It’s very difficult for someone who has no knowledge of another lifestyle to understand something different than their own little world. That’s a nice a safe spot to be where everyone who is “different” is wrong and to be avoided like the plague out of fear of a gateway experience to never never land.

That is not reality. That is not the life that God intended for us as His children. Picture this……the citizenry of this country has more wealth than could be spent in all of our lifetimes, yet many go hungry while a few live the good life. Could it be that the wealthy get off on the good feelings that accompany the tax deductions that go along with the next higher bracket?

War is business these days. It obeys the laws of supply and demand and sacrifices soldiers. Drugs are bad , even when they’re approved by the FDA and/ or several state governments for the dying.. There’s a counselor on your TV set every day that uses”real clients” for moving testimonials about “the check” and how quick it got there.

I hope Santa’s reading blogs today. In all his jolliness and merry Ho Ho, he’d know that I’ve been a good girl and kept the faith this year. And I sure don’t want no switches and ashes.

^j^

in your dreams........ 

Sup with y’all anyhow? I totally grasp the fart/hunt/conquer thing, K? Ditto for the food and weakness for Victoria’s Secret models. Specially the ones from Brazil. Beer? Um hmm. ( belch, fart, ahhhh)

I’m down for doing what you love, even if you’re broke doing it. A man who is passionate about his vocation and joys is sexier than 15 Brad Pitt clones in a cluster.

You like being chased but not all the time because YOU are the hunter and us lil’ ole girls are the prey. When we least expect it and we’re minding our own biz you come along and say “Hey.”

You smile and wink and show up at just the right time to make the old heart go pitty pat and believe in magic. You wear a suit and tie like a badge but camo is much more comfy and easier to get into. You love my dawgs and even have a few of your own. Human’s best friend.

Cats? Well, they’re funny. I’ve got a couple, and they just ain’t dogs. Go figure an animal that has to have its’ own box to do business. And YOU clean it out!
Barns are handy for extra cats.

Gotta go guys……the dawg’s sucking all the water outta the Christmas tree again. Stinking dawg.

I swear I don’t want to be taken care of. I just want a committed partner in this journey of life. It would be such a treat for an old gal who still believes in Santa.

^j^

hope 

As I glanced over to the very last page of my Mary Engelbreit calendar on the kitchen wall while I was washing dishes, I thought to myself: “ Self”. “Next year will be different.”

This one’s been okay…I’ve learned a lot about life and love and keepin’ the faith. It’s been a valley year, that’s for sure and we all have ‘em. I love to reflect ( in man-speak that’s “you think too much” ) and 2004 has been a joy and a pain all at once like most of the rest of life.

My friends Jen and Deb are aiming for new jobs with more challenge whilst my Babygirl aims for any job that pays. Renee and AJ both got divorced and I rode that roller-coaster with them. We held onto each other as if we were Titanic survivors, and in many ways we were. Every human who’s treading uncharted territory needs a friend to throw out the lifeline when they’re sinking so she can finish her business no matter what that is.

My baby brother moved far away from the family and made me ponder the same. My middle brother made a huge business investment in his “plan ahead” style of beatin’ the rat race and getting the hell outta his role as company man.

Friends have died and had life changing events.. Big John had ?-tuple by-pass surgery and lived to tell it. George is in surgery as I blog clinging to life and, no doubt, rearranging his priorities in a morphine haze. Karla became a motherless child and a grandmother all in the same month. Thankfully, I became neither this time around. Lacey has a brand new baby girl and Charlie is about to pop wide open!

I remember back to New Year’s Eve of 1999 and Y2K. Those of us with enough years on us to be wise were concerned enough to exercise caution as the Millenium approached, and not just by havin’ our Y2K-ready stickers on the PCs. The hysteria was so huge that I wouldn’t allow my then 15 yr old to be out roaming around like “everybody else”. Around 4am the next morning, her friend’s mom called me to tell me that there had been a wreck and thank God she hadn’t been in that car for she would’ve been a goner. Instead, she was safely pissed off at Mom at another friend’s house. Sometimes you just have to listen to your gut and endure the discomfort of the moment.

Good male company and great times found me when I least expected it and gave me reason to smile real big. I learned to laugh again, and to hope. I began to feel alive and to reach for more than I thought I could ever hope for. In short, I found that keeping the faith is the only way to live because tomorrow’s another day…….next month is another month….next year is another year……next decade is another decade…..and next millennium…..well. You know. There’s a rule about that stuff. It’s the ten year rule.

