OH, THE PLACES YOU WILL WANNA GO

Oh, the places I wanna go to. First, let me say that most of the time my desire is to go see grand babies. I don't get to see them much and miss so much of their lives. Aside from that, there are a few places I would love to see before I get so old I cannot enjoy them. Today is a rambling of those places.......

The place I most want to see is Alaska. I read about the Aurora in grade school and have had the desire to see it ever since. I know that even a trip to Alaska gives no guarantees that I would get to see it, but my chances would be better than staying at home. Especially if I studied the cycles and when they most often make their appearances. Not only the aurora, but I would love to see the snow covered mountains, all the pristine waters, the wilderness and the habitat of outback Alaska.

Second on my list would be New England in the fall of the year. I could see the sap being drawn from the maple trees. The leave covered roads, the back roads with maybe pictures of some of the old bridges, and the mountains covered in a wide vista of color. The crisp smells of fall draw my name. The closest I have every come to this one is the Ozarks in the fall. Eureka with all the apple stands and hot cider on the side of the road. Very few pictures because I was so close to all the trees that I couldn't get good pictures.

The third stop on my dream of travels would be The Biltmore in Ashville, NC. Not only do I want to see the Biltmore, I want to see it at Christmastime. I would love to be there for the annual gingerbread contest. I could appreciate all the talent of these people first hand instead of on the television. The estate would also be decorated in it's finest. I don't think I could take enough pictures of this place. Although I don't even know if pictures are allowed inside. I really wouldn't mind living in a place that big. I could get lost for days. Do you think anyone would ever miss me? Nah, I doubt it.

The last place on my dream places is the Opryland hotel at Christmas. We drove by some of the outside last year but I want to see all the inside festivities. After the flood this spring I wonder how much grandeur will be replaced for the holidays. I hope it can be restored to the original beauty. We have been at the hotel in summer, but Christmas has such an air about it. I hope I have not missed my opportunity to see it at it's finest.

Those are my top four places I would love to travel to. There are honorable mentions, but they fail by comparison. Some of those places on the quick list would be...The Grand Tetons, Mt. Rushmore, Branson, D.C. and maybe NYC. I would put that one way down on my list.

A few places I or we have been that I would love to travel to again....Albuquerque to see all the places we missed. There is also Montreal. I got to see a lot of the grand city but I am sure there is plenty that missed my site. I would love to take a trip to Disney world with the grand boys when they get a little older to appreciate all the hoopla. And finally I would love to return to Seattle. The city just cried out to me. I loved it when there before but it didn't rain on us everyday like we were promised. I want to see the true Seattle.

Well, the places we go and what it means to us. Dr. Seuss had a good idea but to tell the truth, Dorothy has the greatest idea.

There is no place like home.

There is no place like home.

There is no place like home,

Sweet home.

Until later I shall prop my feet up and

look at the travel magazines and

DREAM,

Vera

Summertime, Summertime

I usually don't drive but a couple of miles a day in my car, just back and forth to work twice a day. I live less than a mile from work, so that means I don't have much radio time each day. Wednesdays, I drive to church to eat with friends and fellowship with others, so I do get a little more radio time. Tonight as I was coming home, I was listening to "the true oldies channel" and the song "He ain't heavy, he's my brother" came on. Now to be fair, there are a lot of songs from the 60's and 70's that must have been written under the influence and I always kind of thought this one was, too. As I was driving home with the windows down, (my old car doesn't have a/c) I decided to turn up the volume and jam with the song. As I listened to the words, it dawned on me just what The Hollies were singing about. Me cuppa to them. They had a deep and profound message in the song and all this time I thought they were wasted.

It was me that didn't get with the program. If someone we love has a burden, we carry that burden with them and it "isn't" a heavy load to carry.

Not long ago we discussed in Sunday School that one person carrying a burden is heavy, but if you share the burden with someone that cares for you and loves you, they too will tote the burden . As you share it, the burden lightens.

