Being that I was born and raised in the South I have many Southernisms. I am going to share a few with you. Sometimes I don't even realize that I am saying one it just comes so naturally to me. I reckin that is the way it works for some folk. My family of origin also originate from the South so I have picked up some of their sayings as well over the years. We girls from the South are called GRITS = GIRLS RAISED IN THE SOUTH. I am definitely one of them. In fact, once my Mom gave me a tee shirt that read GRITS Girls Raised In The South. I don't know where it is now but I use to wear it all the time. One of the Southernisms that I use all the time is Well shut my mouth and eat cornbread. If I haven't seen someone in a while I will say to them Aren't you a sight for sore eyes. If 2 things or 2 people go well together I will say you are like Two peas in a pod. My use of reckin is certainly in abundance along with Lordy Pete. Also there is an abundance of Good Ole Boys where I come from. I save that phrase to reference the red necks and bigots that don't like LGBT folks or people of color. When it rains really hard I always say It's rainin cats and dogs out there I wonder if I will know any of them. Then there are times when I am either leaving somewhere, going somewhere or even going to do something it is always I'am fittin {fixin}to...
I remember when I was younger going to church with my Grandma , God rest her soul, and she and I would sit on the back pew and she would always say she's as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, talking about a woman of ill repute who would come and sit down across from us. I honestly think Grandma wanted to sit in the back row so she could watch everyone come in the door. She was always saying something about someone but in a nice soft whispering Southern way of course. Sometimes it would be He ain't the smartest tool in the shed but he is a good man or if someone wasn't a very nice person she would say God bless her, after her comment. It was always interesting every time we went to church together. It was about a block from her house to the church house and we would walk together holding hands. She would wear her Sunday best along with a pill box hat and purse to match. There were times when Granddad would come with us. Now this made for some fun times because Granddad would always fall asleep and start to snore. Grandma would always lean over to him and whisper Lawd Smitty if you don't stop snorin the Lord is goin come down and bop you on the head. One thing Grandma use to always say is God willing and the creek don't rise. Now I say that along with, like my Grandma use to say....When Grandma use to send me to the neighborhood short stop, for those of you that don't know what that is it is a local convenient store, she would say to me I want you back here in two shakes of a lambs tail. Granddad would always say to me don't go off half cocked because I would always fly off without knowing the whole story of something. Grandad would make a mean red-eyed gravy for breakfast or dinner. There was never a dull moment growing up with Grandparents like the ones I had. I miss them terribly. Grandma's biggest saying was Live and learn; die and forget it all. This is another saying from her that I use alot.
When my wife Kathy and I met she would always laugh at certain things that I would say. Of course, there were times that she would just look at me in confusion after one of my Southernisms. One thing that I sometimes say before a sentence is I do declare...I remember when I took Kathy to my hometown I said to her Let me show you my Old stomping grounds. After our first potluck we had while we were dating I said to everyone as they were leaving Ya'll come back now ya hear. When I shut the door and turned around to look at Kathy she had that look on her face like really you just said that. I answered her look by saying I know I should have used the plural All Ya'll. When Kathy asks me where something is I will say It's over yonder or if she is driving and I am giving her directions I will say to her It's down the road a piece.
It never fails that when me and my family of origin get together it seems that our conversations always come around to beans and farts. There is no shame in talking about bodily functions amongst people of like minds. Now at this point Kathy always rolls her eyes and steps out of the room. Now I don't know if this is a Southern Thang or not but it is my family thang that's for sure. My aunt Janet, God rest her soul, was the biggest bean and fart talker that we had. All of us can sit around for hours laughing until we are crying talking about this topic.
Now I am going to end this blog by saying we Southerners are a rare breed. We have what is called Southern hospitality we also have what is known as the whisper statements. If you don't know what whisper statements are get into a conversation with a Southerner and you will find out.
These are my thoughts and feelings from Jillsville.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Sunday, January 27, 2013
LIFE AND TIMES WITH OUR CRITTERS
My wife Kathy and I have an abundance of critters or should I say they have us because as everyone who has pets know we do belong to them not the other way around. We have 2 dogs Buddy and Nanalu, 2 cats Roman and Carlos and 2 birds Mojo and Lasko. We also have an outside feral cat we named Lucy. This home of ours is never boring that is for sure. Buddy and Nanalu keep us very entertained. Roman and Carlos are bit older so they pretty much sleep, purr and eat alot. Mojo and Lasko our keets do alot of chirping and playing so it is nice to watch them interact. Each one of our critters has their own personalities and I am going to share a little of that with you.
Let's begin with our keets Mojo and Lasko. Mojo is a beautiful shade of green and some yellow with black tail feathers and wings. Lasko is bright yellow with white tail feathers and wings. I named Mojo because I felt a certain allure to him and he seemed very active when we got him. Kathy named Lasko because the name contains hard Consonants. We have had Mojo a bit longer than Lasko. Once we got Lasko our little Keet family was complete. They seem to have a certain chemistry these two. They chirp to eachother alot or they just chirp together. Lasko is the acrobat that is for sure. He spins around on every single perch that they have in their cage. It is so funny to watch. Also we have what we call the blue cave. It is a soft hand muffle looking thing that is in the corner top of the cage. That is where Lasko spends some of the cold nights sleeping. No other keet has ever been in it. Both keets gather up the liter pellets that we have at the bottom of their cage and put it in their drinking water. Lasko is the one that started that and Mojo just followed right in. Most of the time the two keets Mojo and Lasko sleep together on the blue and white swing that we have in the cage. Once we cover it they go right up to the swing together and there they are when we uncover them in the morning. It is so cute to see them together playing and chirping together.
Now let's talk about the other boys our cats Roman and Carlos. We call them our big yellow boys because that is what they are big and yellow and boys. These two are liter mates and they're 13 years old. Like I said above they mostly eat, purr and sleep atleast now that is what they do but when they were younger they did alot of playing together. I remember when I bought them one of those round circle shaped plastic toys that had cat nip cardboard in the center of it that you put on the floor with a little white ping pong type ball that went round and round the circle. Ramon loved that thing. He use to take his paw and make the ball go round and round and try to catch it with his mouth but the ball would not come out. It was fun to watch. Now Carlos would mostly just sit and watch Ramon make a fool of himself atleast that is what it looked like Carlos was thinking as he sat there. Then Carlos would get bored and walk away while Ramon was still playing. I remember when Kathy first brought them over here when we were moving in together..Ramon would sit in the bathroom sink and watch as we moved stuff in. I finally built a cat run off the small bedroom window out back so that the cats could go outside and get some fresh air and be safe at the same time. Carlos is the only one that goes out there. We had to get a doggie door because our cats are too big for a regular cat door. It was fun teaching them to go in and out of the cat-dog door. I used treats to train them and Carlos was all about it but not so much Ramon. Ramon has been out there a few times just not as much as Carlos. Carlos has a perch with a dog bed on top that he lays on outside of the window of the cat run. He will stay there for hours and watch the outside world from that perch. Ramon has become a loud meower here lately. He walks around the whole house with his loud meow which usually means that he is hungry. Carlos has taken to sitting up on the kitchen table looking out at the birds on the feeders. He makes this little grunting noise as he watches them. Carlos and Buddy have this playful thing that they do now where Buddy will nudge Carlos with his nose on his side and Carlos will swipe Buddy with his paw and no claws. It is funny to watch. Both cats will spoon on Mutti's bed sometimes while they sleep. Both of them love eachother very much. Brothers til the end. Carlos is on the left and Ramon is on the right. The cat run is underneath.
