Man, I can’t seem to crawl out of the rut I’m in!! I want to write, but nothing will settle long enough to be put down!! It will soon be the Fourth Of July and I see nothing to celebrate. The paper says they are recalling people to be sent back overseas. I’m still reading of people being killed over there. Please tell me something good!
Momma's Corner
The Golden Years Suck!
The sun is shining. And you are still alive.
Oh, and I love gettting your e-mails.
Yes drc that is a very good thing
I guess I have to grab a hold and start pulling myself out. Sometimes we feel so helpless about things we can rant about but it makes no difference to the people that can do something to change it!! Thank you for the ray of sunshine in this very dark time!!
my word is youre
Momma,
How about this… I stumbled across your son’s blog over a year ago and I still check it every day. Like him, I have ADD, and like him I have an interest in many different things. I used to be in the computer field as well, but lost my job and I’m now a stay at home dad and part time student about to enter the Nursing Program. I have a 4.0 GPA, and I barely got out of high school twenty years ago. So, if I can put my mind to finding a way to be an A student despite a learning disability, a full time dad despite financial difficulty, then you can surely do something as easy as SMILE
OK? I hope you find something to smile about soon. Be well.
Eric
Get Out! Do Good!
When I get in a funk I sign up for some volunteer project. It make me embrace the optimistic belief that I can make the world a little better place by my own actions.
By what you write here and on SEB it is obvious to me that you are a giving person. And you have raised up children to be smart, funny, caring adults. That’s a big accomplishment AND a contribution to the community.
Personally, I don’t have any problem celebrating the 4th. After all is said and done, no matter what the politicians in Washington D.C. are doing to screw up our lives at any particular time, THEY are not our country. You, me, Cindy, Les, the people that support SEB, my friends and children of friends that are serving in Iraq, my dad and his brothers that served in WWII, Lewis and Clark that explored the Purchase, my ancesters that settled Ohio in 1780 or the ones that WALKED arcoss this country from Ohio to California, WE are this country and WE are definitely worth celebrating.
So when I eat my hotdogs, slice my watermellon, watch the fireworks, it will be US I’m celebrating.
Enjoy! Embrace!
Gwen
This bit of wisdom is all I have-
A grasshopper walks into a bar, and the bartender says “Hey! Your a grasshopper! We have a drink named after you.”
And the grasshopper says “Really? You have a drink named Kevin?”
(and I swear to you- if I don’t hear you smiling over that, I WILL be back- with more. DON’T MAKE ME DO IT! Hope your 4th is better then you think!)
Awwww, Momma, hang in there, okay? One foot in front of the other, one day at a time. Your son loves you very much, so you must have done EVERYTHING right.
Like **** through a goose, this too shall pass.
(captcha = “randi” Wow. His Spirit must be upon me.)
Well, I was going to come over here and say something nice, but then I re-read your evil son’s post. How can anyone top that? He’s such a bastard, isn’t he?
Have a happier day today than yesterday. ok?
Hi Momma!
For the writer’s block, I recommend a good brain dump. Even if each thought is nothing more than a fragment of a sentence, just let your fingers fly and spew it all out. You might be surprised, and the rest of us will certainly be entertained, by the direction some of those seedling ideas will take on their own.
And I’ll bet there are a hundred smiles to be had right in your own backyard (or more likely, a closet or attic): drag out that box of photographs and spend a few hours just going through them, reminiscing… you’ll probably get a few good laughs from some of the fashions and hairdos of the past, and lots of smiles of pride from those snapshots of the milestones in your life and those of your friends and family. Taking a walk down memory lane reminds us of where we’ve been and how far we’ve come to get to where we are today.
To celebrate the Fourth in a meaningful way AND maybe get some of those things out of your head, why not write to Any Soldier? No doubt you’ll be giving someone a smile, and I’m sure you’ll get at least one of your own.
Oh yeah, and I love getting your emails too! I giggle my ass off every time I see your signature, “The Golden Years SUCK!” And since I get them at work, you have no idea how welcome those giggles are… especially on the days when I’m fantasizing about going postal with a SuperSoaker!
