helluva mess to clean up.......I'll never get to the grocery store.

I went and got scissors and started to cut thread and save my beloved tea towels.  It took quite a bit of time. It gave me plenty of time to think about this mess. Who does this stuff happen to?  How did this happen?  Is it okay to laugh?  What are we having for dinner tonight.  Oh yeah, stay on task old person.  I got answers to all my questions as I picked, untwisted, cut, and tossed.  This stuff happens to me.  Who knows what the next "bomb" will be.  I'm ready for anything.  And, I know how it happened.  The sewing machine is located right next to the dryer.  Easy access for quick mending and sewing.  Handy.  When I scooped up the towels, the spool of thread was caught in the load and went into the washer.  Normal people do not sew.  Normal people do not mend.  Normal people get their mending done by me.  Laugh, hell yes I laughed.  If I cried every time I had a somewhat, self imposed, mini disaster happen, I be a mess.  So, laugh it was.  Dinner would be rotisserie chicken from the grocery store tonight.  All problems solved, mystery solved, the grocery store was still in my immediate future.  Life was again good.

When I was done, I looked in the trash can.  It looked like a wig was in the trash can.  The tea towels were saved and safely tossing in the lovely dryer and I was on my way to the grocery store.  Darn, I was going to miss Oprah today!!!!

Love,

 your mommy

Her reply:
 
Too funny!!  I am cracking up!!!!   If this didn't happen to you, it wouldve happened to me!  Oh wait, I dont have a spool of thread on hand.....


Thanks for the laugh!!


August 5, 2012  via text message:

LIZ:  Tay just asked if we changed Lindsey's name.  She said Linds told her we called her another name when she was a baby and then we changed her name to Lindsey. Get this....the name she said we used to call her was Lady Covington! I'm still cracking up!!

ME: Omg, I'm home alone, laughing so hard.

ME: I just remembered something...grandma used to call Linds, Queen, because she had a hard time remembering her name.

LIZ: Oh yeah.

March 2, 2013 via text message:

LIZ: Happy Birthday to my beautiful mommy! There's Lordy lordy look whose 40, nifty fifty, but nothin for 60! I guess happy 60 hope you're still gettin some dixty. (bow chica wow wow). Anyway, you may be 60 but you'll always by 40 in my eyes! (Which makes me like 20 again, right?!) Happy Birthay and love yo.

LIZ: u!

ME: You are too funny and too sweet! Thank you and I love you.

October 16, 2013 via text message:

LIZ: Read the first lilne! This is Tay's version of "once upon a time" lol!

She sent a photo of Tay's paper and here is what she wrote:

"Owns a pond a time"

Apparently she writes this on every story she writes.  Way too cute.

Another text the same day:

LIZ: Not sure if I told u but another case...recently Lindsey was talking about Sean and "grandpa thetto"....we soon figured out she was saying "Grand Theft Auto"!  These kids.

When are you going to stop laughing?

After the country funeral, the sister-in-law rounded us all up to meet at a favorite country restaurant on the highway for a quick dinner before we all go our separate ways homeward.  We did the car shuffle.  I went with the daughter and grand daughters, the dad and grandson went with my husband, and the mom went with her daughter-in-law and grand daughters.  I'm detecting a theme here.

We followed the lead car, since they were from that part of the country, and the Mister was following us.  The daughter and I began talking immediately.  Updates on extended family, school goings on, and other life happenings that just never make it to the phone calls we have. Laughter was the key component in our conversation.

We saw the sign that said Bolivar, our destination.  So, we turned.  Right after turning, Daughter saw the lead car had not turned.  Oh well, we would all get to the destination.  Mister was right behind us.  We began to laugh.  We had come to the realization that we were four females in a car, had no cell service, we were the only car with no GPS, and we didn't have a map.  But, we can read signs! 

We drove on a curvy, hilly  two lane road.  Beautiful country of woods and farms. Still laughing like crazy. The phone rang, it was the Mister.  He wanted to know why we weren't following the lead car.  We were laughing so hard we finally got it out that we had just turned at the sign and only after turning did we see the lead car had not turned.  He, who is used to his wife and daughter laughing uncontrollably at times, said okay and hung up.

After our round of laughter subsided, the little grand daughter in the back seat piped up "When are you going to stop laughing?".  We both started to laugh again and said "Never!" at the same time.

