Gotta Stop Doing List

Send me your gotta stop doing list! I'm make a book and we'll all be infamous. ... LOL. No seriously. Don't you have lists (from new years resolutions or birthday resolutions?). . . send 'em my way!

Autumn in Ohio

It can be magical, autumn in Ohio, that is. Today is a mix. Windy, rained last night and pulled all the lovely leaves directly into my yard. Looking out I see mainly, Bare Trees (love that Fleetwood Mac album by the way). Chaos too.

Puppy was on a tear today. Dirt everywhere on the deck, tracked into my house through both back doors. Then she came in and grabbed the toilet paper roll and flew through the house with it. . .Babie, Babie can't ya hear my heart beat, You're the one I love. What a great puppy Babie is (airdale terrier) and she is a trip mostly. Gotta love a puppy. ...even one with the energy of a newly rested platoon.

So now she's out like a broken light bulb and I need to clean up after her. . .She wears the bigger dog out. Seems mostly, Scraps tries to get away from her razor teeth. Land-shark is her other name. LOL.

I wish, wish, wish I had her energy or her creativity. Ha! Now I'm preoccupied and can't really get a blog-stream of mind going, so I'm gonna go!

Veterans Remembered

I grew up with Vets. I did not remember them yesterday or sunday as I should but here goes. My step-father was a Korean Vet. Hat's off to a man that had to lie about his young age to enlist. He was forever changed by his tour of duty.

My Uncle Lloyd is a vet of WWII. He is a proud vet, one who still serves daily on the funeral circuit with other senior vets to honor those fallen. He was forever changed and will not talk about his experience on Normandy Beach.

One of my first loves was a Vietnam Vet. He came back broken and forever changed. His brute physicality was destroyed, many many bones and his spirit as well. He struggled through depression, alcoholism (still does) but tries to live as best he can, my heart goes out to you Mike.

Then there is Christopher & Travis, cousins who recently served in the Middle East. We have prayed many prayers. My neighbors son Jason flies, another friend, Keith a refueler pilot. Both safe now.

There are others but my point being, there is not a family in this country that has not been forever changed by war. The price we pay for being the greatest country in the world.

I have traveled abroad. I know how lucky we are. I have landed from being abroad and clapped along with my fellow travelers. So so happy to be home, to know when we got off the plane that the country we were coming home to, though flawed, is still free from so much, which other countries in this world are not.

Free speech, freedom of religion, women walk freely without worry of beating for having her head uncovered or because she is not in the company of a male, freedome of expression, free to read or watch whatever we want.

If you still have doubt, READ. READ the expanse wealth of literature out there that tells us, from personal experience, just how lucky we in the US are.

We have never lived through the Cultural Revolution as the Chinese have. Read memoirs from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan. We are blessed. I will give you an amazing list!

Hats of to our men and women SERVING THIS COUNTRY TO ENSURE OUR FREEDOMS!!

Veterans Day Celebrated

What a day. ..sunny, raining (sometimes when sun is not out obviously). . . feel pretty good about the day but am torn. Do I read, do I write, do I take the dogs for a walk, or do I work on stuff that will provide me with another dollar or two??? Hummmm.

Well, first I should make a to-do list. Love this "To do List" book. What a great idea. I should have people send me their lists of things "they want to stop doing". . .That would be even more novel. . . Say like 'this week I have to stop shoplifting', or 'yelling at my kids', or even better 'stop masturbating while driving as it can be dangerous'. Ha!

What is on your 'Must Stop Doing List?"

I recently started watching "Live with Regis and Kelly" while I do work. . . that should definitely do on my 'Stop Doing List' 'cause it makes me feel like I'm morphing into my mother, bless her soul. Loved her, but don't want to be her kind of thing.

Right now as I write I have one eye out on my deck watching the puppy digging up an planter and other other is on my monitor while I listen to my older dog eating his dinner from last night. Wow, I should turn on the radio.