You rock, Momma!
(“change”)
I heard the staff of Morning Edition on NPR read the Declaration of Independence this morning. Had to stop the car and listen… something in my eye, don’t you know.
A good funk can be fun. There’s stuff cooking in the back of your head, and you’ll find yourself writing like mad all of a sudden when the button pops out. Smile when you’re darn good ‘n ready!
Sometimes, when I’m down, I like just having a walk. There’s that hill in Bern, the Gurten, it’s also a huge park, with a great view on the city, sparkling with life, on the river Aare flowing through it – in the summertime, it looks even better, hundreds of people are swimming in the river then. Altough they are not distinguishable because they’re so far away, you see small dots on the river.
Birds in the trees, the fresh air on your skin, the sun above. Sitting on a bench, letting time go by, slumbering away. Then waking up, seeing the leaves, the trees above, again, rays of light shining through them. Magical moments, just passing away, but each and every one just plain beautiful.
I never return unhappy from such a walk. Actually, I have a smile on my face right now. I hope you feel the same.
Hmmm…
One big bearhug, on its way.
Hugs do usually help. If that one did not work—well, repeat until well hugged!
-Robert
Yeah, I know how you feel!
My cat died the other week; my internet friend, Pandora lost her friend to leukemia; and Saddam’s being a knuckle-head again.
But…walking home tonight, I saw the full moon rising and looking like a dinner plate; a wheelchai-bound chihuahua is touring Japan; and the Hubble telescope has discovered 100 new planets.
I suppose we have to find our own beauty and meaning to life, the universe and everything.
Momma – I’m with you this weekend. In these times, it just feels hard to celebrate. It’s times like this when I turn to those older and wiser than me to show me where we’ve been before and what we can accomplish together. I have a long talk with my Great Aunt who was born in 1916 and she regails me with tales of Coolidge, Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower. Ancedotes about the great depression, the ‘world’ wars and going through the civil rights movement as a black women. Somehow the discussion always comes back to family events and get-togethers. Through it all, those were the most important times. Sitting barefoot on the hood of a neighbor’s car with six other kids. Watching the firefighters roll out their trucks in preperation. Being mystified as those rockets busrt into the air and somehow knowing that there was no better place on earth than your home town and no better friends than your family.
Solonor’s advice is great. Just start dumping. It’s your blog. Rant away and let your thoughts out. Hope you get to feeling better. Need you in top form to keep DOF in line.
My favorite Momma (well, beside my real mom) please do not ever believe that your input into reality is unimportant. You’ve got a lot of information and stories to tell the world, and we want to be entertained and enlightened.
If it’s any consolation, I was going through a funky period last year at this time. So much so that I wrote about it and posted it on a friends blog. If you sit down and try to tell us some of the things that are bothering you, it will help you to focus in general. You won’t be alone in your feelings and we’ll know better how to discuss these issues with you.
You do have a great smile. I hope you feel like using it today, and tomorrow, and from now on.
You do realize, don’t you, that I never use smileys and for you I used one. Now give me a smiling face back! (Uh, p-p-please)
I’ll include the post I made to the friend’s blog. If it’s too long or off topic, feel free to delete it. But it was interesting to me to see what I was thinking about then – the same things I’m thinking about now. Maybe you had (or have) some of the same feelings.
IN Dependance Day
Celebrating the Fourth of July this year just didnât feel right. While Iâm generally proud of my country, lately Iâve had little confidence in some of itâs more outspoken leaders. To put it more exactly, I am shamed and angered at their vitriolic statements and inconsiderate attempts to strip this country of its proudest accomplishments of the last two hundred-plus years. I have always based my morals on the importance of open-mindedness and consideration of contrary viewpoints; I learn better how to cooperate as I live and assume others do as well. I have lately seen examples of quite the opposite in too many lawmakers.
