A Letter to my Body

I saw this over on Miss Britt's blog who in turn saw it on BlogHer. It's a love letter to your body. Now I don't know of any woman that truly loves her body. Every woman can find a self proclaimed flaw, even women with the measurements of 36 26 36. I know that women of all ages; young, mature, middle aged, adolescent and girls as young as 6 years old suffer from perceived body image issues and I think this is the perfect initiative to put yourself out there to try and get over that. By doing this maybe someone will read it and decide their bod ain't so bad. It inspired Miss Britt to do an eloquent letter which she then inspired Avitable to do a tongue in cheek letter and hell, if they could put themselves out there, I can too.

Dear Body,

I've not always had the greatest relationship with you. We have never been thin but I never realized it until I started to develop. In the fourth grade. Suddenly seemingly overnight you started to change. I shot up and was the tallest kid in my class. I seemed to tower over the other kids. What's funny about that is that I never really grew much taller, I'm 5"4" today and getting shorter. I hated the fact that my breasts were growing. No one else's were. The idea of wearing a bra was awful. I didn't want to. What finally convinced me was in fifth grade a fourth grade boy said to me, "boy those things jiggle when you walk." That's all it took, I wore one 24/7.

My dear body, while everyone was still flat and straight as a board you became curvy in all the right places. You gave me the hips and butt to go with the breasts. I thought I was fat. If I could only have that body again. Fat I was not. It just seemed that way because I looked so much lusher than the other girls. With this body that you had given me came the unwanted attention from boys and men. To me it was embarrassing to have the opposite sex stare at me with "that" look on their face. Growing into my teenage years was painful. I have never been one that likes to be the center of attention and trust me, with a shape like mine you garnered it. By now the girls were starting to catch up with me in some areas but not all. I did everything I could to hide you by covering up with baggy shirts and slouching. I could have had many, many boyfriends but lived in fear that they were only interested in me for you body. I once had a health teacher in high school that tell me I looked like I could go to Vegas and get a job as a showgirl.

We got through high school you and me but the feelings of dislike didn't leave. Even as a young woman in a professional office I once overheard two men talking about my "boobs and ass" after I walked by them. Unbeknown to them, I went into the cubicle next to them. You and I decided at that moment this shit would end. I walked into their office and told them that I never wanted to hear that again. Other men when speaking with me would stare at our breasts. I had enough of that too and I would tell them to look at my face, my chest doesn't talk. Honestly I didn't care if I embarrassed them. Some had the good grace to be embarrassed, others not so much.

Eventually we found the man that loved the mind and body and spirit of us. You produced two beautiful children that when I look at them today I'm still in awe of what you created. Although you were never the same after having those children. Things were lower, areas not as firm in places and as time went by, body of mine, you started to gain weight. Oh we were still curvy but with larger curves.

Today at age 49 I am finally at peace with you. I accept that I will never be thin, that I will have a large chest and a round but still firm ass. I finally understand that I can look professional or sexy in clothes that fit well, that this body doesn't have to be covered, camouflaged and under wraps. I thank my husband for loving me mind, body and soul. I like a line from the movie Hairspray said Mother Maybelle (Queen Latifa) says "why have a twig when you can climb the whole tree."

Now comes the part where Britt and Avitable posted a naked picture of themselves. I can't bring myself to do that but here is a picture showing the cleavage that has been the bane of my existence along with the a picture of my behind.

Cameron left JFK at 11:50 and will land in Rochester in ten minues at 1:40 am.

I hate winter.

I found the video of David Archuleta from American Idol, check it out

and let me know what you think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIuMcL4Kz44

Music to calm the savage beast (mom)

I admit it, I watch American Idol but like Dancing with the Stars better. Except for this season. I predict this young man, David Archuleta as the winner. The way I can tell if someone is a good vocalist is how I feel when I listen. This 17 year old has an amazing voice. Tonight he sang John Lennon's Imagine. I'm telling you it moved me to tears, I felt it in my heart. If you didn't hear it it's truly your loss. I hope it shows up on Youtube.