Aside from that bit of enlightenment, I have been listening to the oldies a lot lately. You can get downright sappy and sentimental over oldies. But...why is it that there are good ole summertime songs and no wintertime songs. When you think of a song, it always brings back summertime memories. Now that isn't a bad thing because we all had free summers and more time to play and stuff. Maybe more time to be outdoors with radios and fun times. I really don't know, I just remember fun times. The other thing I associate with some of the old music is skating to some of it. "I'm a girl watcher" was a great skate song. The beat was just perfect to skate to. Skating is another story for another day.

Now there are some songs that just reek summer. How about "School's out for summer" . Well, yeah! "In the summer of 65", how about cruisin' songs. Doesn't the thought of summer songs make you want to go outside, dig a little bit of heat, a soft breeze on your face and good summer songs.

Oh, the thought of it all takes me back to the days of my youth. Being outside riding bikes with friends and yard hopping. We were always welcome at every bodies yard. We would ride for a couple of hours, get kool-ade at this house, ride a little more, chill for a while somewhere else. The days went by so fast.

One summer in particular, I remember some of the local boys decided they wanted to start a band. I think I heard them sing..."doot, doot, doot, looking out my backdoor" a million times that summer. But the truth remains, every time I hear it, it still have great thoughts of that summer.

Take a minute, reflect on some of your own good ole summertime songs. Close the eyes and turn back the clock of time. Find your youth for a few minutes. It might just lighten your step a tad.

If you ever want to listen to some good oldies, just go to

http://www.thetrueoldieschannel.com/ and connect with some good oldies. Scott Shannon also adds a lot of oldie trivia that in very enjoyable.

Happy listening,

Vera

remembering our loved ones.

As I just left facebook, I read a post asking if it ever gets easier. She was referring to the death of a loved one. Made me think, we have just gone through Memorial Day and all remembering the deaths of our soldiers. It also makes us reminisce about our dead loved ones.

Under the best of circumstances, it is so hard to say goodbye to loved ones. Under the most extreme circumstances, sometimes just downright unbearable.

The best thing to get through the death process is faith in God and depending on the unconditional love of others.

On the flip side of the coin, if it is our friend or loved one hurting, we need to be the one giving the unconditional love. Maybe we have encountered hard feeling somewhere along the way...time for forgiveness. Life is fleeting, by the way.

Life is too short to harbor ill feelings. Some of the things we just can't "forgive and forget....just "Give it to God and get over it". Press on to something more important.

The best thing we can do for our deceased loved ones is to have fond memories but not live for them as if they are coming back. They aren't but we will all rejoice again in our heavenly home. (Just make sure that you are on track for your heavenly destination.

This has been a gloom and doom writing today but it was so heavy on my heart, just had to share. I hurt when my friends hurt and sometimes words just do not do the trick to ease their pain and give them comfort.

Don't worry about getting to close to someone for fear of them dying, leaving or drifting away from you. Any time you spend building a relationship it time well spent. Enjoy your loved ones, your friends , and yes, even embrace those who have hurt you. They may just be the one to help you the most in your time of need.

Saying a prayer today for those of my friends hurting from losses,

Vera

Happy June to you all

Happy June to every one. There are weddings in the air, birthdays and anniversaries all around, hurricane season starts today, the lightnin' bugs are dancing in the evening in full force and it is time for the temperatures to soar into the hot-ties.

By the way, according to Robin Roberts of GMA today and the first day of every month it is good luck to say "rabbit, rabbit". Don't know why but anyway.

Our life changed drastically last month. After 30 plus years Doug changed jobs. Today is also the first pay check for the new job. Doesn't sound like a big deal, but it really is. When times change, bills still go on and that security still needs to be there.

June is also the month that I kind of get serious about my Christmas decorating. I will start mapping out my trees for the year in a few days, start compiling our Christmas card list and start putting our parties on the calendar. I can't wait to get started. Just have a couple of project to get out of the way first. Doug cut out another sample of our teddy bear Christmas ornament yesterday. I think I really am going to like the teddy bear theme this year.

