Category: General

so I had so many Mary Kay things happen today. My first thought was to call Sandi. Who do I call now?

I can’t talk about Sandi without talking about Daniel. Daniel is the son she shared with us, as we shared Jeffrey with their family. One day Daniel was telling a story about his mom, I don’t remember the exact content of the story but it ended with her going to the school and him being embarrassed. I was laughing, hard, and Daniel said, you don’t understand, my mom is a tiny little woman and I’m scared of her, that is just not right. I told Daniel he should have a little fear of his mom and then confessed we were all a little scared of her. I used the wrong terminology; we were all in awe of Sandi.
Sandi was fierce, fiercely loyal, and fierce in her belief in the women she had chosen to surround herself with, a fierce mother, wife, daughter and friend. She was there for me during so many bad times, sad times and happy times. She introduced me to a way of life that made my family’s life a little easier financially. Yes I do mean Mary Kay. More than that, she saw potential in me when I didn’t really see it myself. I will never forget all that she gave to me, old fashioned support and belief in me.
She did that for everyone around her, instilled a sense of belief that we could all reach for the moon and land among the stars. She let us all know that we were stars to her, that we were somebody’s. More than that she shared her son with me, Daniel and Jeffrey became best friends in kindergarten. They are now 25 years old. I love Daniel like a son, he is amazing and I am so grateful she shared him with us. More than that, when my own mother passed away, Sandi shared her mother with me. Now I am sharing my mother with her. I know my mom will greet Sandi and thank her for being such an amazing friend to her daughter.
I will miss my friend terribly, while I know intellectually she is in a better place (and yes she really is) it does not ease my sense of loss; there will never be another Sandi.
You fought a brave battle my friend, and in the end, you really did win. I’ll see you again, tell my mom I said hi and I know she will give you a hug from me.

My heart is heavy. My friend passed away this afternoon. She was brave and beautiful and gracious. She held my hand through so much. I am going to miss her terribly.

Well it has happened again folks; something that was said on Facebook has made me think. I know you were hoping this had stopped, but alas, I fear it is just the beginning.
My friend Jess said that he and his son saw entire St. Louis airport stood and honored a procession of WWII vets making their way through the airport. He went on to say that he tried to explain to him what it was and why it meant so much to us as Americans. And he was not sure he had done a good job.
It made me think, when and how had I explained this to my children. I think it was just an ongoing process, as their Great-Grandfather had fought in WWII and lost a leg and some fingers in the process. Their Great Grandpa Wells was an extraordinary man, not only did he fight for this great country and physically sacrifice for it, he continued to give to his community and the surviving Vets of other wars that came home and had a tough time. I don’t remember ever making it pretty for them, the children; we used the words war, fighting, loss of limbs, because that is what their Great Grandpa had experienced. They were never traumatized by it, Jeffrey was traumatized by the knowledge that dinosaurs had actually existed and were not cute and fluffy. He learned that in kindergarten and had excessive nightmares for months.
Perhaps it is because they grew up with my stories of my family fighting for this country, from birth I told them the stories that had been told to me. The bravery of the men and women who had come before us, to fight, so we would possibly not have to. I wonder if it is more difficult for families who do not have that immediate connection to the not so distant past to explain it. I don’t know, I don’t have any answers, I too, like Jess am at a loss, Tessa does not have that immediate connection, she will never get to know her Great Great Grandpa Wells the way her father knew him, so I wonder if her parents will have the same concerns explaining the sacrifices, the battles fought and won, for her to enjoy the life she has.
When is information too much, and when is it just enough? I don’t want the past to be watered down, the generations coming up need to know, we will not have the men and women around too much longer for firsthand accounts. When I was in junior high and high school we had a holocaust survivor come and speak to us on what he had experienced. I remember sitting in Mr. Wright’s history class sobbing during his story. That humans could be that cruel, an impossible thought, but I needed to know, we all need to know, so we never ever repeat history. But without the firsthand accounts will it be as effective? Just reading about it? I know I was much more affected hearing it from a survivor than just reading it in the books.
Jess has definitely made me think today.

I have a serious topic I would like to discuss today, actually discuss is a misleading word; I want to state my opinion. I know a lot of women might disagree with me and some will probably agree with me. I am finding in the media these days that strange things are being said regarding movie and television stars, even pop stars. This phenomenon of wanting women on the small and large screen to look like every day average women. Seriously??? No, this is not possible, when did this occur? I want my movie, television and pop stars to look better than me, I want them to be thin and youthful and beautiful. Who wants to look at themselves on the screen? I know I don’t. I want something to strive for, I want Jennifer Aniston arms, Brittney Spears abs and yes, Kim Kardashians behind. If I could afford it I would run to a plastic surgeon.
My biggest fear in life is having all of the wrinkles that my grandmother had, I remember looking at her, and I loved her beyond anyone, thinking I so do not want to have all of those wrinkles. I fight it every day. It is exhausting being me; I fight every wrinkle I work towards a skinniness that I cannot possibly attain. It makes me happy to do that. Let’s face it we have been trying to look like movie stars since the days of Clara Bow and Mary Pickford.
I think I looked my best at the age of 17, if I could look like that again I would in a heartbeat. I don’t understand how a loving God could have made the playing field so uneven in the sexes. When men get older they become distinguished, when women get older we are hags. I am fast approaching hag territory, I try and stave it off as much as I can, thank God for Mary Kay skin care products, I know I would not look half as good as I do without them. And I don’t think I look that good. I was at a bridal show with a friend and the plastic surgeon booth was all over her and ignored me. I figured it was due to me being beyond help. I still get depressed thinking about it. I am saving towards a major overhaul. I want to fight aging; I don’t want to go gracefully.

