Gratitude turns what we have into enough.
-- Unknown
24 November 2016
21 November 2016
My Hope For You
Yes, I've been absent for a bit. And likely will be, except for a Happy Thanksgiving post. I'm busy on my other blog with writing a post for every day during November. So if you only read this blog and are just plain desperate to hear from me otherwise you should head over there. :-)
I'll be posting there later with details of our trip this past weekend to Baltimore, where we visited some of my nieces and their families, and they threw a party for The Tim, whose 60th birthday was on Friday.
And that made me want to write this here.
I love my family. They drive me crazy, are crazy as a matter of fact, and though we all may appear somewhat conventional, we are not. Sometimes, I'm not even sure we would all be friends if we were not related.
But they are great. Granted, I don't get to see my sister in California very often, or see her kids and grandkids, who live in California and Arizona. Nonetheless, I still get to keep up with them all on a regular basis and see pictures, etc.
This past weekend we had just the very best time in Baltimore. I took exactly one picture, because I was too busy otherwise laughing, singing, talking, eating, and drinking. And though it would be fun to have more photos, I have the memories which are making me just as happy right now.
I know for a lot of people, Thanksgiving and the following holiday season can be difficult, since not all families are like mine. And I also know that especially this year, with election results, so many people are dreading seeing other family at Thanksgiving.
So here is my hope for you: I hope that you will have a wonderful holiday season with your family. Whatever and whoever your family is. Whether or not they are related by blood. Whether you have known them since birth, or just in the last month.
Life is too short not to have a family to love. It's great when it is your own family and you all have your history with each other. But we are fortunate in that all of us can create our own families and even if outsiders are appalled, it's none of their business.
So enjoy. I know I'll be with my family - not my extended family, but my immediate family. Which consists of The Tim and four furballs. I wouldn't have it any other way.
I'll be posting there later with details of our trip this past weekend to Baltimore, where we visited some of my nieces and their families, and they threw a party for The Tim, whose 60th birthday was on Friday.
And that made me want to write this here.
I love my family. They drive me crazy, are crazy as a matter of fact, and though we all may appear somewhat conventional, we are not. Sometimes, I'm not even sure we would all be friends if we were not related.
But they are great. Granted, I don't get to see my sister in California very often, or see her kids and grandkids, who live in California and Arizona. Nonetheless, I still get to keep up with them all on a regular basis and see pictures, etc.
This past weekend we had just the very best time in Baltimore. I took exactly one picture, because I was too busy otherwise laughing, singing, talking, eating, and drinking. And though it would be fun to have more photos, I have the memories which are making me just as happy right now.
I know for a lot of people, Thanksgiving and the following holiday season can be difficult, since not all families are like mine. And I also know that especially this year, with election results, so many people are dreading seeing other family at Thanksgiving.
So here is my hope for you: I hope that you will have a wonderful holiday season with your family. Whatever and whoever your family is. Whether or not they are related by blood. Whether you have known them since birth, or just in the last month.
Life is too short not to have a family to love. It's great when it is your own family and you all have your history with each other. But we are fortunate in that all of us can create our own families and even if outsiders are appalled, it's none of their business.
So enjoy. I know I'll be with my family - not my extended family, but my immediate family. Which consists of The Tim and four furballs. I wouldn't have it any other way.
11 November 2016
09 November 2016
Please Don't Give Up
We need it now more than ever,
to help those who will need our help
more than any of us imagined.
01 November 2016
So I'm Just Puzzled ...
Happy November 1st! If you are reading this, we all made it through another month, with whatever good or bad was part of it. November is a busy month for me, as there are a lot of family birthdays, anniversaries, and - hooray! - Thanksgiving!! I always wish it would go more slowly, but then again, when good things are happening, time always seems to go quickly, right?
Anyway, a few things have been puzzling me recently, and I thought I'd share them with you, to see if you were puzzled as well ...
First of all, this. WTF????!!!!! Libraries as I know them have never been vanity projects (except for people who pay interior designers to buy tons of random books, so it *looks* like they read). And, I hate to break it to her, but a) everything is not online, b) a lot that is online requires payment to access, and, c) not everyone has access to a smartphone or a computer on a regular basis, if at all. Now granted, this is not a statement by someone I admire greatly in the first place, but it still both puzzles me and rankles me.
Not a single trick-or-treater showed up at our house last night. This puzzles me, because even though I know that a lot of parents don't want their kids out going to random peoples' houses, we have always had anywhere from some to a lot of kids knocking on the door in the past. There are a lot of kids in our neighborhood. The only kids I even heard around were next door to us, where the little girl always has a Halloween party before she and her friends go trick-or-treating. It was both disappointing and depressing. This was the first year that Dug wasn't around to dress up as a Halloween pirate, or a kitty, etc. with the cheapo headband "costumes" we would buy from the dollar bins at Target. But I thought, "Oh well, it will be fun to see what costumes the kids wear." Maybe it was the fact that it was a Monday night, or maybe every single kid in the neighborhood had gone to a party over the weekend. I have no idea.
