Just a bit

Went to the Dr. this morning to get lab work done. Had a nice visit with my Dr, I just love her she is such a good person and sits down and explains things in terms you understand. They have started doing a new panel of bloods that looks at everything. Thyroid, blood sugar, cholesterol, Vitamin deficiency and tells you if it's genetic or not. Sounds interesting. Can't wait to find out what's going on in this little fat girls body. When I weighed in I was 2 pounds lighter than when I weighed in at Weight Watchers on Thursday. Of course I have three days to go so hope I can keep it up. Came home and got ready to go to Belton and Lee's Summit with Terry. I cannot wait to make a career of hanging out with my husband. We do enough stuff alone that our time together is all good. It's a slow news day so I'm going to sign off. Maybe more tomorrow.

Itsa Raining.

It's been raining off and on today and right now it is on!!! I am so glad I got most of my plants outside yesterday and got the rest of them out today. There is one more I didn't get out there because thought I'd leave it in the bedroom but may have to take it out there tomorrow. They do okay inside but they are absolutely beautiful when they have been outside all summer. One of these days I hope to get a sunroom for my plants.

Had a good weekend, nothing crazy just good. My Mary Kay party was cancelled but that was okay. We'll hit it another day and she said that she believes she might have the flu bug. Nope, don't want any of that stuff going on!!!

Nothing fabulous for lunch, we had pork steaks cooked out on the grill, I made a killer salad with romaine lettuce, onions, walnuts, sunflower seeds, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, shredded sharp cheddar cheese, croutons and bacon bits. I also baked tater tots and some garlic bread. It was good and easy. Of course I thought I was going to have to leave right after I finished eating but am glad I didn't.

Watched one of my favorite TV shows this morning, Sunday Morning. One of the stories they had on was Rita Wilson. She is married to Tom Hanks and has played in many movies and is a fabulous actress. Well, she said she always loved music and wanted to sing and at 55 decided to do it. Very, very impressive. Her album AM/FM doesn't come out until May 8 but I think I will be investing in it. She has the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Crow, Jackson Brown and other famous singers singing with her. On the show today she was at the Troubadour singing this song. Outstanding. I am impressed!!!

Well, storms are affecting our satellite TV and not much going on. Think I will get off here and start stitching again. Enjoy the song everyone and I will talk with you another day!!!

What Would You Say!!!

Happy Cinco de Mayo, or redneck Sinko de Mayo, also a Supermoon night. The moon is the closest to the earth tonight then any other time of the year!!!

Today kicked my butt. I didn't work out this week like I should, even though I almost lost 4 pounds, but decided to work my plants and some of the yard work. This humidity today was awful here and the heat was something to make you sweat about!!! Anyway, first thing this morning I brought all my plants up from downstairs. That was a pretty good workout because I had about 6 huge plants. Then I was sitting down cooling off from that little workout and my friend Carole called me and wanted to know if I wanted to go shopping with her and her daughter. I said heck yeah. We went running around and decided to hit a few of the garage sales from the City Wide garage sales today. Got me a few pretty good bargains and so did they. Then came home and my husband wanted to go out and eat so we hit our favorite place in town, Donna's Diner. Love them grilled tenderloins, what can I say??? Then I came home and worked my plants over. Not done but got them half way done. Planted a couple more hosta's under my front tree and then came inside, sat down and haven't done much since. Well, yes I have, I did a couple loads of laundry too. OH, and I did 20 situps today. Man, no wonder I'm toast tonight. I'll sleep good.

Have a Mary Kay Party to do tomorrow afternoon. Plan to have lunch at noon and leave the house around 1. Can't wait for the party. Going back down to my friend Gloria's house where the view is beautiful. I am going to make sure my battery is charged up for my camera. I love it down there plus her sister Marcia is going to be there. I haven't seen Marcia in like forever either. It will be a good time. Can't wait

Need to remember my swimming suit this week, the pool at the apartment has been open since May 1. They hang calendars on our doors every month and I didn't see this months calendar. Hmmm, roomie must have thrown it away. LOL. It's all cool, it could have been laying on the counter and I threw it away. I also want to check into Water Zumba. That sounds like so much fun. We'll see.

Is that not the coolest of the coolest ideas for a container garden, an old sink. They even left the faucet intact. The caption said that the faucet has running water and is used to water the plants. Cool. I love cool container gardens.

Oh, and last night I was talking about American made products and tonight someone posted that they were reading the Kansas City Star about a store that sells American made Jeans. The store is located in Leawood Kansas at 119th and Roe, which is a shopping center called One Nineteen. I will see if I can find out the name of the store but it would be worth checking into.

I'm outta here. Talk to you tomorrow.

We're not Judges!!!