One last thing, Cameron is on the last Jet Blue flight out of JFK leaving at 11:50 pm! I told him to go ask someone how long they will keep delaying this flight before they cancel it all together. He was told the plane is there all ready to go but they don't have a pilot yet. WTF? He said that there's a passenger waiting for the same plane who is making balloon animals for everyone.

Delayed

So the kid took off from Orlando about 2 hours late during a thunderstorm warning. When he arrives in JFK he will see that his flight to Rochester is cancelled. There's another flight after his that says it's delayed. I hope they can get him and his friend on that one. If not, I guess he will be spending the night in the airport. We'll see.

Fear of Flying

See all that white crap on the weather map? The city I live in is under it on the shore of Lake Ontario. Today we have a winter storm warning, expecting possibly 12 inches of snow, cold temps and wind that will blow said snow around. Normally this kind of weather doesn't faze me in the least. After 40 some years of living in it one gets used to it.

What makes me uneasy this time is that number 2 son is flying in from Florida this evening. He'll get out of Orlando okay but I'm worried he will be stranded at JFK in New York City. Not to mention that the pilot has to fly in this crap. I myself am an uneasy flier. While I'm not petrified like some I don't enjoy it. I don't like the bumps, the banking, the speed up slow down, taking off or landing. Hmmmm, there's not much left to like. That being said I am very anxious today about Cameron flying home tonight. If he gets stuck somewhere please let it be in Orlando.

Hockey, Hockey, Hockey

My husband and I went to a hockey game last night. Rochester is in the American Hockey League, a step down from the NHL. Back in my younger days we had season tickets. As far a games go this one had it all, missed scoring opportunities, penalties for roughing, crosschecking, slashing et al and fights with four 5 minute fighting penalties and three 10 minute major misconducts. The crowd was wild with testosterone! It just occurred to me that my last two posts have blood in them. At one time we had a 5 on 3 power play and couldn't score plus we had 37 total shots on goal. The final score 4 - 0 and we were on the losing end of it. I've been around hockey for most of my life and I've never really cared for the fighting aspect. While they can be entertaining at times for the most part I don't get why someone would pound their fist on the helmet of their adversary. The secret is to get your opponents sweater over their head so they can't see what they're doing and get their arms tangled up in the jersey. At least that would be my strategy. My favorite aspect of the game is the defensive play. I have a soft spot in my heart for defensemen. Sure the goalie and the forwards get all the glory but damn, those defensemen have to skate backwards for most of the game. Nothing is sweeter to me when a defenseman scores from the point.

Between periods they have different contests and one is sponsored by the New York State Lottery. They throw balls into the crowd with numbers on them, if you get one you turn it in and get a prize package. Now whenever something comes flying at me at a hockey game it's usually a puck and I duck. I was hit in the face with one once and not only did it hurt quite a bit it was also embarrassing. So here comes a ball right at me, I'm not jumping up to catch it, let someone else fall over the seats to get it. The guy in front of me deflects it and it lands at my feet. Hubby turned it in and we got the items below.The best part were 10 scratch off lottery tickets. (Yes, I know, there's only 8 in this picture) Each ticket has 10 chances to win. With 100 chances we won 2 bucks on one ticket and 25 bucks on another. It must be my lucky week. I also won a $25. gift card to Amazon.com on a contest over on Britt's blog.


Today I spent 4 hours watching Gone With The Wind. Fiddle dee dee, whatever in the world did Scarlett see in that wimpy old Ashley Wilkes when she could have had Rhett Butler? Silly girl.

This was the picture on the front page of our newspaper this morning. I am willing to bet my house that there will be multiple letters to the editors over it. They will say how horrible it is, they don't need to see that at breakfast, it's not appropriate, respect the families privacy etc.