Now this brings us to our doggies Buddy and Nanalu. Buddy and Nanalu both are rescues. Buddy came to us on Christmas morning 2 years ago. I saw him hanging around the neighborhood so I decided that I would make a bed for him on our sheltered front porch and I gave him food and water. Christmas morning we came out on the porch and there he was laying in the bed and shivering. I gradually made my way over to him and offered him some more food. Then he slowly licked my hand then Kathy came over and the same thing happened. That is when we took him in and our lives have been blessed every since. Our vet said he looked like he was six months old at the time so we had him clipped and chipped. Boy was it rocky in the beginning. It seems that our new friend Buddy was a hunter. When he would go outside sometimes he would kill birds and the field mice which I didn't mind the field mice as much as I did the birds. We had a nest of baby wren's on our back porch under the overhang. Buddy got into the nest and killed the little wren's. I was furious with him. Also there was the time that Buddy killed a rabbit that wondered into our fenced in backyard. I was livid so Kathy had to take Buddy to our friends Ann and Kathy's house for a while until I calmed down. It took me some time before I realized that with him being on his own for so long that is how he got his food. I am a processor and sometimes it takes some time to process things even the simplest of things and of course Kathy helped me to see things differently also. He is a playing and running fool. We use to take him to the dog park but he started to get a bit aggressive with the other dogs so we stopped taking him. It's a good thing that we have a fenced in backyard for him to run in. We also have a neighbor that when he lets his dog out both of them run down the fence together she on the outside and Buddy on the inside barking and running. There are times that Kathy or I will play what we call stomp and run with Buddy. This is where we stomp on the ground and Buddy will run all around the yard and then return to us and we stomp again and it all starts over and over again. Kathy made the mistake of allowing the Budster to sleep on our bed with us and that is what he does every night right between us and he hogs the bed. Every morning when I wake up I am almost off the bed seriously this is so true. In the mornings and afternoons Budster will go upstairs to the bonus room and nap on the couch or hangout with Kathy while she writes or watches movies. It was Kathy's study and her space it still is just not as much. We now call it the Boy Cave because he spends alot of his days up there. Buddy pretty much is the "man" of the house and our protector. He knows where everyone is at every moment and he does keep tabs on us he also keeps tabs on what is going on outside. Alot of the time he looks out the window upstairs in the bonus room it is his tower where he can look and see everything going on in our neighborhood. He will come running down from upstairs if he sees or hears anything then out the doggie door he goes barking and running. Buddy came to us about a year before we put Lucky Lu down. She was our old girl of 14 years. She became really sick and it was time to let her go. It was rough but you just have to do whats best for them from a loving place in your heart and that is what we did. We then just had Buddy and Torrie our other old girl. They both played together until Torrie got to be to old to play. The top photo is Lucky Lu the bottom photo is Torrie.
Enter Nanalu. She came to us from our next door neighbors. Our neighbor rescued Nanalu from her cousin who was abusing her. She was about 7 weeks old at the time we got her. We now have had her about 8 weeks. Shortly after getting Nanalu we put our Torrie girl down. She became really sick and she was snapping at Nanalu we were worried that she would hurt her. When we took Torrie to the vet he said that with her snapping at the puppy it means that she is not feeling good. Because Torrie was always good with other dogs and people we had the feeling that the end was near. She was the most gentle dog that I ever knew or that I had ever had. We already knew that she had cancer for a while now and the vet said that she was in the beginning stages of kidney failure. She could barely stand up on her hind legs. Once again it took me overnight to process and to become at peace with this decision. Now Lucky lu and Torrie are together at Rainbow Bridge running, jumping, playing and barking together. Just as our home is full of playing, running, barking, snarling and laughter from us when we watch Buddy and Nanalu together. Nanalu is following Buddy's lead about the ins and outs of how things work around here. It is fun to watch these two interact with eachother. Nanalu is staking her place in this family that is for sure. I bought some stairs one day at the store and placed them at the foot of our bed and wouldn't you know it Nanalu learned how to climb up them and onto our bed so now we have two dogs in our bed at night. Buddy still sleeps between us and Nanalu sleeps at the foot of our bed. It was fun to watch Buddy teach her how to go out the doggie door. She would watch him go out and then watch him come back in. Finally she did the same thing. Of course the doggie door was a bit of a lift up for her but she managed it and has been managing ever since. Nanalu makes funny grunting noises when she sleeps or if you move her when she is on the couch sleeping. The same is true when she yawns she lets out a big ole yelp. It really does amuse us. She does have her own personality. She and our cat Ramon have a game that they play together just as Buddy and Carlos do only with Nanalu and Ramon it is a playful jaw open around Ramon's neck by Nanalu and he loves it...I think it confuses Nanalu. It is fun to watch Nanalu and Buddy play tug of war with a piece of cloth that we give them. Of course Nanalu usually sneaks in and takes one of my socks out of the bathroom. She does this while I am in the shower. When I get out of the shower I notice my sock missing and the door slight ajar. Then I find her up on the bed with my sock or outside in the backyard with my sock playing tug of war with the Budster. Sometimes I even try to nab her with the sock as she is making an escape through the doggie door. There are times when she will come into the bathroom after I get out of the shower and she licks the water off my legs. Hahaha..Kathy tells me she does the same thing with her. It is really funny when both Buddy and Nanalu do it...These critters of ours. Everytime Kathy opens the dishwasher Nanalu comes a running. We call her our prewash girl. She licks off the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. Buddy use to do it then he handed it off to Nanalu. Sometimes both of them will prewash them together. There was a time when Nanalu was having a hard time getting up the stairs to the bonus room. But once again she figured it out and now she and Buddy will come running down the stairs and it sounds like thunder and then out the doggie door they go usually Nanalu follows Buddy out the door. When we first got Nanalu we had to take her outside to potty train her and the Budster would follow us out there and stand guard by the back door while she did her potty. I actually liked that he did that it gave me a sense of security. Oh our home is full of love and laughter along with snarling and playing.
