Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Thinking...

Believe!
Imagine---
Reflect, within ones-self.
Feel… too much…
Consider?
Suppose…as a possibility?
Assume…NEVER!
Sense what is.
Deem a truth.
Judge while reasoning.
Ponder in a dream.
Deliberate alone or with others.
Meditate for peace.
Mull over to get to the bottom of the problem.
Weigh up the probability.
Ruminate and reflect.
Cogitate.

Now that we have that cleared up; can you think about what the topic is for tonight?
Of course you can… the power of persuasion!
Nah, just plain thinking and what it means to all of us.
From the time we yell our first capricious cry from our day of arriving on this planet, we think, although, many believe that it does begin within the womb.
But since it is not likely that any of us have the power of conversation from that moment few can prove that it actually occurs.
I am sure that the neuroscientists or whoever does this type of research might differ and say that brain wave measurers put on a fetus prove that we actually do think in that room without a view that we spend nine months with very little stimulation except non-polite bodily function sounds!
Aha, there’s the rub, and it feels so good, that is why we think and react, since what else can we do?
We punch, kick and roll and if lucky as the host in a human we tickle them with our hairy little heads, our form of precise communication, our way of communicating our feelings and therefore our moods. TA DA!
Once we are sprung somewhere around nine months of gestation which does fluctuate from life force to life force incubation periods we allow our lungs to fill with air and breathe our first outer world pollution…and some of us complain loudly.
The power of thought takes on a physical being in us as we manipulate the larger more prestigious resembler’s of us how we want things done by the power of the cry, whine and coo, laughing and smiling comes in about three weeks give or take a few and sometimes is mistaken for having gas.
None verbal communication is how we proceed with all our thought processes developing in an extremely competent age appropriate manner.
Thinking is how we know what we want and the trick to all of this is letting the rest of the world know too…and so we do what we have to as mentioned above.
As time marches on we acquire verbal communication in staccato verbiage, ma, pa, ba and the like and what parent doesn’t know what all those mean, huh?
Sentences form additionally as we grow into the fine upstanding people we become and by as early as one or as late as three we are verbally jousting with the best of them!
And to think it all began with our thoughts… and trial and error with what works and what does not. And so as we reach adulthood and find new words to experiment with daily, some not so good and some rather daring; we think before we talk or not… and then we learn that we should or not… and so that is how it goes until we are no longer able to think or talk, so I have been told…or not.

I hope I gave you something to chew on, along with all those other more important things you gobble daily. Thinking can be a job or for fun or for more than we can stand to or to love others or not to like them very much, but until we say aloud our thoughts they are never heard, hmmm?

On that bit of; she said what?
Let me be the first to wish you all a very happy good night and to ask you kindly to count all your blessings and share those overages and we will too!

And next time be here or be square, OK? I think, therefore I am; I think.

PS happy birthday first born!

Monday, May 30, 2011

A Love Letter to Our Soldiers

Dear persons of all our armed services we want you to know this…from our hearts and souls…

We fed you, burped you and taught you all that we knew… and as you grew…
We held your hand tightly as you tugged to pull us here, there and everywhere, we were your parents and loved you dearly through thick and thin, no matter what.
We walked along side of you as you grew, and we were your siblings proud and true.
We saw you on holidays and graduations, at births and deaths and any occasion where family counts, we were your aunts and uncles and cousins who knew you when.
We stood by your side when you made the decision to serve because we loved you and trusted your choices we knew you to always make it all right and we were your spouses…We were waiting and hoping for your return and when we knew they said a few more months and you would be back we were so full of pride of you and told all our friends that you were working to save the world from tyranny; we were your children!
We helped your parents from the start and as you grew you won our hearts over and over again for we were the ones who birthed your parents that gave you life and in turn made you part of all of us… we were your grandparents.
We were your school chums and teachers and friends forever and ever and we knew you were destined for great things like everyone else could attest to too, because you were you…Family, God and your country meant everything to you and when there would be a need to maintain all that you held true and loved as dearly as all loved you; you said yes and went…for us all…to save us from whatever harm might be on the horizon you were the ones who got the job done never worrying about a thing, other than the job at hand…
And for that a ‘thank you’ seems like such small words to state how we feel, but until one is invented it must do, but you all must know how we appreciate what you do for US all, each and every day and each and everyone of you for US to be here and not worry too so much since you are our true super heroes you guys and gals, our soldiers of the USA Military, all men and women.
May you all rest in peace with knowing we did care for you deeply in all that you did do for us…and we are all better for knowing each and everyone of you before your final gift came to pass.

How can we forget, while it all goes on still daily?
Some day lets all pray that for that true peace in the world where all our family will be reunited on this earth not in the afterlife one.
That’s all.

Please count those blessings and share those overages more than ever and hug those loved ones a little bit tighter and be here or be square the next time, ya hear?
God Bless America!

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Discussions are open...

Tonight I just received as many others did a chilling pronouncement from one of my Facebook friends, “Tornado sirens are going off so we're taking cover in the basement” Kimberly. All I could do was comment, “Where are you Kimberly? I couldn't find out on your site. Worried, please let us all know how you are...” I will keep you posted and if she replies before I am done I will let you all know too, all right? Heard from Kimberly, “Southeast Michigan is under warning and storms coming through” I responded with “Are you safe now?” Waiting… She responded once again, “Yep - warnings just expired. Down wires and a house 2 miles away lost its roof. We are ok” I wrote back, “Great!”
On the less serious side, friends have posted incredible pictures as well of family and babies and even some interesting animals and their shenanigans, as well as the all tried and true and all encompassing four legged companions we all have a soft spot in our hearts for, our pets, yes I used that four-letter word. Oh no, ethics be damned... oops, I said that too!
Although, joy has been mostly the theme with graduations and births and the like; but I would be amiss not to mention that people seem to also have the need to let us all know when they have lost a loved one too, on our Facebook page also.
Occasions call for people to come together and celebrate or mourn our fellow men and women and dare I say children (for celebration is better than the latter for all especially the children), in good or bad times. And so as abstract as many may feel the Facebook has become it has proven to have become a memorial to all of life’s realities good or bad and etched forever in cyberspace. For we all know that nothing is ever really deleted; we only think it is… HA!
Who would have thunk it that a techno version of memory books would be so forever and reach so many?
May I make a suggestion?
Do not change a thing; it appears that Facebook is keeping us all connected how we wish in this day and age, with its not so much anymore unique concept.
You do know there have been instances when it has helped in saving lives.
Oh yes, people have used it instead of good ole ‘911’, but why you ask?
I have no idea, but they have and fortunately people have been astute enough to get help to the one in distress before the worst has happened.
(PS if you have 911; use it! That’s what it is there for)
Below I have copied a site from a hurricane show that was on FOX tonight and thought my friends here in Florida might benefit from it and use it for what’s for, setting up a plan before the hurricane strikes, just copy and paste: http://floridadisaster.org/
I hope that I have managed to inform and perhaps entertained you if only slightly, if I have let me know, and if I haven’t please keep it to yourself, OK? LOL!
On that continuing of me trying my darndest to lighten the load of the world on all of our shoulders; let me be the first to wish you all a happy good night and to ask you to kindly count all your blessings and share your overages and we will too!
And next time please be here or be square, OK?

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Changing mindset VS Doing something tangible

How many of you out there tell yourself when angry or sad to think about happy good thoughts and pleasant things and then you find yourself turning that facial expression from upside down to up and around into a smile?

Self talk or the power of positive thinking can be quite impressive, and the same can be said for negative thinking or not allowing any positive vibes to infiltrate your downed brain waves of logical resolve.
One step further on this plateau of decisive reasoning for mind conditioning would be to truly alter pessimism is to do something more than just thinking yourself out of the doldrums but doing something tangible.
Whenever in the past I felt too much in myself, have it be the realization of daily efforts gone awry or just unhealthy with my many medical issues I found helping others was a concrete way to change things for others while uplifting myself and my feelings about the world.
I always said whenever I volunteered, which I did on and off for over forty years that it was my selfish way to feel really good about me!
Yes! Helping other is a wonderful way to feel great, because it is true evidence of what you are doing, proven in anyway, shape or form that has been done to aid all the others. From as minimalistic, as a kind word, to teaching them how to contend with their own physical needs, to giving them some much needed items or time or just plain listening, honest caring is really something!
And so whenever I had been down in my life, for me meaning in health or emotionally; I have served others and soon would forget my own problems and know that my help was what they needed at that time, oh what a feeling!
Whether it is after a natural disaster, or working with ‘special kids’, or scouts, or the elderly, or ills, what-have-you… life is more fulfilling when you can help others over and above yourself, and there is a wee bit of selfish joy in that. And this is not for money it is purely from volunteering and receiving self-satisfaction.
Collecting things to distribute for need or challenging the public to help financially with fund raising it all does have its place.
The most fun is when trying to come up with new ways to do any of the traditional methods in any massive community, but when needs are rather basic, such as food, clothing, and shelter than that’s a no brainer and can be just a bit of thinking, brain storming with others; in considering the logistics of where and how to assemble the needed components in a safe place while so much is still going on… and that is a conundrum I would say. Much over the next several months, years will have to be done for our neighbors who have lost it all due to Mother Nature’s wrath, and the best ideas to get it done have to be assembled with logic and realism on how and where to begin.

