One week from today...............

I'm off to see my Sweet Baby Girl in Colorado! It's been six months since my last trip. Only 6 months?

National News from the Associated Press:

Taking his trial to the media and refusing to attend his impeachment process:

"The Democratic governor is refusing to take part, arguing that the rules are so biased that he can't possibly get a fair hearing.
"The fix is in," he said on ABC.

"When the whole story comes out, you'll see that the effort was to work to have a senator who can best represent Illinois and one that can help us create jobs and provide health care."
His Dec. 9 arrest was the final straw for lawmakers, who had spent six years butting heads with Blagojevich. The House quickly voted 114-1 for impeaching the governor. That sent the case to the Senate, where it would take a two-thirds majority to convict Blagojevich and throw him out of office.
Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn would replace him, becoming Illinois' 41st governor.
Whatever the Senate decides, the criminal case against Blagojevich, 52, won't be affected.
In recent days, Blagojevich has compared himself to the hero of a Frank Capra movie and a cowboy being lynched for a crime he didn't commit. He said that when he was arrested on federal corruption charges, he took solace from thinking of other jailed leaders- Nelson Mandela, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi."

Seriously. The guy has been inhaling too many hair product fumes.

"They've been doing some research into Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Have you seen this guy? Well, it turns out that thing on his head actually mated with that thing on Donald Trump's head. It's getting ugly." --David Letterman

Just because you are paranoid, doesn't mean.........

Visiting my son and daughter-in-law this weekend- kids in bed - and we have a total chick flick lined up- “Legends of The Fall” (long blonde hair-Brad Pitt……..) - except that the 3rd installment of the “X-men” series is winding up - so we are were watching that first.
I was familiar with Wolverine - as that was one of my son’s favorite’s growing up- but, I hadn’t seen any of the movies and was rather lost.
I commented on the lead Bad Guy’s head gear. It was an odd shaped helmet that half covered his face from each side- it looked like it would be heavy and cumbersome to wear- blocking his peripheral vision (an effective Bad Guy has to see whose going to come at him from the right and left.)
In response to my comment my son goes into a rather detailed description of why the Bad Guy was wearing this particular headpiece. Something about keeping the Bad Guy’s powers contained and focused while blocking out the good guys ability to interfere with the BG’s brain waves.
I mentioned that aluminum foil works for me- lighter, cheaper and easier to form to my head comfortably without inferring with my vision.
My son, bless his heart - started cracking up - and said “You may not want to repeat that around people who don’t really know you Mom.”
Although, I think I caught a worried look on my daughter-in-law’s face - and she’s known for - what? 9-10 years now?

And now, Ladies and Gentlemen.......Willie Nelson

Altho I think my all time favorite Willie Nelson song is 'Seven Spanish Angels' or maybe 'You Were Always on My Mind' -but, I heard this one tonight - and remembered I liked it too......................

If you had not have fallen

Then I would not have found you

Angel flying too close to the ground

And I patched up your broken wing

And hung around a while

Tried to keep your spirits up

And your fever down

I knew someday that you would fly away

For love's the greatest healer to be found

So leave me if you need to

I will still remember

Angel flying too close to the ground

Fly on, fly on past the speed of sound

I'd rather see you up

Than see you down

Leave me if you need to

I will still remember

Angel flying too close to the ground

First Dance with the First Lady

'At Last' sung by Beyonce.

Even the birds are singing!!!!!

I interrupt the historical inauguration of our 44th President to post this amazing announcement!

Bob and Robert just started chirping and chattering and screeching and fweeping!

Scared the bee-jeebers out of the Toby mutt!

No idea why this would start today - (and I don't think it's something they normally do during the day- unless they just don't do it on Saturdays and Sundays when I'm not at work.)

Maybe they just liked the sound of Aretha Franklin singing "God Bless America"!

Living the Dream..........

Protect this man, our new President, Lord. Allow him to lead this country into a strong and prosperous age. Allow him to serve to the best of his ability and to live to a ripe old age. Allow him to dance at his grand daughter's wedding.

Bless Michelle with the strength and wisdom to raise her family in the lime light of the White House and to keep her marriage strong, her children safe.