We made it to our destination and the daughter and I were not allowed to sit next to each other. 

What's been poured from the bucket

Tahiti...New York City...Las Vegas...Rode in a hot air balloon...Flew an airplane...
Snow ski...Water ski...Backpacked in the mountains...Hiked in the mountains...
Worked up in the mountains at a camp...Saw a president in person...Met an astronaut...Seattle...Stayed in a five star hotel...Rode in a limousine...Went canoeing...Explored in caves...Played on softball teams...
Can play poker...Horseback riding...body surfing...surfing...snorkeling...The Bahamas...Chicago...
Drove a Corvette...Owned the original VW Bug...Owned the New Bug...Had a baby...Bora Bora...
Watched the birth of my grandchildren...Married the love of my life...Niagara Falls...Eaten alligator...
Had a house built...Rome...Started a medical device company...Marched in a parade...
Have seen the Blue Angels...Los Angeles...Have mooned people...Saw a UFO...
Volunteered with the Red Cross...worked at a homeless shelter...Puerto Vallarta...
Made a souffle...Watched whales and their babies jumping in the ocean...
Saw dolphins swimming together in the bay...

The Bucket List

Have great grandchildren...Win the lottery....Be happy....Love

It's hard to be old.....

I have given care to the elderly my entire adult life.  It started out when I was eighteen.  I went to work at a nursing home as an aide.  I only cried twice....my first day and my last day.  I loved that job.  It was not easy but I loved each of the ladies I took care of.  It was my first lesson in the frailty of the aging process.

Aging is a process, it is a journey.  It does not happen over night.  It is something we, as every day people, know very little about.  Many of us have not ever been around old humans, let alone witnessed the aging process. Literally, the last frontier.

Old people have never been old before, so they do not know what to expect.  Many of their relatives did not live to the age that they are now. I am traveling that path with my husband's parents. My own parents never made it to old.

If you had never been around old people or the aging process, how would you know?  You wouldn't.

How will I be when I am old? I'll tell you how I hope I'll be:  I'd like to be well loved by my family and friends.  I'd like to be somewhat healthy.  I'd like to be pain free. I would like to keep my eyesight to the very end.  I'd like others to cook for me and bring me an adult beverage on a regular basis.  Maybe even a cigar once in a while. I'd like to be as gracious to receive help as I was giving help.  I'd like to keep my long hair no matter how grey or thin it gets. I'd like to have a housekeeper. I want to wear cotton clothes and smell like citrus, lavender, and patchouli.

As silly as all that sounds, those are actually the things that will matter to me.  How do I know this?  Like I said before, I have been an observer and participant with the elderly my whole life.  I've seen the aging process up close and personal.

I'm not afraid of aging because I have a daughter who is as close to me as a daughter could be.  I also have grandchildren who love me. They, too, have seen my husband's parents age.  They have also seen me model how to take care of them.  It will not be a shock to them nor will aging be a mystery to them. It is as it should be.  I have confidence we will get through this journey of life: together......with love.

September 11, 2012

A day to remember.  Our lives have been forever changed.  So much impact on that day that we catch ourselves saying either "before 9/11" or "since 9/11".

Is this how people felt after Pearl Harbor?

Is this how people in Japan felt after the atomic bombs?

Is this how people felt in Germany after the Holocaust?

Enough said.

A Word About Family

Family requires effort.  Effort to get together for yet another family dinner.  Effort to make it to the birthday party....again. Effort to fix a meal for the family.  Effort to send a note of encouragement.  Effort to clean the house for family visits.  Effort to work in the schedule for a family reunion. Effort to help with the dishes.  Effort to make a covered dish.  Effort to drive over to a family member's house.  Effort to call and check in. Effort to help a family member out. 

Why all this effort?  Is it worth it?  What do we get out of it?

I'll tell you.

When you put forth the effort during the good and happy times, it doesn't really seem like effort at all when there are bad times.

I love my family.

A love letter to my husband...

Dear Man,

We have been married forty years.  Can you believe it?  Forty seems like a lot and yet it doesn't seem like we have been together that long.

I just want to thank you for the wonderful ride through life, so far. We have been to wonderful places, we have suffered a few of life's tragedies, raised a daughter, and have thoroughly enjoyed our grand children.  We did it together.

