Go Ahead and Laugh

This post is definitely about me. I'm sure you will get a chuckle or two out of the complete craziness.

Listed below are four fun facts about none other than me. I am participating in a giveaway at Aspire and this post was the requirement, so I thought it sounded like a great idea to tell you a few of the more weird things about me.

1. I didn't like high school. I graduated with honors at the top of my class of over 500 students, but I found the whole high school experience to be boring and socially stressful. I was quite introverted back then and enjoyed reading and watching old movies, so I stayed home a lot and skipped school. Mom always knew about my absenteeism and even gave me her permission, but the Assistant Principal was not ever very happy with me. For some reason it bothered her that missed a total of thirty-six days one year. Doesn't make sense, does it? (laughing hysterically now remembering her face when she asked me if it was really necessary to miss so much school). Children can't do that any more because now schools have "rules" against that kind of behavior. I would have been a great candidate for home schooling!



2. I never leave the house without my makeup applied because I am so pale! As a matter of fact, I also do not open my door for anyone to visit if my makeup isn't on...well, I do let my family visit, but I remain in the house like a mole hiding with my pale face. Hmmmm, a redheaded mole. (no one better say this looks like me!).



3. I do not wear my hair in a pony tail because it makes my head and hair sore. Really! If I put my hair in a pony tail for as little as an hour, when I take it down and move my hair with my fingers, it is sore on my scalp. It might just be the plainness of the style. (Alyssa is rolling her eyes and saying that I am crazy) Maybe I should try one of these ponytails...



4. When I was in elementary school, my shoes were AAA widths. Now they are normal size B's, but back then it was rough finding shoes for a narrow foot. Mom and Dad always had to buy them at a specialty store and I used pads around the back of my heels to keep them on my feet. There wasn't anything hip about my footwear because I had to wear granny shoes!



That was rather fun remembering those silly things and I enjoyed drawing hair on the mole.

I can hear you now Mom...do not try to dispute that the shoes looked like old lady footwear!

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Wishes for my Friends

Wishes are things that we hope or desire to come true.

At birthday celebrations, we blow out the candles on the cake and "make a wish."

When we find four leaf clovers, we are said to suddenly be lucky and should "make a wish."

After cooking and deboning a turkey, we break the wishbone and "make a wish."

Finding a dandelion and blowing the clocks into the wind to "make a wish."

In the big night sky upon seeing a shooting star we "make a wish."

All of these wishes made are hopes for good fortune and happiness. In a small way, they continue our hope for the goodness and happiness we all seek in our lives. Keeping with that spirit today...



"This is my wish for you:
Comfort on difficult days,

smiles when sadness intrudes,
rainbows to follow the clouds,


laughter to kiss your lips,
sunsets to warm your heart,
hugs when spirits sag,


beauty for your eyes to see,
friendships to brighten your being,
faith so that you can believe,


confidence for when you doubt,
courage to know yourself,


patience to accept the truth,
love to complete your life.



Thank you for all your wonderful and often encouraging comments. I am thankful for your friendship and enjoy having you in my life.

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Stick Me On Your Wall

When I was in elementary school, I had fantastic art teachers. We did all the "normal" projects like little clay bowls and painted pictures, but we also broke the molds of normalcy. I remember some strange mediums and the opportunity to creatively express myself.

I think that is one of the reasons I find art as a much appreciated creative outlet.

Having access to the internet affords us with the opportunity to not only appreciate each others talents, but also to purchase artistic items that bring us happiness by dressing our homes.

One of the newer decorative items I've found is vinyl wall art. There are so many different variations including shapes and words. I'm sure you will find something you like as well.

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I must say that other than the vinyl text of a fancy quote, "Get A Grip" featured below is my favorite!

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Do you have any vinyl wall art?

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Tell The Truth Thursday - Dreams and Nightmares

Welcome to "Tell The Truth Thursday" where the question that has been posted in my right side bar gets answered by me and you...and sometimes my husband too! Did you prepare your post and are you ready to drop your URL into the McLinky so that we all can follow? Grab the thumb above linking it back to this blog posting and let's get started...

The question this week is quite simple:

What is the strangest dream or worst nightmare you have ever dreamed??

I hope you forgive me, but this is rather short.



I had a reoccurring nightmare every night as a child and into my teenage years. It was the same awful, horrible, terrible nightmare and nothing I did could shake it. Sometimes I would even think about it in the middle of the day! So here it goes...

There was an old woman that lived under my bed.

Under my bed was a trap door, but it was protected by alligators. The woman controlled the alligators. She had long, white frizzy hair with moles all over her face. She would come out at night and if my fingers or toes hung off the bed, she would chop them off. Through her trap door under my bed was her home and glass cases filled with peoples fingers and toes that she had cut off while they were in bed.

I was terrified that I would also lose my fingers and toes or be eaten by an alligator!

When I went to bed, I would run all the way down the hall so that I could fly through the air and land on my bed without having to get too near the large alligator space.

Needless to say, I am terrified of alligators or evil looking women. Every now and then, I get the same fright grip my psyche when I crawl into bed.

I HAVE NO IDEA HOW THIS TERRIBLE NIGHTMARE STARTED.