A fairly new addition is our outside feral cat we call Lucy. She is a pretty cat with a obviously cut off tail. Kathy is the cat expert in our house so she is sure that she is a female cat. Kathy named her Lucy I wanted to name her Calico or Callie or well Lucy works. I found out yesterday the history of Lucy by one of our neighbors up the street. He said that Lucy was abandoned by one of our neighbors that lived 2 doors up from us. It seems they left in the middle of the night and didn't take Lucy or her buddy another cat with them. The other cat died and the man called the SPCA to come get it and when they got here Lucy took off and has been on her own since then that was 2 years ago. I find it peculiar that I haven't seen her around until just a few months ago when I began feeding her outside. We have taken it nice and easy me and Lucy. She is getting use to me now. She is beginning to allow me to come close to her when feeding her. I haven't been able to pet her yet but atleast she doesn't run from me anymore when I approach her to feed and water her. Now I have put a cat bed on our sheltered front porch and she has been coming up there and laying in it. I also moved her food and water dishes up there for her. She has laid up on our porch before on a seat cushion but with this cold weather I wanted her to be warmer and feel safer. I am glad that it seems to be working out for us both.
One thing is for sure there is never a dull moment with all of our critters around. Our home is always busy. We are blessed to have the array of critters that we have. We are all truly blessed to have found eachother and live in harmony together. Kathy, Buddy, Me and Nanalu. You can hardly see her in my arms.
These are my thoughts and feelings from Jillsville.
Let's begin with our keets Mojo and Lasko. Mojo is a beautiful shade of green and some yellow with black tail feathers and wings. Lasko is bright yellow with white tail feathers and wings. I named Mojo because I felt a certain allure to him and he seemed very active when we got him. Kathy named Lasko because the name contains hard Consonants. We have had Mojo a bit longer than Lasko. Once we got Lasko our little Keet family was complete. They seem to have a certain chemistry these two. They chirp to eachother alot or they just chirp together. Lasko is the acrobat that is for sure. He spins around on every single perch that they have in their cage. It is so funny to watch. Also we have what we call the blue cave. It is a soft hand muffle looking thing that is in the corner top of the cage. That is where Lasko spends some of the cold nights sleeping. No other keet has ever been in it. Both keets gather up the liter pellets that we have at the bottom of their cage and put it in their drinking water. Lasko is the one that started that and Mojo just followed right in. Most of the time the two keets Mojo and Lasko sleep together on the blue and white swing that we have in the cage. Once we cover it they go right up to the swing together and there they are when we uncover them in the morning. It is so cute to see them together playing and chirping together.
Now let's talk about the other boys our cats Roman and Carlos. We call them our big yellow boys because that is what they are big and yellow and boys. These two are liter mates and they're 13 years old. Like I said above they mostly eat, purr and sleep atleast now that is what they do but when they were younger they did alot of playing together. I remember when I bought them one of those round circle shaped plastic toys that had cat nip cardboard in the center of it that you put on the floor with a little white ping pong type ball that went round and round the circle. Ramon loved that thing. He use to take his paw and make the ball go round and round and try to catch it with his mouth but the ball would not come out. It was fun to watch. Now Carlos would mostly just sit and watch Ramon make a fool of himself atleast that is what it looked like Carlos was thinking as he sat there. Then Carlos would get bored and walk away while Ramon was still playing. I remember when Kathy first brought them over here when we were moving in together..Ramon would sit in the bathroom sink and watch as we moved stuff in. I finally built a cat run off the small bedroom window out back so that the cats could go outside and get some fresh air and be safe at the same time. Carlos is the only one that goes out there. We had to get a doggie door because our cats are too big for a regular cat door. It was fun teaching them to go in and out of the cat-dog door. I used treats to train them and Carlos was all about it but not so much Ramon. Ramon has been out there a few times just not as much as Carlos. Carlos has a perch with a dog bed on top that he lays on outside of the window of the cat run. He will stay there for hours and watch the outside world from that perch. Ramon has become a loud meower here lately. He walks around the whole house with his loud meow which usually means that he is hungry. Carlos has taken to sitting up on the kitchen table looking out at the birds on the feeders. He makes this little grunting noise as he watches them. Carlos and Buddy have this playful thing that they do now where Buddy will nudge Carlos with his nose on his side and Carlos will swipe Buddy with his paw and no claws. It is funny to watch. Both cats will spoon on Mutti's bed sometimes while they sleep. Both of them love eachother very much. Brothers til the end. Carlos is on the left and Ramon is on the right. The cat run is underneath.
One thing is for sure there is never a dull moment with all of our critters around. Our home is always busy. We are blessed to have the array of critters that we have. We are all truly blessed to have found eachother and live in harmony together. Kathy, Buddy, Me and Nanalu. You can hardly see her in my arms.
These are my thoughts and feelings from Jillsville.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
THE WAY I SEE IT: THE PRESIDENT'S SPEECH
I have been hearing all kinds of different opinions about the President's second inaugural speech. I for one felt that his speech was Right On and one that I hope is carried out. Some Republican's have said that his speech was an attack on the Republican party. In my opinion, it is the Republican's that are and have been attacking the President but that is for another blog. The other statements that I have heard are that this speech one of I want or one of I will. After all inaugural speeches are all about agenda's of the President. Who knows given that the Republican majority in the house has yet to work with the President to help the American people. We the people can only hope that some if not all of the President's speech comes to fruition. I am going to break down some of what I feel are the important points of the President's inaugural speech and say why I feel that they're important to me.
{"We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."
Today we continue a never-ending journey, to bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our time. For history tells us that while these truths may be self-evident, they have never been self-executing; that while freedom is a gift from God, it must be secured by His people here on Earth. The patriots of 1776 did not fight to replace the tyranny of a King with the privileges of a few or the rule of a mob. They gave to us a Republic, a government of, and by, and for the people, entrusting each generation to keep safe our founding creed.}
I am really glad that the President put a portion of the Declaration of Independence in his speech. I feel that we have somehow gotten away from this declaration. We as a people MUST have equality but it is up to us to get it. We must protect our government from the rule of a few because at the end of the day we are the people.
{Together, we determined that a modern economy requires railroads and highways to speed travel and commerce; schools and colleges to train our workers. Together, we discovered that a free market only thrives when there are rules to ensure competition and fair play. Together, we resolved that a great nation must care for the vulnerable, and protect its people from life's worst hazards and misfortune.}
This to me says alot about where our country should be heading in this century. When the President had a majority in the house and senate this was happening. We were building our infrastructure. When massive storms arise it is up to our country to give relief money no matter if it is a Blue or Red state. The President made a speech at the DNC years ago where he said "This is not a blue state or a red state this is the United States." That holds true today. Also medicare, medicaid and social security must be maintain. We pay into social security it is not an entitlement it is something that we have paid into for all the years that we work.