We have had poor times and rich times.  We made it through the economic hard times of just starting a life together.  Remember when we only had five dollars to spend for our own food AFTER buying baby formula?  Thank goodness TV dinners were on sale! We knew we would laugh about it some day.  And, we did.  And now, we get to enjoy the fruits of our labors. 

We have had sickness and health. Not just the sickness and health of the two of us, but sickness and health of our daughter, son-in-law, grandchildren, our parents, and other family members. Those times always brought out the best in each of us. Times when all we could do was to hold each others hands.  No words, just love strength.

I have loved and cherished you for the last forty years and will continue.  I wish this kind of love for all. As I have said before......you are my favorite husband!  Happy Anniversary in our little place of heaven on Earth, Puerto Vallarta!

Love, Chick

Deer Hunting

I was over at the daughter's house the other day.  It is Fall and the kids are just now starting to have to stay indoors more often.  A hard transition from Summer to Winter.  Boredom was setting in on the girls and the six year old ran into the room and asked her dad if he could take them deer hunting.  Deer hunting??  Here is the explanation:


There is an open field across the street from the daughter's house.  Deer have been spotted there.  One night my son-in-law loaded up the little girls in his truck and they drove across the street, over the curb and into the field.  He shut off the engine and kept the head lights on.  They counted fourteen deer in the field eating.  The girls were amazed.  That was deer hunting.

Grand Daughter and the phone call

I was talking to my five year old grand daughter on the phone. We were going through the routine of saying our goodbyes: the I love yous and the see you tomorrows and how much we loved each other and who loves whom more. You know the routine! Then, as only a child of the 21st century, on a cell phone, would say, "Okay Nanna, I'm going to push the button now, bye!"

Me and God have this mutual admiration thing going on

I know, quite a topic.  I take a rather simplistic view of God.  I always have.  I was brought up in the Lutheran church.  I have spent most of my life seeking God in all the wrong places. Different churches, different religions and it all boiled down to to one thing....Love.  You see, I have found God everywhere I want to be.  Everywhere I need to be.  Everywhere.

It took all of my life to finally understand that God is really Love and that is pretty much it.  No need to not do this or not do that.  No need to memorize and quote endlessly.  All I need to do is to love every single day of my life.  Jesus said it all. 

Love the Earth and take care of her.  Love the Lord and be so very thankful.  Love people.  Love to help. Love to love. 

I'm pretty sure God does not care about a lot of stuff that people think He cares about.  I'm thinking He wants us to take care of each other.  Make life easier for each other.  To love one another in the process. 

I'm also pretty sure he's not real fond of people blaming Him for everything.  Come on, seriously, like He made a tornado to wipe out a town?  Tornadoes are a result of the laws of nature and physics.  So are earthquakes and hurricanes. So are meteorites and comets.  How do people get off saying stuff like that? 

I think a lot about all the people who have said one must believe "their way" or you will go to hell.  Excuse me.....hell????  Hell is sickness and starvation.  Hell is war and fighting.  Hell is not taking care of each other.

On the other hand, Heaven is getting along.  Heaven is tending to the needs of others to make their lives a bit nicer and easier.  Love.  Get it.  Can you imagine if love was the basis behind every decision a leader of a country made?  Or if love was the basis of every decision a corporation made?  We would have life a whole lot easier than it is right now. 

I get a kick out of people who say their God is not the same God I pray to.  That's like saying the air I breathe is not the same air they breathe.  Same God, different way of going about it.  Some people feel comfortable in all the trappings and teachings of a religion.  Rote words and actions to be done daily. I myself prefer spontaneous prayer and thanksgiving.  I want my heart and soul open to the love around me.  That's it. 

I like to read a variety of spiritual books.  I get something out of each of them. There are many religions because there are many types of people.  I would be that free spirited soul who people roll their eyes at.  But remember......the same God and it's all about the love.

Pi Day...3.14

My niece is a high school math teacher.  God bless her.  Really, like who loved math and all its derivatives?  Not many of us.  Thus, not many really good math teachers.  She loves Pi Day.  March 14.  Get it????

In honor of Pi Day make a pie for a math lover in your life.  Be it a teacher, student, engineer, carpenter, or anyone who can balance a checkbook.  Everyone loves pie!

