Dragging My Feet

Here it is Sunday and I am just writing Friday's challenge. Talk about dragging one's heals. It is hard to blog "on demand" but it gets me in gear.

It's not only writing that causes me to drag my heals. If someone bugs me to do something it probably won't get done in a timely manner. Call it passive/aggressive, stubbornness, childishness, whatever. I don't like to be pushed.

Also, confrontation is something I tend to put off. Blessedly, I have learned that it needs to get done quickly or my imagination will make things so much worse. So, I'm quicker about it than I used to be.

When I was in college, I would cram for exams. I tried to study daily but got most of my knowledge memorized in the last few days before an exam. Also, when it came to writing papers, I would organize it in my head for days and then type it out the night before it was due. I've read that this is not uncommon and is one of two ways of writing papers. The other is to do it all on paper one step at at time taking one's time.

Do you have anything you know you drag your heals on? Tell me about it.

Dropping Names

Psst...come here. A little closer. I've got something to tell you. I once met Cliff Robertson! Yup, Spiderman's Uncle Ben! He was a famous actor who left this world last year.

Oh, and my late father-in-law was a cameraman for The Honeymooners and Soupy Sales. When Soupy would talk to "Uncle Sal," he was talking to my father-in-law. He met many stars and public figures.

I have met Don Imus a couple of time - well, when I was a teenager. Also, I sang in a rock band when I was a teen. The band was called Back Rhodes. (Don't ask.)

However, the most famous, wonderful superstar I have ever met is, ready for this? Jesus Christ! Yup, forty years ago I made His personal acquaintance! Giving my life to Him broke the chains that had held me close to this world.

Yes, of all the people I have ever met, the Son has never let me down, always been available and has never witheld love from me. I always know where I stand with Him. You see, I am royalty because my Father is a King and His son is the Prince of Peace! Shhh.....oh,never mind, tell everyone! Shout it from the mountain tops! If you need peace, here is how to find it: http://www.use.salvationarmy.org/use/www_usn20.nsf/vw-sublinks/81E63E8D7B75B6288825770B0052F6F0?openDocument

Let me know what you think! g

Chock-a-lock-a-love!

Finding out that dark chocolate is actually a health food rocked my world. Yes, I said DARK chocolate - the darker the better. Milk chocolate? Nah. White chocolate? Oh, pul-eez. It isn't even chocolate but basically milk, cocoa butter (has no cocoa) and sugar along with flavorings.

Amazingly, chocolate is an antioxidant which means it gets rid of free radicals which cause disease and aging. Heck, chocolate is even better for you than blueberries, green tea and pomegrates! All this goodness can lower your blood pressure, cholesterol, fight cancer, leap tall buildings in a single bound. You catch my meaning.

There is more but do you really need convincing beyond this?! Dark chocolate is satisfying in small amounts. It will take care of your seet tooth with little damage to your waistline.

I'll do what I have to to stave off aging and illness. Bring on the dark stuff.

Bye, Bye Baby

As I mentioned in a previous post, after nineteen years in one house, we are moving. Today, with the help of a dear friend, I went through all the pictures I had stored in my bedroom closet.

When I say "bye, bye baby" I really mean it. My friend told me (didn't suggest but told me!) to separate the pictures and make a box for each of my two children (this included baby pictures). "You took the pictures for them to have memories so give them the pictures!" Have I mentioned that I have brilliant friends? It took more than two hours but it got done. My daughter said, "How can you get rid of pictures of your kids?" Translated that means, "I thought you would hold on to as much as possible so I don't have to." I have learned that one has to be merciless when moving. There is very little room for sentimentality. Hey, it's all going to burn some day, right? blessings, g

A to Z Challenge!

Another A to Z Challenge! Participating this year will either push me over the edge or keep me sane as we are preparing to move.

A is for autism. Of course it is! April is Autism Awareness Month in the USA and April 2nd is World Autism Awareness Day.

Frankly, I don’t know of anyone who isn’t aware of autism. I would like to change this to Autism Education Month. Do you know the difference between a tantrum and a “meltdown?” Here you go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClvnCyP3DLU

All people with autism are geniuses! From what I read, 10% of the general population has genius I.Q.’s. In the autism community, it is thought that 20% do. Not exactly everyone but a significant number.

People with autism don’t like to be touched. This is true for some but, for others, like my precious granddaughter, it is not. She loves to be held and to show and receive affection.

Don’t vaccinate your child! I don’t agree with this. Work with your pediatrician when it comes to a vaccination schedule. It doesn’t have to be done all at once. Some can be left out. You can have your child’s blood tested before boosters to see if they even need them.

Most importantly, learn the signs of autism:

No big smiles or other warm, joyful expressions by six months or thereafter

No back-and-forth sharing of sounds, smiles or other facial expressions by nine months

No babbling by 12 months

No back-and-forth gestures such as pointing, showing, reaching or waving by 12 months

No words by 16 months

No meaningful, two-word phrases (not including imitating or repeating) by 24 months

Any loss of speech, babbling or social skills at any age

Bless you and, hopefully, will see you tomorrow. gail

Breaking Up is Hard to Do

No, not Himself and me. We are moving and moving is not for the faint of heart. We have been in our house for over nineteen years but it has become too expensive for us to be home “owers.”

Today, a friend helped me go through some things that were stored in the boiler room/basement. Everything is being divided into keep/donate/toss. After forty-five minutes, we had three garbage bags full and enough dust to keep us sneezing.

Overwhelmed doesn’t even begin to explain how I am feeling. There is so much to do and so little time to do it (closing date is April 23rd). Even so, I am happy to be purging. The older I get the less clutter I want around me. Local friends, stop laughing! I know I tend to have a clutter problem but I am trying to reform!

A very important tip I want to impart to you is to not allow a spouse who is over sentimental to be a part of the purging. Himself doesn’t want to get rid of ANYTHING! We have black bags so he can’t see what is being thrown out.

If I could give one piece of advice it would be to never bring something new into your home without getting rid of something else. If you haven’t used it in a year get rid of it. If you don’t love it get rid of it. Oh, that was three pieces of advice. All three will help you to not have the overwhelming task I now face.

One of the biggest gifts my mother ever gave to my siblings and me was to get rid of everything in the ways mentioned above. She had seen a relative die and leave a mess of a home for the kids to take care of and she didn’t want her children to go through the same.

Another thing Mom and Dad did was to make advanced directives and living wills and to give us copies. They have told us what they want done after their deaths (cremation, no wake) and chose the child they thought would be able to handle the estate the best to be executor of their wills. When their times come, we won’t have any guess work.

Don’t make the mistakes I have made. Streamline your “stuff” and don’t let it take over your life!

Blessings all, g

I Don't Do Pink and Various Other Things About Us

I don’t do pink. Pastel pink that is. I dig hot pink. Especially with lime green. Yup. Lime green makes a lot of things look good!