Bless us with the acceptance and the benefits of their dedication to our country with their very lives and those of their children.

Bless this house they move into today. Amen

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'"
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood."

Sticks and Stones

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

I’ve never given much credence to that playground rhyme.

And if you have ever been the pregnant teenage recipient of an older brother’s snarl that you are a slut and not good enough to cross his door step ever again – then you might not either.

And, if you have ever been a pregnant teenage girl, standing in front of a closed door on her brother’s (the chosen one- favorite son) doorstep hearing your father say “You know, your brother always was an ass – let’s go Princess – we need a new stroller.” you also know the flip side- that kind words spoken even without scripted and practiced eloquence but, with heart, can heal.

I understand that the prevailing thought now is all about empowerment with words. That, if we embrace the word and use it as our own – we take the power of the word to hurt us away – and replace it with our own self esteem. This justifies blacks using the “N’ word on each other, gays calling each other fags and overweight folks calling themselves fatties and slugs. “If I get upset by someone calling me a name, then I have given away my power and I need to make a different choice.”

I don’t get this. Words that hurt are expressions of feelings, beliefs and attitudes that hurt.

We have a beautiful language. Words that warm the heart, make our spirits soar and inspire us beyond even the stretch of our language – until we are literally left speechless.

I vote we speak with more kindness and beauty – instead of adopting hurtful words as our own. Let the hurtful words form together into their own little dead language and let the kind and beautiful ones continue to warm our hearts and mend our hurts.

May you speak and hear a beautiful word today.

Must be Toby's "Christmas Tree Night"

Apparently the mutt isn't ready for the tree to come down either.

Too bad this blog doesn't have sound- because he's SNORING to beat the band!

I'm thinking of taking my Christmas tree down.

Not yet tho. No hurry.

My Sweet Baby Girl is getting snowed on!

Latest pictures from Colorado - where the commute to school (no late passes given out today!) and work was doubled.

Pretty to look at- not so pretty to drive in!

Not a peep

It's early in the morning and I am sitting here listening to the birds out side on my back porch. They are singing and fweeping and chirping and squawking over the seed I left out for them. All the while Bob and Robert sit here. Silent as lambs. Not a tweet, chirp, fweep or shriek between them. Occasionally I hear them muttering to each other (altho the on line information I have gathered calls that 'warbling' and it's the equivalent of a cat's purr). It is a nice sound.

But, the other day when I went into PetSmart to buy more bird seed (they may purr like cats- but, they eat like pigs) and heard the wild sounds of a cage full of parakeets, I was reminded of WHY I brought them home in the first place. I like the sound of noisy birds in my home - and I missed it after Bob I's sudden death a few months ago. Now THAT was a noisy bird!.

I went on line- alot of talk about mirrors - IF I didn't want the birds to learn to speak English (I like to speak English to people, not birds. I like bird sounds from birds.) The lady at PetSmart made the astounding suggestion that "Maybe they don't have anything to chirp about." (My ex husband didn't talk until he was 3 - the doctor's comment was "Maybe he doesn't have anything to say yet."). But, the PetSmart lady also mentioned mirrors.

So, yesterday I hung a mirror- the same size as the cage actually - that I had in my closet - behind the bird cage. Right behind the feeders where they spend the majority of their time. So far, not a peep, but there's always hope!

Christmas Tree Night

Last night was my Christmas Tree Night. I've been doing this since I have been on my own with kids. One random night after Christmas, I sleep on the couch with the Christmas tree lights on - all night.

I've lived alone for about 6 years now- no hubby, kids or Mom sleeping down the hall (no hall actually), but it just seemed like the night for it. For the last 16 years, my mutt joins me on the couch and I bring out a blanket and pillow, I read, watch T.V. - and look at the tree and doze off and on.

Christmas trees are one of my favorite things. This year I did not have access to any of my traditional Christmas decorations or the Christmas tree my daughter and her family surprised me with about 4 years ago, so I used my year round 'craft' pine cone tree and decorated it with candy canes and beads and red ribbons and the Christmas decorations that hang around my house all year long.