{We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failing to do so would betray our children and future generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms. The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But Americans cannot resist this transition; we must lead it.}
This is probably the part where the Republicans feel that the President was attacking them. Most if not all the Republicans do not believe in climate change because they don't believe in science. This is a TRUE statement. What other reason could we be having these wacky weather changes and horrible storms that seem to be getting worse.? Sustainable energy sources would be such a fantastic accomplishment for the United States. We could cut down of foreign oils and maintain our homes with solar energy so many possibilities could be had. Many other countries are figuring this out and some are implementing it. The United States should be the leader but instead because of the majority of Republicans in Congress we are not. They are holding us back.
{We will show the courage to try and resolve our differences with other nations peacefully-not because we are naive about the dangers we face but because engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear.}
This is so true for me as well. We don't have to have the good ole boy mentality that George Bush did in his Presidency. We should not be known as the bully nation but the peaceful nation. Peace goes so much farther. The President has done this with many other nations. He has bridged a gap to other countries that once did not want to be bridged with us. He has formed alliances that never could have been formed.
{We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths-that all of us are created equal-is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth.}
Let me go through each one of these just in case no one knows the meaning behind them. I guess you might say it will be a refresher course for those that do know and a learning experience for those who don't.
I must confess I did not know what Seneca Falls was about until my wife Kathy told me. Then I looked it up to find out more. Seneca Falls was an early and influential women's-right convention, the first to be organized by women in the Western world in Seneca Falls, NY on July 19-20, 1848. It was made up of a radical Quaker group of women and a non-Quaker women.
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seneca_Falls_Convention
Selma to Montgomery marches. When white resistance to black voters proved intractable, the DCVL requested the assistance of Martin Luther King, Jr and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference who brought many prominent civil rights and civic leaders to support voting rights. The first march took place on March 7, 1965 (BLOODY SUNDAY) when 600 civil rights marchers protesting against the death of Jimmie Lee Jackson and denial of voting rights were attacked by state and local police with billy clubs and tear gas. The second march, the following Tuesday, resulted in 2,500 protesters turning around after crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The third march started March 16. The marchers averaged 10 miles a day along route 80 known in Alabama as the Jefferson Davis Highway. Protected by 2,000 soldiers of the US Army, 1,900 members of the Alabama Natl Guard under Federal command, and many FBI agents and Fed marshals, they arrived in Montgomery on March 24 and at the Alabama State Capitol on March 25. The route is memoralized as the Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights Trail, a US National Historic Trail. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selma_to_Montgomery_marches
The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations by members of the gay community against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. They are widely considered to constitute the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for gay and lesbian rights in the United States. http://en.wikipedia.org/Stonewall_riots
This to me was the most meaningful part of the President's speech for me. Mostly because it showed me that he really does care about We The People as a whole no matter what our backgrounds and/or our individual selves are made up of. We are all a part of humanity no matter if we are women, African American and/or Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender (LGBT) people. It made my heart feel good when he mentioned all these different fights that we have made just to gain some rights because that is what we deserve as part of this country. My opinion is that it is Past Time for this to become a reality and he is making a really good start of it. He is the only President that has ever mentioned the LGBT community in an inaugural address and I feel Proud and honored.
{It is now our generation's task to carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law-for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well. Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote. Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as land of opportunity; until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country. Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm.}
Now the President covered many things in this portion of his speech. Some of which I feel sure the Republicans feel was an attack on their beliefs. The very first thing the President did when he took office was to sign the Lilly Ledbetter Act EQUAL PAY FOR WOMEN on January 29,2009. Times have changed it is no longer a man's world in the work place. We have single mothers now with mouths to feed. We have career women who have gone to college to work in executive positions. This is no longer the world of "Mad Men". We the LGBT community should be able to freely and openly love the ones that we love and we should have the right to marry them and be protected under the law. Immigrants that come to this country should be able to stay in this country if they work hard and want to become citizens. They should not be separated from their children if they were born here that is just plain WRONG in my opinion and YES we should have stronger gun laws to protect our children and our adults. We should have an assault weapons ban just like we did in the 1990's when gun violence was lower than it is now. All these issues are important if we want to move on and honor our fore fathers in this century.
{For now decisions are upon us, and we cannot afford delay. We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate. We must act, knowing that our work will be imperfect. We must act, knowing that today's victories will be only partial, and that it will be up to those who stand here in four years, and forty years, and four hundred years hence to advance the timeless spirit once conferred to us in a spare Philadelphia hall.}
This for me was the President having what I call a "come to Jesus meeting" meaning the time is now to get to work and stop delaying progress you Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats! Also that there are so many things to get done that it is not possible to do it all in four years especially since he has gotten no cooperation from these two entities and it is just shameful to me and to other American's I am sure.
{My fellow Americans, the oath I have sworn before you today, like the one recited by others who serve this Capitol, was an oath to God and country, not party or faction-and we must faithfully execute the pledge during the duration of our service.}
I love this portion because it does say it all to me. This is about serving this country and it's people not serving the rich and powerful. I am sure that the Republicans felt that this was another attack by the President because it seems that during this election cycle the billionaires had all the money and power trying to buy their guy. This is just an observation by me and these are what I feel that this election was all about. But the good news is that they didn't get away with it because the American people spoke when they re-elected President Barack Hussein Obama for a second term.
*http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/01/21/transcript-president-obama-2013-inaugural-address/
These are my thoughts and feelings from Jillsville.
{"We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."
Today we continue a never-ending journey, to bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our time. For history tells us that while these truths may be self-evident, they have never been self-executing; that while freedom is a gift from God, it must be secured by His people here on Earth. The patriots of 1776 did not fight to replace the tyranny of a King with the privileges of a few or the rule of a mob. They gave to us a Republic, a government of, and by, and for the people, entrusting each generation to keep safe our founding creed.}
I am really glad that the President put a portion of the Declaration of Independence in his speech. I feel that we have somehow gotten away from this declaration. We as a people MUST have equality but it is up to us to get it. We must protect our government from the rule of a few because at the end of the day we are the people.
{Together, we determined that a modern economy requires railroads and highways to speed travel and commerce; schools and colleges to train our workers. Together, we discovered that a free market only thrives when there are rules to ensure competition and fair play. Together, we resolved that a great nation must care for the vulnerable, and protect its people from life's worst hazards and misfortune.}
This to me says alot about where our country should be heading in this century. When the President had a majority in the house and senate this was happening. We were building our infrastructure. When massive storms arise it is up to our country to give relief money no matter if it is a Blue or Red state. The President made a speech at the DNC years ago where he said "This is not a blue state or a red state this is the United States." That holds true today. Also medicare, medicaid and social security must be maintain. We pay into social security it is not an entitlement it is something that we have paid into for all the years that we work.