Different organizations and emergency management people are a place to start, but never be an added part of the problem think and proceed with caution.

After Hurricane Andrew hit on August 17, 1992, we watched it all unravel on the TV and felt compelled to go and help and so we did, but we planned out how and what we would do.
We brought all our own camping gear including food and a port-a-pot and contacted local businesses with requests for goods to bring down in the lawn trailer that we would be filling with the items. And when all was said and done we received two thousand pounds of dog food from the Greyhound Pet Association, and two pallets of sun screen from Hawaiian Tropic. I had negotiated with them being in promotion at the time we worked with them on occasion, and so that is how we got the sunscreen, logically feeling with homes destroyed people would be exposed to the elements not unlike the soldiers in the Gulf War who they had also sent the sunscreen too at the time. The dog food was just dumb luck because the gentleman who loaded, the fork lift driver, the sunscreen into our trailer told us he volunteered with the Greyhound pets and that were where we got the dog food from his garage, he insisted we take two thousand pounds!
Our plan was to go down and deliver the two items and then help the Red Cross however they needed us.
But to our surprise they had more people than they knew what to do with and so after we dropped off the dog food to the Campbell shopping center, where some veterinarians and others took over since the building wasn’t stable enough for people, it had been a Humana medical space, we helped vets with pet triage, not unlike a MASH unit for people with injuries.
So many touching stories came out of that time we spent there, we reunited so many people and pets and found foster care for many others who of course had no homes to take their pets back to… hugs and thanks were our rewards and love was abundant and constant shown with each and every person who knew that you were there for them, just so simple…but a tangible reward for all the parties involved.

Remember the most important thing in life is how you live it, and we all know this is not a dress rehearsal, and even though I do get down with thinking, as many do with chronic illnesses, my sadness is often over all my many mistakes that at this point I have no way of changing… and so I take solace in the things that I did do right too… and feel sad that I can no longer do what I once did in that realm… but I self talk and turn my frown around as I recall the good I did do, as we all should!

Tis the season to show you care, actually its all year long and so just do it! Especially when the need has been so violently been thrust upon us all…

On that note of remembrance of how we all can do our part no matter how small…let me be the first to wish you a very happy good night and ask you to count your blessings and to share your overages and we will too!

And next time be here or be square, OK?

Friday, May 27, 2011

Committing a Service...

Shouldn’t we all feel the need to commit to any type of service there is?
Well, tonight I have determined that I should, in the spirit of the holiday weekend, I intend on doing just that!

And so what I am going to do is cut out the baloney and get to the heart and soul of what this weekend is all about…being outdoors enjoying the weather, the barbecues, the burgers, hot dogs, steaks, chickens watermelon and ice cream….whatever makes your holiday float your boat!
But seriously folks let us not forget what or why we have this holiday is to memorialize our fallen heroes that gave us our freedoms to do just as we please!
And to have all those awesome picnics and camping trips and fun time within our communities at their bandstands and those happy sparklers and fireworks too!
Swimming and boating, the unofficial beginning of the summer starts all over this great land!
But alas we need some down time for resting from all the festivities and might I recommend some indoor activities although I bet some of you might find or have a way to do these too outside, memorable Memorial Day movies and songs: copy and paste these sites:

http://homevideo.about.com/od/action/a/MemorialDayMvsa.htm http://coolrain44.wordpress.com/2010/05/30/memorial-day-songs-as-a-tribute/

These are my gifts to all of you; so enjoy!

The other more formal service to commit to would be helping our neighbors in this country who have lost everything in the tornadoes, flooding and all other horrendous so-called natural disasters over these last few months.

Our local TV stations have access to legit organizations where we can all help: just copy and paste: http://www.winknews.com/browser/result?q=Where+to+help+for+the+tornodo+victims%3F&cx=016368748907385716766%3Aed-9kv6huza&cof=FORID%3A9&ie=UTF-8&x=32&y=17#1146

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/05/23/joplin.how.to.help/index.html

I suppose you all have many available accesses, but these can get you started I hope; when in doubt the Red Cross is on the up and up, at redcross.org.
Figuring it all out can be daunting.

My last comment here is going to be just a word of caution… remember alcohol beverages are common too at this time and please be safe, don’t boat or drive any vehicle while under the influence or if you do have a designated driver call triple: A 1-800-AAA-HELP ...or MADD or any organizations who wants no deaths to mar this wonderful holiday weekend with sad memories that cannot be erased. Promise me please, just to be safe?

Please forgive the Mommy in me for worrying but that’s how some of us are, and we cannot seem to change.

Update: Hubby’s blood pressure has not yet been regulated even with several adjustments of his medications it is still very high in the morning but nearly normal at night, crazy! And so, next week the doctor feels that they will delve further into other possibilities and this time he will be receiving a renal ultrasound, we will let you all know about his outcome, OK? You see they already ruled out heart problems and brain problems…a mystery in the making, hmmm…And nope, my shoulder isn’t quite there yet but getting there… I surely do hope!

On that touch of a look into our reality in this inner world of ours let me be the first to wish you all a very happy good night and ask you kindly to count all your blessings and share all your overages and we will too!

And please next time be here or be square, ya hear?

PS congrats to Siesta Beach about a half an hour north of my home the best beach in our whole US of A, hooray!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Sorry!

Escapism, a diversion, distraction, pastime, leisure activity, getting away from, dodging, avoidance from your own reality is what I thought I provided here. A bit of not your own lives not capitalized on or amplified; with me being just a poor schnook of a gal with some common and not so common problems… that you can or cannot relate to. At the very least anyone can say is ‘boy I am sure glad I’m not her!”

Last night was awash with little show of interest for my writings, and yes, I do know that the news and finales were quite active since I too do all of that gathering of information too from the outer world too, plus this little thingy I do nightly.

And since for the last few days I have been in a tremendous amount of pain, yes still my shoulder, but in spite of that I came through with my mind’s eye of things I guess that is why I feel so sad that no one seems to be listening anymore?
Why just the night before I had incredible numbers of interest and then last night fizzled.

Sorry, but now I am feeling way too much pain and I must go ice and elevate my shoulder and they say it may take as much as a week… but this is one of my many loves and so I will be back.. But probably in brief spurts…

On that note of how much I need to do this I want to be the first to wish you all a very happy good night and ask you to kindly count those blessings and share those overages and we will too!

And next time be here or be square, ya HEAR!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Warning to my exercise buddies...

It is my day two of my personal inability to follow my exercise program, and so I must admit I goofed, BIG TIME!
A long time ago I was taught to teach to pace yourself in anything you tackle when you have these added physical challenges.
Once said, I probably foolishly overdid what I professed to be one heck of a great exercise program for myself and that I should have known better than to do too much too soon, all at once like I did.

Ever feel like kicking yourself in the butt? Well, yep I do, but as we all know that is a physical impossibility! Bur ump bum…
One stupid overdo and now it set me back for already two days, that’ll teach you to listen to me! When we all should be listening to our bodies, so I was told!
Anyway, until I am back to a manageable movement without chilling pain and swelling, since my right should has been showing a bit of that swelling too and so ice and aspirin has been how I have been treating it.
And no, I did not do anything that could break anything and so it has to be muscular, since although the water was the correct temp I turned my body into a harsh pushing and pulling machine using the deep end ladder for pull ups or push ups; which I haven’t done in nearly a year.
Starting slow is what anyone must do, even with my five months of floor exercises.
Apparently, those are kinder and gentler than my pool tricks, or ROM, which stands for ‘range of motion’ exercises that I went too far with by incorporating more elaborate ones that I used to do without too much thought. And yes, I guess that’s what I did, not too much thought at all, shame on me!
It’s interesting how the least land ability paraplegics can get so much motion and action in a swimming pool, but they can. I have personally seen it at rehab.
Since we are all weightless in the pool and in my case no fear of falling with my Ataxia since it would be a wet but soft landing makes the water a perfect usually safe place to do those motions.
Walking back and forth and around the pool is a great beginning, and then rotating your arms and legs slowly under the water is also part of the proper way to do it all in the beginning.
And yes, my own push ups are not for someone just getting back into the swim of things.
That must be what caused all this horrible pain in my right shoulder, but I also have cervical stenosis and my neck has been acting up as well and so I will be taking it literally one day at a time.
Dummy!
That will teach me.
And I hope you will all just listen to your own bodies when doing any exercise programs, and a big no with the rhetoric of, “NO PAIN, NO GAIN”, it is not beneficial for any of us!

Moving on… to what’s really important… the horrendous weather news of more killer tornadoes!
Frightening, it never seems to end for any of the people we care about, which is every human being on this planet.
Helplessness is an understatement, but we can help with donations to the American Red Cross at redcross.org and letting them know specifically where you want your donation to go.

What we can all do if we have the where-with-all is to call any of the legit organizations to see in what capacity they can use some help and then just do it!

