Go ahead, avert your eyes.

Yesterday while waiting at the vet's, I witnessed a truly embarrassing moment.  A seemingly pleasant enough man came into the office and asked to buy a box of heart worm medicine.  However, as the assistant was ringing him up and logging the meds into his dog's file, things turned ugly. 

Apparently from what I and everyone else could hear, he was angry that the vet's office would not transfer his dog's prescription to another vet.  Actually, what he was angry about was that they would not write it down for him to fill at an online store.  She explained they could not due to the animal rights laws and that the prescriptions he was wanting to buy, may not be legally up to date.   She tried to give him a reason behind the policy.

The assistant calmly (kudos to her) attempted to answer his unending questions of why they could not legally do what he asked.  Each answer only lead to more and louder questions. 

By the time we were, thankfully, taken to our room, the then crazed man was ranting on and on about being "extorted" by the vet's office.  Extortion?  There are times when the law is the law. No amount of berating an office worker is going to cause the law to miraculously change. 

So, today, I read in the paper how threats against our President have gone up four hundred percent.  Most coming from bigots who really just hate the fact that he is not white.  If that is the case, there is no amount of good that he can do that will change their incorrect thinking.  Just like that crazed man yesterday.  There was no answer for him.  He was yelling to be a jerk.  Did he really think that hourly paid employee could change anything for him?  NO.

Is hating a person based solely on their origin and skin color, sexual preference, yada yada, going to change anything for you? NO.

Is pretending you dislike that person really about something else other than their race, preference, yada yada, going to dress up the fact that you are simply consumed by hate.  NO. 

My little dog and I averted our eyes and tried to blend with the wall during the vet office rant.  I am now averting my eyes and feeling pretty freaking embarrassed by my fellow Americans.  

Four hundred percent?  

Is needlessly hating each other making anything in our life better?  NO.  

Let. It. Go.

What do you see?

An acquaintance came by my house today with his little girl.  She looked to be about first grade age. I was outside doing some chores when they drove up.  When his little girl got out of the car, she started waving her hands in front of her and asked me..."How did you get so lucky?"  

I paused in my chore, and asked her, "Lucky with what?"  

Still waving her arms about her like she was conjuring a storm, she said, "All that, back there!" 

I followed her gestures, and realized she was talking about my backyard.   Some people call me witty.  Some people call me cheeky.  It really depends on the moment.  I chuckled and replied,

"Well, I work!  Sometimes - I even work hard.  Most of all "that" came from hard work.  Sweat.  Frustration and a few broken dreams."  

She didn't really hear the broken dreams part, because her dad was already ushering her into the house, and rolling his eyes. 

I admit, I laid it on a bit thick.  A heavy handed tongue is sometimes my forte - depending on the moment.  As she went inside with her dad, to conduct whatever business they came over to attend to, I looked at my backyard with a fresh set of eyes.  

Instead of a fence in need of repair, I saw beyond into my "ranchetta" sized yard, where a little girl might want to play in the open space.  I imagined she would like to set up house in our studio, instead of thinking about how it needed repainting.  A thought, which then reminded me, I forgot to order a new pool cleaner.  I was still cringing at the thought of having to manually  scoop  dead worms out of the bottom of the pool, when she and her dad returned outside. 

Upon seeing me, she blew out a breath and exclaimed..."You even have a POOL!" 

Leaving my cheekiness to myself, I began putting my tools away, and just smiled as I said, "Yes, honey, we do." 

See, we never know how other people view our life.  Maybe our own view is so obscured, perhaps the first thing that needs to be cleared away is our attitude about our own world.  One day I will get to the painting, repairing and worm removal.  Today I will just be happy those chores are there waiting for me.  They are mine after all.  I am grateful.  As for the worms, I might just have to leave them.  Maybe.  

  

Jarring subjects!

This story was reported on Yahoo News today...

"Oklahoma woman frees skunk stuck in a jar of peanut butter"

So, who do you feel worse for?  The woman or the skunk?

Good Times

Each person has a good time month in their life, that is special and specific just to them.  My month sits smack dab in the middle of October and November.  I didn't say it had to be a proper, calendar month.  

Looking back over my life, most momentous, life altering occurrences typically fall into my world somewhere between mid October to mid November.  Unfortunately, life is life, and life altering includes sad things. 

For me, I have had quite a few thumbs up moments, becoming a mother, learning I was a medium, return of lost acquaintances, and many more special memories.  The big ones all seem to have happened during "my month."

