Weekly Photo Challenge: E Archive

E-Rock

Elevation 2407 feet

Exquisite View

My maternal grandparents, Estes and Elizabeth

My grandmother Elizabeth

 

I Had A Dream…

Dream Job

Last night I had a crazy dream…..

This week’s spin is on your perfect job.  Have you ever HAD the perfect job?  What would it be?  I have had some jobs I really enjoyed and I’ve had some jobs that I didn’t.  Actually most jobs I’ve had I have enjoyed… the jobs themselves, it was the people that I had to put up with ON those jobs that made them unpleasant.

I can honestly say that I can’t think of a job that I’ve had that I really really disliked except for the short stint I had as a “door to door” encyclopedia sales person. Yeah, I really did that.  And even then, it wasn’t the job itself so much because I enjoyed meeting the people, again, it was the people I worked with/for.  They were very disorganized and just really didn’t do a good job of follow through.

A “dream job” for me wouldn’t be that difficult.  It would involve working with people, preferably new ones each day!  I actually really like working retail in the respects that I got to meet new people every day and the same with working at the chiropractor ‘s office.  I got to meet new people almost every day.

The other thing I really like to do I HELP people.  I felt like I did that at the chiropractor’s office (even though I wasn’t the one actually making them feel better) and that made me happy.  So, helping people would be a big priority.

I also love giving things to people or just giving things away.  And I know when I volunteered on the umpteen committees and fund raisers for the kids activities that always made me happy.  Meeting goals and raising money and giving things away…. Yeah, that’s all good.

I guess then, my ideal job would quite possibly involve working for a non-profit of some kind.  I enjoy organizing fund raisers, I enjoy making people happy, I enough working with people and meeting new people and I enjoy giving things away!  SO… if any of you guys out there know of a job in the Atlanta area that involves all those things THAT would be my dream job.  Oh, an being able to work from home and work my own hours or at least not your typical 9 to 5 hours wouldn’t hurt either!  Is that too much to ask?

I have a dream…. A dream job… I just don’t know where to find it!

So what’s your dream job? Spin it up and head on over to Gretchen’s Second Blooming to tell us all about it!

 

Stormy Weather

Storm

I wake to the sound of thunder rumbling

I pull the covers back over my head, grumbling

“Is it still going to rain all day today?”

NO, please no, let there be another way.

Forecast calls for occasional storming

And to watch out for tornadoes forming

It’s been raining and storming for over a week

My back yards a lake and my roof’s gonna leak

I have no problem with Mother Nature

Doing her job with occasional adventure

But day after day of continual rain

Is getting on my nerves, being a pain

The lightening crashes all around

It does look beautiful as it streaks to the ground

But then my internet and cable go out

That makes me angry and I want to shout

I shake my fists to the heavens and growl

Why do the winds have to blow and howl

I thought “light rains” were in the forecast

How long are these downpours going to last?

Day after day and hours upon hours

We endure these “occasional” thunder showers

Oh wait! Is the sun poking through clouds in the sky?

Nope, that’s just the street light opening it’s eye.

I’ve put up with this cold and wet without end

Mother Nature is definitely not being my friend

I guess I should shut up and let her put on her show

Or she could decide to turn this rain into snow.

This poem was brought to you by way of Mama Kat and her Pretty Much World Famous Writer’s Workshop and prompt #2.) Write a poem about inspired by the word: Storm.

 

Wordless Wednesday: Antico Lunch

 

Share Your World: Week 7

I have chosen to participate in Cee’s Life Photography Photoblog’s Share Your World this week.

1. If you could choose anyone, who would you pick as your mentor?

Jesus, Mother Teresa or Ghandi because of their ability to see the good in everyone and always turn the other cheek and their love of helping others.

1. When was the last time you had an amazing meal?

I always have an amazing meal whenever my husband cooks!  I’m spoiled.  But other than my husband’s cooking I’d have to say either the last time we went to Pacci (before it closed) or when we went to the wine dinner at Leoci’s in Savannah.  I always have great meals so for me to consider it AMAZING it has to be spectacular.