ANNETTE LEIN staff photographer
A trail of blood marks the sidewalk on Friederich Park where Brent Coley fled after being shot. Coley was found on Friederich Park, while Da'marri Shaw was found outside the house on Wilkins Street where the shooting occurred. The 15-year-olds were pronounced dead at Strong Memorial Hospital.

I whole heartedly agree with them except that even though it is a horrible picture we should all see it including kids age 10 and above. Young people in this world as well as adults need to see how these kids are being killed over drugs. According to the article these two young boys were in a house where drugs were being sold when others burst in and started shooting. Apparently Shaw started running with a rough crowd last summer and now he has paid for that with his life. As a parent I can understand how hard it is to control what your children do when you aren't with them. This is a nightmare for parents. I'm sure this is a very painful picture for the families to view but if it were my child I would want it out there for all to see. To see how my child lost their life to senseless violence and I'd hope that it would get through to at least one kid who may be thinking that this sort of life was for them.

Pedicures

My husband is my pedicurest and over the years has honed his fine motor skills. My toes always look perfect when he's done. He is also a great foot massager. Now his feet, I don't even let them on my side of the bed! Ugh. Men's feet are not their best feature. Hairy toes, thick toenails, dry leathery skin. You get the picture. For a few years I've been telling him he should have a pedicure and his response is always, "me?, no way, I don't need no stinkin' pedicure!" Lately he's stressed , working his regular job during the day and a second job in the evening trying to get a business off the ground. His birthday was earlier this month so I made him an appointment at the salon/spa I go to. Tuesday was the day, unbeknownst to him. He took the afternoon off to take the kids to the airport so late that afternoon I told him to get his shoes on, we were going somewhere. His reply, "is it going to cost me money?" I drove and when I pulled into the parking lot of the salon he says, "Oh you're getting a pedicure." Uh huh, I could hardly keep a straight face. When the girl called HIS name he was shocked. It was so fun to see him soaking his feet, getting his feet and calves massaged and being pampered. He loved it. The only problem is that now he wants equal time with the foot pampering. I'll rub anything he wants but not his feet, I don't care how soft they are!!

And They're Off

In my part of New York the schools have a week off from school we call February recess. It started back in the 1970's during the energy crisis as a way to conserve. Close the schools for a week and you don't need to use the lights and you can keep the heat on just enough to keep the pipes from freezing. There is a movement today to get rid of this practice. I hope it fails. Some school districts have tried it but have since gone back to the week off. Yes, I know we just had time off at Christmas but believe me, the kids and adults still need this. I like it just because everyone seems to be sick at this time of the year. The week gives you time to recover and for the germs to die off from every surface in the school. That being said, our son and his best friend left for Lakeland, Florida yesterday to stay with my parents for a week. On a side note, the father of the man that killed the college students in Illinois lives in my parent's retirement community. I'm sure they'll have fun, my parents will spoil them. There are two pools there and the boys are looking forward to driving my dad's golf cart around and playing shuffleboard. Woo Hoo! Nothing like high school seniors vacationing in a retirement community! My parents are taking them to Universal in Orlando, a museum in Tampa, to Parkdale Farms for huge strawberry shortcake and to the beach. Before we left for the airport they squeezed in a few last minutes of video game playing. Cody has to be in on all the action with his toy. Please ignore the dusty TV, we're doing some drywalling and I'm waiting till it's finished before I do a final dust.

I'm a nervous flier and I'm not even going.

I'm nervous for them because they aren't a bit!

What Would You Do For A Friend?

Have you ever wondered are Reese's Peanut Butter Cups available in Japan or Taiwan? I can tell you that no, they are not. Have you ever wondered how much it would cost to ship some to the Japan and Taiwan? If so, rest easy now because I can tell you. But first some background information. Son number 2 is a senior in high school and two of his good friends chose to be foreign exchange students for the school year. They left this past August and won't return home until this July. You guessed it, one is in Japan, the other Taiwan.