On that more than important thing that we should all do, and this time without thought just do it; let me be the first to wish you all a very happy good night and kindly ask you to count all your blessings and share those overages and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, OK?

PS Farewell OPRAH, you are leaving BIG shoes to fill for that time slot and best of luck with OWN… and anyone who still wishes to speak with her, she gave us all her personal email address: oprah@oprah.com so there you go…

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Flashback...

Flashback... a painful memory, an intensely vivid memory of a traumatic experience that returns repeatedly, an earlier event or scene, a scene or event from the past that appears in a narrative out of chronological order, to fill in information or explain something in the present, a drug aftereffect, the later experiencing of the effects of a hallucinogenic drug such as LSD long after discontinuing use of the drug…

Now that we know the definition of what a ‘flashback’ can be tonight I am going to discuss something that we all have experienced; some of you in not a too devastating form, some in traumatic horrendous nightmares that seem to never end with that memory and some perhaps like mine when we see it or hear about it or some other similar ruinous occurrence in your own life that it triggers whenever you see or hear it again and again with becoming physically ill.

Today was a painful day anyway with my neck and shoulders, numbies in my arms and legs and tummy acting up not too good today. And so I did try icing certain parts with of course ingesting the appropriate medications for such things but alas here I sit still not feeling that much better.

As most of you know we are survivors of a direct hit of Hurricane Charley 2004 that hit us while we were in our home and destroyed enough of it to cause over eighty thousand dollars worth of damage on our very tiny one thousand square foot home, in fact we had paid less for it than the amount of damage just six years before. To be fair it was a fixer upper and we had already done quite a bit to it at that point though, new windows, doors, floors, Gazebo, pond, garage etc. and it is waterfront that was our problem we are only five minutes from the harbor by boat, which was on its new lift.
The aftermath of seeing our neighborhood destroyed and the home right next door to us totally gone and still has never been rebuilt, gave us all in this area of Southwest Florida a nasty remembrance that nothing can erase. When Katrina hit a year later that triggered my ills once again and all this continuing of a miserable horror in our heartland just breaks my heart! Although, they had no warning at all and we had about four hours, still not enough to do anything significant; the terror comes to visit many of us when we see theirs.

For many of the ones that we were not directly hit by we were able to go and help them all prior to ours but we also had the ability to go home. But when Charley hit our home directly and so we could not go home since we were already there… and our home was pretty much gone. We did live in a trailer along side of our home while we rebuilt.

Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome happens in these situations too.
And as you watch the news, please just watch the survivors faces when they are interviewed and talk about what happened and you will see it in their lack of eye contact and inability to concentrate on the questions or like the one woman said almost mechanically it was surreal to her at that point and spoke with Brian Williams as if she was discussing someone else’s disaster not her own. All signs and symptoms of the survivors who look un-physically injured but do have those invisible deep injuries, many persons will tell them for years and years, “at least you’re alive.” True solace can come from those words, but the hauntings do not stop no matter what well meaning people say to some of us. Yes, some appear totally unaffected and amazingly I suppose they have gotten away clean without any lasting effects or maybe they are just in denial? Who knows? Whatever works to go on...?

What I just wanted to say was that with every world disaster or local ones, since the most recent ones have been in what we consider our own backyard, why even a large tornado is going through Okalahoma as I write this; it is sometimes more than any of us can endure!
I know it is not happening to me this time, but I feel their pain and that’s why I have been slightly neglectful in not discussing it here nightly.

Bizarre as it may seem, now I know I will probably lose some of you with my craziness but could this be the actual way that the ‘Rapture’, could be happening with these indiscriminate systematic pieces of natural disasters worldwide that California Preacher Harold Camping just got it wrong? His latest prediction is that we will all be ended on October 21, 2011, and that again he made a miscalculation in his math on his prediction for last Saturday.
Well, let’s all pray he is wrong again, and three strikes hopefully he will be out!
But you have to admit that Mother Nature sure has been misbehaving way too much lately, true?
SCARY AND HEARTBREAKING!

On that torturous realization let me be the first to end this with a little more positive note to remind you all to count those blessings and to share those overages and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, OK?

Monday, May 23, 2011

My long awaited splash!

How many of you have really wanted to make a splash in life?
Well, today was mine!
OK, I am taking a little bit of poetic licensing here, since what actually transpired is that I finally took a long awaited dip in our own backyard pool this morning. And in reality I slithered down my pool steps holding onto the railing, no big splash here, sorry to disappoint!
You see, previously I had been able to take the plunge earlier on, sometimes as early as the beginning of April, with the solar panels making our cute little pond warm enough for my fidgety temperature conscious body, which requires the temp of the water to be approximately eighty-five degrees. Unfortunately, they, the solar panels, had to be turned off again due to a leak that no longer was willingly able to be repaired in spite of Hubby’s most diligent efforts.
And since eighty-five is the recommended temperatures for all people who have either arthritis or Multiple Sclerosis and as you all know I have both, we had to wait for nature to bring it up naturally. It is also helpful that I was, in my other life, a certified Aquacize instructor for about four years, so the exercise plan has begun! Although, I did go in after I did my floor exercises as well, wow!
Pretty good exercise program for someone like me, huh?
Incorporating the two together is a definite plus to any exercise program and for all who think they can’t please speak with your doctors, but as I have said before ninety percent of you will more than likely get the go-ahead.
Never give up on anything that you really want or need, but you all know that!

That said I do have more than the usual concerns of the many that have only arthritis, since when you have MS heat is a big concern. Sadly, I can no longer get overheated since it has been known to exacerbate the MS and we are pretty sure that is why I had and still have the optic neuritis and lost my vision in my right eye last summer. And also my other dilemma is the sun, and again last summer I had another pre-cancerous lesion on my shoulder that needed to be laser zapped by the dermatologist, my seventh such lesion, but those were all on my face, and I even had a facial biopsy and so as I have said before where there is a will there is always a way … And boy would you laugh if you saw the way I go into the pool, with my dark over glasses which are over my transition ones, and a big floppy hat, sunscreen with a t-shirt over my more than modest bathing suit! Thankfully, we have a privacy fence on the sides of our property, and large shrubbery blocking the view from our waterside at the end of the pool; because I am quite scary looking, ha! And also a plus many of our neighbors are snowbirds so directly across they are already back up north in Montreal.
Going in as early in the morning as the water temp allows too is another way to make concessions for my needs of not too hot weather and less harsh sun on me.
See I told you I could figure this all out…as you can too…
Aren’t us human beings something else?
Desire gives us the need to succeed, huh?
And so I would like to leave you all with that positive concept of trying to do something that might be a bit of a challenge for yourself…and I will continue too, OK?

And now let me be the first to wish you all a very happy good night and ask you kindly to count all your blessings and share those overages and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, and take care.


PS our prayers go out to all who have been hurt/devastated by the tornadoes in our heartland!

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Have you ever wondered...why?

Yep, just, ‘why’.
Such a simple word with so much power over all of us asking reason, because of, an exclamation of positivity, as in why not, but think about the command that those three trouble-free letters have... Why any three year old knows that he/she needs it to use to ask mommy or daddy, why is the sky blue or why is the water blue too and on and on they go?
Why, it is amazing and awesome if we really consider its simplicity.
Have you ever thought about it or any other words that tell so much or have the ability to ask so much in such a brief term?
Why not? I ask facetiously.
See, oddly enough that can be a plus or a minus in the word game, true?
Effortless and more intellectual than most might think about for when asked why and if someone says stop asking the comeback has been, by those who are in the know that there are no dumb questions only dumb people who won’t answer them, or some such idiom or idiot, right?
And without the word ‘why’ most journalists would not get the full story I would think being a part of all those ‘w’ words they must use.

Power teamed with simplicity, the perfect marriage some will say… hmm…
It proves that curiosity is a good thing at any age when used along with a trusty, ‘why’.
But sadly some may find it also annoying if a constantly persistently non-stop repeated, why nearly as harsh as a torture-word!
Moms and some Dads can relate with the child who keeps saying, “why, why, why, why; or when we have all heard it in grief when speaking about a loved one that has passed away, that tearful crying of a questioning of, “why, why, why?”
Versatility, and powerful, good or bad…interestingly from one tiny declaration, how very captivating, oh maybe that is way over the top, but you must admit it does have more substance than I bet you have thought about ever?

To call it intriguing would be disingenuous, but plausible, go with me here…
Why would that be the case, as in a murder, hmmm… can you honestly say that you have not read or heard the many of the book, TV or movie sleuths persuasion not use it as they gathered their information to arrest the culprit?
Why, is the motive in all crimes, but of course, I am more than sure that you all knew that, since you are all brilliant and there’s my case proven, it can also be quite intriguing with a side of captivating, aha!

Investigative word journeys can be fun, just stick with Mommy Tobi here and she may take you on another one real soon if you all behave… why, you might ask?
Because I said so, you ungrateful peeps that I truly do love! Gotcha!
You see, there is no rhyme or reason to any of this… in my reality I am just filling the page with useless information that everyone already knows, but it’s my strange idea of a good time, and for that I will not apologize, so there!
And what’s fun if you aren’t participating; I ask you all….why?