{We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failing to do so would betray our children and future generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms. The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But Americans cannot resist this transition; we must lead it.}
This is probably the part where the Republicans feel that the President was attacking them. Most if not all the Republicans do not believe in climate change because they don't believe in science. This is a TRUE statement. What other reason could we be having these wacky weather changes and horrible storms that seem to be getting worse.? Sustainable energy sources would be such a fantastic accomplishment for the United States. We could cut down of foreign oils and maintain our homes with solar energy so many possibilities could be had. Many other countries are figuring this out and some are implementing it. The United States should be the leader but instead because of the majority of Republicans in Congress we are not. They are holding us back.
{We will show the courage to try and resolve our differences with other nations peacefully-not because we are naive about the dangers we face but because engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear.}
This is so true for me as well. We don't have to have the good ole boy mentality that George Bush did in his Presidency. We should not be known as the bully nation but the peaceful nation. Peace goes so much farther. The President has done this with many other nations. He has bridged a gap to other countries that once did not want to be bridged with us. He has formed alliances that never could have been formed.
{We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths-that all of us are created equal-is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth.}
Let me go through each one of these just in case no one knows the meaning behind them. I guess you might say it will be a refresher course for those that do know and a learning experience for those who don't.
I must confess I did not know what Seneca Falls was about until my wife Kathy told me. Then I looked it up to find out more. Seneca Falls was an early and influential women's-right convention, the first to be organized by women in the Western world in Seneca Falls, NY on July 19-20, 1848. It was made up of a radical Quaker group of women and a non-Quaker women.
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seneca_Falls_Convention
Selma to Montgomery marches. When white resistance to black voters proved intractable, the DCVL requested the assistance of Martin Luther King, Jr and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference who brought many prominent civil rights and civic leaders to support voting rights. The first march took place on March 7, 1965 (BLOODY SUNDAY) when 600 civil rights marchers protesting against the death of Jimmie Lee Jackson and denial of voting rights were attacked by state and local police with billy clubs and tear gas. The second march, the following Tuesday, resulted in 2,500 protesters turning around after crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The third march started March 16. The marchers averaged 10 miles a day along route 80 known in Alabama as the Jefferson Davis Highway. Protected by 2,000 soldiers of the US Army, 1,900 members of the Alabama Natl Guard under Federal command, and many FBI agents and Fed marshals, they arrived in Montgomery on March 24 and at the Alabama State Capitol on March 25. The route is memoralized as the Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights Trail, a US National Historic Trail. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selma_to_Montgomery_marches
The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations by members of the gay community against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. They are widely considered to constitute the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for gay and lesbian rights in the United States. http://en.wikipedia.org/Stonewall_riots
This to me was the most meaningful part of the President's speech for me. Mostly because it showed me that he really does care about We The People as a whole no matter what our backgrounds and/or our individual selves are made up of. We are all a part of humanity no matter if we are women, African American and/or Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender (LGBT) people. It made my heart feel good when he mentioned all these different fights that we have made just to gain some rights because that is what we deserve as part of this country. My opinion is that it is Past Time for this to become a reality and he is making a really good start of it. He is the only President that has ever mentioned the LGBT community in an inaugural address and I feel Proud and honored.
{It is now our generation's task to carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law-for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well. Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote. Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as land of opportunity; until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country. Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm.}
Now the President covered many things in this portion of his speech. Some of which I feel sure the Republicans feel was an attack on their beliefs. The very first thing the President did when he took office was to sign the Lilly Ledbetter Act EQUAL PAY FOR WOMEN on January 29,2009. Times have changed it is no longer a man's world in the work place. We have single mothers now with mouths to feed. We have career women who have gone to college to work in executive positions. This is no longer the world of "Mad Men". We the LGBT community should be able to freely and openly love the ones that we love and we should have the right to marry them and be protected under the law. Immigrants that come to this country should be able to stay in this country if they work hard and want to become citizens. They should not be separated from their children if they were born here that is just plain WRONG in my opinion and YES we should have stronger gun laws to protect our children and our adults. We should have an assault weapons ban just like we did in the 1990's when gun violence was lower than it is now. All these issues are important if we want to move on and honor our fore fathers in this century.
{For now decisions are upon us, and we cannot afford delay. We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate. We must act, knowing that our work will be imperfect. We must act, knowing that today's victories will be only partial, and that it will be up to those who stand here in four years, and forty years, and four hundred years hence to advance the timeless spirit once conferred to us in a spare Philadelphia hall.}
This for me was the President having what I call a "come to Jesus meeting" meaning the time is now to get to work and stop delaying progress you Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats! Also that there are so many things to get done that it is not possible to do it all in four years especially since he has gotten no cooperation from these two entities and it is just shameful to me and to other American's I am sure.
{My fellow Americans, the oath I have sworn before you today, like the one recited by others who serve this Capitol, was an oath to God and country, not party or faction-and we must faithfully execute the pledge during the duration of our service.}
I love this portion because it does say it all to me. This is about serving this country and it's people not serving the rich and powerful. I am sure that the Republicans felt that this was another attack by the President because it seems that during this election cycle the billionaires had all the money and power trying to buy their guy. This is just an observation by me and these are what I feel that this election was all about. But the good news is that they didn't get away with it because the American people spoke when they re-elected President Barack Hussein Obama for a second term.
*http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/01/21/transcript-president-obama-2013-inaugural-address/
These are my thoughts and feelings from Jillsville.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
LIFE GOES ON
I have experienced many deaths in my time both human and animal. I have found that one thing remains constant that is life does go on. It may not be the way you want it to without the person or animal that you lost but it does go on for good or bad. Sometimes it ain't easy. You mourn the loss but all the while the earth still rotates and people still live their lives even you.
Kathy and I had to make that heart wrenching decision a week ago Saturday to take our old girl Torrie to the vet and have her put to sleep in a loving humane way. She was our 14 year old doggie dementia girl. We took her in on Friday to see about getting her some prozac to calm her down and the vet said that she had a stench about her that signaled her kidneys were failing. We already knew that she had cancer from a previous visit and having him say that her kidneys were failing well it gave me something to process. Because that is what I do is process.
We took our old girl home with us and for the rest of the night I processed what the vet said. I even dreamed about it. When I awoke the next morning I had a calm about me and I turned over to face Kathy in bed and said to her "It is time." Of course she was asleep and didn't hear me so when she awoke we talked about it. It seems that we both had been thinking about the same thing.
Before we took our Torrie into the vet that morning Kathy drove to Michael's and bought a keepsake mold set and we made a mold of Torrie's paw print. We both cried as we did this loving deed. We also took pictures and shared them on our facebook because we wanted our friends and family to know what was going on. All of us are critter lovers and all our friends and family knew and loved Torrie girl as much as we did. She was the most gentle dog that I have ever had. Even moreso than my Lucky Lu.