Number 2 communicates with them via email and instant messenger. He asked them what they miss about home and both said Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. My son decided to go to the store and get them some. He bought them each 3 packages each weighing 4.4 oz. We went to the post office this morning and he was prepared to pay more to ship them than what he paid for them. Turns out to mail 12.12 oz to Japan and Taiwan: $14.69 to each place for a grand total of $29.38 He said it was worth it so off they went with an ETA of February 26.

I just hope they don't look like this when they get there!!

Won't You Be My Neighbor

Does every neighborhood have a house they wish wasn't there. A property owner that doesn't take care of their house and yard? Someone that waits until the grass is 16 inches long before they scalp it? We have one on our street and it just so happens that it's right next to our house. It makes my husband so frustrated when they don't take care of their lawn. I tell him it just makes his look so much better. But really, I'm tired of looking at the mess next door. The couple that live there have divorced. The lady of the house became addicted to drugs, spent all their money plus money they didn't have. He had to sell his business and stints in rehab didn't work out. After he left she lived there with her boyfriend who left his wife for her. I don't know his name but we call him Goober. Long story short, she lost the house when the bank foreclosed on it. It has now been empty for a few months and for sale. It needs a ton of work. At one time ice and snow ripped the gutter and facia off the front of the house. It stayed like that for 6 months all the while birds and squirrells were living in the attic. She had a junk car in her driveway for almost a year. We called the town, they had to go the route of several warning letters, then fines. That process takes like what seems forever. Below are two pictures of our house, front and back from 2004 when this all started. Following that is her house.

Now we don't live in a mansion by any stretch of the imagination. Three bedrooms, livingroom, family room, 1 1/2 bath, eat in kitchen, foyer, half basement half crawl space but we take care of it.
This is the house next door as of November 2007. Someone had the bushes in the front cut. They were covering most of the house, cut down a dead tree in the front and trim up a pine tree that's too big for the yard. That being done now you can see the lovely green stains on the front of the house.
The back yard of the property. We put up a 6 foot stockade fence this past fall. I wouldn't have gone higher if allowed.


Goober's truck complete with no muffler. He made the mud pit it sits in. Thank goodness he didn't park on the front yard at least.


So the house remains empty. I don't even know if anyone could even make any money flipping it there is sooooo much work to be done. I am just so tired of looking at it for the last 4 years.

Rude vs Pleasant

My nature is usually gentle and peaceful but when someone attacks someone I love, a family member or friend I can turn into a mother bear with her cub. As you saw by yesterday's post my husband, Mike is involved in Boy Scouts and received a rather rude email from a parent. Not only did this parent send the email to my husband but he CCed every scout parent on it. Since then Mike has received emails of support from other parents and one from a scout who's mother must have shared the orginal email with. This scout also copied all parents in and was very gracious and articulate when thanking Mike, John and any other parent that has helped in the past for all they've done and how he always has a new and unique experience on these trips. Imagine that, a 17 year old with more social skills than an adult.

I will say that this whole thing has bothered me much more than my husband. I see the hard work he does and how it can be stressful but he does it because he wants the scouts to see and experience as much as they can. He works closely with home builders in his job and they're always calling him and yelling about things they want yesterday. He has a thick skin from dealing with that type. I don't. In my job the staff and faculty are a close knit group and treat everyone with respect. It's much easier and pleasant to go through life like that rather than an angry, resentful, demanding, ungrateful and rude person.

Give and Take

In life there are givers, there are takers and there are complainers. I think most people are a combination of all three but some lean stronger one way or the other.

Case in point. We have two sons ages 21 & 17 and both have gone from Tiger Cubs (first grade) in Cub Scouts up through to Eagle Scout in Boy Scouts. My husband was a den leader for both boys and is very active in the Boy Scout troop, over the years holding several committee posoitions. This is all done on a all volunteer basis. Getting other parents to be envolved has always been an ongoing problem. Like any organizations, it's always the same parents that do the volunteering and the same ones that do nothing.