On that too much banter of a deeply confusing wicked brain, let me please be the first to bid you all a very happy good night and to ask you kindly to count all your blessings and share all your overages and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square friends, can I call you that?
But why you ask, OK and so I won’t? Nah, I will! I told you all that I was confused and see I proved my point here too, but I am teasing you all and I am sure some of my old time loyal followers know this? Oh no! Why?
Shoot, enough is enough, good night folks…and yes I do really mean it.
Although it is so difficult to say that, but why you ask?
Let’s leave it at a 'never-mind'; didn’t you all love Gilda Radner? Why you ask?
I suspect I should leave it alone for our next meeting time… so I am DONE! Big smiley here; just imagine that you can do it right? No, don't say it...WHY?

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Well...2

Hello everyone!
Are you still here?
I appear to be and yeah!
Uh oh, maybe I should be upset, since doesn't this prove that I am not one of the chosen few, darn!
Not good enough that only proves, but that’s no news to me and I am sure not to you either…
And so now folks we can all get back to living and you can all hear about our day’s evaluation on how it proceeded.

This morning we decided to go to our convention center right here in River City AKA Punta Gorda. They were having our yearly hurricane scare/conference and yes this was the first we had gone to in years, but we were motivated to glean any additional information with the predicted 16 major storms and nine hurricanes in our personal forecast we sort of perked up and listened; if you know what I mean…And from all that we learned our first thought was the correct plan of attack if we should be forewarned, ‘GET THE HECK OUT OF DODGE’, and so we will…
The WINK TV CBS affiliate worked in cooperation with our local emergency management and did do a fine job of answering questions of anyone’s concerns, although they did admit they were NOT soothsayers to let us know if we will be getting a direct hit this season, wouldn’t you know it, that’s all I really wanted to know…HA!
Here are the cast of meteorologists and news anchors that attended:

Jim Farrell, Chief Meteorologist,

Lauren Casey, Meteorologist,


Scott Zedeker, Meteorologist


Clayton Ferraro Sports-director,

Chris Cifatte anchor, Rob Spicker co-anchor, Carlos Suarez video-journalist

Carlos Suarez video-journalist and Lois Thome news anchor,

Stacey Adams anchor and Cayle Thompson anchor/reporter,

Lindsay Liepman, WINK News Now Morning Anchor,
All of these people proved to be more bubbly than their on air personas, sweet approachable, intelligent and likeable.

Many others were there too, eighty vendors in total so we were told. They were all hawking their wares, a few insurance companies, stronger windows via shutters and doors, generator companies and the American Red Cross and such, even transportation people, our own local Dial-A-Ride, which is as it says if you call and for a nominal fee you can ride in their minibus. Today, I found out that I meet their criteria for a discounted bus ticket at only a one dollar price, a third of what they charge the general public.
The gentleman I spoke with said he agrees though we need regular routes on daily schedules, a transit system not unlike most other places.
We also discussed the fact that too many people who should no longer be driving still are, because they feel they have no other choice. And that is why we have so many fatalities in our county.

We grabbed a quick hopefully not too bad for us roast beef packaged sandwich at the facility, still wish they had a real restaurant there. The reasoning there was that I was trying to round out my photo galley, you see the Chief Meteorologist was the last one that I needed and he was coming back for another go round of stage lecture with films and laser pointer too. And so at first we thought we could just go next door to the hotel there but their restaurant doesn’t open till five P.M. and their Tikki Bar was outside and it was way too hot for even riverfront dinning at mid day.
And so when all was said and done and we arrived home Hubby and I decided that we would go out later and treat ourselves to a nice dinner, after that not so terrific lunch. We left fairly early and figured if the world was to end we would at least have a great last meal under our belts… (Wink, wink and no this time it is not the TV station’s call letters; it’s the blink your eyes one at a time thingy, got it?)

On that wee bit of humor I would like to be the first to wish you all a very happy good night and ask you kindly to count all your blessings and share all your overages we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, OK?

Friday, May 20, 2011

What if the world were to end...

Many people are in that belief that the world has only about twenty-four hours left as we currently know it, and who am I to tell any of them differently. The only thing is that I truly hope that is not true because the deadline, pun intended, is tomorrow, actually in five more months if you are not one of the chosen.
Well, not exactly what is stated it’s a bit more complicated than that and the below mentioned here is how it will theoretically occur, “The 2011 end times prediction made by Christian radio host Harold Camping states that the Rapture (in premillennial theology, the taking up into heaven of God's elect people) will take place on May 21, 2011 at 6 p.m. local time (the rapture will sweep the globe time zone by time zone) and that the end of the world as we know it will take place five months later on October 21, 2011.”
Sorry but again I utilized that controversial information page Wikipedia, and the above is directly from them.

Now I do believe if it was something that in my heart and soul I truly felt would be occurring I would feel quite freed without rancor or concern of preparation since how I see it, in truth, is that it is what it is all about is that it is all pre-destined and whatever will be, will be, right, huh?
Not much any of us can do about it, because it’s too late.
And so I am of the mindset to perhaps enjoy these next several hours of time that we all have left plus the months to come that I personally feel that I have, since I do believe I would never ever be one of the chosen few.
So all of us non-chosen ones, for us I suggest what you should do is to be happy with the time that you have left and utilize each moment with love and joy in your heart.
But isn’t that the way we are supposed to live our lives anyway?
To the fullest is what the most positive of people tell us daily.

Gosh if it never ever does happen in any of our life times, it does give you time to stop and think about another one of those what ifs, huh?
I bet many of you who might not believe in this possibility and think it’s a bunch of hooey have even given a few seconds of your mind's thinking to what if?
I am trying hard not to be disrespectful of the ones who do believe; as I think that would blasphemous to them. And so as I watch my way of confronting this situation that seems to appear every several years, since I do recall previous threats of this.
And if I may say one thing that I do believe will not cause anything scarring or jarring to the advocates of this doctrine, history proves that we have more than a fifty per cent chance that it won’t happen. I am sure that I just reassured all of those followers out there, ya think?
I attack these theoretical threats from a point of view of what I like to think of rationale and previous experience; not that much different from any other horrible possibilities in life.
Here’s what I do know is that the Christian G-d, Jesus Christ is supposed to appear and that is a good thing for the people of those faiths, but the part I take not so much a liking to is the end of the world part, and so if the two cannot be separated then sorry folks I pray that your Messiah will have it in his heart to wait, before he decides to reappear. I know that he will since he loves everyone and would not like to see harm come to anybody! PS he was one of some of the rest of us (meaning a Jew) first. That’s my theory and I am sticking to it, so there!

Hopefully, my suppositions have not offended anyone, I truly felt as if I am walking on glass or an extremely thin wall with one wrong step of hurting people by stepping off the side. I too care about all people, but I am just glad its over with my blog writing for tonight; not the prospect of what may transpire, but I did feel it had to be said.
Peace on earth and goodwill to all men and women is all any of us really want, and so I’m good and I am sure you are too?

On that upbeat reasoning from a minority disabled person with a brain on the wall of what’s what ability (please forgive since my perception is slightly off too)…let me be the first to wish you all a very happy good night and ask you to kindly to count all your blessings and share those overages and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, OK?

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Candid

While being ‘candid’ is being frank, open, honest, truthful, sincere, blunt, outspoken, forthright, straightforward, upfront; have you ever noticed how the many prefer for you NOT to be any of those? Odd and fascinating at the same time how that prefix is part of our word candidate, hmmm? Perhaps they forgot its meaning? It must be the suffix ‘ate’ that creates the difference and that’s why they appear to eat their words?
Actually, it means state, office, or function or it can mean cause to be or kind of state, but I like mine better, what do you think?

Well, my problem is I tend to be ‘candid’ in nearly everything I say, and when I am not I feel totally disloyal to yours truly. Let’s put it this way, my filter has been broken for years, I know you have heard that one before…what can I say I do BELIEVE IT IS TRUE OR MUST BE with the way I behave, huh?
Any-who, ‘tact’ is what I lack because it is diplomacy, discretion, judgment, skill, delicacy, perception, dexterity, insight, and discernment, well though, on occasion I have been known to incorporate a few of those terms in my heart of hearts, but not as often as ‘the many’ would prefer. Is tact really all that great and what its cracked up to be? I made a funny, “cracked up to be”! LOL!
My main concern when talking is being able to express my real feelings about the topic at hand.
Most people know when you are hedging your bet or trying to be diplomatic, which I never thought of as being dishonest, but I suppose it is since it is not being totally honest!
Interesting to think of that possibility, and does that mean that all Diplomats are lying who represent US all over the world?
Nah, they are hedging their bets to be gentler kinder middle men and women in negotiating in the way they represent what eventually will become the truth, I would think so anyway, right?