Someone asked me the other night (the chick I was talking literature to) and asked me when I was going to start my novel. I'm pretty unimaginative so am worried it would be a big snooze. Wouldn't that be a comfidence smasher. Put all that work and sweat into a novel that no one would read. Would not be the first one though. . . Maybe I should write a how-to novel instead. How to write a novel no one will read. Put your heart and soul into it. Reveal all your family's deep dark secrets and then 'wham!' rejected.

Sorry. I'm rambling, but this is my blog and i'm allowed.

I love the show Dexter (and love, love, love the books!) what does that say about me? Twisted, sure. Sick, probably. Bored, definitely. Gotta get a thrill someplace.

Chopin, now I want some Chopin. Probably already have some but it was featured in last night's episode of Dexter and am going to have to do a rewind to see what piece Debborah was listening to at the gym. It was divine.

Wow, not a big NFL fan but last night's Charger's game against the Colts was heart attack material. My departed step-father's doctor would definitely have worned Dad away from that one. Poor Payton Manning, he sucked and he never sucks (or so I've heard).

Hum. Lunch time. Bye!

stuff

Hi - Well, I've been gone for a while. . .and that is because I forgot what was important to me. I love the environment and I love how people take care of them selves but I'm not sure that is necessarily what I need to talk about to heal me. . . and you know blog SHOULD BE therapeutic for the writer. . . . Don't you think. . . ???? Well, whatever the reason, and by the way I am trashed right now and earlier this evening spent considerable time discusssing literature with a woman I found fascinating. 'Well, interesting, at least 'cause she shared my interest in reading.

So my so mundane point is, let's get real. Mostly I hate everbody and love everbody all at the same time. A contradiction. So what, it's how I feel. You miserable shits just forget that we are all in this together. We want so much, and will settle for so little. A smile, an affirmation, an nod, a wave from an adjacent car to let us in. . .and that is it. We are happy. We have a good day.

Why, oh, why is that so hard to accomplish on a daily basis . . .. because I truly believe we as humans want to little to get by. . . .

The Love of a Dog

And vice versa. . . . the love I have for my dogs is personal and hard to explain to someone who doesn't have a pet, so the conversation is best had with other passionate dog owners. I would do nearly anything for my dog (pictured with me on this site).

Recently he came down with an illness and we had to rush him to a pet ER near our home. After what seemed like hours of vomiting/coughing they determined he had pneumonia. This was about 6 weeks ago. He still doesn't seem to have bounced back like we hoped he would. Anyone looking at him would believe he's fine but there are little things. He goes off by himself a lot, when he would join the family previously. He seems quite winded after a short run, where previously we could walk for an hour with him sprinting about when I would let him off leash, and not be tired. We are probably great big worriers but he is so precious to me, and to our family. The "C" word was mentioned by the ER vet when he looked at the x-rays of our dogs lungs. . . .but he's only 4 years old. That big "C" word continues to lurk in the back of our minds. Scraps a precious scruffy puppy dog. . . .a ring tailed dingo terrier . . . LOL

We lost a dear friends several years ago to just that. Our Murphy, our first pet as a family, our dear golden retriever that filled his bed with his babies (stuffed animals). Our darling flat backed retriever (overweight) that would stands at his food bowl wagging his tail the whole time he ate. A dog who when he was young had his uncanny knack of finding treasures on our walks . . . we had 'french bread', 'hamburger' and 'pig' (all rubber) that he kept for years. As a puppy I would sit on the floor and he would come and sit in my lap as I tossed a ball, running to retrieve it, bringing it back and sitting in my lap once more. He continued to do that up until the day the cancer took away his ability to move properly. He was a lot bigger than he had been as a pup, but coming and sitting in my cross-legged lap on the floor as a 90 pound dog was still precious. . . and he is sooo missed.

I still have the picture of my first golden retriever next to my bed, my wonderful, smart Colin. A treasure I bought for myself as a junior in college. I went to a laid-back college in Southeastern Ohio and Colin occasionally came to classes with me, sleeping at my feet the entire class. Other classmates were amazed this beautiful dog would sleep at my feet, never making a sound. When we would walk the downtown, Colin would walk with the leash in his mouth. He did not want me to carry his leash, he wanted to do it and would walk right by my side the whole time. I would go into a store or restaurant and he would lay down outside the door and wait for me, and nothing would distract him from his task . . . . this task of waiting for me. He was a rare and wonderful creature. And I miss him still 16 years later.