One of the things that hubby and another father have done is plan a spring trip for the boys for the last 6 years. These trips are also open to the family members. They've gone to West Point, Baltimore, Boston, Washington DC, Toronto and New York City. It takes a lot of work to plan these trips from the transportation, chaperones, lodging, meals, attractions and itinery. Being responsible for someone else's kids is more than enough work.

This is the last year that these fathers will be planning the trip as both boys are going to college in September and will be done with scouts. This fact was brought up in several parent meeting and they suggested that some of the younger scout parent's help plan the trip with them so they can do it in the future. No one stepped up to the plate and it has been simmering on the back burner. It came to light that the scouts were bummed that no trip was being planned. The two guys decided that they'd plan one more trip so their boys could enjoy one last hurrah.

Don't forget that going as far back as October they asked for help or ideas of where the trip should be. They now decided that they would take the boys to Ottawa, the capital of Canada. It's a five hour drive and would last three days. Hubby sent out an email the other night to get a headcount as to who might be interested.

He received this email from a parent, word for word;

*Your Poor* planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part. what have you been doing since October when the spring trip was first raised in the parent meeting? why did you not ask for input or at least present a couple of different places to go other than an icebox city with very little to do unless your into shopping of fine arts. What scouting activities do you have planned?

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

WTF. My response, not my husband's.

My husband responded:

Ouch!

XXXX, that's gonna leave a mark in the morning. Do I detect some sarcasm there?? On behalf of John and myself, we do appreciate your comments though.

There is so much more to this as well as more emails. I just get so frustrated with people like him. Sit back and let others do all the work but complain when it's not to your liking. Plus Ottawa is a great place, I've been twice. Being the country's capital it's rich with history, sites to see, things to do. They're staying in a hostel that used to be a jail. How cool is that for a kid?

I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's not the kids that are bad, it's their crazy parents. I'll deal with kids any day over adults.

On another note, I'm off from school for the next week for February recess. Yahooo.

VD

No I don't have VD but I suppose some people may catch it today. I'm not a big proponant of Valentine's Day. Of course I like to be told "I love you", get cards, flowers and all that jazz. I guess I don't like all the marketing out there telling people you need to buy their goods to tell your significant other that you love them. I'd rather be surprised on a random day then on the day you're "supposed" to. I must be a rebel. I actually feel bad for men that have to produce something on Valentine's Day or they're in the dog house. The pressure must be nuts. I see the price of roses and see the diamond commercials on TV. Yikes.

So while my husband I don't ignore this day, he gets me a card, it's just not a big deal. What I do like about this day is how my kindergartners get excited about it. There's nothing better than a homemade valentine. Guys, why spent upwards of 4 -5 bucks on a card when a homemade card will mean more. This is one that I received today from a student. She couldn't wait to give it to me and the smile on her face was priceless.

There was a letter to the editor in our paper the other day from a woman who was complaining that she can't say Merry Christmas anymore because it's not politically correct so why are we celebrating Valentine's Day? It was named after a saint. Why do kids get to celebrate it in school but not celebrate Christmas? Plus why are we allowing kids to celebrate a holiday that has to do with sex and lust?Do some people have nothing else in their lives to use their brain cells on? First, if she wants to wish someone Merry Christmas, who the hell is stopping her? It's not a punishable offense. Second, sex and lust? Yes, some gentlemen use this as a reason to shop at Victoria's Secret and buy themselves something. And let's be real, it may be something they give to their woman but it's really for them to enjoy. Kids celebrate it as a time to be nice to each other and tell them with an innocent card.

I like that you can find hearts in nature.

These are bleeding heart in my garden last spring.

A heart shaped nebula.

For all of you coffee and latte drinkers out there.

The human heart sure doesn't look like the heart shape that we're familar with. Maybe if you took off the arteries.

Blue

As I sat here on the couch at 5:34 pm reading Stephen King's Duma Key I looked out the window and realized that it's the Blue Hour and very pretty and peaceful. I call it the Blue Hour but it's not always an hour, sometimes less. Tonight it will be more like the Blue 30 minutes. What the hell is this woman talking about you may be thinking. I'll explain.