Tonight’s news divulged that we ARE in for a very nasty hurricane season due to la Nina, with no wind shear, warmer waters in the Atlantic and Gulf, see I called that and also some other double talked system which means we are definitely up a creek with no paddle! Our only choice is to stay tuned and more than likely evacuate when the powers that are tell us to!
Another tidbit from the news bites I disseminated, how odd another ‘ate’ suffix, from tonight’s blurb was that we live slightly north of the second safest city in Florida, Cape Coral and the first is….Port St. Lucie!
Hubby and I were debating that that second choice only since they recently have been also appearing in first place with nightly news bits about crime, how odd?
I suppose the state has much worse incidents elsewhere for them to be second, oh the first, Port St. Lucie is all the way across the state on the Atlantic coast, while Cape Coral is maybe twenty or thirty mile south of us, perhaps their good fortune will spill over this way. Although, our area doesn’t seem to make the nightly reports as often as theirs, you see that’s why I am confused.
Maybe we just under report our crimes, yep that’s got it be it, who would want to brag about that, now I ask you?
Orlando has the highest crime in state while St. Pete is second; whoa I love those two cities!
Who said I had good judgment, and I am trying so hard not to be judgmental, ha!
I think the key is in that word, let’s take it apart, ‘judg’ and ‘mental’, hmmm…
But whatever could I mean…
Weirdness please be here and always as my dear sweet friends are too!

On behalf of all my silliness; I hope it was as good for you as for me?
Let me be the first to wish you all a very happy good night and ask you kindly to count all your blessings and share all your overages and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, OK?

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

The suffix 'ism' attached to a behavior appears to be rearing its ugly head once again as an excuse... it creates havoc.

I have put a bit of thought into this particular thing called, ‘ism’; which is a movement, doctrine, or system of belief.
Age-ism is bad, sex-ism is also bad, anti-Semitism is horrendous, anti-gay-ism is too, all hate-ism is of course, and especially racism which we all know is terrible and wrong that goes the same for overweight-ism too I think you all realize all of that. What I want to know is why we are so cavalier with causes of rights and wrongs, remember we are all in this together; otherwise bullies of all ages take over!

Today I overheard on a news magazine program professionals telling a woman of sixty who had lost her job and was looking for a new one to dress younger and do whatever it takes to think and act younger, since apparently being your true age in the job market is a big negative? What happened to aging gracefully and having ‘the look’ of experience?

An obese woman, also on today’s news, was told to buy two seats on a plane since the attendants felt she was too big, and they publicly humiliated her in front of the other passengers when policy is to talk to all guests in private. She was smart enough to let them know that she too writes ‘a blog’ and that she would mention what transpired there on it; hmmm sound familiar?
The ‘blog card’ is what I see, and that I see is fast becoming another mode of getting our way non-violently when we feel we are being unjustly treated in the outer-world, oh yeah, another Tobi-ism. You see, since I live in the inner-world mostly, but don’t we all? Sure, I will give you time to think about that one…

Any-who, people do have the power to right the wrongs.
Emotionally we can get fired-up for our indignities when they happen or if we feel that way when someone else has suffered, either way it is quite a marvelous feeling being that type of Super Hero or Heroine!
Little guys and gals do need help on occasion, and by the way, I don’t mean in physicality but that could be true too, you know what I mean.
Many types of people are treated by how they look instead of what’s inside.
And sadly some never give them a chance they just look at that costume of outer-wear and never see the inner-wares, meaning, skills or talents or depth of character.
Our outer shells don’t tell our whole stories.
We are all so much more than what may be perceived at a mere glance.

Mostly it does take time for us to get to know each other and since we live in such an instant immediate type world, which allows for only seconds for decision making. I do understand why many don’t feel the need to take the time to delve further, how truly sad.
Ironically with all this technology giving us more time, we still cannot find enough, how odd is that?
To me it appears that the easier machines make our lives the less time everyone in the outer-world seems to have.
Unless days have become less than the twenty-four hours they always were, I’m sorry but I just don’t get it, do you?

Perhaps this babbling of mine is making no sense, but I sincerely hope to someone out there in the outer-world that it does.
If nothing else I sure would like to think I have given some people who may have never thought of any of this, something to think about.

On that once more confusing ending to my very confusing way of thinking, now is it a good time to play the MS, cognitive problems card; kidding or not. And let me be the first to ask you to count those blessings and kindly share those overages and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, OK?

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Demise of facilities and businesses make me want to cry...

With all the devastation nationally and internationally it may seem a bit ridiculous to bring it up but some things just seem wrong…although I still believe this too may all be blamed on our aftermaths of our hurricanes too that were way back in 2004-2005.
Buildings have been built with the hope of a future of use and yet when the monies run out to support the facility the structures are abandoned.
One in particular I just noticed today and it made me very sad, our Books-A-Million is now some type of Cash Store, alright not abandoned but really! And believe me they must give away a lot of money there since this book shop was nearly as big as a warehouse store, hmm!
People are now going to go there to be duped into getting fast money at two hundred percent interest? Doesn’t seem quite right, if you know what I mean to do that to such poor desperate people. Sleazy loans instead of intellect and educational information for sale? Here’s where my guilt comes in since I use the library and haven’t bought a book in years, shame on me; I suspect we are all responsible for this happening due to our own need to be more frugal.

This next injustice has not happened as of yet but after the hurricanes of the 2004-2005 seasons many people were seeking medical aid and so many did not have any insurance due to many businesses no longer existing and so the state health departments were overwhelmed with the need and their expanding necessity for larger headquarters throughout our county. And apparently when they asked for, they were given grant monies to build an enormous facility. But it took quite a few years and once completed they had discovered that the people to run the place had to be downsized due to statewide cutbacks. And so eventually the incredibly beautiful facility centrally located in our county could very nearly be unmanned without enough salaried medical professionals being able to be paid for their expertise due to not enough funds in the state to allocate that. The writing is on the wall; so I have been told.

Any-who, not much can be changed since money is the main issue for all these ‘signs of the times’. I can remember when signs were, ‘make love not war’, I always sort of liked that one… but I digress…
We are once again at war abroad and here in the USA but these fronts have to do with a deficit out the wazoo, and Mother Nature’s unusual wrath being bestowed on our fine decent nation. But let’s not forget the world too has suffered from all these wicked, biblical in proportion, disasters too!

Answers and ideas are not forthcoming and no one seems to be able to figure out what to do, what to do… If only we could discuss the possibilities of how to contend with it all in an equitable manner to fix it all as soon as realistically can-do that is that it can be done at a price of less than we are quoted since it does appear that the monsters come out of the woodwork to gouge everyone at the most horrendous of times. We should all stand up to them and NOT allow those thieves anywhere nearby, the good honest contractors and suppliers of materials should surpass all the others…but diligence must prevail in the process.
It is exhausting thinking about what those seven states here, and yes, that was the count after those horrible tornadoes destroyed so much including over three hundred lives of loved ones. The Tsunami and earthquakes all throughout the world …but it appears that Japan has an incredible handle on accomplishing some normalcy and perhaps they would share that with the rest of us as more and more people go to help worldwide, here, there and everywhere too…

All I know is that for some reason I cannot find anything funny in any of this, since there is nothing at all; only heart wrenching misery and a true desire to try to figure out what’s next?

It does seem that even though we are at war in so many different places that we are at peace too with many who care to help each other all over this planet and that is somewhat refreshing…

On that trying to find some good in this crazy bit of our time which is really only a small blip let me be the first to wish you all a very happy good night and ask you to kindly count all your blessings and share your overages and we will too!

And next time please be here of be square, OK?

Staying safe online...

Over the last several years many of us have been told by different technical advisors not to divulge too much personal information due to identity theft or that it might come back to bite you in your tushy for trying to acquire a job or credit or auto/home ownership; what-have-you. In other words you must behave conservatively online.

The safety of our children’s privacy also becomes an issue when people like I blog about them, and so I do not mention their actual names or real ages, I hope. You see next month it will be three years of this drivel that I have been spewing, oh so proudly, and I have written nearly every single day and all I can honestly say is that I don’t think that I have told that about them. You say huh? Tobi-speak, I can only hope that was clear enough for some of you to get and not do too.

And so that is one of the reasons I removed them from my Facebook page (and our eldest highly recommended it to me for privacy purposes and he like our younger son are both quite computer /online savvy and so when they talk, I do listen). Big Mom smile here!

So hard to keep track of ‘adult children’ and there’s that oxymoron again, but what else does a parent call their offspring that have grown-up?
I tried the ‘equals’ word, but they are both far superior to me, notice I did not say Hubby their father.

Any-who, back to safety online let’s review what all those pros have been saying, never give out your date of birth, meaning the year, name or address, social security number, phone numbers, credit card numbers unless you are on a secure site; crazy for the social networking sites, but better to be safe than sorry, huh?
Always go through the proper procedures that have been instated for security when dealing with your own accessed sites such as your banks, credit card companies, stores or other types of shopping you may do online, such as EBay or Craig’s List type places or information sites that require registering and change your passwords as often as possible and keep them in a safe place that you will remember; preferably not online! That is my usual problem, ha!

All in all I feel that most all of my readership is more knowledgeable than I on these topics but then every once in a while I catch a slight mistake and you know me if I see it I tell you about it and so I did just this past week. And I do believe that is what brought up my idea to do this topic.