The Three Monkeys

You know those three monkeys: See, Speak, and Hear no evil.  They are rather funny and cute.  Anything to do with monkeys is funny.  Those three monkey tenets are what we should be doing on a daily basis.

Three things to remember is way better than ten things to remember.  Ten Commandments versus the Three Monkeys.  A no brainer. Not that there is anything wrong with the Ten Commandments! 

See no evil.  I like that one.  It covers a lot of area.  Evil is a broad encompassing term.  I'm petty sure evil is stuff that should be off limits to humans.  Here is my list of some of the things I find quite evil: murder, cruelty, hate, abuse, neglect, greed, hunger, filth.  I'm pretty sure the monkeys think we should always make sure that evil things do not happen, that way we won't have to look at it. According to the monkey, one should have no evil to see.

Speak no evil.  Another good one.  Evil words have started wars.  Evil words destroy.  Kind words teach and build.  There is power in speaking.  We speak with our hearts and with our mouths.  I'm thinking we should all probably pay more attention to what we are saying.  Speak is a pretty smart monkey.

Hear no evil.  This one got me thinking.  What does evil sound like?  I think it sounds like hate.  I think it sounds like lies.  I think it sounds like gossip.  The monkeys are wanting us to not sit around and listen to evil stuff.  Sit, as in to do nothing.  We are to stop the sounds of hate.

Without saying a word, those three monkeys have pretty much said it all.

Sayings....

Mess not with the cook, for she has powers yet to be shown and you have opposing thumbs.  See that sink full of dirty dishes?

Life is full of events.  Some fortunate, some not so fortunate.  So, hold your family near and choose your friends with care.

Love is what makes everything bearable, even if only for a moment. I'll take moments.

The cook don't cook what the cook don't like.

Use your super powers.  We all have them.

A messy cook is a happy cook, for she has help.

Act like you really love them, then, you will.

Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil.

Marriage vows are a good plan. When it gets rough, refer to the plan.

.....and they lived happily ever after.

Today is the mark of thirty nine years of being married.  We laugh about it.  Thirty nine years is a heck of a long time, even in dog years.  In some cultures, it's a lifetime.  In other cultures, it is a career.

Many of my friends have asked to know "the secret" to our marriage.  My answer, there is no secret.  If there were, there would be no more divorces, no more marriage counselors, and golden anniversaries would be the norm.

I was eighteen and he was barely nineteen when we said "I do".  On that day, we had known each other for a total of five months.  I thought I would burst with the love I had for him.  I could not love him any more than I did that day, or so I thought.  I was quite wrong on that one.  I do, indeed, love him more today than that yesterday of thirty nine years ago.

Here is how I would describe our marriage.  It is kind of like a well run company.  Instead of money for capital, we had love.  Love is what runs our company called marriage.   Sounds rather simple, doesn't it?  It really is. When you love someone, that love affects how you treat each other.  It also affects decision making.  If the love runs low, problems and issues are magnified.  If the love runs high, problems and issues are just small bumps in the road.  Our wedding vows were our business plan.  We stuck to them. 

As in a well run, well capitalized business, commitment is key.  Total commitment to the plan, to the goal, to each other.  When in doubt, go to the plan.  One person cannot do it all.  Where one is weak, the other is strong.  What one can't fix, the other can. Over time, the company grows.  A well run company will increase in assets and value.  And so it is with our marriage.

It's really hard not to get all maudlin and mushy when thinking about the last four decades. I think of all of our accomplishments.  I think of our dreams that have come to fruition.  I think of every time zone and country we have made love in.  Yes, I think about those things!

At this point in our marriage and our lives, we still have goals.  We still look forward to the next adventure.  We still have dreams yet to come true.  We still have more time zones and countries to........

Reminders of Love

I was reminded by my dad the other day.  Not reminded of, but reminded by.  I got into my car and briefly smelled my dad.  It brought a smile to my face.  It was a smell of cigarettes and whiskey.  Not an unpleasant odor by any means, even though it sounds rather icky. It is the way my dad smelled.  He smoked Camel cigarettes and loved his whiskey.  It's not that same smell of stale smoke, alcohol, and cologne you smell upon walking into an old bar.  This was my dad.  Fresh tobacco, a light scent of an American whiskey, and a smile.  Yep, that was my dad.

