Remembering Our Service Hero's

 

I am so thankful each and every day that we live in this great nation of ours.  We may have our flaws and don’t agree on how things are run all the time.  But that is what makes us such a great country to live in.  We can have our differences but know that even with a different opinion we don’t have to worry about being shot or put into prison.

Who do we have to thank for this?  Our military service men and women who valiantly serve our country to continue with our freedom.  I always think of my dad who came from Norway.  He had left Norway when he was 14 years old and went to work on a merchant ship.  When WWII was being fought he came to America and got his citizenship so that he could fight against the Germans.

My dad comes from a family who stands for what is right in lieu of any consequences.  My grandfather in WWI hid in his barn Jews who were escaping from Russia.  He was captured and put into a concentration camp.  He survived and passed on his legacy of fighting for freedom and the rights of others to my dad.  How proud I am to have this heritage. 

May we always remember how great we are and do all that we can to support those who chose to join the armed forces and fight so that we can continue to live with peace and security. 

Thank you to all our service personnel past, present and future.

GOD BLESS AMERICA!!

Friends Become Family and Family Becomes Friends

Friends in life are so varied and come with their own set of quirks.  But it is those differences that we come to love and appreciate.  It is who they are and have been placed in my life to help me grow and overcome my fears and increase my feeling of self worth. 

As I reflect back on my childhood friends it was all about building forts, eating ice cream, talking about boys, gossiping about some girl we were jealous of and crusing up and down mainstreet looking cool!  We were always worried that we weren't popular enough, that a friend was mad at us if we didn't talk that day and wondering why we weren't invited to a certain party.  Family was important but not as important as our friends.  Families seemed to be there to annoy but it was our friends that made us cool.

Then over time we find that our friends can come and go but it is our family that stays true.  Sixteen years ago I moved back from Florida and lived with my mom for awhile until I was settled and able to get into my own home.  It was tough the first few months but then a marvelous transformation came about and I found myself looking at my mom with new eyes and realizing that she was now my friend.  She will always be my mom but a new and stronger bond of friendship had grown.  My brother and sister, who I saw as an annoyance when I was in high school suddenly became my friends and people who I could share my problems, frustrations, success and happiness with.  They now had moved from being my family (which they will be forever) but to now my circle of life long friends has expanded by 2 more.

I have always had friends or more often called "acquaintances" who I enjoy spending time with.  But the friends that I could say were my true friends were easily counted on one hand.  My friend, Bonny, has been my rock for going on 40 years.  Our personalities are often as different as night and day but no one understands me more than she does.  She lets me know when I am "off course" and helps to steer me in the right direction.  Where I am weak she is strong and vice versa.  We have long ago surpassed being friends, we are now family of which there is no greater bond. 

My friend, Susan, who became my friend when I moved back home to Snohomish, Washington.  We were just acquaintances and mostly at church.  But one day I turned to her and said "I need a walking buddy.  I need someone who will go out and walk with me and hold me accountable."  Without missing a beat Susan said "yes" and thus began a friendship that has grown stronger over the years.  I can talk with her about anything and she will set me straight also when needed.  She became my exercise buddy and with her love of hiking, camping and snowshoeing got me out and enjoying the out of doors again.  Now my friend has become a sister to me.  She is my family and is always there for me.

Charles R Swindoll said, “I cannot even imagine where I would be today were it not for that handful of friends who have given me a heart full of joy. Let's face it, friends make life a lot more fun.”  And I have to agree.  It is my family that has become friends and my friends who have become family that make my life so fun and interesting.  Kaylene, my niece and Bonny's daughter, said that we are like two 16 year olds without a curfew and that she just never knows where we are going to turn up.  Watching our check-ins on facebook is sometimes the only way. 

I love my family/friends and am so grateful for all they do for me.

One Size Fits All

So the other day I went into my closet to try on some clothes that were the next size down because I have been anxiously waiting to wear that smaller size. This was especially true after had gone shopping and purchased some capris that were a size 18/20 (ok no laughing) so I was certain that the Lee's capri jeans that I had in my closet would fit (size 20) and even had the hopes that they would be loose since the new capris were even smaller.

But no!! I had to lay on my bed, suck in my gut, and yank that zipper slowly but surely up.  Now, without breathing, I could wear those white capri jeans.  But I do have to breath so I guess these jeans are just going to have to wait for another few pounds off. 

For years I have seen clothes that say "One size fits all" and recently I saw that the verbiage had changed to "One size fits most"...think that someone must have complained.  This clothing size dilemma is very frustrating.  It all depends on the brand, material, etc so you are forced to try on everything before you take it home...not my favorite way to shop.  I am sure in the days of the caveman



that one size did fit all.  All you had to do was grab your trusty club, kill a mammoth, skin it and shape it into an off the shoulder robe.  Life was so much simpler then and no fashion statement was required.