We now have a dog that has to have a people person go outside with her while she does her business. Last night as I sat outside while Delilah ran around sniffing every blade of grass, I noticed just how active all the lightning bugs were. That has always been one of my favorite times in the evening. Just a cool breeze with a small sway in the trees and lightning bugs doing a dance low to the grass . How peaceful in a city that has horns and sirens blaring and trains running and all the other noises of the city. Just tune it all out and watch the dance of nature.

Until later,

I go get a cup of coffee and enjoy the early morning quiet,

Ahhh, Vera

Not so random random things

I was very faithful for a few months to blog on this site. I gave it up on New Years Eve. There comes a time for a break. Now, as I reflect over the last couple of weeks of my life, it is time to write again. I don't know how often or even if I do blog again for another six months, but, today I write.

Friends...as we grow older, our perspective of friendship changes. We grow away from our childhood friends, become friends with our children's friends parents, our church or business friends or..well, you get the idea.

What happens to our childhood friends? I met with some last Friday evening for about 3 hours and it was like we had seen each other yesterday, except we all have children, grandchildren and some of us even have gray hair now. Yep, that is me, gray hair and all.

One of my friends ask how I enjoyed the evening. Responded that it was really like I was sixteen again. Why do we have to leave these great people behind when we take on new direction in life. They were a part of what built the character of who we are today. There was not a person in the room that I would hesitate to walk up to and tell them how much I loved them 35 years ago and that nothing has changed as of today. Maybe except for the fact that 35 years ago we wouldn't admit that we loved each other. Back then it was the love-hate game. There were so many other people that did not attend last week that I would love to see.

Friendship is a precious gift from God and we take it lightly some times.

As I said, we change friends as we get older. So on to my newer friends i.e. ,the ones that I have made friends with in the last 35 years. Every lady in my Sunday School class in not just a member of my class but a special friend to boot. One of the ladies in our class lost a step father-in-law last week. Another friend and I were planning on doing something for this family when her mother was killed in an auto accident. As we took food to the second friends house, two of the others with me put their father in a nursing home the next day and the other had lost a husband in the last few months.

All of that said, simply to say this. Friendship is a precious gift from God and we take it lightly some times. Don't put off til tomorrow what we can do for our friends today. Tell them how special they are and what they mean to you. Tell them when you miss them and when they do something to warm your heart, let them know. Life on this earth is short by our standards and we might miss a great opportunity to let our loved ones know how special they are to us.

I know, I know, I am getting sappy, but, friend and family, tonight is the night I want to say "thank you for being my friend. You have helped shape me into the person I am today. Some of you more than others when you bring me yummies to eat. You shape me real good. (Cheezzzzie) I thank God this Memorial Day evening for the people that have got to war for our freedom, my own dad included, and for the people that have touched my life in one way or another.

Friends forever !!!!

Vera

Tuesday, December 30th, 2009 the old year out the new year in

It has been such a long time since I posted on this blog. The Christmas holidays have kept me occupied with other things. Decorating, parties and presents. Oh, the joys of little tykes in the house at Christmas. How wonderful it was. It has been endless years since ours were small enough to enjoy the gifts left under the tree.
There were four cameras taking pictures of two little boys. After we finished the holiday pictures Jeremiah compiled all our pictures. There were over 700 total. Needless to say, a lot of them were duplicates.
As the old year passes away and a new one enters, I wonder...have we accomplished anything productive this year? Is the world a better place because of what we have done. Or maybe not done. Have we tried to go green to help the global warming a little. Change a light bulb or two. Turn down the temp on the hot water tank. Kept the tires inflated to the right pressure. Anything???
How about what we have done physically. Are we more fit than we were at the start of 2009? I know that Doug and I have walked quite a bit this year. We were doing so good until the Christmas shoppers descended upon the mall and it got hard to walk. NOTE..the new year is about to begin. Walking again would be a wonderful idea.
Have we done anything in our community or around town? Wish I could say yes to that one. Needs a little work.
How about New Year's resolutions? I only made one last year. I said that I would watch at least one movie a week. I think I failed miserably. There were many weeks that did not happen. Not even the tv type.
I haven't thought of one for this year. I would like to try the movie thing again this year but I am simply not a movie buff. I don't know were our children got the movie bug. It was not from their mom or dad.
I have been reading about a few superstitions and decided to post some of the information I found. Some I found quite interesting .