My car has never had cigarette smoke in it.  I haven't smoked a cigarette in over a decade.  And, no opened alcohol of any kind has been in my car.  In fact, my dad has never been in my car.  You see, he passed on quite some time ago.  Before the new VW bugs were ever designed.

I like to think of this event as a visit.  Much like the visits I have in my dreams.  Sometimes, those people I have loved who have passed on, show up in my dreams.  When I wake up after having such a dream, I have such a good feeling.  You would think I would have sadness, but I don't.  I have been visited by each and every one of those loved ones at one time or another.

These little visits are reminders of love.  Love that is not gone because someone dies.  Love that is not gone because we cannot see nor touch that person.  Just plain and pure love. Kinda makes you think, doesn't it?

Passing of the Baton

I was in the kitchen, bright and early making pasta salad for the party in the country tonight.  My dear friend has a country house and hired a local Kansas City blues band, Levee Town, to play. We all call it Blues-a-Palooza in the Country. I tried to think how much fun it was going to be.  I tried to think of bonfires and wine and cigars and food. I tried to keep the tears at bay.  My mind kept going to Betty.

We had a death in the family yesterday and I was thinking about all that goes with the event, while chopping vegetables.  How much I loved her and how much she loved me and my family, how fun she was and how much laughter she brought to the entire family.  She was the cousin of my mom-in-law.  That makes her my husband's second cousin, my daughter's third cousin, and my grand children's fourth cousin.  Her adult children grew up with my husband.  They now have grandchildren. I've lost track of the continuing cousin levels.  No need to know.  All I know is, we are family and we are all saddened.

We will gather in the country to grieve together, laugh together, eat together, and just hang on to each other.  It's what a family does.  This may very well be the last country funeral I will ever attend. (By the way, country funerals are very different from city funerals.  I will describe in another post) She is the last of the relatives to live in Walnut Grove, population 600.  Even the name of the town stirs up images of a small town much like the Walnut Grove in the Laura Ingalls Wilder stories.  It is not the same one, however, it shares all of the characteristics of Laura's Walnut Grove.

The family members, on our limb of the family tree, were called last night with the news of the death.  They will need to be called again as more information is available.  There will be a dinner at the church on Sunday.  The ladies of the church need a head count.  Flowers will need to be ordered.  Family members will need to be called again with all the particulars of the dinner, visitation, and funeral.  I will be handling all of this as the representative of our part of the family tree.  Thank goodness for email, texting, cell phone, and land line.

I have been handed the baton of the matriarch of the family.  I now realize it.  It's been coming on for quite some time now.  More and more family gatherings at my house.  Family members asking me for the latest update of other family members. Holiday central is right here.  And, I have become a caregiver for both the mom and dad of my husband.  But, today, it's official.  My husband's mother asked me to order the flowers for the family.  Yep, in this family, that would be the indication of the leadership roll.

My mom-in-law had all sons.  No daughters.  I have been married to her oldest son for almost thirty nine years.  I am now caring for the parents of my husband.  They raised the nicest human being I have ever known.  They are the grandparents to my daughter.  They are the great grandparents to my grandchildren. It is an honor, and a lot of work, to care for them.  I am very close to them. 

In the past, whenever there was a death of a family friend or relative, she would call with the news and then call again with the particulars.  She would make a point to tell us that she had taken care of the flowers for the family.  For a long time, I didn't really know what that meant.  One time, when they were living almost two hundred miles away, in the height of their busy retirement years, I had taken it upon myself to order some flowers from just us.  It was for the funeral of a mutual friend. A few days after that funeral, she informed me that she had ordered flowers....for the family.  Not knowing it was the unwritten rule of the family for her to do that,  I told her I too had ordered flowers for us.  The look on her face was one of shock and disbelief.   Uh oh, I had over stepped the boundaries of the funeral rules of the family.  From that day on, she always made it a point to tell me that she was doing the flowers.  End of funeral flower discussion. 