Moving on…
Yesterday, we finally received our first bill for our resolve of the mistake by the IRS of giving us five hundred more dollars back in 2009, and it was for an even $100 and so it was paid online from our bank as we do all our others when received it isn’t due until the sixteenth and will actually be paid by our bank tomorrow the twelfth, and we have four more months now and they have decided to only charge us a total of $43 dollars additional for the interest, how nice of them with their mistake, huh? But gosh at least we get the full five months to pay it off, and yes they realized it was their mistake but still I did call them immediately at that time and they insisted it was ours to keep, if you recall…
With our small fixed income it keeps it real in our expenses department to pay back in a not a too difficult painful manner, I suppose…

On that note of federal responsibility let me please be the first to wish you all a very happy good night and to kindly count those blessings and share those overages and we will too!

And next time please be here of be square, OK?

And take care.

PS the saddest part of this day was the fact that although I did remember it was the 25th anniversary of my father’s death that I did not mention it here…but Dad I still do miss you so much! I will give more info on Father’s Day about how great he was.
And PSS the year he passed away May 11. 1986 was Mother’s Day! Very sad.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Silence goes unanswered...

Have you ever felt that you held your voice/words due to a concern over retaliation when someone wronged you? And was it for fear that what you might say next would be considered argumentative or disloyal?
Sure you have!
Too many people allow others to walk all over them for years at a time; thinking is it worth the aggravation and irritation of losing that person’s loyalty or perhaps respect and friendship?
We as a race of people must realize that not everyone is going to love us no matter what at times how hard we try for that or want that!
Here’s that brave part of standing up for yourself in tight situations is a way to prove that you have the ability to like yourself! Theoretically others should follow suite.
And truthfully who would want a friend who only likes or loves you when you always yes them to death and appear to not have any desires of your own?
I don’t mean to just be ornery or difficult, but when you want or need something but feel that you might let it go since the importance based on what you would perceive as someone else’s needs to be greater than your own, I call this self imposed ‘martyr-ism.’
And I am definitely not saying to be selfish and cut in the front of the line or be annoyingly bizarre with unrealistic commands or demands, but to make sure that you too get what you rightfully should have and not be so shy about it.
In other words, no one should be capable of intimidating you!
As living two legged creatures we are all equal and thus be able to realize that equality in all areas of our lives.

Here’s a little secret…I was not always this self assured, ha!
I bet you all knew that.
In fact when I was a younger woman, not that I am that old yet, although according to the numbers games I am closing in on that last quarter…I had many people telling me what to do and I would often yes them all to death!
YEP!
Not a pretty sight, and I ran myself ragged trying to please the world!
How on earth can one person do that, I ask you? And sooner or later we all crash, and so perhaps I did…
I found myself experimenting with a small word that I seemed to have stored far back in my brain since in some cultures it was considered not much different than a curse word and definitely it is in this country… and that word was ‘NO’!
In the beginning I took it for short test drives, since it was easy in that Mommy-hood game; why even my two year old son knew that one, but I had to relearn it because it had been years since I dusted it off for major usage.
And yet, I never ever reprimanded my son for his use of the word that has the ability to stop grown men in their tracks when used properly and in context of importance.

“NO, NO, NO”, say it with me, now doesn’t that feel so much better?
But that is only half of the battle of what this forum’s topic began with; on speaking up for yourself… shucks doesn’t it go along with just saying ‘NO’ it is declaring your right to be not so compliant consistently and that you also have needs to be met by your co-workers, family and friends too! You are IMPORTANT TOO!
Say it; be proud, because you count!

One caveat though, remember at first you might find that many are shocked in outrage due to your significant change of personality of an easy going type of a person, but don’t let that stop you.

Maybe I should have said to go slow with this new you and incorporate it a little bit each day and make sure you just start with people who don’t hold your life in their hands…like the cardiac surgeon when going under for bypass or the firefighter while he/she is trying to save your home … Oh you get the idea, start small… experiment on Fido or FiFi or Tweetie, and then go up to maybe the guy doing those crazy TV commercials who yells so loud that you have to go out of the room to think straight for yourself, yes he deserves it! Just be aware of the power it all may be able theoretically capable of wielding in your life and so I would be more likely to suggest take it at a pace of about one or two 'NO s' a month for the next few years and interjecting your needs and your opinions say about every six months or so, not to rile your boss or co-workers, OK?

Now don’t be shy you can say it… go ahead come on! Say it…NO! HA! Gotcha!
Be who you truly are to yourself and your friends and family and never ever let anyone tell you differently no matter how self loving they may appear!
Nike it! The best people I have met in life are fearless to be who they are whenever they want to be.

On that crazier than usual no rhyme or reason filling the page with a ghastly waste of your time, but not mine since I love this crap!
Let me be the first to wish you all a very happy good night and to all count those blessings and share those overages and we will too!

And next time be here or be square, OK?

Sunday, May 15, 2011

The Oops Factor!

What, you might ask is, ‘the oops factor’?
Well, according to Tobi, why that’s me, isn’t it? How silly of me, of course it is. (Wink, wink) Oddly enough there is a local TV station with that as their call letters, whatever were they thinking, and oh I meant WINK, not Tobi!)
Any-who, ‘The Oops Factor’ is when you do or say something in a public venue that you shouldn’t have, got it?
Now when I, Tobi say a public venue that you have witnesses there, meaning where others are also congregating, more than two people, that means more than just you are present; simple really, correct?
Now the question is that this socially unacceptable faux pas is something everyone has done at one time or another if they live in a world where they may at any given moment have to deal with the public in public.
Now remember at home, ‘oops’ are not as relevant and there is no ‘factor’ involved there either, but in the public domain, where people other than immediate family they do not have to love you no matter what and so there is the difference, got that?
And so you will find that strange looks or outright screams or indignant stares may occur.
It has not been unheard of for four letter words to escape into the realm of the air of indignity too!
But do not retaliate, yet…
After all an oops is an oops and actually if you truly think hard about it, it is never done with animosity in your heart it is just one of those things that happens, a horrid mistake and devilish harsh misjudgment of timing perhaps?

Remember the best part of this human frailty is that you are not by yourself, and that there is no one on this planet who has the ability to say that they have ‘NEVER EVER OOPS!’ But if they insist, just tell them they are lying! Oops, did I say that?
And on this theory of mine that single-handedly determined is why I say to all of you in the world do not hang out at home with fear of misstepping your words in the community of the universe, go forth and speak up without trepidation and go out and multiply your thoughts of dialogue to be creative or not so always, and let them know that all mankind and woman kind can learn from your imperfections and know that they are not alone!
Be a leader amongst the many! Or be one of the crowd, whichever works for you, or hide your face from public humiliation, if that works too. But remember you heard it here first that ‘to oops’ is divine and to not is OK too! And we now have a defined name for the reality of life that we all do, ‘the oops factor’!
So wear it with a great big SMILE!

On that hopefully sillier me dissertation I would love to be the first to wish you all a very happy good night and ask you to kindly count those blessings and share those overages and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, OK?

And all laugh that’s an order, got that?

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Blocked

How many writers out there have come across word block?
Starring at a blank sheet of paper or these days, a screen, it does become frightening, especially when nothing comes into that mind of yours that is usually quite usefully stimulated by the world around you and then nothingness rears its ugly head and overwhelms you and you think you have had the most enormous hollow mind burp that makes all previous ones pale in comparison.

It is not that different from stage fright I suspect, but my stage career with recitals were way before I figured out that you should or could get scared, mine were as a mere child..
Blanking-out is not something anyone wants to do.
The best part of when it happens to someone like myself, is it is not that big a deal, since I do not have anyone to answer to or even an actual deadline and there is no money changing hands here at all for me to disappoint anyone about or feel guilty about. Nor have I not held up my end of any contract, since there is none; then why do I feel so responsible to continue to do this daily? And I appear so driven to continue…and you can bet your sweet bippee that I am going to continue…
What is wrong with me?

Listen, some days I have noticed not too many of you read what I write, but I do say that I do, do this for myself and so that shouldn’t matter but it does…why is that?
Perhaps, it is an amplified example of the child in all of us with the need to please others not just our selfish selves or...
Go with me here…a desire to be heard and feel that others care enough to listen…
Yes!
So when the day arrives that not anyone cares to read this nightly I suspect then I might feel very hurt, but will I stop?
I really don’t know for sure.

Since my concerns to be heard no matter what shall go on and maybe, just maybe I will find a way to accomplish my goal, which by the way is not only to be heard but to leave this techno diary as my legacy to anyone who cares to know how it was in the early part of the twenty-first century for a disabled, minority, who was considered over her mid-life aged. And what she thought and felt about all she personally had to deal with in her immediate realm of family, pets, love, marriage, friends, health, politics, weather, social mores and the like an individual encyclopedia of all those things from her slant on things in her five mile radius called her life!