Black eyed peas are for good luck.

Cabbage or sauerkraut is for wealth.

Dancing around a tree on New Years Day is for health. (Think I will try that one this year.)

The pork thing.Chickens scratch, cows amble but pigs rout forward. We should go forward, too. Eat pork on New Years day.

Noise makers at midnight...well, to keep out the evil spirits, of course.

Kissing your true love at midnight.. you will live in love and happiness with that person for the entire rest of the upcoming year.

Don't wash clothes on New Years day (some even say dishes) because a loved one will die this year if you do.

Do something constructive to your work on New Years day, just don't work hard. It insures you of work for the year. If you over work on New Years day, it means you will work hard all year.

Don't cry on New Years Day. It will set the tone for tears for the whole year.

Don't take out the trash on New Years Day. You will have trash to dispose of all year.

Don't break anything on New Years Day...it will bring bad luck for the whole year.

Don't carry anything out of your house on New Years day. If you do, you will be paying or giving out things all year long.

Open doors and windows at midnight to let the old year out and the new year in.

Me...black-eyed peas, turnip greens or sauerkraut with fried hog jowl. Cornbread just because it taste good with the meal and I do believe I shall do a jig around a tree. I would love a healthy year.

Mostly, I give thanks to my Lord and Savior for getting me through the day, month or year.

Best wishes for the New Year,

Vera

November 15, 2009 Neglecting the important things

I have so neglected my random thoughts that I am actually ashamed to come back to it. However, as I give tribute to friends that have birthday, this has been a busy week of birthdays and I would like to share with you. Last week on the 9th, my cousin Randy had a birthday. It is hard to believe that he was two weeks old when Kennedy was shot. Saturday was my boss' son, Brad's birthday. He, too, was only a week old when Kennedy was shot. Oh, you young children. Today, Beverly Pierce and LouAnn Veteto share a birthday and tomorrow Shirley Gambill and Bruce Raley share a birthday. Happy special day, everyone.

Next thought is the Elkin's family leaving the church. It is so sad to see a dear family leave the church but at the same time what a wonderful experience to watch them grow. Allen will be taking a pastorate in Pine Bluff. Although we will miss them, I know they will be closer to family and they do know some of the people in this church. They are going home. Blessings to all the Elkins.

Next, my apologies for neglecting this site is do to the Christmas decorating that I do. Everywhere I go, people ask "how many trees?", "how many are done?", and "Don't you get tired of that?" There are 31 trees decorated in my house, they are all done and no, I never get tired of Christmas. I love Christmas. It can be a wonderful time of the year. It can be an awful time of the year if you let it. It is a matter of perspective and what you allow to matter most to you. I stress of presents just like everyone else. I don't have enough money to get everybody everything they want. What if I buy the wrong thing. What if I forget someone. I could let all these things overwhelm me, but I choose not to. I choose to remember that this is the beginning of the end of why I have Eternal Life. I am so thankful for the gift that was presented that first Christmas night.

I think it helps to enjoy the holiday if we do something unexpected for someone. It doesn't have to be someone you know. They don't even have to tell you thank you. You can even give a little extra to the local food bank or Salvation Army. You don't have to have someone say thank you. You know you have done something good. The person that gets the good out of it is you. My fortune cookie today said "Just do it".

Hope you have a wonderful holiday season,

Vera

aka The Christmas Tree Lady