The Love of a Dog. Not to be missed.

Dieting again

Well, here I am dieting again. This time I think it will really work! I am working Ann Louise Gittleman's 'Fat Flush Plan' and sort of love it. . . .

I resonate with the physiology of a diet, and this one really did it for me. Consuming (and not consuming) food and drink that are good for your liver, really spoke to me. The rationale behind why we feel how we do from eating or drinking certain things also was very personal in that I've experienced so much of the negative effects of eating, say yeast containing foods/drinks. Bloating being one, even in my hands. To wake up now 3 days in a row with hands not swollen is a blessing in itself. And every thing I am taking in is good, healthy, tasty, and easy to prepare. Organic fruits, veggies, lean proteins, and cranberries. . . .lots of cranberrie in the form of a cran-water. Hot lemon water in the morning and lots of great snacks (fruits) throughout the day!

Only 4 days in and already a disciple. . . .that's got to say a lot!

Good reads

Just finished 'The Memory Keeper's Daughter'. Fabulous book! Thought provoking, moves quickly well-written. Surprising.

Other titles I've read recently and highly recommend: The Kite Runner (will read again several more times); The Book Seller of Kabul;The Red Tent; Bag of Bones (my second time. . .read again right after Lisey's Story); The Orchid Thief; The Seamstress; Night; Running with Scissors; Life and Death in Shanghai; Enemies, A Love Story; Perfume; The Quiet American; Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress; Angels & Demons. I'm now reading 'Snow' by Orhan Pamuk. I'll let you know but it's won a Nobel Prize so what can you say!

More later. . . .

Happiness

This week my husband told me he was happy. This may not seem like an event worth writing about but what made it special was he went on to say 'The last time I remember really feeling happy was the months prior to 911.'

Happiness is not a feeling everyone has, and should not be taken lightly by those lucky enough to feel happy. How many of us felt the world pulled out from under us after that day? Our son was 15 at the time and I remember coming in after being at work and finding him on the computer, crying.

He looked at me through his tears, not embarrassed being caught crying as he would have been a month earlier, saying 'Mom, what's going to happen now? . . . I've been looking at Nostradamus prophecies . . . .some of us were talking about what happened and someone said this was predicted by prophets. Is this the end?'

My reassurances left me with my own doubts about how life would be here in this wonderful country now touched by so much hate and destruction.

Now 6 years later, we all seem to be still struggling, us our neighbors, friends. Economically, personally. Our lives have all changed since 911. Gas prices are unmanageable for so many families already stretched to the point of not being able to pay bills. Foreclosures are at an all time high. Real estate in our 'golden crescent' neighborhood, sit month after month unsold, where previously they would be on the off the market in weeks. Bankruptcies, hoped to be curtailed by new legislation, have not slowed down one bit.

But we still strive to be happy. . . to find a silver lining. To look back and say, we're a bit better off this year than last, aren't we?

This is where I am. This is where my husband is. We think of ourselves as unique and different from our neighbors but truth be told, we're just exactly like them.

My first blog ever

Well here I am in the Midwest, always felt our state was more east than midwest, but what do I know as I sit here in the Ohio Valley.

My first attempt to blog and am not quite sure what to say at this point.

Our minds come together so often in this country. Watch the news, see the shootings, despair, cry and wish for better days. That has been heavy on my mind lately. It reminded me of 911 and the exact spot I was standing, what I was wearing, who I was with. The inability to grasp the true nature of what had happened in our beloved country. You do know, no matter how bad our politics get, the homelessness, the state of our schools, the fact that we have groups of people in our midst that are intent on killing each other, we live in the greatest country in the world? I wanted to kiss the ground the last time I came home from overseas.

We are spoiled, yes, we are.

We have not had to endure the hardships our parents and grandparents lived, loved and tried to laugh through during the depression and World Wars.
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