Today was different.  I had called to check on her, knowing she had a fretful night.  She and her cousin were like the sisters neither of them had.  They were around each other as much as possible as they grew up.  They lived close to each other when they married and raised their families.  They have always remained close, up to the end.  She was doing pretty good.  She asked about all the family members I called and what their plans were.  She wanted to make sure they all knew how to get to Walnut Grove and did they know where the church was.  I just said they knew.  I didn't have to go into an explanation of Mapquest, Google Maps, cell phones, texting, or GPS.  Then, she asked me what kind of flowers to send.  Mind you, this is the lady who had been ordering funeral flowers since the baton was passed to her after her own mom had passed!  I told her I thought something very sweet and feminine would be nice.  She then asked if I would take care of it.  At that point, right then and there, I knew I was the official matriarch of the family.  The go to person, the confidant, the soother of hurt feelings, information central.  The Top Mom.  Holy shit!  This is for real.

I've noticed what men will do....

I was at the Royals baseball game over the weekend.  Before the game started I was sitting in my seat, drinking a beer, and eating homemade potato chips with blue cheese, green onion, and bacon.  Decadent on so many levels. The Kansas City weather had calmed down and decided to act like San Diego.  I was in my own personal heaven.

The players on the field were going through their pre-game routines.  As I watched a group of guys walk from the dugout, all the way behind right field, to the bull pen, I couldn't help but notice one particular guy.  He had on a hot pink Barbie or Hello Kitty backpack. Not one other player had on a backpack.

I came up with two possible reasons why a Major League Baseball player would walk across a ball field wearing a hot pink backpack:

1.  He lost a bet with some of the guys.  Guys take betting seriously.  Including payoff and the big loss.  It's what they do.

or

2.  His little daughter asked him to use it so she could see him on TV.  Dads will do ANYTHING for their daughters.  Anything.  It's what they do.

Religious Freedom

I cooked all day today for a sick neighbor.  Chicken and dumplings and peach crumble.  Lots of time to think and pray. I thought about a lot of things.  The one thing I thought about a lot, was the discussion and goings on around our country concerning the Muslim community center to be built in New York. 

I am very concerned for our country.  This is not a path our country should be taking.  No religious group should ever be singled out and shunned.  Our country was started because certain religious groups were shunned.  Religious freedom started the exodus from England to the New World. It continues today from other countries.  Persecution of religious groups is not to be tolerated, period.

A neighbor of mine recently described the allowing of a Muslim built community center to be a "poke in the eye".  Really, a poke in the eye?  That is pretty drastic.  I am thinking a poke in the eye is an action of intent to inflict physical pain and disfigurement.  Somehow, I don't think a community center has that intent.  But hey, that must be just me.  I just kept my mouth shut and filed it under ignorance.  One cannot argue peacefully with an ignorant person who is unwilling to listen and reason.  No matter how much wine either party has consumed!

I remember how wrong it was to shun Catholics, Jews, and Mormons even as a young girl.  People did it all the time. Many of my family members did it.  Marrying someone not of your religion was considered a mixed marriage.  Some things have changed for the good.  But this Muslim thing has me a bit sad and angry.  Muslims are being terrorized and shunned because of the actions of a few.

When Timothy McVeigh, Terry Nichols, and Michael Fortier bombed the Federal Building in Oklahoma City, their religious faith was not shunned.  Christian churches were not told they could not build in certain locations.  Why?  Because they did not embody the Christian religion in their actions.  They chose to use terrorist violence to show their disdain for our country. They should not be tolerated.

The way I see it, Muslims were not embodied in the actions of September 11, 2001.  It was a political group called Al Quaeda who chose to use terrorist violence to show their disdain for our country and disdain for Jews. They have no affiliation to a country, so they do it in the name of Islam.  That does not mean all Muslims are members of Al Quaeda.  Just a very, very small group who have tarnished the name of Muslims all over the world, especially here in the United States.  They should not be tolerated.

The way I see it, Christians are not embodied in the actions of Skin Heads, the KKK, or Neo Nazis.  They are political groups who have no affiliation with a country. They have chosen to show their disdain for non white, non Christians by terrorist violence in the name of Christianity.  Just a very, very, small group who have tarnished the name of Christians in the United States.  These groups should not be tolerated.

The way I see it, Nazis did the same thing.  They had no affiliation with a religious group or country.  So, they decided to try and create their own country to justify their disdain for Jews and non white people as they committed horrific acts of terrorism.  They tarnished those who were not Jewish and white. This group should not be tolerated.

We cannot allow our country to be overtaken by religious intolerance. If we do, we will be just like others who have terrorized and shunned religious groups.  We will fail as a country.  Our country was not based on religious intolerance.