The constitutionally mandated separation of church and state is often ignored by our president, with only one example being his faith-based initiatives. His time and tax payer money consuming efforts to line up a Supreme Court applicant have included for possible nomination Alabama Attorney General William Pryor, who has successfully fought against federal protections of the disabled and elderly, against civil rights legislation enforcement, against the family medical leave act and against consumer and workers rights. Perhaps most tellingly, he has opposed the separation of church and state: At a public rally on behalf of a judge who was sued for praying and displaying the 10 commandments in court, Pryor announced âGod has chosen, through his son Jesus Christ, this time and this place for all ChristiansâŠto save our country and save our courts.â? Again, this man is the Attorney General of Alabama and he is only one of the extremely conservative or sadly under-qualified considerations Bush has come up with, despite the fact that no current judge has expressed intent to retire or has died. This says more about Bush than I wanted to know. How can I believe he has the good of the nation in mind when he backs such individuals for the highest court?
The recent ruling by the FCC to lessen restrictions controlling ownership of the nations newspapers, television and radio stations is a sad example of our right to know. If a few special interest individuals can control the major conduits of communication, how much trust can we place in the information we receive? Not surprisingly, the head of the FCC is Michael Powell, son of Colin Powell.
The Supreme recently voted 6-3 to reverse a ruling that allowed courts to punish people for what they do in the privacy of their on homes; It was a just and long-overdue decision. The ruling focused on two gay men who were arrested in Texas, but the Court was broad in itâs consideration. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority âThe state cannot demean their existence or control their destiny by making their private sexual conduct a crime.â? Justice Antonin Scalia, one of the opposing judges said the ruling could lead to legal gay marriages in the USA. Big âeffing deal! Since over 50 percent of current marriages end in divorce, how can anyone guess whoâs union might ultimately be worthy of legal justification.
With 9-11 fresh in our memories the current administration is actively working to implement the most invasive and restrictive laws this country has ever adopted or even considered. Agreed, terrorism has to be defeated, but whatâs the point of enacting laws that go as far, or further, to limit our basic rights?
While I stated earlier in a post here that I did not know for certain how to feel about an invasion of Iraq, I was in favor of stopping the murder of Iraqi citizens by their dictator. I still feel that was a justifiable reason for the US to go there, though perhaps minus the promised shock and awe. Since then I regret having been on the fence. It was about oil! Bush and certain others in his administration will personally profit greatly from our subsequent control of this source. We were lied to concerning proof of weapons of mass destruction. Over 70 percent of Americans polled now believe we have found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. We havenât, but with the news reporting every other night of new (possible) proof found, itâs easy to imagine that many could have lost track and moved from indecision to conviction. I blame the news agencies for rushing stories to broadcast, but I should blame myself if Iâve failed to gather all the facts before forming a belief. Finally, the conflict was so poorly planned that we may soon see ourselves in a post war situation far from our liking, further from world-wide approval, all alone in our belief that we are a benevolent and just power.
Though the author makes fewer contributions to this page anymore, I still find myself visiting. If he allows it and if someone reads this and understands, to some degree, what motivated me to post it, Iâll feel it was worth the time to speak up. Iâve never felt as helpless and worried as I do now. Believe it or not Iâm not one of those who enjoys pushing his views where they arenât welcome, yet Iâm at the point where Iâm considering backing the following movement. http://www.votetoimpeach.org
Please visit and consider what you feel or might do. It isnât an easy decision for anyone, but I have to say that far greater injustices are afoot than those which challenged democracy in our last presidentâs impeachment proceedings. I hesitate to consider this a Republican vs. Democratic struggle. I think you could say our all-embracing constitutional liberties are at stake. I couldnât even light a sparkler last night. Did you, and if so did you, at any point, stop and consider the reason why? Did you feel even the slightest bit like a hypocrite?
As I read these comments I felt a need to answer them and I have decided to put them in a post because a comment can’t describe the feelings that your comments have raised in me. So bear with me and know that each and every one of you have opened a door which will allow this woman to feel better, express deeper, and take time to evaluate my thoughts.
My word is hall and I have just pasted through one with your help