A Sense of Two Yesterdays

Yesterday. It was the 25th of September – the day that showed the real first change in the weather where I live. The early morning was a little chilly and the floors of the house were cold on the bottoms of my feet. Outside, the air was crisp and filled with the sweet aroma of the earth not yet fully disturbed by the sun. Clean and fresh.

The grass and the colorful leaves on the trees were all painted with a thin sheet of morning dew. They seemed to communicate, sending each other messages, glistening, flirting and winking back and forth. Silence blanketed the earth with the exceptions of the crickets softly chirping from their grassy hideaways and the sweet distant sounds of two birds singing their secrets to one another.

My skin responded with a slight chill as a soft breeze passed over me, yet my mind responded even stronger.

Memories can be so sweet…drawn back to you through all of your senses. The sounds, the smells, and the tastes...the surreal appearance a day can sometimes take on. The whole feeling of it all seemed to take me back to another yesterday. It was a yesterday when friends were countless, the future held its arms wide inviting you to all of its possibilities and sadly, for some reason, a yesterday when growing up couldn’t come fast enough.

My mind brought me beautiful visuals of days from my past –days that felt just this way. I found a feeling of freedom, a peace, an entrancing contentment as I remembered. So now I smile from the heart at my yesterdays...both of them.

100% Liar...Honest

I am laughing as I write this. I am amazed and even amused at the amount of unnecessary lies some people will tell for absolutely no reason at all. None of us can claim that we've held steady to complete and total truth 100% of the time...not you and not even me (whew that was hard!) but we'll keep it "hush hush" if it makes me...uh, I mean you feel better. The thing is, some people take this to a new level of extreme.

I met a very interesting person (who will remain nameless) about ten months ago whom I have found myself spending a little time with here and there. Until recently I couldn't quite figure out why. Now, I have come to the decision that it is an acquaintance I've pursued all in fun.

This is not a person I would tell my secrets to by any means because there's no doubt it would take minus five seconds before they were all out in the open. Yes I have secrets...so do you. This is the person you tell something to if you want everyone on earth and all nearby planets possibly inhabited with life to know it with incredible, fictional, added twists.

I find that I love having a conversation with her because all that she says is based on whatever her imagination can throw out at the moment. I am simply entertained. For example, I spoke with her on the phone and she told me she would love for me to stop by later. I told her I might. Later in the conversation, she'd forgotten about the invite (or not) and casually informed me that she had steaks on the grill, was frying some potatoes and had a pot of collards going.

After we hung up, I went into town to take care of some things and figured I would stop by her house for a quick five and say hello before I headed home. There were no steaks, no potatoes and no collards at her house. The grill hadn't even been touched. Instead, she was on her couch eating frozen pizza. No it wasn't still frozen...she had cooked it it first.

Now, I can't say that what she was having for dinner on that night was of any life changing relevance to me or that I have the slightest clue what any possible reason behind her story could be. I can say that I found myself quietly amused once again. It is one of the many, many fictional tales that have flowed from her lips since I have known her and it has no purpose. She didn't tell me this to protect me or to keep from hurting my feelings. She didn't tell me this to protect someone else or herself.

The girl could be brushing her teeth when you call her and tell you she was mowing the lawn. I think we all know one or two people like this and between us, I've decided to give some of her personality to one of the characters in a book I am currently writing. I'm going to have some fun with this one.

Smile

Yesterday is History.

Tomorrow is a Mystery.

But Today?

Today is a Gift.

That's why it is called The Present.

Family Reunion

Yesterday was my annual Family Reunion, always held on the second Sunday of September. I've never missed one. My family is a crazy bunch, the whole lot of them, and we always try to do something fun to keep it interesting. So this year, aside from all the fabulous foods, we had a play and an auction.

The play was a comedy about a young boy who was lost in the woods trying to find his way home and all the strange animals and characters he met along the way. Some of the characters helped him along and some did nothing but confuse him. It was put on by a select handful of us, myself included, was complete improvisation and utterly hilarious!

The auction is something we do every year. We all bring things from home then we auction these things off after we've all eaten. This is a blast to watch. There is a bidding competition that takes place here and there that can become so vicious it can end in your paying $30 for a two-dollar item. It's all in fun and the money made from the auction is used to pay for the cost of renting the building for the following year. Any cash left over is sent to a selected family member in need who might be experiencing rough times with finances or medical issues.

When I was a kid, the Family Reunion was just something my parents dragged me off to. These days, I see it so differently. I realize just how lucky I am to have such a large group of caring people to call my family. Not all of us are so fortunate. On that note, I have decided to make my own personal reunions throughout the year. I've come to feel that one simple day out of 365 of them is not quite enough quality time spent with some of these wonderful people.

What Do You See?

I came across this picture on a free image site and I couldn't stop staring at it. The meanings are endless. Is she seeing something for the first time? Is she going? Is she leaving something behind?

I found it to be elegant and beautifully done and I wanted to share. I'd love to give credit to the artist but unfortunately I was unable to pin it to anyone. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

A Little Bit Pissed

Just when is it OK for a person to give another person’s child any sort of drug?

Having brought home colds from school a week ago, both my boys were a bit stuffy headed. Yesterday, after a trip to grandma’s house, they each came home with their own personal bottle of nasal spray. In my absence they had been instructed on how to use this nasal spray. To top it all off, they were told that it is harmless so they can use it as many times a day as they wanted because it will not only help them to kick the last signs of the cold they were both getting over now, but it will keep them from getting sick again in the future.

WHAT?

These things were told to an eleven year old and a seven year old...by an adult.

First of all, I have never given either of my children nasal spray. The mere thought of either of them sticking anything up their little noses for any reason, lest it be dire, just doesn’t sit right with me.

Second of all, I do things a little different with my children than most. I don’t flip out and run my ass to the medicine cabinet at the first sign of a cough from them. In no way do I believe that you should allow your children to suffer when they are sick and yes, if they truly and honestly do need medicine, I think you should give it to them - for the symptoms they truly have and nothing more. But…when it is possible (which is most cases) I feel that the better, more beneficial way to handle it is to allow your child’s immune system to do exactly what it is designed for and take out the trash itself.

When your child has a simple cold, then is not the time for you to rush out for prescription antibiotics so that you can load them up with that and give their body tolerance to something they may really need in the future. I do realize that all of this may not apply to all of you, but it's how this mom handles things.

Excuse me? The whole nasal spray situation is an extremely dangerous one. Many of them are addicting if used improperly. Others have extreme side effects some of which are hyponatremia, seizures and even death. Misuse of nasal sprays is just not a good idea. Oh, and not to mention…just how in the hell did our children survive years ago? You know…way before this nasal spray jazz, anyhow? And don’t get me started on Ritalin…that’s a whole other post!

So my question is this...

If you are not mom or dad or guardian etc. then is it ever your right to do something like this?

I'm thinking, if you know nothing about something then there is never a right time for you to be passing that along to any child at all. DUH!