The trip to the vet that morning was not easy for us. Just as it wasn't easy for us when we took our other old girl Lucky Lu a year ago in November for the same reason. It never gets easy. The vet has a cremation place that comes and picks up your critter and does the deed and then you go back three days later and pick up the ashes. With Lucky Lu we had someone else do the cremation because we didn't know that the vet did that if we had known we would have had them do it with Lucky Lu also. Anyway when I called the vet a few days later they said Yes we have her ashes so I went and picked them up. Let me tell you it is a beautiful thing. The urn was a wood box with a velour burgundy bag covering it that read "Until We Met Again At Rainbow Bridge" it was done in a yellow stitch.
Now both our girls are home with us where they belong. Also they're both at Rainbow Bridge running, jumping and playing together as they did when they were younger. I can just see them in my mind now. It is a comforting thought for us both. They were/are good playmates and they both were good together and they both were good to us and we were good to them. Our vet said to us when we took Torrie in on that Friday Our pets are good to us and for us, it is up to us to be good to them when the time comes. He is/was so right and that is what helped me to make that hard decision and it also gave me the peace of mind that I needed.
There is an irony to this whole situation of ours and that is before Lucky Lu got sick Buddy came into our lives. It was December 25th two years ago when the Budster wondered on our front porch and we took him in. Then a year later in November Lucky Lu got sick and we took her to the vet and once again made the heart wrenching decision to have her humanely put to sleep. This year our neighbor came to us and asked if we could take her 6 week old puppy this was the beginning of December. We said yes and that is when Nanalu blessed our lives. A month after that we made the heart wrenching decision to have Torrie humanely put to sleep. It seems that mother nature works in mysterious ways.
Now our little family is blessed to have two dogs, two cats, two birds and two humans all of which love each other and there is NEVER a dull moment in our home. Blessed Be.
These are my thoughts and feelings from Jillsville.
Here are Buddy and NanaLu
Here are the cremation urns for Lucky Lu and Torrie Tu.
Lucky Lu and Torrie Tu in life.
Kathy and I had to make that heart wrenching decision a week ago Saturday to take our old girl Torrie to the vet and have her put to sleep in a loving humane way. She was our 14 year old doggie dementia girl. We took her in on Friday to see about getting her some prozac to calm her down and the vet said that she had a stench about her that signaled her kidneys were failing. We already knew that she had cancer from a previous visit and having him say that her kidneys were failing well it gave me something to process. Because that is what I do is process.
We took our old girl home with us and for the rest of the night I processed what the vet said. I even dreamed about it. When I awoke the next morning I had a calm about me and I turned over to face Kathy in bed and said to her "It is time." Of course she was asleep and didn't hear me so when she awoke we talked about it. It seems that we both had been thinking about the same thing.
Before we took our Torrie into the vet that morning Kathy drove to Michael's and bought a keepsake mold set and we made a mold of Torrie's paw print. We both cried as we did this loving deed. We also took pictures and shared them on our facebook because we wanted our friends and family to know what was going on. All of us are critter lovers and all our friends and family knew and loved Torrie girl as much as we did. She was the most gentle dog that I have ever had. Even moreso than my Lucky Lu.
The trip to the vet that morning was not easy for us. Just as it wasn't easy for us when we took our other old girl Lucky Lu a year ago in November for the same reason. It never gets easy. The vet has a cremation place that comes and picks up your critter and does the deed and then you go back three days later and pick up the ashes. With Lucky Lu we had someone else do the cremation because we didn't know that the vet did that if we had known we would have had them do it with Lucky Lu also. Anyway when I called the vet a few days later they said Yes we have her ashes so I went and picked them up. Let me tell you it is a beautiful thing. The urn was a wood box with a velour burgundy bag covering it that read "Until We Met Again At Rainbow Bridge" it was done in a yellow stitch.
Now both our girls are home with us where they belong. Also they're both at Rainbow Bridge running, jumping and playing together as they did when they were younger. I can just see them in my mind now. It is a comforting thought for us both. They were/are good playmates and they both were good together and they both were good to us and we were good to them. Our vet said to us when we took Torrie in on that Friday Our pets are good to us and for us, it is up to us to be good to them when the time comes. He is/was so right and that is what helped me to make that hard decision and it also gave me the peace of mind that I needed.
There is an irony to this whole situation of ours and that is before Lucky Lu got sick Buddy came into our lives. It was December 25th two years ago when the Budster wondered on our front porch and we took him in. Then a year later in November Lucky Lu got sick and we took her to the vet and once again made the heart wrenching decision to have her humanely put to sleep. This year our neighbor came to us and asked if we could take her 6 week old puppy this was the beginning of December. We said yes and that is when Nanalu blessed our lives. A month after that we made the heart wrenching decision to have Torrie humanely put to sleep. It seems that mother nature works in mysterious ways.
Now our little family is blessed to have two dogs, two cats, two birds and two humans all of which love each other and there is NEVER a dull moment in our home. Blessed Be.
These are my thoughts and feelings from Jillsville.
Here are the cremation urns for Lucky Lu and Torrie Tu.
Friday, January 11, 2013
FAMILY VALUES AND MARRIAGE
What are family values? To me family values are love and commitment to your family no matter if your family is same gender or opposite gender. Also there are many more single family units now and interracial families. The family unit has changed and continues to change from the 1950's and 1960's. The family value definition should no longer be looped in with the bigoted religious social and political conservative right leaning groups definition. The world is changing and if the political parties don't change with it then they should be left behind. This is part of the reason that our country is divided and it will remain divided unless we grow with our people and with our diverse families.
It is all about ethics {system of moral principals} and moral truths {of or concerned with right conduct}. If someone does their job and pays their taxes and pays their bills and doesn't go against any man made laws to me that is a family value and being a good and decent person.Why is it that people of the extreme religious right always puts homosexuals in a category of indecent/immoral people? I am sure if you look hard enough you can find many other people in that category as well including some members of the religious conservative right. The time is NOW to STOP grouping people by their sexual orientation and begin to see everyone as human beings doing the best they can with what they have.
In his nomination acceptance speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, John Kerry said "We've heard a lot of talk about values. But values spoken without actions taken are just slogans. Values are not just words. They're what we live by. They're about the causes we champion and the people we fight for. And it is time for those who talk about family values to start valuing families. Let's build unity in the American family, not angry division. Let's honor this nation's diversity, let's respect one another and let's never misuse for political purposes the most precious document in American history, the Constitution of the United States."
*http://www.pbs.org/newshour/vote2004/demconvention/speech/kerry.html.