1. Would you rather take pictures or be in pictures?

I would much rather take pictures. I hate having pictures taken of myself. I really do not like the way I look but I love how everyone else looks so I’d rather be on the back side of the camera!

1. Describe yourself in seven words.

Family oriented, loving, giving, humorous, kind, stubborn

If you’d like to participate, head on over to Cee’s and either hook your post into hers or leave your answers in her comments section!  It’s that easy!

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: D Archives

Here are my submissions for FrizzText and the D archive photos:

Dad (on the left with his dad on the right)

Dinner!

Daughters!

Decoration

Dusk

Another Dusk

Dusk or Dawn?

Darkness before dawn

DARK (and kinda creepy!)

Doggie

doorway

Drizzly dawn

Dawn of a new day

 

Please Help!

I’m going on another rant. I apologize in advance.  I may lose some readers due to my stand on this but I have to say something.

This morning I stumbled on a blog titled Our Simple Lives through another new blogger friend, Jen at We’re Living a Full Life.  Jen had written a letter to Homeland Security on behalf of the couple and I plan to do the same thing and I hope you all will too.

The situation kind of reminds me of several years ago, a friend of ours, who is in a heterosexual marriage and had been married to the same man for about 20 years (at the time) and her 4 children with him, was in a quandary because her husband just happened to be of Iranian descent.  It was shortly after Desert Storm (the first war over there) started and even though he had lived and worked here for over 2 dozen years paying taxes and being an upstanding citizen (though not legally), he was almost deported because he was of Iranian descent.  Of course they didn’t say that was the reason, they simply chose NOT to renew his green card.

Here we go again, almost 20 years later but basically the same situation.  Mark Hames and Fred Deloizy of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania have been together for 22 years.  They have adopted 4 children together.  4 years ago they got married.  Fred’s visa recently expired and he is now facing deportation because DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) does not recognize their marriage as legal.  If they were a straight married couple, Mark could sponsor Fred to renew his visa but since they are a gay married couple and DOMA does not recognize their union, he cannot sponsor his spouse and the father of their children.

Fred, Mark and their children Jonathan, Claire, Jacob and Joshua

Looking at how many broken single family homes there are in America and how many children are being raised by one parent, I’d think that the U.S. and DOMA would be happy to allow a happily married loving couple the privilege of staying together happily to raise their children in a loving two parent home.  I’m not going to pretend to understand all of the nuances of the whole situation.  I only know that I find it unconscionable that we would deport a hard working production member of society and rip him away from his children because we are too bigoted and simple minded to open our hearts and minds and see the bigger picture.

I am going to provide you with links to both Jen’s (We’re Living A Full Life) blog post concerning this so that you can read her beautifully eloquent letter to Homeland Security and Mark’s post about their being interviewed by CNN regarding the whole situation.  And I implore you, if you have a heart PLEASE send a letter to Homeland Security or Senator Casey.  The addresses are:

Senator Robert P. Casey, Jr.

393 Russell Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

Phone: 202-224-6324

Toll Free:  866-802-2833

Fax:  202-228-0604

Or

Secretary Janet Napolitano

Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Washington, D.C. 20528

202-282-8000

Just because you may not agree with their lifestyle, it shouldn’t stop you from trying to keep this fine upstanding man from being ripped from his family’s life.  Please take a moment to write a letter on their behalf. If you click the link below it should take you to the CNN report on this.

Gay Spouse faces deportation under DOMA

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Simple

sim·ple   [sim-puhl] adjective, -pler, -plest, noun adjective 1. easy to understand, deal with, use, etc.: a simple matter; simple tools. 2. not elaborate or artificial; plain: a simple style. 3. not ornate or luxurious; unadorned: a simple gown. 4. unaffected; unassuming; modest: a simple manner. 5. not complicated

 

Getting to Know ME

I’ve been meaning to join in with my fellow blogger friend Cee’s weekly “getting to know you” series and keeping missing it so I’m gonna do all the weeks I’ve missed with one fell swoop.  Hope you don’t get bored and I hope I do it right next week!