There's a time in the late afternoon or early evening mostly in the winter and the conditions have to be right. There's a cloud cover with snow on the ground and in the air as it is right now and everything outside seems to be awash in blue. It's like you're looking through a blue filter. Not that sunshiny blue you get when it's bright out. This is more a faded, washed out blue. The sky, snow,trees, everything has a blue tinge to it. Now at 5:45 it is quickly turning to a deeper blue but it's still light out. I really can't tell if it's blue or a violetish color. It will darken to a deep blue by 6:00 and then to black. I've tried to take a picture of this before but the camera doesn't do it justice. It can't capture that shade of blue. I wish I was an artist, I would paint it for you. Have you ever noticed this yourself? If not, slow down, take time to notice your surroundings and become more attuned to what's out there. Become one with nature. Gee, I sound like John Tesh and his new age drivel. Now it's a dusky, smokey blue, the Blue Hour is almost over. 5:59, fade to black.

This is the best photo of it that I could find.

Dogs Rule

I am a dog lover. I don't really understand how someone can not have a dog. Sure they can be a hassle sometimes. They shed,they poop,they bark, the stink sometimes, they get in the garbage, are dependant on you for everything and can sometimes be oh, so very gross. But the rewards you reap in return are priceless. A dog knows when you're sad or not feeling well and gives you that little extra attention to make you feel better. They protect you, greet you at the door when you come home like you've been gone for weeks and love you unconditionally. It's proven that petting a dog releases the feel good chemicals in your brain and lowers your blood pressure. From Winky, my very first dog when I was a kid to Cody the dog I have now and the 3 dogs in between, Charlie, Sam and Shelby, I've loved every one of them and treated them like a loved and valued member of the family.
Tonight I'm watching the Westminster Kennel Club dog show and enjoying all the different breeds.

Some are cute...

some are beautiful...

some are so ugly that they're cute...

some have haircuts that no self respecting dog would want ...

and some are just plain strange looking...

but the one thing they all have in common is that they all look so happy to be there. I'm such a sap when it comes to children, old people and dogs. The Pedigree dog food commercials are making me tear up. The

voice over for most of them is David Duchovney (sexy Mulder of X-Files fame) but the best one is narratted by Trace Atkins and stars Lennox Lewis and a homely bulldog. We saw how this commerical came to fuition on Celebrity Apprentice. If you are also a dog lover I urge you to go to http://www.dogsrule.com/ and donate what you can to help dog adoptions. Pedigree will match the donations up to a quarter of a million dollars. Please click here.

And then there's my dog Cody.

These two dogs look like they're trying to tell me something.

I hate when Blogger does this to my posts. I don't know how to fix it. Please scroll down to leave a comment. Thanks.

What Do You Believe?

I am not a religious person although I am a spritual person I guess. I do subscribe to the theory that all things happen for a reason we just don't always know or never know what the reasons are. I believe in signs from a higher power. I sometimes wish I was religious and wish I had the faith that some have. I know it gets people through a lot of hard times. I thought for a while after 9/11 I would go that way. It didn't happen. I like to believe that I will see the people that I've lost and will loose again someday.

As far as organized religion goes, it's not me for several reasons. I think so many problems in the world today are caused by religious fanatics that think theirs is the best, the one and only that should be followed. I don't understand why people can't agree that people can worship different Gods and beliefs. To say that yours is the surpreme and every other religion is wrong is the root of many evils. If you want to think that, go ahead but don't force it down the throats of others around the world. Live in your own egotistical world. I don't see how flying planes into buildings or blowing up people make you victorious in the eyes of your God.

Some organized religions discriminate against people that aren't like they are. If God loves everyone what's wrong with being gay? They're just like you and I only attracted to the same sex. I believe that one is born wired that way. It can be a hard road in life, why would someone choose that?