To balance out the sweet, and the sweet will always be balanced, are those just as painful moments, too.  My brother crossed twenty six years ago in "my month."  I think that was a crappy moment that balanced out all the good I had experienced in one quick breath. 

I sit in my office today looking out at the rain.  I see those millions of raindrops coating my sacred space in a nice blanket of energy conducting water.  Water being an excellent conduit, is a first class ticket to my deepest wishes.  I see those raindrops bringing me happiness, health and positive abundance in every way!

 This is a powerful time for me, and the best thing to do when "your month" arrives, is to expect the best.  I always say, ask for the universe, at the very least you will get the moon and stars, and that can only be a good thing. 

We fell into a honey hole with the weeks of rainy weather we have been getting in the south.  Use the gift we have falling in buckets all around us today - make your wishes count.  See in your minds eye, each raindrop bringing you closer to your own happiness.  The choice is always up to you.  Dwell on the pain of life and you will get more pain.  Believe yourself defeated and you will not win.  

Scrape away the grime, and look beyond the obvious, to see that tiny silver lining and in doing so, you will get more silver.  

Don't ask the rain to go away.  Pray for more.  Let your buckets run over with good times.  

Lessons from the eighties crowd.

Yesterday while at a salon, I was able to enjoy a rare treat.  There was the most interesting woman sitting next to me, talking about her long life of eighty years.  She has been a working nurse up to the age of about seventy eight and needless to say, she had incredible stories.  

Her first job was at the age of twelve.  Apparently she was tall for her age and was able to get room and board from the hospital she worked at by saying she was seventeen.  She lived at the hospital and began her career in health care washing baby bottles for eight dollars a week! 

I was unclear why she needed a job, and a place to live at twelve, but that is not the point of my story, or hers.  Many times, she said, " Well, that is what we all did!"  "All" meaning, everyone she knew.  "All" worked all day, everyday.  They all started their living for pennies and were glad to have them.  They took care of each other and extending a caring, helping hand was expected, not impressive.  

This morning I read a story in the news about a stay at home mom who had agreed to allow a few of her friends kids to hang at her house an hour before school, so their parents could go ahead off to work.  So what.  How many times did you do that when you were little?  You went to your friends house because mom was not home.  Sometimes, your friend came to your house because their mom was not home.  So what.  That is life.  

Well, apparently all these obnoxious kids hanging around irked the stay at home mom's neighbor and she complained to the state.  Shortly there after the nice stay at home mom gets a nasty gram from the state threatening her to immediately shut down her day care.  

First of all, when did she start running a day care.  When in this world did watching your friends kids require a permit or license.  Remember the old days that interesting nurse was talking about when everyone expected courtesy and a helping hand?  Apparently, in 2009 we have evolved so much and are so better for it, we now fine people for giving helping hands.  

Let's all say a rousing "Good God Ah-mighty" together, shall we?  Then let's just get over ourselves and realize we need to help each other.  We all need to have common sense and common courtesy again.  

Phooey Pumpkins

I have four pots on my back patio bought especially for this amazing pumpkin project I decided to build this year for fall.  My project was going to be a canopy of tiny Baby Boo pumpkins growing out of those four pots at the four corners of my space.  

The vines would grow and stretch up posts and across my lattice to completely cover my patio in a bewitching mixture of green and orange.  I was going to throw in some little twinkle lights and shazam- a pumpkin arbor!  Well, little did I know, God had other plans for me and my pots.  I ended up getting ill with a stomach issue, which left me unable to tend to my pumpkin pots.  Although they were watered sufficiently, all but one or two of the vines suffered some ailment or another....

Needless to say, my pumpkin arbor will have to wait for next year.  Perhaps I will start earlier with my seeds.  Use more compost. Soak the seeds in germinator mix before setting them in soil.  Or, maybe I will just throw my leftover seeds out into the yard by the compost bin and see what God can come up with.  My idea didn't work at all!

I will however, leave my kinda sad looking pots out on the patio until winter finally arrives.  Why?  Because the struggling vines remind me that no matter what ideas we come up with, God always has other plans for us...They also remind me that life is not always pretty.   We are blessed with flowers - they make us strive to work harder for that reward.  On the flip side, life is full of weeds, pests, and foiled ideas or goals.  

For me, there is always another day.  Always, another spring.  Always another packet of seeds full of ideas.  

Not to worry

I have been out of pocket for a few weeks getting some necessary "body" work done on, well...my body.  

In a week or two more I will be better than ever and blogging away - until then just roll it with - breathe...fall is coming and the cool air will help us all feel refreshed!