Here are the two major party's platforms for comparison where marriage is concerned:
The following is the Republican Platform. Preserving and Protecting Traditional Marriage: The institution of marriage is the foundation of civil society. Its success as an institution will determine our success as a nation. It has been proven by both experience and endless social science studies that traditional marriage is best for children. Children raised in intact married families are more likely to attend college, are physically and emotionally healthier, are less likely to use drugs or alcohol, engage in crime, or get pregnant outside of marriage. The success of marriage directly impacts the economic well-being of individuals. Furthermore the future of marriage affects freedom. The lack of family formation not only leads to more government costs, but also to more government control over the lives of its citizens in all aspects. We recognize and honor the courageous efforts of those who bear the many burdens of parenting alone even as we believe that the union of one man and one woman must be upheld as the national standard, a goal to stand for, encourage, and promote through laws governing marriage. We embrace the principle that all Americans should be treated with respect and dignity.
*http://www.gop.com/2012-republican-platform_Renewing/
The following is the Democratic Platform. Freedom to Marry. We support the right of all families to have equal respect, responsibilities, and protections under the law. We support marriage equality and support the movement to secure equal treatment under law for same-sex couples. We also support the freedom of churches and religious entities to decide how to administer marriage as a religious sacrament without government interference. We oppose discrimination federal and state constitutional amendments and other attempts to deny equal protection of the laws to committed same-sex couples who seek the same respect and responsibilities as other married couples. We support full repeal of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act.
*http://www.democrats.org/democratic-national-platform.
This is the fundamental differences in the majority of the religious conservative right and the Democratic party. We MUST work with our diversity instead of trying to destroy our diversity. Live and Let Live. Our diversity can and will make us stronger as a country and nation. Kathy and I got married in Nova Scotia Canada and it was a beautiful setting and a beautiful ceremony and we met some good friends while we were there. Why can't it be legal here in the states just as it is for heterosexual couples who got married in Canada? This is just one example of family values and marriage that simple aren't equal for all.
These are my thoughts and feelings from Jillsville.
It is all about ethics {system of moral principals} and moral truths {of or concerned with right conduct}. If someone does their job and pays their taxes and pays their bills and doesn't go against any man made laws to me that is a family value and being a good and decent person.Why is it that people of the extreme religious right always puts homosexuals in a category of indecent/immoral people? I am sure if you look hard enough you can find many other people in that category as well including some members of the religious conservative right. The time is NOW to STOP grouping people by their sexual orientation and begin to see everyone as human beings doing the best they can with what they have.
In his nomination acceptance speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, John Kerry said "We've heard a lot of talk about values. But values spoken without actions taken are just slogans. Values are not just words. They're what we live by. They're about the causes we champion and the people we fight for. And it is time for those who talk about family values to start valuing families. Let's build unity in the American family, not angry division. Let's honor this nation's diversity, let's respect one another and let's never misuse for political purposes the most precious document in American history, the Constitution of the United States."
*http://www.pbs.org/newshour/vote2004/demconvention/speech/kerry.html.
Here are the two major party's platforms for comparison where marriage is concerned:
The following is the Republican Platform. Preserving and Protecting Traditional Marriage: The institution of marriage is the foundation of civil society. Its success as an institution will determine our success as a nation. It has been proven by both experience and endless social science studies that traditional marriage is best for children. Children raised in intact married families are more likely to attend college, are physically and emotionally healthier, are less likely to use drugs or alcohol, engage in crime, or get pregnant outside of marriage. The success of marriage directly impacts the economic well-being of individuals. Furthermore the future of marriage affects freedom. The lack of family formation not only leads to more government costs, but also to more government control over the lives of its citizens in all aspects. We recognize and honor the courageous efforts of those who bear the many burdens of parenting alone even as we believe that the union of one man and one woman must be upheld as the national standard, a goal to stand for, encourage, and promote through laws governing marriage. We embrace the principle that all Americans should be treated with respect and dignity.
*http://www.gop.com/2012-republican-platform_Renewing/
The following is the Democratic Platform. Freedom to Marry. We support the right of all families to have equal respect, responsibilities, and protections under the law. We support marriage equality and support the movement to secure equal treatment under law for same-sex couples. We also support the freedom of churches and religious entities to decide how to administer marriage as a religious sacrament without government interference. We oppose discrimination federal and state constitutional amendments and other attempts to deny equal protection of the laws to committed same-sex couples who seek the same respect and responsibilities as other married couples. We support full repeal of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act.
*http://www.democrats.org/democratic-national-platform.
This is the fundamental differences in the majority of the religious conservative right and the Democratic party. We MUST work with our diversity instead of trying to destroy our diversity. Live and Let Live. Our diversity can and will make us stronger as a country and nation. Kathy and I got married in Nova Scotia Canada and it was a beautiful setting and a beautiful ceremony and we met some good friends while we were there. Why can't it be legal here in the states just as it is for heterosexual couples who got married in Canada? This is just one example of family values and marriage that simple aren't equal for all.
These are my thoughts and feelings from Jillsville.
 |
| In this photo Kathy and I are showing our Marriage License in Nova Scotia |
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
GOALS AND INTENTIONS FOR 2013
Every year since Kathy and I have been together the two of us have written up our goals and intentions for the coming year. Then we bring out the one from last year on new years day and see what we have and/or haven't done from our list. This time I am going to write mine up in my blog and share them with you. The most important thing to me is my sobriety and I have always put that before anything else even my wife, friends and family. So that will be the constant as it is on all my Goals and Intentions for the New Year. Because without that I have nothing!
With the passing of 2012 and the turmoil that I experienced within some of the past year I have decided to try my best to do and look at some things differently than I have in the past. This doesn't come easily for me but I am going to try.
My first goal and intention: I am going to look at things in my personal life with more care and caution than I did last year. For instance the estrangement of my mother. This year marks the third year of no contact with her. My heart and my head have been moving in separate directions for the past two years. Now with the new year I am going to bring my heart and head together as one. Meaning from now on I am going to stop thinking of my mother as my mom and think of her as a woman. I find by doing this I can avoid the pain, confusion and frustration of the situation. It also allows me to see her in a more compassionate and understanding way. Which also helps with the healing.
My second goal and intention: I am going to stop thinking of my biological father as my Dad. He was never there for me the way a Dad should be. In fact, I have stopped referring to him as my Dad and I call him Al because that was his name. As most of you know he died last September and it caused me a great deal of pain because I felt that I was cheated out of a relationship with him when in reality he didn't want a relationship with me. He never once sent me a birthday, Christmas, or Valentine card even though I sent him these cards including a Father's Day card. Not all the time mind you but occasionally I would go through times that I felt like it was a good idea because the heart and head thing always got in the way of my reasoning. So now I have come to the realization that it is time for me to move on and stop trying to make a relationship out of one that was not and never would have been. It was all wishful thinking on my part and not realistic.
