I Wonder

I wonder why parents think they are spending time with their children when they are on their cell phones and barely paying attention to those children. Is there real communication going on between parent and child, or between parent and the person on the phone. When a parent wants a pat on the back for spending "quality time" with their kid, I wonder....

I wonder why so many people around the world are hungry, starving, while so many people throw out enough food to feed the hungry. I wonder why this can be tolerated by those with plenty.

I wonder why older people are left in facilities to finish out their lives alone, waiting for someone to come see them, disappointed that they are not thought about or interesting enough to spend time with or remembered and respected. I wonder what age I will be when it is my turn to be sitting and waiting in a place for old folks unable to live alone. I wonder if I will always love the sound of music, the joy of laughter, a kind touch. Oh my, I do hope so.

There Should Be

This post is written by a woman, so it is slanted in favor of the female sex.  Deal with it.

Some things that Should Be:

There should be baby changing tables in all men's rest rooms. Some men are single fathers, some men share in all the baby changing and some men should learn how to take care of the child they fathered.

There should be one time all year with no changing back and forth a couple times a year. No more spring forward and fall back.

There should be ad campaigns extolling the virtues of all women, all sizes, all types of looks, promoting their beauty and teaching them to feel good about themselves just as they are. Being battered constantly about the need to look better, look different, teaches women to believe they are never good enough, they are taught in TV ads, magazines, billboards, certain looks are beautiful. What a shame.

There should be a Bring Your Wife To Work Day one day a year like the one to bring your kid. Just see how different men act around the co-workers with the wife at work.

There should be party lines available again for people who want to listen in on other people's conversations and get the straight scoop to pass along to their friends instead of searching and questioning trying to find some good gossip. Oh, there is something like that on a large scale, it is called the news. What used to be unbiased, basic news has become the trendy reality show called the news.
Depending on who owns the network the so-called news will be based on the owners' views.

A bird ballet | Short Film

Photo Shoot

A little girl walked to and from school daily.

Though the weather that morning was questionable, and clouds were forming, she made her daily trek to school.  As the afternoon progressed, the winds whipped up, along with lightning.

The mother of the little girl felt concerned that her daughter would be frightened as she walked home from school.  She also feared the electrical storm might harm her child.

Full of concern, the mother got into her car and quickly drove along the route to her child's school.  She   saw her little girl walking along.

At each flash of lightning the child would stop, look up, and smile. More lightning followed quickly, and with each the little girl would look at the streak of light and smile.

When the mother drew up beside the child she lowered the window and called to her child "What are you doing?"

The child answered "I am trying to look pretty because God keeps taking my picture."

The Day After

Yesterday was my birthday and twelve friends showed up at a restaurant with cakes and presents and we partied in the afternoon. They surprised me. Overwhelming to me at first to have them all come out in the cold weather with fresh snow and they showed me they know me so well, the gifts were all the things I like. I am so blessed to have dear friends.

In the evening one of those friends drove me and her sister to a nearby town where we ate and then went to watch the band her son plays in perform for hundreds of enthusiastic dancers. The dance floor was pretty full all night. That band is popular around here.

My birthday was a full day of loving greetings and cards and phone calls and emails and texts. My son called me from where he lives in Hawaii and we talked about two hours. I don't think my brother has ever missed calling me on my birthday and we had a great visit on the phone. I have been emailing thank you messages this morning.

Today will be another full day of concerts in Omaha and meals and friends and we will get back in time to watch the second half of the Super Bowl. Good thing I have lots of energy!

Thank you to all my blogging buddies who sent me birthday wishes. Your messages mean so much to me, and your presence in my life adds to my joy.

Today

Yesterday I went to lunch at a restaurant I had not been to with five of my closest friends. Sitting there with my gal pals I looked around at them and realized how dear they are to me. We are a group of women who were not a group before, we found our way to each other and discovered some wonderful things in each other.

My lunch was awesome: Filet mignon cooked to perfection and French Fries and a veggie.  Anyone who knows me will already have discovered how much I like French Fries. I have been avoiding them for a few months, so it was a treat to enjoy them yesterday.

After lunch we drove to our favorite place to play bingo and guess what? I won the last game of the day so I won forty dollars.

I bought my lunch with some of the money my daughters sent to me in darling birthday cards. Today is my birthday. I have started celebrating birthdays for the first time.  This is the best time of my life. I am happy. Oh, and it is true, I am not getting older, I am indeed getting better.

Mary Had A Little Lamb

Meet Mary, the dog.

See Mary run.

Watch Mary feed her little lamb. 

The end.