Pro life lunitics. Have I or would I ever have an abortion? No, never have and when pregnant with son number 2 had some very funky test results. I was asked if I wanted more invasive tests to find out definate things as well as genetic counciling so we could make an informed decision, I refused. I wasn't going to "do anything" about it anyway. It was my baby and would love it and take care of it. Turns out there wasn't a problem at all and I was worried sick over nothing. But what if I had arbitrarily thought, "hey, I'm not taking any chances here, let's do it." This is just my opinion on the subject. I believe that all women should be able to make informed choices, I just wouldn't do it. It is a very private and emotional thing, you don't need people calling you a baby killer. Now I'm speaking about early abortion not late term abortion. That I am highly against. For the life of me I don't understand why a woman would do that or doctors would preform them. If you've carried the baby that long, people know you're pregnant why not go the whole way and give the baby up Some of the most vocal abortion protesters are men and I can't figure that out either. I can understand a man having a problem if he wants the baby and the mother does not but these guys are not using that as a platform. Just the killing part. Have they seen a child that is not wanted by parents? That is not shown love and affection? That is physically or emotionally abused? It is heartbreaking. Are they going to support these unwanted children that are just thrown into the system? Will the baby change their life? No but to them it's a sin but it's okay to harrass, terrorize and bomb clinics and to kill doctors. Hhhhmm, don't kill the babies but kill the doctors. In a perfect world every child would be welcomed by loving parents and would lead a perfect life but let's face it, that doesn't happen. Some people should not be allowed to breed.


What brought me to these thoughts today was an article I read in the paper this morning. The tornadoes that hit the southern region of the country this last week were devistating. People lost their loved ones due to "an act of God". In one town in particular, Lafayette, Tennessee, the town minister, Rev. Michael L. Welch has been helping people cope and opened his church as a family crisis center. Three days after the tornado struck his town, Rev. Welch and his family were killed when a tractor trailer slammed into their van. Why did this happen? This town needed him and he was answering that call. To have their lives snuffed out at this time is a question I would ask any man of the cloth.


In my life I try and live honestly, be kind, treat others with respect and the whole golden rule thing. I don't need to be religious to do that. If that makes me a heathen so be it.


I just have to spout my opinions every now and then.

As Comfortable as an Old Shoe

There is something I've noticed for years and it makes me wonder everytime I see this. Maybe you've noticed it too. I can't tell you the amount of times I've been driving down the street or on the expressway when I've seen a lone shoe on the side of the road. Where do they come from? How can you not notice that you've lost one of your shoes? And if you do notice wouldn't you retrace your steps to try and find it? How can so many people lose a shoe? What good is one shoe? I don't get it. I'm going to start keeping track of how many I see.



I did once see a person driving down the road with his foot out the window and he didn't have a shoe on. I could hear my father's voice in my head telling me never to do that, if you got in an accident it wouldn't be pretty.



I have actually lost a shoe once but not along the side of the road. While at an amusement park as a teenager I was on a ride and one of my Dr. Scholl's exercise sandals flew off. Unbelievibly my girlfriends and I managed to find it but all I could think of was that there was someone out there looking for a chick wearing one shoe so they could beat me with the other one. Those things are made of wood and would hurt it you got hit by a flying one.

Did anyone say party?

Maybe you watched the Superbowl, maybe not. I did. Maybe you're a football fan, maybe you're not. I'm not. But I did go to a Superbowl party and didn't think I cared who won until the Giants were working on that last touchdown. I always pull for the underdog. I didn't really see any great commercials either. I did like the first E-Trade baby that spit up.

Speaking of parties, teenagers can come up with any reason to party. Number 2's latest party is a "Super Tuesday" party. A bunch of kids in his AP American Government class are getting together to watch the election returns Tuesday night. He's already told me that he'll be late since the polls in California close at 12:00 am our time. He just passed his road test and I won't have to go pick him up in my pajamas. Apparently the teacher is putting in an appearance at the party. I hope when he arrives someone turns off Guitar Hero and switches the channel to CNN.