That’s a whole ‘nother story. ^j^

“We fight the war with the army that we’ve got.” Donald Rumsfeld

“Et tu Brute?” J. Caesar

“Follow the yellow brick road” The munchkins

“When choosing between two evils, I always like to try the one I've never tried before.” Mae West

“I am not afraid…..I was born to do this.” Joan of Arc

“Don’t kick a sleeping dawg.” EAR

Keep the faith ^j^ poopie

For she shall know the true gifts of the Christmas season.

The anticipation of Advent

Making cookies from your mother’s age old recipe and remembering the childhood warmth.

Getting creative with the gifts by necessity, and finding that they mean more that way.

No shopping….no crowds….only important dates to be kept with a select few like the work crew and the fam and a few friends.

“White Christmas” Bing style and “The Snowman” and “Holiday Inn”

Believing in Dirty Santa even though you’ll be at work when he comes down the chimney and busts through the wall that covers it. No wait…..that’s Rambo Claus.

No dreading of the season or fighting the commercialism. Just a relaxed and peaceful attitude in thanks for The Gift of The Son.

An appreciation for waterfowl migratory patterns aka DUCKS!!!!!!!!

Slipping a homemade goody to the grocer and the postman and the candlestick maker.

Believing that you’ll have a date for New Year’s Eve.

And keepin’ the faith. ^j^

Kick one and you're stirring up trouble. Word to the wise from the faithful quipster.

Keepin' the faith in spite of the readership y'all.

Love.....poopie ^j^

life in a nutshell 

Not that she knows what the heck to DO with the lil' critter. Hope is our latest addition to the menagerie that is our home. She's a rat terrier mix puppy no bigger than a squirrel and that freaks Faith's large lab self out. The cats are takin' it in stride, as cats usually do. Ya know how THEY are :)

I'm headed to the kitchen to make up some butter cookie dough to chill and cut into stars and trees whenever the mood strikes. Icing and sprinkles and the whole nine yards. Babygirl and I are currently looking for a small child to share this Christmas tradition with. My brothers and I made them with my Mom and Babygirl made them with me and also with her Memaw. It's a tradition.

Anybody want the recipe?

^j^

And if you can't, find somebody who does and will remind you. That's a handy tip for handling the peaks and valleys of life. They're called FRIENDS.

By the time you get to be my age, who you are is pretty much second nature. Not that we don't learn and change and grow, but the character is a permanent resident in the psyche molded by years of life experiece and grace. Or not. I tend to seek out the molded ones with the flexibility to adapt.

When the shit hits the fan, you have to remember. Who am I and what am I made of and how the heck do I navigate this storm? It always helps to think back to how you got to be who you are just long enough to incorporate that growth into the fiber of right here and now. Sometimes you just shut your eyes and imagine a gentler place and time.

And always, you keep the faith. ^j^

It's a cliche in the blood bank biz.....The mini-transplant that saves your life sometimes. White cells with a differential and RBCS all sized up and measured give your healthcare providers a great idea of what's up with your body. Expiration date is 40 somethin' days. The gift is heavily regulated by governmantal agencies that assure old timers of a fat pension.

The gift is given freely by folks who feel the need to do something for somebody else. Often it's at a crisis point that people realize that the product they need is in short supply because somebody got lazy and forgot the expiration dates or the forms.

5% of the population of the USA (land of the free and home of the brave) donates red blood cells when they can to support the other 95. Tack on the $$ and the availability, and you've got youself a disaster in the making. Could be your Mom or great-Uncle or best friend. The common factor is that their blood needed a boost.

My work experience today was sobering. I sat and listened to the entire record of a woman who died during a routine procedure at the hospital. We examined the documentaion and facts ? and came to the conclusion that we all strive to do better and it makes us nuts that somebody dropped the ball. Everybody's hurtin'.

The chronic disease process requires support. Cancer patients..renal failure. GI bleeds. They're regular customers. Occasionally somebody gets hurt or it all goes to hell in a handbasket and everybody yells "WOLF" Not enough, and not near fast enough. If only.............................................................................................................................................



Check out www.aabb.org . And keep the faith. ^j^

woof? 

Well, I can sure tell ya....Faith went ballistic when she smelled this intruder's scent on Momma. After seeing her pic in the local rag, I just had to go check her cute self out at the shelter. She gave me puppy sugars!

Shhhh....don't tell anybody, but I think she's mine and babygirl's Christmas present to each other. Faith is poutin' about it already. She'll always be my "girl" though.