Scary is that thingy I mentioned when I started tonight.
But again I have proven that my writing ability came about twenty years too late for me to become a writer on that blockbuster comedy show Seinfeld, which was also about nothing…my small inside joke for me.
And with that theory never ever to be realized I will more than likely be here without anymore technical interferences or natural disasters to change the outcome of this thing that I call my mind vomit, nah that’s not at all poetic or pleasant it is truly disgusting, please forgive, but probably more than accurate in many of your minds thoughts.
Although, one never knows, does one… and I can only hope that I am held in a much higher regard than I worry about…

On that not too much to think about viscose, kidding I bet all you wordsmiths knew that was a textile (cellulose made from rayon), not an appropriate analogy word but I thought I would throw it in to test you and find out if you are listening…HA the devil made me do it! What I wanted to say is that I do enjoy writing whatever anyone wants to consider this, oh that’s right one of my journalist background readers called it… get ready folks because it made me feel so great… MY COLUMN!

Perhaps, he thought it was Corinthian or gothic or one of the other columns that I studied in Art History or was that in interior design?
There’s that Norm Crosby in me taking over my word issues again…
Any-who, I’ll take it as a columnist like Geez Erma Bombeck, nah not quite there yet if ever, but wouldn’t that be something, but she never ever complained about her ills and she was always very funny if she did!I can dream can’t I?
Well, I would love to be a little a tinniest bit like that woman who I so admired, she was the epitome of all women’s humorists! I must try so much harder to find the funny more so in life… when in reality this is all rather quite amusing; just laugh folks because the joke is on all of us!
Life that is; we only get one so let's all strive to make it one big happy fun time had by all, what do you say?
We will do it together, OK?

On that positive note of our future time together let me be the first to ask you to count those blessings and to share those overages and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, OK?


PS I guess I am not shooting any blanks tonight, words that is, and I was so worried! LOL!

Friday, May 13, 2011

Criticism

One thing I do know is that we live in a capitalistic society here in America, and that is what built us into the country that we once were, huh?
My point is what constitutes enough money to live on?
A hundred dollars a week, a thousand dollars a week or ten thousand or perhaps it’s a million? I know it’s according to your self imposed cost of your lifestyle.
But I truly thought America was on a tightening our belts diet of monetary responsibility?

Now go with me here…
Earlier this week while watching The View, an all women’s talk and daytime interview magazine format type show with hosts: Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sheri Shepherd and Elizabeth Hasselbeck, just in case you live under a rock and didn’t know that, which I doubt since my readership is brilliant!
Their guest was Susan Lucci the biggest star of the soap opera All My Children and the conversation went on to discussing her show’s being cancelled after forty ought years, why she herself has been on it for forty-one!
She said that she was surprised but knew from the time she had been called into the office for a three person chat that it had to be what was going on. Ms. Lucci asked her powers that are; why they were replacing the longtime much loved soap and with what other type of programming. Simply said they told her that it would be replaced by a reality show that costs forty per cent less to produce, and Susan resigned to her fate said, I guess it all boils down to the bottom line or some such thing like that, I don’t recall verbatim what she had said.
But her face said it all and so the other women went on with her to discuss her latest book, and other more positive things.
And it was rather sad to listen to another business adjusting to the bottom line over people and causing another large glut on the unemployment line…

Well, just to be more diligent in trying to get a hold on what those TV producers were and still are talking about I did a little investigating for myself and guess what I found?
Ms. Susan Lucci, Ms. Erica Slezak of One Life To Live and Mr. Anthony Geary of General Hospital fame are the three highest paid daytime TV stars with yearly salaries anywhere from seven to eleven million dollars, while not too big players on the show receive anywhere from fifteen hundred to five thousand an episode; not small potatoes by any means. Do you see where I am going here…?

How will they ever survive on unemployment insurance?
And now they are discussing reducing that to less weeks, our government in action.

I do know that agents do the haggling; I myself did a short stint as one of those, but what is the difference between making a great deal for your client and what is pricing your client into an arena that has to shut down because of hard times and that can no longer afford to pay them for that quality talent that they exude?
Yep, a double edged sword, or could this be the Golden Parachute thingy in a different form, creating havoc, it’s just a supposition on my part, but you all know me…?

Now all those daytime hour long dramas are not so cost effective I see that and I get what those TV guys were saying…well, if they saw the train derailing perhaps those stars could have jumped off sooner or said, listen guys I will be more than happy to take a pay cut to save the show! And they would end up in Pop’s Soda Bar or some such place, or is it like all our senators and congressmen who would not refuse to stop taking their COLAS and also receive the best healthcare in the nation even though they think that social security is just great without its COLAS since for the rest of us there are no cost of living increases, and that Medicare is honkey dory too but is costing too much federally so it must be tampered with to adjust so people don’t think tis a free ride! And yes unemployment is still high and people do need help, but none of them would think of sharing what they have
Oops did I say all that…YES I DID!

But don’t go by me I am only An American Minority who is disabled that has no medical and no social security and I am being ‘kept’ by my Hubby for over forty years now although I did work for a large portion of them and so I get by, but what about the others?

A lot to digest, huh?

I know you can do it, in reality we all have to.

On those provocative concepts let me be the first to wish you all a very happy good night and to kindly ask you to count those blessings and share those overages and we will too!

And next time be here or be square, OK?

PS Happy Friday the thirteenth, see it wasn’t that bad, or was it?

Frustration, yup...

Aggravation, irritation, disturbance, annoyance, nuisance, disappointment, dissatisfaction, blocking, foiling, hindrance, defeat, obstruction and prevention are a few of the feelings that are going through my mind right now.

How many of you are spoiled enough to think that when you want to do something regularly that there should be no blockage in continuing to do it in that tried and true manner that you had been doing it like clock-work or a finely tuned continuous positive habit?

OK, this is not one of those vices that you should not do; it is actually my writing this poppycock nightly that is in jeopardy!

Trying to access by blog entry was not possible and so Hubby suggested that I write first, as in reality I usually do anyway in my, ‘Word Program’ what will hopefully be posted later. OK, so here I am doing it…already a half an hour behind my self induced deadline!
Although, that is not entirely true since many days I have been known to post quite erratically, all at different times, (redundancy is me). Even in the mornings for that is when I first started all of this blog nearly three years ago and at one time I believe I did post after midnight due to a computer malfunction, but never my fault. And during the times that I have been ill Hubby would post something.
With him though, who’s a man of few words that is what you would get, minimalist verbiage, but I digress…

This time it is not totally in my control, I truly feel that vibe; although nothing really is, is it?
I mean to have that overwhelming feeling of power over things that ‘just happen’.
Some things in life we do, like accomplishing simple tasks or making yourself exercise whether or not you really want to do it and taking care of your home or laundry, but not so many other things… oh right now… weather comes to mind, specifically hurricanes, which as you can well imagine weighs heavily on all of us here in the southeastern portion of the US and will come up frequently in conversations here over the next few months as usual for this time of year.

With that said about weather and all the horrors of death and destruction that it has caused already this year I suppose most can well imagine why that frustration of not knowing when or where the next devastation will hit… and yes most of that is out of all our control. Tornadoes, flooding and so many deaths…so miserably sad and how powerless it makes us feel to know how to handle it.
Of course our hearts and desire to help in the aftermath is so extremely strong, you would have to be made of stone not to have your heart wrenched nightly from all the news reports…I cry inside with the reality and remembrance of our areas tormented destruction that nearly seven years later some samplings still remain to keep us sharp not to ever forget. And see all those news reports is like reliving it all over again….my heart breaks…for all of the survivors and the ones they lost.
Compassion is sympathy, empathy, concern, kindness, consideration and care, but the most important part to me is seeing your self in the other person’s position. To me that truly gets you to immersed all of your emotions from their perspective.

And so in my mind, the best way though to handle any of this is to do something, Nike it! (Just do it)
Go there and physically help or if unable to as I have said before find a legitimate organization to donate items to or preferably cash. You know why I keep saying that, cash, meaning check or credit card whichever is safest?
Because before our personal Hurricane Charley in 2004, we as you all do know, we had helped after Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and people were so generous with clothes and you-name-it but it was still raining since it is called our rainy season for a very good reason and all those donations were set in boxes for people to help themselves and they were damaged by the rainy weather and mud etc. and since there wasn’t power yet so no way to clean those enormous quantities of caring, many were thrown away not unlike what had been lost in the rubble of the initial hit of the hurricane, and so now you know why my reasoning exists. It’s not to say that you should not send diapers, canned goods, bottled water, toiletries and the like, but I think the aid agencies/organizations might be able to organize better without all items coming in from all different locations and monies would allow for that.

The above is just my opinion and if at all interested ask the powers that be in-charge of the distribution, your loved ones may know or the Red Cross.

On that noteworthy end to tonight’s ideas of concerns and frustrations aired let me be the first to wish you all a very happy good night and to ask kindly to count those blessings and share those overages and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, OK?

PS This was completely ready for posting by seven P.M. EST, but Blogger wasn’t…you see what I mean… frustrating?
PSS Finally Blogspot is BACK!!!!1:21P.M. on a Friday the 13th of all days!Thanks Patricia, another blogger who just informed me!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Companion?