Now it is your turn. Here you go!!!

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Rose Petal Feelings

"Feelings are everywhere
- be gentle."

Rose petals are

soft,

fragile,

easily torn,

and grow in layers

to produce a beautiful flower

that opens when given water and sunlight.


Feelings are very similar to rose petals. People have many layers to their emotions and personality with the most fragile and delicate hidden until there is trust and safety with another.

I am tenderhearted and cry easily.

Many times I have wished that I could have a tough heart and dry tear ducts. If someone yells or cusses at me, I'm crushed and withdraw. Shortly thereafter, I cry. It feels like a wimpy weakness and yet when others have the same trait, I do not see it as their weakness. I'm a perfectionist, so I usually have one set of easy standards for everyone else and really tough ones for myself.

This is something I work on all the time.


"Consider the rights of others
before your own feelings,
and the feelings of others
before your own rights."~John Wooden~

The major drawback in have tender feelings that come quickly to the surface is that often selfish people take advantage of me. Sometimes, I don't even see it happening until it is over. That is infuriating and usually heart wrenching because I give of my time, talents and love freely.

My goal is to work on remaining true to myself and rose petal feelings while preventing others from seeing me as easy prey.

This is much easier said than done.

Do you share in my dilemma or have you progressed past my weakness and can share advice on how you got to this place in your life?


"They may forget what you said,
but they will never forget
how you made them feel."~Carl W. Buechner ~

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Chuckle of the Day - Tech Support

Phone call to Tech Support....


On one call, the caller seemed to be taking an inordinately long time to complete each instruction she was given.

Agent: Ma’am, I can’t help noticing that every time I give you an instruction, it takes a really long time before you get back to me. Is your computer that slow?

Caller: Oh, no, it’s just the stupid, stupid design of this computer. Every time I want to click something, I have to unplug the keyboard to plug in the mouse. And then every time I want to use the keyboard again, I have to unplug the mouse. Because there’s only one jack.

Agent: Ma’am, you do realize that there’s a jack on the keyboard itself? You’re supposed to plug the mouse into the keyboard, and the keyboard into the computer.

Caller: Are YOU KIDDING ME!? Oh, wait a minute—yes, I see it now! Oh, holy cow. That’s going to be so much easier!

Agent: Just out of curiosity, how long have you been using your computer that way?

Caller: Six weeks!

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I Want To Run Away

If you are depressed and want to run away today, I just wanted you to know that other people know how you feel because they have been there too. That probably doesn't make you feel any better, but my point is that you are not alone.

After working three days on a project from the moment I got to work until 7:00 p.m. each night, I finished today. The bad part is that I made a major error at the beginning which makes all my work wasted effort...and that wasn't the only thing that went wrong today.

As you can tell, I am having one of those "run away" days too.

Let's indulge ourselves for a few moments.

I want to Run Away
by Karen C Vanderlaan



I want to run away,

Just be gone – check out

I long to hide away

And bury my head in my hands

To just cry until I am all cried out

Done - no tears left

Cry till all the sad is gone

I wish for long, long hours to sleep

To rise only to return and slip back

between sheets that never cooled

I desire the sleep of no interruption

Till all the exhaustion has lifted

From my heavily laden eyes

But… none of this will I do

I will get up each day the crack of dawn

I will continue the endless motions

That make this life of mine work

Putting one foot in front of the other

Over and over again

Now let's get past that bad experience and remember this...


"Success seems to be
connected with action.
Successful people keep moving.
They make mistakes,
but they don't quit."~Conrad Hilton~



"You may have a fresh start
any moment you choose,
for this thing we call
'failure' is not the falling down,
but the staying down."~Mary Pickford~


Wishing you a better day filled with sunshine!












All images are from Flickr, but I forgot to get the URL's associated with them and will try to go back and find the credits later.

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Driving: It's not for the faint hearted

Driving is a privilege.

This may take a minute to load because it did for me, but it is well worth watching and showing to your children. I think it should be required watching for everyone.




If you break the law by running red lights on purpose, you should have your license revoked. If that happens, you would have to get a comfy pair of sneakers for the very long walks to each of your destinations.

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Don't speed or run red lights. Someone's life may depend on your obedience to the law.

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Curiosity Cabinets

Maïssa Toulet, is a French artist that creates Curiosity Cabinets. In glass boxed frames, Toulet places small trifles she collects from antique fairs and junk shops in an artistic display based on subject or by color. These curiosity cabinets tell a story to the viewer.

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For instance, this first curiosity cabinet is called Jungle.


Toulet stated that she needs the boundaries of the curiosity cabinet frame in order to feel freedom in her artist expression. Strange how confinement inspires freedom. I will have to think on that for a while.


Ultrasound
Birthday
Fishing Party

Of course, I really enjoyed looking at all the small objects and figuring out how they relate with each other to create an interesting collection for the curiosity cabinets.

They actually remind me of playing Barbies as a child with my Aunt Janie and as an adult with Alyssa and Brittany. I have lovely memories of tiny Barbie shoes being put on by tiny little girl fingers...first mine and thirty plus years later, my daughter and niece's.

Isn't it wonderful how art inspires the mind to not only generate new creative thoughts, but also releases treasured memories?

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