My third goal and intention: I am going to work on is to be more attentive to people that I love and to surround myself with those that love me and truly care about my feelings as I care about theirs. I have wasted way to much time on those that don't really care about me. For instance some facebook friends that I went to high school with that are of way different minds than I am politically speaking and socially speaking. Also family members that I have already distanced myself from. Because I am no longer going to waste time trying to figure out why they feel the way they do when they're not trying to figure out the way I feel. It just doesn't work for me anymore. Life is way to short to be worried about why some don't feel as I do about issues that are important to me. It just ain't worth the aggravation to me and it is not healthy for me to keep myself in that state of mind. I shouldn't have to keep explaining myself to people and trying to get them to think as I do about stuff. Live and Let Live and letting go is going to be my motto.
The fourth and most decisive goal and intention: is about money. Since Kathy retired and I am part time at work we have a very limited budget at this time. So it is important that I remember that I can't willy nilly be spending money as I have done in the past when both of us were working full time. My trips to Home Depot are limited now and I must be okay with that. My biggest project last year was our double deck addition. That cost more than I figured on and it will probably be the only big project for a while or atleast until we get a bit more steady on our budget. It seems that this household has been going to the grocery store way to much over the past year. We found that out when Kathy did her budgeting last year. Of course it could be that I have been on Prednisone for a while now. It always causes me eat more and more. Hence the moon face and the bigger love handles. *Smile* Kathy is going to work on a new budget this year and it is essential that I/We follow it to the letter or dollar sign I should say. We have never been that couple that argues over money and I can't see that happening. It will just take both of us working together and that means me moreso than Kathy.
The fifth and most important goal and intention: is that I must remember to show my gratitude to my higher power for all that I have that includes my wife, my critters, my health, my friends, my family, my job, the roof over my head and my life! This is the life that I chose to live and I must live it to the fullest extend with Gratitude, Love, Kindness and Gentleness. Blessed Be.
The sixth goal and intention: stop the gossiping at work and other places. This is something that I work on all the time but I seem to slip back into this cycle of talking about others when they're not around. It truly is not a healthy thing to do. It is taught and talked about in AA that you should not do this. It is old behavior and that is something that you should be striving to change when you become sober. This is the biggest injustice that one individual can give to another and I no longer want to be a part of that. So from now on I will just walk away from it. I think by doing this I will be a much happier person and not have that hanging over me. Because I always tend to have such remorse after I do it.
These are my thoughts and feelings from Jillsville.
I use to say this everyday before going into work with my hand on the outside door handle before opening it. This was suggested by my sponsor at the time Ann:
God Grant me the Serenity to Accept the things I Cannot Change, Courage to Change the things I Can and The Wisdom to Know the Difference.
I believe that I will go back to saying this every morning because it did seem to make my day go much better. What a great way to begin the New Year and continue it through the year.
Happy 2013 to all. Peace Out!
With the passing of 2012 and the turmoil that I experienced within some of the past year I have decided to try my best to do and look at some things differently than I have in the past. This doesn't come easily for me but I am going to try.
My first goal and intention: I am going to look at things in my personal life with more care and caution than I did last year. For instance the estrangement of my mother. This year marks the third year of no contact with her. My heart and my head have been moving in separate directions for the past two years. Now with the new year I am going to bring my heart and head together as one. Meaning from now on I am going to stop thinking of my mother as my mom and think of her as a woman. I find by doing this I can avoid the pain, confusion and frustration of the situation. It also allows me to see her in a more compassionate and understanding way. Which also helps with the healing.
My second goal and intention: I am going to stop thinking of my biological father as my Dad. He was never there for me the way a Dad should be. In fact, I have stopped referring to him as my Dad and I call him Al because that was his name. As most of you know he died last September and it caused me a great deal of pain because I felt that I was cheated out of a relationship with him when in reality he didn't want a relationship with me. He never once sent me a birthday, Christmas, or Valentine card even though I sent him these cards including a Father's Day card. Not all the time mind you but occasionally I would go through times that I felt like it was a good idea because the heart and head thing always got in the way of my reasoning. So now I have come to the realization that it is time for me to move on and stop trying to make a relationship out of one that was not and never would have been. It was all wishful thinking on my part and not realistic.
My third goal and intention: I am going to work on is to be more attentive to people that I love and to surround myself with those that love me and truly care about my feelings as I care about theirs. I have wasted way to much time on those that don't really care about me. For instance some facebook friends that I went to high school with that are of way different minds than I am politically speaking and socially speaking. Also family members that I have already distanced myself from. Because I am no longer going to waste time trying to figure out why they feel the way they do when they're not trying to figure out the way I feel. It just doesn't work for me anymore. Life is way to short to be worried about why some don't feel as I do about issues that are important to me. It just ain't worth the aggravation to me and it is not healthy for me to keep myself in that state of mind. I shouldn't have to keep explaining myself to people and trying to get them to think as I do about stuff. Live and Let Live and letting go is going to be my motto.
The fourth and most decisive goal and intention: is about money. Since Kathy retired and I am part time at work we have a very limited budget at this time. So it is important that I remember that I can't willy nilly be spending money as I have done in the past when both of us were working full time. My trips to Home Depot are limited now and I must be okay with that. My biggest project last year was our double deck addition. That cost more than I figured on and it will probably be the only big project for a while or atleast until we get a bit more steady on our budget. It seems that this household has been going to the grocery store way to much over the past year. We found that out when Kathy did her budgeting last year. Of course it could be that I have been on Prednisone for a while now. It always causes me eat more and more. Hence the moon face and the bigger love handles. *Smile* Kathy is going to work on a new budget this year and it is essential that I/We follow it to the letter or dollar sign I should say. We have never been that couple that argues over money and I can't see that happening. It will just take both of us working together and that means me moreso than Kathy.
The fifth and most important goal and intention: is that I must remember to show my gratitude to my higher power for all that I have that includes my wife, my critters, my health, my friends, my family, my job, the roof over my head and my life! This is the life that I chose to live and I must live it to the fullest extend with Gratitude, Love, Kindness and Gentleness. Blessed Be.
The sixth goal and intention: stop the gossiping at work and other places. This is something that I work on all the time but I seem to slip back into this cycle of talking about others when they're not around. It truly is not a healthy thing to do. It is taught and talked about in AA that you should not do this. It is old behavior and that is something that you should be striving to change when you become sober. This is the biggest injustice that one individual can give to another and I no longer want to be a part of that. So from now on I will just walk away from it. I think by doing this I will be a much happier person and not have that hanging over me. Because I always tend to have such remorse after I do it.
These are my thoughts and feelings from Jillsville.
I use to say this everyday before going into work with my hand on the outside door handle before opening it. This was suggested by my sponsor at the time Ann:
God Grant me the Serenity to Accept the things I Cannot Change, Courage to Change the things I Can and The Wisdom to Know the Difference.
I believe that I will go back to saying this every morning because it did seem to make my day go much better. What a great way to begin the New Year and continue it through the year.
Happy 2013 to all. Peace Out!
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