So, until everyone gets on the same page we will continue to purchase clothes that we are certain will fit, that looks good on us and feel extremely proud when something fits that is in a smaller size than what we normally wear because we love vanity sizing.

Ever Changing Gas Prices

Over the last couple of months I have been doing some traveling by car. What a great way to see this great nation of ours …. But what the heck?! Every state (and not to mention city) has such a variance in the price of gas. Started out from home by paying $3.55 and in California paid as much as $4.25 for the same gas. Needless to say they have us over a barrel (pun intended)…
　
So, I got to thinking (especially when my little 14 gallon tank efficiency fuel car came to $53.00) about when my friend, Jan, and myself went on a road trip when we were in college…many more years than I care to think about…and we refused to pay more than $.23 per gallon. Yes, you are reading that right…only $.23 per gallon and we were so worried that we were spending too much. Then along came the gas wars and we would take turns in taking our car to the corner gas station and try to get there early enough so that we were 1^st in line, park the car, go home and get ready for work (this is before the debit/credit card and gas attendants still filled up your car and washed your windshields and checked the oil) and then come back to fill up the car. Then during the night someone would come and siphon your gas out of the tank. Then along came the anti-siphon spring that you inserted into the gas tank. Thank goodness car manufacturers finally input locked gas caps.
When gas got to $1.00 we all shuddered and were so thankful when it would go down to $.80. Then when it got to $2.00 a gallon we kept saying this won’t last. Now here we are paying over $3.60 and we just keep putting gas in our cars because we all don’t live in places that have great transit systems. Where will it stop? Who knows but I do know that the CEO’s of the gas companies are taking home great big bonuses while my bank account keeps being “siphoned” …the only difference is I don’t have a magic anti-siphoning spring to stop it.

What's the Best Diet?

It seems as though my life has been on one continual "diet" and always searching for the one that will solve all the weight problems and provide a quick fix.  I am sure that many of you reading this can relate.  There is always that extra 5, 10, 15 or even 200 pounds that one wants to shed.  But who wants to struggle and fight the battle over all the food choices and temptations out there. 

Every restaurant that you go to, whether fast food or sit down an eat, always offers you the biggest and best.  Just "super size" that order please! There is always enough food served that gives you enough for 2-4 meals but we somehow manage to consume the whole plate.  Why is that?  Well for me I was always raised that you had to belong to the "clean plate club" and, of course, we can't waste any of the food because there are starving children.  Now I know that there are people who are are starving but will my eating everything put on my plate provide them with food.  All that it has managed to do is give me grand saddle bags and wings under my arms.

So is at Atkins? or South Beach? or Weight Watchers? or Jenny Craig? or NutriSystem? or Slim Fast? or Cambridge? or Medifast? or Cabbage Soup diet? or ... well the list is endless.  Bottom line is that all "diets" will work but you have to WORK IT!  There really isn't a simple solution.  We need to first be aware of how much we actually consume and not just guess.  Awareness is such a big factor.  Then we need to start cutting out those extra calories by first determining how many calories we actually need. Then finally make smart choices all day long.

No matter how we manage our weight we need to realize that not every day is perfect but it is calories in and calories out...so what do you think is the best plan?  Personally for me it is the "See Food Diet"...I see it and eat it!
                                            

Motherhood

 My mom is one amazing woman.  When unable to have a biological child of her own she opened up her heart and home to adopt me and also added to our family a brother (Rudy) and sister (Kim) when they were 8 and 9.  She has always shown by example how to treat others and whether rich or poor, highly educated or not, executives or blue collar ... it didn't matter as they were all equal in her eyes. 

It is not uncommom to find covering her kitchen table, dining room table and by the fireplace the many cards and photos that she receives each holiday and birthday.  She keeps in touch with old school friends, neighbors from long ago, her siblings, her many nieces and nephews, etc.  She keeps herself busy with her friends at the Senior Center in Snohomish, Washington playing cards or going to the casino and playing the "One Armed Bandit" but never loses more than $20.

So is it any wonder that when I was growing up and then when I was a young woman that I wanted to grow up to be like her.  To be a mother who sent her children off to school with a hot breakfast and was always there when you got home from school.  As the years passed and the opportunity of being a mother slipped through my fingers I found myself questioning "why" and would I have been a good mother.

But as I look back and even though I don't have children I realize that I still am a "mother" as I helped my friends through the years.  I am so thankful to be a part of so many wonderful children (who are now grown) lives as I went to the movies, baked cookies with them, bandaged cuts and kissed bruises, spoiled them with shopping trips, trips to the zoo, helping with homework, picking up from school, etc.  So motherhood is so much more than being called mom...maybe that was never my privledge but I have truly enjoyed the times I "mothered".