This is a topic I feel so strongly about. I try to buy American made when ever possible but it is something that takes a lot of work and also, can be more expensive. Looking up on the web there are several sites that will direct you to American Made. http://madeinusaforever.com/ http://www.americansworking.com/ and http://www.madeinusa.org/ are just a few. When I was thinking about my other blog I was like, I could do tabs at the top and do one directly to American Made, another one on a gardening topic that I love and then another one on the Swedish weaving. Hmmm. Food for thought.

Today is the 42nd anniversary of the Kent State Shooting. May 4, 1970 at 12:24pm EST. I remember when this happened and the news media stories about it. Such a tragedy for our era. For those of you to young to remember and those of you that remember but can't recall the actual protest, the students had been protesting against the American invasion of Cambodia, which President Richard Nixon announced in a television address on April 30. The Ohio National Guard opened fire on the protesters, unloading 67 rounds in 13 seconds. This action killed 4 unarmed students and wounded 9, one suffering permanent paralysis. Some of the wounded students were just walking by or watching the protest from afar.

There had been lots of turmoil around the town after Nixon's announcement, burning of draft cards, one student even burned the Constitution. Can you imagine the chaos that must have taken place though during this massacre. Watching the Ohio National Guard taking a knee and opening fire??? A photographer captured a picture that has went down in history and shows some of the anguish that took place. The young girl kneeling next to a young man that was killed. The story behind this young lady, Mary Ann Vecchio, was that she was a 14 year old runaway just passing through this town. The young man she is kneeling next to was Jeffrey Miller. Story has it that her parents saw this picture and were able to get her and bring her home.

Casualties taken from Wikipedia

Killed (and approximate distance from the National Guard):

1. Jeffrey Glenn Miller; age 20; 265 ft (81 m) shot through the mouth; killed instantly
2. Allison B. Krause; age 19; 343 ft (105 m) fatal left chest wound; died later that day
3. William Knox Schroeder; age 19; 382 ft (116 m) fatal chest wound; died almost an hour later in a hospital while undergoing surgery
4. Sandra Lee Scheuer; age 20; 390 ft (120 m) fatal neck wound; died a few minutes later from loss of blood

Wounded (and approximate distance from the National Guard):

1. Joseph Lewis Jr.; 71 ft (22 m); hit twice in the right abdomen and left lower leg
2. John R. Cleary; 110 ft (34 m); upper left chest wound
3. Thomas Mark Grace; 225 ft (69 m); struck in left ankle
4. Alan Michael Canfora; 225 ft (69 m); hit in his right wrist
5. Dean R. Kahler; 300 ft (91 m); back wound fracturing the vertebrae, permanently paralyzed from the chest down
6. Douglas Alan Wrentmore; 329 ft (100 m); hit in his right knee
7. James Dennis Russell; 375 ft (114 m); hit in his right thigh from a bullet and in the right forehead by birdshot, both wounds minor
8. Robert Follis Stamps; 495 ft (151 m); hit in his right buttock
9. Donald Scott MacKenzie; 750 ft (230 m); neck wound

I love reading and remembering American history. Especially the part that I grew up in. The 60's and 70's was an era of redefining our equality. Pretty cool time to be a part of.

With that all said I am going to close with another statement that is something very dear to me. I have been judged and profiled in the past so this is very dear to my heart. When I was raising my son, going to college and working fulltime, I was on different government subsidized programs to help me get where I am today. If it hadn't been for assistance with childcare, rent, health insurance and food I am not sure we could have made it. I wish I had a dime everytime I went to the cash register to pay for our food with WIC coupons or food stamps that someone didn't give us a snide remark or a look. Or the times I didn't have enough money to pay my utility bills and would have to go ask for assistance, actually crying because the lady was harsh with me and I had a toddler on my lap. People like that will get their just rewards someway, some how but it doesn't help in the moment. Then there are those that helped us and I can remember their face, their actions and their warm hearts today, 20+ years later. Sometimes i wonder where they are or what they are doing. If they are still alive. I think that is why I love my job so much because I feel I am repaying them for helping me in my tough time in my life. Be nice people, we aren't on here for a long time and you really don't have a clue what someone is going through or what they have gone through.

Talk to you guys later!!! Love you all, even the haters!!!

They are Eternal.

I am writing this 3.6 pounds lighter. Third week with Weight Watchers and I have lost a total 6.8 pounds. That's good, makes me happy. Like I told you before,three years ago I lost 50 pounds (took me a year) and then I quit and gained some of that back. Hope I can stick with it but am getting all kinds of support so it is all good. I can't wait to start feeling better, being able to actually cross my legs and sleeping good at night. Of course the buying clothes that are a size smaller is always good too. :o)

Terry and Lamar left today and I really miss them tonight, but I will be home tomorrow night so all is good. I talked to him a few times today but won't bother him this evening because the ball game is on. We always talk to each other at 10, unless I decide to go to bed early and then I call him. It's all good and works out just fine.