Week 1

1. What is your favorite color? Teal (I can’t be normal)
2. Music or silence while working? Either. I guess it depends on what I’m working on and what type of music.  I don’t want rap when I’m working on something tedious or that demands my concentration!
3. Do you prefer shopping or going to a park?  I hate shopping for myself but love shopping for others but never have the money to so I guess it’s going to the park!
4. Your favorite place within 2 hours of your home?  I’d say the North Georgia Mountains… any of them!

 

Week 2

1. If you could learn to do anything, what would it be? Ballroom dancing but I have no rhythm. Or figure skating!
2. If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? Make sure my parents house was paid for and then my own.
3. Are you a morning or night person? Night. I do get up early but sometimes I’m cranky so I’d say night.
4. Where were you born? Charlottesville, VA

Week 3

1. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would that be? If I had my whole family with me probably Hawaii (even though I’ve never been) or back in the mountains of Virginia (if I had great internet service!)
2. What is your favorite comfort food? Country steak with gravy and mashed potatoes (made by my husband) Then fried chicken made by my mom.
3. Coffee or Tea? Both. I drink coffee before lunch and tea afterwards.
4. What is your favorite TV show of all time ie you’ve seen them all, can watch it over and over again and quote lines from it?  Golden Girls.  I think those ladies were hilarious. Then probably Bosom Buddies. And of course The Waltons (since I’m FROM there!)

Week 4

1. How do you write computer, longhand or other?  If you mean letters, I type on the computer.  My handwriting is awful!
2. Favorite subject to photograph?  Write? Or Cook?  I love to photograph or write about my kids or pets. I like cooking stuff with pasta.
3. What would you name the autobiography of your life? She was a BIG Square Peg (Trying to fit into a tiny round hole)
4. What was your favorite toy as a child  . . . and now? My Saucy Walker Doll.  Now?  Can I say my husband?

Week 5

1. What do you usually think about right before falling asleep? How tired I am.
2. Do you believe in extraterrestrials or life on other planets? Yes, I think it’s very narcissistic to think we’d be the be all have all of the universe.  There HAVE to be more intelligent creatures than us.
3. If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go? Japan to visit my mother in law
4. If you could have 3 wishes granted for you alone, what would they be? Be a healthy weight, be able to pay all my bills comfortably, be able to travel at will.

Week 6

1. Do you push the elevator button more than once?  Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster? Yes, I do if I’m in a hurry even though I KNOW it doesn’t make it come any faster.  I do however know that once you are inside if no other floors are already pushed between you and your floor you’re going to if you hold the button in it will go straight to your floor and bypass others even if someone else pushed it after you held it in.
2. What type of pets do you have?  Any others you would like to have? 1 dog (the amazing chiweenie – actually our daughters who lives with us) and 4 cats. If it were possible I’d love to own a Bengal tiger although I could probably never afford to feed it!
3. What was the last film that really moved/disturbed/thrilled you and why? The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – I just felt so bad for what she had been through and how people perceived her.
4. What sound or sounds do you love?  My coffee percolating. Babies laughing or cooing. A cat purring.

 

Fuzzy Wuzzy

dogs

Time for Mama Kat’s and this week I chose prompt #2.) List the names of five dogs from your lifetime.  Write about why one sparks a stronger memory to you than the others. (inspired by Writing Fix)

The first dogs I had as an adult were two Shetland Sheepdogs from the same litter that we named Jamaica and Tequila.  Can you guess that we liked to party a lot by their names? I was living with my sister and her son at the time and one morning Tequila ate the last Hostess Ho Ho that my nephew left lying on the coffee table while he went to get something to drink.  She gobbled it right up and he was so mad he stomped her poor little foot and broke it!  Yeah, we had to give them away after that because we were afraid that he’d either lose his temper again and accidently (or who knows? Maybe purposely?) kill them both or that he wouldn’t and they’d bite him after he hit or kicked them.  Yeah, it wasn’t a good mix.