^j^

good mornin' america....how are you? 

well, IF i ever do, i've got a list of things i'd love to be. rich ain't on the list....but not struggling to make ends meet is right at the top.

i'd like to see other countries and experience a taste of the cultures that i've read about for 40 years. heck, i'd just like to see more of the country that i live in.

when i grow up, i'm gonna have a nap every day. my parents do it and it looks heavenly. they do lots of other stuff too, but that nap is a luxury that's lookin' more and more attractive to my old tired self.

i believe that there's a soulmate out there for me somewhere, and i'd like to find him and pass some quality time with him, maybe even settle down and get old and take naptogether.

i'll speak my mind when i grow up ( no, wait....my childish self already does that!) maybe when i grow up other people will listen to me and i can make a difference in the world. it may only be one life at a time, but i'll settle for that.

i'd like to think that there's a day coming where terrorism doesn't mar our lives and the world is at peace. being a realistic child, i don't see that happening. " it has always been thus and so" says my wise daddy. in lieu of world peace, i'll hope for my country to get their nose out of the john wayne business and at attention to the problems within our borders and with OUR citizens.

my little kid self wrote letters to astronauts during the heydey of NASA and i still have the responses from those heroes. science was my forte.....in spite of ms. barrett's condemnation in jr high. the cycles of nature fascinate me as do the wonders of the universe. God is real and close to me when my childish self marvels at the bigness of all of it....the intricacy of the Plan.

i'm absolutely sure that when i grow up, i'll know what i was put on this earth to achieve. it may take me awhile to figure it out, but once i do.....watch out for poopie. assuming i don't get hit by a train or blown away by a tornado, that should be forthcoming.

how do i know this? hmmm....well. because i'm a faithful gal.

^j^

tucker 

Yes y'all....I believe. It's a faith thang that goes along with believing in God and His will and the goodness of it all. It is looking back just enough to learn and living the moment for all it's worth. Sometimes it's about right and wrong, but outside of murder or intentional hurt that's a gray area. Mostly it's about living faithfully and trusting that the Plan is all good.

The miracle inside each of us is the life that we were given, warts and bumps and all. Sperm and egg united to become "justanotherprincecharming4U" or "radiohead" or justme.

It's a relative thing....a miracle. It depends on where you are in life and what you need or long for. Miracles are often not recognized until way after they happen, and that can be the greatest gift of all. Sometimes we're just not ready for 'em. Sometimes we just have to sleep on it for a lifetime and then have an "aha" moment that brings clarity to the situation.

For those doubters among you, check out THIS

And keep the faith. ^j^

somewhere in time 

That's what my great grandma Ethel used to come out with when us kids got on her last nerve. At least that's what it sounded like to me. Probably more like "God Knows!" ( how I ever got you kids all up in my blue hair ).

She had this old white car with a faded red roof and ancient transmission that allowed us to travel to the dime store to visit with the birds and sip on a co-cola. She had parakeets in her home on Pate street ( newspaper lined cages and all ) but she always enjoyed seeing different ones. Her husband Ockie was dead and gone before I can even remember. His picture hung in the back bedroom of her house and every time I creeped to the bathroom in the dark, he stared at me. There was a dirt basement leading off of that back room where the Christmas decorations and graveyard arrangements lived in their time off. That plus Ockie's eyes was enough to make me hold it all night.

The playground of my elementary school, Alice Thurmond Primary, sloped down into her yard. My favorite memories of that place are when I got to enjoy lunch with her because of the close proximity. My special menu consisted of chicken and gravy ( iron skillet, in the oven)stewed potatoes and some biscuits. Berries and cream for dessert.

I never knew her aside from the blue hair and dime-store parakeets....so, when I first saw this pic of her, I was shocked. Ethel Inez was probably about 18 and a telephone operator in Halls TN. The thing that struck me was the resemblance between us. Not the waistline, mind you. But the eyes. She had, years ago......been a young girl with hopes and dreams and a job. It was unheard of in those days for a woman to "work" for a living. Most stayed home doing their chores and let the men-folk provide for them and the umpteem children.

Some say the world was a kinder and gentler place then. It was simpler, that's for sure. TV was for watchin' "our stories" and the telephone was on a local exchange with a party line and operator on duty. There were 5 big wars yet to come and the accompanying economic flip flops and paranoia. The good ole' days of prohibition and the Great Depression and rock-your-world social change were not even imagined yet. But they were coming.