Related to that, I wore the Halloween socks I knit for myself for the first time yesterday. They were so comfy, and it was fun to have a pair I'd made for myself. When I got ready for bed, and took them off, there was a HUGE HOLE on the sole of one of the socks! Too large to be repaired. I'd been wearing them in regular shoes all day, with smooth insoles, so I don't know what happened, but wow was I surprised and disappointed. I mean, I'd had to get rid of about three other pairs of store-bought Halloween socks because they were worn out, but they were all at least 3-4 years old. Grrr.
Our local bus and subway service, SEPTA, went out on strike last night. This creates headaches for so many people in the area, who rely on public transportation to get to work, school, etc. Fortunately for me, it has no immediate effect, since I walk every day back and forth to work, and to do most of the other things I need to do. (I live ~1.5 miles away from where I work.) But this morning, one of my co-workers called out because she "has no way to get to work." Now, I know she generally relies on the bus to get here. And I also know she doesn't own a car. BUT - she lives a lot closer than I do to work (about 6 blocks away)! I said (as casually) as i could, "You could always just walk." To which she responded, "Oh that would kill me, it's so far. And in this weather, I'd freeze!" (It is 48 degrees outside.) I find this amazing, and not in a good way. I hope for those who are truly in a bind that the strike ends soon. I hope my co-worker has to use some of her leave time, rather than it being an "excused absence." Because this kind of thing really irritates me.
Finally (aren't you glad?), I have to wonder why more places that sell lovely kinds of cups of coffee don't sell tea at all, or serve crappy tea at best. I don't mean it has to be top-of-the-line. I don't mind if it's a teabag. It would be nice if sliced lemon would be available (I've noticed Au Bon Pain always has it), but that isn't a deal breaker for me. Just some tea other than Lipton (sorry, not my fave, especially if a lemon slice can't somewhat save it!), even if there is not a variety otherwise. People who drink coffee are appalled at terrible coffee, but seem to think tea drinkers will be happy with anything. Tea drinkers, UNITE! ;-)
That about covers it for me - at least for today! What's been puzzling you lately?
Anyway, a few things have been puzzling me recently, and I thought I'd share them with you, to see if you were puzzled as well ...
First of all, this. WTF????!!!!! Libraries as I know them have never been vanity projects (except for people who pay interior designers to buy tons of random books, so it *looks* like they read). And, I hate to break it to her, but a) everything is not online, b) a lot that is online requires payment to access, and, c) not everyone has access to a smartphone or a computer on a regular basis, if at all. Now granted, this is not a statement by someone I admire greatly in the first place, but it still both puzzles me and rankles me.
Not a single trick-or-treater showed up at our house last night. This puzzles me, because even though I know that a lot of parents don't want their kids out going to random peoples' houses, we have always had anywhere from some to a lot of kids knocking on the door in the past. There are a lot of kids in our neighborhood. The only kids I even heard around were next door to us, where the little girl always has a Halloween party before she and her friends go trick-or-treating. It was both disappointing and depressing. This was the first year that Dug wasn't around to dress up as a Halloween pirate, or a kitty, etc. with the cheapo headband "costumes" we would buy from the dollar bins at Target. But I thought, "Oh well, it will be fun to see what costumes the kids wear." Maybe it was the fact that it was a Monday night, or maybe every single kid in the neighborhood had gone to a party over the weekend. I have no idea.
Related to that, I wore the Halloween socks I knit for myself for the first time yesterday. They were so comfy, and it was fun to have a pair I'd made for myself. When I got ready for bed, and took them off, there was a HUGE HOLE on the sole of one of the socks! Too large to be repaired. I'd been wearing them in regular shoes all day, with smooth insoles, so I don't know what happened, but wow was I surprised and disappointed. I mean, I'd had to get rid of about three other pairs of store-bought Halloween socks because they were worn out, but they were all at least 3-4 years old. Grrr.
Our local bus and subway service, SEPTA, went out on strike last night. This creates headaches for so many people in the area, who rely on public transportation to get to work, school, etc. Fortunately for me, it has no immediate effect, since I walk every day back and forth to work, and to do most of the other things I need to do. (I live ~1.5 miles away from where I work.) But this morning, one of my co-workers called out because she "has no way to get to work." Now, I know she generally relies on the bus to get here. And I also know she doesn't own a car. BUT - she lives a lot closer than I do to work (about 6 blocks away)! I said (as casually) as i could, "You could always just walk." To which she responded, "Oh that would kill me, it's so far. And in this weather, I'd freeze!" (It is 48 degrees outside.) I find this amazing, and not in a good way. I hope for those who are truly in a bind that the strike ends soon. I hope my co-worker has to use some of her leave time, rather than it being an "excused absence." Because this kind of thing really irritates me.
Finally (aren't you glad?), I have to wonder why more places that sell lovely kinds of cups of coffee don't sell tea at all, or serve crappy tea at best. I don't mean it has to be top-of-the-line. I don't mind if it's a teabag. It would be nice if sliced lemon would be available (I've noticed Au Bon Pain always has it), but that isn't a deal breaker for me. Just some tea other than Lipton (sorry, not my fave, especially if a lemon slice can't somewhat save it!), even if there is not a variety otherwise. People who drink coffee are appalled at terrible coffee, but seem to think tea drinkers will be happy with anything. Tea drinkers, UNITE! ;-)
That about covers it for me - at least for today! What's been puzzling you lately?
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