Now this is carrying politically correct to the real ones who matter in all of our lives no matter what… nothing to do with your sexual preference or faith or race or political affiliation are in this true concern.
This is what we should all do to not offend the true loves in our lives that have no one to speak up for them, our used to be called, ‘pets’, but now we are being told that is offensive to them, by animal ethicists and that the proper term is ‘companion’.

Not to be rude, but to be honest with all of you, as smart as all our little four legged or feathered or scaly friends/ loves/family members, now ‘companions’, ah come on I have used that term of endearment frequently if not often! They have been all that over the years and yet none has ever mentioned that calling them a ‘pet’ has made less of them of their particular animal persuasion.

Many come from bold proud backgrounds of ancient ancestry and have been revered throughout our human/ companion relationship history!
If the truth be told we have buried them in our coffins and worshipped them; as well as cremated them, had funerals for them and that is just after we spoiled them into having gracious lives of living like kings and queens and the like.
We groom them, feed them the best, care for them with the finest of medical care better than some persons and exercise programs according to their needs have dressed them with outfits that out shine some of the finest Haute Couture and have given them beds well decorated or of our own that we shared. Gosh our companions have it better than some of the ‘people’ who care for them!
And yet it is improper to call them that nasty harsh word ‘pet’, Geez it isn’t a four letter one, and what is one to make of the human beings who use the term in loving tender terms when calling each other ‘a pet’, is this too to be scratched from the vocabulary of all being kind? I demand an answer!

But to tell you the truth I do believe in the past several years my reference to our family in-articulate creatures I have mostly called them the littlest members of this circus we reside in, oh wait that was when the boys were small and we had three dogs, two cats, turtle and a cockatiel! And yes, we then got our first king size bed since all but Charlie our Cockatiel and the turtle would end up in our bed, gosh those were the days!
You see those days were the best.
And yes we had all kinds of family out the wazoo and enjoyed every moment of it.

“There has been an explosion of knowledge about animals that should make us consider them in a new light and perhaps change the manner in which we treat them.” Priscilla Cohn, co-editor of the Journal of Animal Ethics

A quote from the site that is insistent that it does matter how we refer to our little guys and gals, you see now I am watching how to say who they really are.
Pals, little loves, family members, some I even call my grananimals, since I still don’t have the two legged kind of grandchildren and that is how I refer to my son’s, ‘pets’ oops, did I say that? And he laughs, sadly I don’t know anything about our younger son’s non-speaking child adoptions, since we still don’t hear from him, but knowing him and his love too for these amazing G-d loved babies I certainly am sure he has had a few of his own too. Even many people I know who don’t have two-legged children call their four-legged ones their kids, is this, OK?
I sure hope so since over the years when the two-legged ones grew up and moved out I did switch that mothering thingy over to the little guys and gals that had no one to speak up for them, but do you know something?
In reality we always did, how about that!

On that curious note of truth, be it whatever your choice is to call those small unconditionally loving creatures, companion, family member, or even that harsh nasty word ‘pet’…there is no denying they all add to our lives in the fulfillment of some things that not all other human beings can fill... the undeniable faithfulness of a true friend.

Happy goodnight to all and please count those blessings and kindly share those overages and we will too!

And next time be here or be square, OK?
No more demands, just requests…gotta start somewhere, huh?

Monday, May 9, 2011

Back to our non holiday mode...

No expectations abounding today, huh folks?
We all must admit that there is a certain amount of relief that all is over for that shorty of a hectic one for another year, but alas next month is Father’s Day, oh my! LOL!

Yes, this summer we have many holidays including the next big one, which is Arm Forces Day on May 21st, Victoria Day in Canada is on the 23rd, Memorial Day is on the 30th and then there is June with Flag Day on the 14th, US Father’s Day is on the 19th, and of course the legal beginning of all our summers on the 21st, on the Summer Solstice.

July has its own fun holidays starting with my birthday on the 1st (I know its not a legal holiday but I will allow you to celebrate it), which is also Canada’s Independence Day, and then our American Independence Day is on July 4th.

August gives us somewhat of a break, although, I suppose you could celebrate the anniversary of the opening of the Panama Canal on the 15th in 1914, its 97th. As the rest of the country cools down for them in September, the 5th brings us to Labor Day the official, to our northern hemisphere of this planet’s summer ending for most, but not us.

We go on for a few more months, in warmth, a glow I suspect, well into November and until the 30th and so we cannot say that we are completely safe, as you all know that is when our hurricane season ends, but until then our sea waters can be quite warm; don’t forget we are a peninsula, and possibly those warm waters could be a breeding ground for those horrendous disastrous destroyers of homes and lives.

It was wonderful to see the great photos of all the Moms out there and to get an idea from whence we came…little poems and remembrances were quite creative in the how they were presented, from regular in your face postings on the Facebook walls to blogs to poetic groups expounding their love of their moms through their artful talents…it was GREAT!

Many mentioned their loss of that woman who gave them life and to that all I can say since I myself still feel that loss daily although it has been over twenty-nine years. Oddly enough it is that circle of life that I joke of on occasion, but if that is not an example with all those fond memories of our dearly departed ones and how each of our generations since we took our first breaths have had that glance into what they did for us all to continue us on, and on, on…

It reminded me of what wonderful creatures us human beings can be when gushing over the love of someone, how refreshing to know that in many ways the bad times diminish in importance and what truly is and always will be the right real thing to remember is how they made us feel. If extremely lucky we knew we were unconditionally loved and returned it as good as we got. If not we can try better with each consecutive generation.
But the ones who spoke up brought out the best of how they were raised by those who must have loved them since they were so warmly remembered the way the rest of us can only strive for…

On that somewhat high regard for us as the race of mankind and of course woman kind too …let me be the first to tell you to have a very happy good night and count those blessings and kindly share those overages and we will too!

And next time be here or be square, yea hear?
I know I said until I felt I was not so square I would not say that again, but yesterday you all proved that I am in very good company of many worldwide squares ‘L7’; you all!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Mother's Day!

To many the day brought all that they craved in the ways of tradition; breakfast in bed a handmade card or perhaps a Hallmark one and brunch out?
Whatever your family does to make this day another one of remembrance for all you Mom’s out there to keep in your heart and soul forever.
“ History of American Celebration...
“When the first English settlers came to America, they discontinued the tradition of Mothering Day. While the British holiday would live on, the American Mother’s Day would be invented—with an entirely new history—centuries later. One explanation for the settlers’ discontinuation of Mothering Day was that they just didn’t have time; they lived under harsh conditions and were forced to work long hours in order to survive. Another possibility, however, is that Mothering Day conflicted with their Puritan ideals. Fleeing England to practice a more conservative Christianity without being persecuted, the pilgrims ignored the more secular holidays, focusing instead on a no-frills devotion to God. For example, even holidays such as Christmas and Easter were much more somber occasions for the pilgrims, usually taking place in a Church that was stripped of all extraneous ornamentation.
Julia Ward Howe's Mother's Day Proclamation of 1870
The first North American Mother’s Day was conceptualized with Julia Ward Howe’s Mother’s Day Proclamation in 1870. Despite having penned The Battle Hymn of the Republic 12 years earlier, Howe had become so distraught by the death and carnage of the Civil War that she called on Mother’s to come together and protest what she saw as the futility of their Sons killing the Sons of other Mothers. With the following, she called for an international Mother's Day celebrating peace and motherhood:
Arise, then, women of this day!


Arise all women who have hearts,
Whether your baptism be that of water or of tears
Say firmly:

"We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands shall not come to us reeking of carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of
charity, mercy and patience.

"We women of one country
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says, "Disarm, Disarm!"
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice!
Blood does not wipe out dishonor
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plow and the anvil at the summons of war.

Let women now leave all that may be left of home
for a great and earnest day of counsel.

Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.

Let them then solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace,
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God.

In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality
May be appointed and held at some place deemed most convenient
And at the earliest period consistent with its objects
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions.
The great and general interests of peace.”

The above info was what I gleaned from: http://www.mothersdaycentral.com/about-mothersday/history/

For some reason it struck me as quite interesting and perhaps you too will feel that way as well. It appears that she was one of the very first to feel her reasoning was just for such an occasion and I might add I do believe the ideas were not so farfetched as many others of today feel that way.

In the long run though I do hope that all that you hoped for came to pass… but if not don’t be sad or angry remember that it is a yearly holiday and with that said there is always next year. Why some Hubby’s take years to get it right with your joint offspring and so don’t be upset, as we all know practice makes perfect, right?

And on that message of everyone needs a second chance including those lovely children that you made let me be the first to wish you all a very happy good night and to kindly ask you to count those blessings and to share those overages and we will too!

And next time if it all really went badly, have pets!
They may not get you cards or breakfast in bed but they never ever talk back or ignore you, just go outside and come in again, you know what I mean…

And sure I want you to be here and then join our circle of life… oh where’s that square thingy gone… it will be back when I don’t fit it so much myself, OK?

Speaking My Mind: Which way will the war go?

Speaking My Mind: Which way will the war go? :   My eyesight is going again... in case you missed it... Netanyahu snaps back against growing...