Don't confuse me with a gal who's longing for Mayberry. I LIVE in a Mayberry town on a little slice of heaven. My gut tells me that my country doesn't respect what I think or feel as a "working" gal. Nobody listens when I say that I don't want my hard earned tax dollars to go toward a war that is killing many Americans and many many more Iraqis who believe that we're gonna save them from extremists.

Pray and be specific y'all. And keep the faith. ^j^

Just when you think that life has passed you by and nobody remembers who you are, a gift arrives from a heart that knows you well :

Keepin the Faith

She sees the world through the wise eyes with an ageless soul and the heart of a child. She speaks with eloquence and writes as though she is giving every fiber of her being. She has such a different view in this world, so filled with pessimism and cynicism, her motto shining through like a beacon of light in the darkness shrouding the woe begotten beauty of bye-gone days. She holds her head high when forces rage against her, never falling short of the standard she has set for herself. She smiles through sorrow and laughs through rain and with every mountain that she climbs, she only grows stronger until one day she will rest at the peak, looking back at all she has overcome. She is my teacher, my mentor, my hero, if you will. She has taught me the beauty of simplicity and through her eyes, my world has become better. So many times, she has been a rock upon which I have broken, waves of sorrow flooding her just as the ocean crashes on the shore. She has been my one true friend in a world in which it is almost futile to even try to trust another human being. She has shown me how to love, how to trust, how to let go of a past that forced me to think I was unloved by God himself.I wish so many times that I could take her pain away. I feel it. I wish I could wave an arm and make things easier for her. She deserves it. Her life has been dedicated to being there for others in their most difficult times. She has fought for changes in healthcare, for dignity for the dying and for salvation for the weary.God has a mansion waiting. Though his workers may be poor here on earth, they will one day inherit the riches of Heaven. That's greater than any gift I could possibly give her. All I have ever had to offer is my friendship, and she will have that until the end of time.Keep the faith, J. I love ya.

Read more of AJ's amazing thoughts http://www.adrenalinejunke.blogspot.com

And keep the faith. ^j^

I swear….it is! One less bill to pay now that TV is gone. It’s a luxury for country folks anyhow, and one that I sure can’t afford. Thank God I enjoy reading.

Next will be the non-luxuries like a telephone and heat and medicines. As long as I’m able to buy 10 bucks worth of gas, I can get to work and keep trying.

How many Americans are living their lives exactly this way these days? It doesn’t sound like much compared to suicide bombers but it’s what we pay one third of our earnings for when we are corporate pawns.

Jaded? Nah. Just SOOOOO over the great American way.

Keepin’ the faith, though. ^j^

PAST…….I remember when I was little we had a rare Christmas snow here in West Tennessee. I woke up on “The DAY” to find sleigh tracks in the yard after hearing prancin’ on the roof the night before. Somewhere deep in that pre-adolescent mind, I knew that my Daddy had drug a lawn chair or something through that snow so that I could still believe in the magic of Christmas, which I most certainly did. Not that I had any problem with it at all, even as a college student. My mom would simply do the deed and turn the lights out so that my coming home late self couldn’t see what was up. It’s always been a big deal for us, and for me and my child as well. Nobody could sleep a wink because of visions of sugarplums. When Babygirl was two years old ( and we have this on video, BTW) she cried through the entire production from start to finish. Too much activity for a lil kid who just wants to feel the magic. We tried sooooo hard to create perfection in one day, that we failed all of ourselves miserably. My favorite Christmas past memory is of just last year at the midnight Methodist service with me and aforementioned Babygirl lighting the Christ candle at church. The wicks of every dang advent candle were buried in wax from the month of December and Mom had a childproof lighter to get the whole thing going. Instructions from the preacher under his breath were useless. Eventually, the kid just grabbed the lighter and did the deed amongst the chuckles of the faithful. I’m convinced that Jesus appreciated our efforts on his Birthday eve and said “Well done, girls.”

PRESENT……..It’s only December 1, and we have days and weeks to savor the joys of the season. Like watching “The Snowman” and remembering all the years we boarded Taffy while her fam was on the road. Making Mama Staff’s butter cut-out cookies and topping them with icing and sprinkles. Puttin’ a bow around Faith’s neck just because it’s Christmas and red looks good next to brown. Watching the amaryllis grow that my Mom brought by today. Choosing a kick-ass gift for the family Dirty Santa party. Decorating a LIVE tree that smells and makes us sneeze and sheds all over the carpet.

FUTURE….Not a clue, but I’m certain it includes keeping the faith.

^j^