Life is like a hurricane here in Duckburg
Race cars, lasers, aeroplanes – it’s a duck blur
You might solve a mystery or rewrite history

Duck Tales, Oo-oo
Tales of derring-do, bad and good luck tales, oo-oo

D-d-d-danger, watch behind you – there’s a stranger out to find you
What to do? Just grab onto some Duck Tales, oo-oo!
Not pony tails or cotton tails but Duck Tales, oo-oo!

When it seems they’re headed for the final curtain
Bold deduction never fails, that’s for certain
The worst of messes become successes!

Duck Tales, Oo-oo
Tales of derring-do, bad and good luck tales, oo-oo
Not pony tails or cotton tails but Duck Tales, oo-oo!

Sometimes I think I am too judgmental and others I believe I am just judgmental enough. Case in point, I firmly refuse to buy a seven year old child shoes with Velcro because they don’t know how to tie their shoes. I’m sorry, a seven year old? This child should have learned that skill at 4, 5 at the latest. So I bought tie shoes and taught said child how to tie their shoes. I judge the shoe manufacturers for making it too easy to ignore that age old ritual of teaching children to tie their shoes. Why would they manufacture the shoes for children that old with Velcro? I understand that this particular thing is a god send for adults with arthritis who can no longer tie their shoes due to an infirmity, however, children? Really?
I looked in the shoe store and saw all kinds of shoes with Velcro for older children and I am appalled. Unless these shoes are being bought for children with disabilities who cannot tie their shoes, I say to the parents everywhere of able bodied children, stop buying lazy shoes.
Is a generation of lazy children being raised? That is the real question, children who do nothing but sit and play video games, who cannot even tie their shoes? Have we really become a society of people who cannot even do something as simple as tie our own shoes?
Here is my proposal, we start a campaign, just say NO, say no to Velcro for able bodied people, say no to Velcro for children who are old enough to tie their shoes, say no to the manufacturers and eventually they will get the hint.
I will be deciding who to picket later and also will think about informational pamphlets and buttons, but until then please feel free to congregate amongst yourselves and form your own protest groups, unless we speak out about this travesty nothing will be done about it.

There is one thing on this earth that I despise more than anything else. I despise when a human being looks at another and all they see is the color of that person’s skin. It is called racism, although I believe we need to come up with another word as racism is compiled of the word race. There are people on this earth who believe there are different races of human beings; I believe there is one race, the human race. There are different ethniticities, different religions, different hair color, skin color and eye color, but only one race.
When all of us stop looking at the color of a person’s skin and making that the determination with which to judge said person then we will be free of hatred. And I do mean all of us, it is not just white people who look at others like that and judge based on that criteria. You read about it in the papers, for example the judge who would not accept the plea bargain of a “white boy”; it was based on his skin color. I see it at work, people are judged for their skin color. When will this stop? I am telling you we have to raise the future generations better. They must be better than the past, until we can see past the superficial differences of our beings how can we accomplish anything as a whole?
I want to remind everyone that according to the Bible we all come from Adam and Eve, ALL of us, not some of us, ALL of us. Most religions teach that we come from a single point of origin, and if that is the case, I say knock it off. I for one do not want to read anymore about it, I don’t want to deal with it in the work place; I don’t want to see it on television. I want everything to be like Star Trek, where we have conquered this issue along with poverty and hunger.

Where are the Judging Amy DVD’s? That seems to be the question of the day, I really didn’t realize that show was not out on DVD until I began following Amy Brenneman on Twitter. I love her; she is just an amazing actress. I loved Judging Amy; it was a show, that when it went off of the air I actually cried, it was the perfect cast of actors for the perfect cast of characters. I actually started watching Private Practice because of Amy Brenneman, and how great is the casting on that show? Has anyone noticed how many former Judging Amy actors have shown up on that show? Total greatness. If they brought the DVD’s out of the Judging Amy show I would so totally put that on my Christmas wish list.
If I pass out a petition I expect all of my friends to sign it.
I know I have been lax in updating everyone lately on the ordinariness that is my life, but I have been completely immersed in United Way happenings. I have added a fourth building in my fund raising efforts and am impossibly swamped, but I love it. It is such a worthy charity. I love that all of the money raised will stay in the community, we are helping our neighbors, family, friends, you just never know who will need an agency funded by United Way.
I am off to get dressed now for a breakfast sale! Wish us luck!

Yesterday I took a walk with Tessa and Chewie, a statement not remarkable in itself. I left my cell phone at home, and off we went on our adventure. It felt good to not be distracted by a beep, a ding or vibration, to not be distracted by facebook, twitter, text messages, email or an old fashioned phone call. It was just a Gigi, a girl and a dog, out enjoying the amazing fall like weather. I am going to do that more often; it was as if pressure had been relieved, pressure of my own making. Let’s not forget that, when we talk about how we are easily distracted in today’s society by so many electronic gadgets and so many social Medias it is of our own making. How easy was it to just leave the Iphone at home, not carry a miniature computer around with me while I enjoyed the afternoon with Tessa and the Wookie. I suggest everyone try it, especially if you have children or grandchildren, just leave it at home.
Do we really have to be so connected 24 hours a day? Shouldn’t we just shed the modern trappings once in a while? I admit it is hard for me, I have fully admitted an addiction to social Medias such as facebook and twitter, and it is so easy to lose myself in a round of words with friends, not to mention the multitude of other games I play on my Iphone. I am one of the worst offenders of never being without it. However yesterday I made the decision to just go on a simple walk, to not be distracted, and it was amazing. I feel as if I have rediscovered a sense of innocence, of the ability to pay total attention to the world around me. The physical world, not the virtual one.
Another up note, OU Sooners beat UT, go OU! I don’t watch football but I follow OU, love them. Congratulations to the Sooners.
It is going to be another gorgeous day here in North Texas, I hope everyone enjoys it!