The first three dogs we had as a married couple were BoBo, Pookie and Lucy.  Ironically they were all three black dogs.  We didn’t purposely go after black dogs, it just happened that way.  BoBo was a lab mixed with something smaller.  She probably weighed about 30 pounds and was as sweet as could be.  She had the puppies I posted pictures of one time of #1 playing with them.

I think this was her favorite puppy

Pookie we got not long after we got BoBo.  I had bought BoBo for hubby for Chirstmas and shortly thereafter we decided she needed a companion so the old vet (and I DO mean OLD… he was probably 70 or 80 then) that used to eat at hubby’s restaurant told him that someone had turned in a little boy puppy that was probably going to be a small dog and it would probably be a good fit for BoBo.  Well, it did turn out that SHE was a good fit but he was a she and we never even CHECKED…we had just taken the vet’s word for it and thought we didn’t have to worry about getting him fixed anytime soon since it was a boy.  Next thing we knew HE was having puppies!  And we just thought he was getting fat!  Oh, and she was a pure black lab….

BoBo and her puppies

Lucy was another lab we acquired roundabout through our neighbors.  They had gotten her litter mate which was a yellow lab and someone she worked with had gotten Lucy but they lived in an apartment and couldn’t keep her so we took her.  She was such a sweet dog and we had her about 12 years I think.

The dog that for some reason made the biggest impression on me (other than Chorizo of course) was Fuzzy.  Fuzzy was a sort of long haired German Sheppard mix (maybe mixed with collie?) that was the sweetest dog but was fiercely protective of us as kids.

He was very smart too.  Every morning we would go down to the bus stop and wait for the school bus and he would go down with us and wait for the bus with us.  In the evenings we didn’t get off the bus at our house and for some reason he knew this.  We would get off the bus at the little commissary at the soapstone plant that was about a mile from our house because the post office was down there and we’d go by and pick up our mail and walk home the back way.  Without fail he would be waiting in front of Walter Witt’s store when we got off the school bus and walk home with us!  I don’t know how he knew what time the bus came or how he knew to start waiting out in front of the store but he did and he faithfully waited there for us every single day.

I remember once in particular we had some family friends visiting one evening and we were gathered around our stone patio talking and joking around.  Fuzzy was sitting beside me to my left and the family friend was sitting to the right of me.  I think there was a person in between us. I couldn’t have been more than 8 or 10 years old.  I said something that was most likely “fresh mouthed” and the friend (who was an adult woman, my mother’s age) reached across to “smack” my leg. Not hard, just jokingly.  Well, Fuzzy didn’t think it was so funny because he lunged across me after her with his hackles raised snarling like he was going to rip her to shreds.  We had to grab him before he got her.  He wasn’t too fond of her after that and always made sure after that if she was over he sat between me and wherever she was.

It seems like it wasn’t too long of a time after that when Fuzzy went missing.  I am not in any way suggesting the friend had anything to do with it. That’s just how I remember him disappearing.  Anyway, we got off the bus one evening and he wasn’t there.  We knew right away that something was wrong.  It was totally not in his character for him not to be there when we got off the bus.  The next morning he still wasn’t there and that evening either.  My brothers found him a couple of days later.  Someone had shot him and dumped him in the ditch across the road from our house!  I do remember that it broke my heart because I loved that dog.

I still remember that little ditty I used to sing to him “Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear, Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair… Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn’t fuzzy wuzzy!”  Then I’d laugh hysterically as if he understood the joke and changed the words up to make them more fitting “Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn’t a bear (although he looked like one)…Fuzzy was had LOTS of hair!  Fuzzy Wuzzy was VERY fuzzy wuzzy!”  And he’d jump around and lick my face while I laughed hysterically at my own dumb joke.  Yeah, I guess I was always a dork.  Poor Fuzzy may not have been a bear but he had lots of hair and lots of heart and he stole mine.