Went over to the soutwest part of the state where the counties touch Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Wow, they have had a lot of rain and there is a lot of flooding. Laura and I were amazed. Today was a pretty humid day out too. That is the part that I don't like about getting all the rain and stuff. The humidity, mold and mosquitoes. Yuck!!!

Well, I don't have anything real earth shattering to write about tonight. Sometimes I feel real philosophical and other times not so much. Oh, something I meant to write last night and forgot: Do you know why you wash your clothes in Tide??? Because it is to cold to wash them out Tide. That joke cracked me up when the guys told it to me the other night. I don't know if it was as funny as them telling me and laughing so hard themselves. LOL. I told some at the office that joke and then Richard goes, You know what the mama light bulb said to the baby light bulb? I wuv you watts and watts. That one cracked me up too. I love those kind of jokes.

Good night all.

Remembered Them Tonight!!!

"You can accept or reject the way you are treated by other people, but until you heal the wounds of your past, you will continue to bleed. You can bandage the bleeding with food, with alcohol, with drugs, with work, with cigarettes, with sex, but eventually, it will all ooze through and stain your life. You must find the strength to open the wounds, stick your hands inside, pull out the core of the pain that is holding you in your past, the memories, and make peace with them."

"When you see crazy coming, cross the street.

"When people show you who they are, believe them."

"Your just being here is all the value you ever need."

"Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past could be any different."

"Love people enough to tell them the truth. And respect them enough to know that they can handle it."

The Lifeclass series on OWN is amazing, so I have heard!!! I haven't been able to watch it yet but this is something that was on my friends Facebook wall in regards to the series. Wow is all I can say. So many things that I read or hear hits so close to home for me and I try to apply things like this in my life. I don't claim I have all the answers to life but I try to live life by my faith and it has made me so much happier. I can't say that I am entirely happy 100% of the time and if I was you would have me committed but I don't live in my past. There is nothing I can do about it and found that out years ago. It just makes you miserable.

With that said...

Behavior is the mirror in which everyone shows their image. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Basically, be nice when you say it because the way it is said can make others think you are crazy!!! " But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you." Luke 6:27-31 New International Version Bible

Today was a fabulous day. We went out to lunch to Marie's, a wonderful Mexican Restaurant downtown Springfield. I have always heard it was good but ooh, lah, lah. It has to be my favorite around. Can't think of any I like better. Then this evening we went to Brahms and had some ice cream. Yeah, going to have to hit the exercise and eating right regime more seriously next week.

Am going to have to work on Public Speaking skills better. I get so nervous and it shows in my voice. I have been told not to feel the fear of fighting for your life when you get in front of people. Just do conversation style speaking. When I spoke a couple weeks ago and critiqued my plus was that I had a very good conversation style in my speaking. In the past I have checked into Toastmaster's when I worked in the KC area but never joined because I didn't really do that much speaking. Well, I have checked into them down here and plan to join them. Next Monday night is a meeting and I will go. If you don't know what Toastmaster's is, they are a public speaking group that help with making you a stronger speaker. I think I will like it and this next week is going to be busy. I have them on Monday night, Master Gardeners on Tuesday night, Weight Watchers on Wednesday. Want to start going to a bible study on Wednesday night and may try this week, not sure. Busy, busy. It hasn't gotten overwhelming yet but when it does I will cut something out.

You know they just had a commercial on about values and tells you to go to values.com. I absolutely love those commercials and have checked into the website. Good, good stuff on there.

Welp heading out of here. Thank you everyone for being my friends. Don't know what I would do without all of you and all the positive comments on here and on Facebook. Talk to you tomorrow.

Today has been trying. Some days are like that and others aren't. We went out tonight to a really good sandwich shop in downtown Springfield, Pickleman's. I know I've said it before but downtown Springfield is so nice. We could have went to see Hunger Games tonight but we both are to tired, it's heck being a couple oldies. All I could think about was how I have to get up in the morning. LOL. Been reading and think I almost have my niche for the other blog. Something I know alot about and also there aren't alot of hits when you type the subject in the search engine. That's what all the books and others say to me. So I got on and typed subjects I know about. Gardening had way to many hits on it. 152,000,000. So then I tried to whittle it down some. Raised Bed Gardening had 1M hits. I'm like hmmm. That could be interesting too. Then I thought about Swedish Weaving aka Huck Embrodery and I was like hmmm. Swedish Weaving over 12M but Huck Embrodiery had 418,000. Still trying to figure out but will whittle it down. A little fun trying to find my niche. I am so tired tonight. To much drama this weekend for any sane person!!! Think I'll get off here early. Sorry but just can't do it. Later.