Each year I leave out one new Christmas decoration from the packing boxes. I tend to have eclectic Christmas decorations - penguins, beaded lamp pulls, frogs, little cars - so that it's not as odd as it sounds (my place doesn't look like Santa's workshop all year). This Christmas, the one who escapes the box for the next 11 months is a new white and gold angel from my daughter-in-law's Mom that will hang all year round next to the painted lady ball from my son-in-law's Mom from several years ago.

I started doing this as a gift to myself- to appreciate the tree in a quiet, post stressed holiday time frame - and to count my blessings - it takes all night - and just think and feel and remember the Christmas Season I was just passing through - and the ones from the past.

I do this alone, but I am never lonely on these nights. It's all about Christmas Past, Present and Future for me - in the glow of tiny firefly lights and candles.

Not on any one's holiday calendar, but one of my favorite nights of the year. And I always wake up rested and refreshed.

Traffic, little black dogs and Saints

Last night on my way home I decided to take the freeway instead of the back streets as the traffic seemed light enough. Just past the off ramp to my home there is a gas station on the corner of a very busy intersection that shares it's back lot with the parking lot of a huge mall surrounded by restaurants and banks. In the center of all this traffic and driveways was a family of 4 trying desperately to get a small black dog back into their van parked at the gas station.

The Dad was a big man- and looked angry and fed up- the girl looked to be about 8, crying and the boy about 12 - altho from a distance he could have easily been mistaken for an 18 year old. I had one like that boy and I could see he was young and trying to look angry and disgusted like his Father, not scared and crying like his sister - and coming off in that sweet sullen 12 year old boy attitude that achieves nothing very well- (and is only sweet now that I'm 20 years past it). Mom was in the middle of it all - trying to direct traffic and her family from getting run over.

Now, as any dog whisperer will tell you- the best way to entice a recalcitrant dog back into it's van is for a perfect stranger to pull an illegal U-turn on a crowded off ramp - leap out of the car and attempt to assist in the round up. So I did.

I leaped out of my car and not seeing the mutt I yelled over the car noise (and horn honking) "Did you catch him?" All 4 family members looked at me in stunned silence and pointed to the back of my car and for a brief moment in time, I thought, OMG I ran over the mutt. But, no - the ugly little thing had followed my car in like it was a big cream puff and was standing right behind me. I got within inches of the gnarly little buck toothed critter when it realized I was "one of then" and took off - again.

I spoke to the Mom - Dad was yelling something in Spanish telling the kids to get back in the car- they were leaving without it. I asked the Mom if I could run in and get some food and try to get it to me that way? Mom thought that was a good idea and called her son who was stomping around behind Dad - to go into the gas station and get some chips - I asked what his name was - and the Mom said Jr. I'm not sure if she was talking about the dog, or the kid. But, Jr. (the kid), started to walk towards the store and asked if someone was going with him? Mom told him, "Go- I can see you from here". (Yep, he's 12)

Mom explained that they were coming back from visiting family and still had to drive to Escondido where they lived, they had stopped and the dog got loose- tired of being cooped up in the van all day.

By this time Jr. (the dog) had taken off into the parking complex of the mall - I went that-a-way and lost site of him. Turning back to the gas station to regroup - I saw all 4 of them in about the same positions I found them in - with the mutt now giving a less than merry chase as it was tiring out. Mom and I thought this might be our best bet.

As I was positioning my car to see if Jr. (the dog) would follow it again - a young man in a new Mustang - pulled up to the center divider of the main street- parked his car with the hazard lights on - and in one fluid, totally silent motion - sprinted thru 3 lanes of traffic - swooped the dog up in his arms, handed it to the Mom and sprinted back to his car and took off.

Now, why didn't I think of that?

About 5 years ago my then 6 or 7 year old Grandaughter came running outside her Uncle Frank's house in Colorado: "GRANMA - there's a bird in the house!" I went in side, and sure enough a sparrow was flapping it's wings against the ceiling, beating itself to a frenzy trying to get away from a house full of people attempting to direct it to an open window or door.

I walked in and raised my hands up - and the bird fluttered right into my open palm. It's heart was beating so hard against it's chest I could feel it. I closed my hands around bird folding it's wings and attempting to calm it and walked it outside where I released it, wondering if this is how St. Francis of Assisi felt in the woods that day.

"My sister birds, you owe much to God, and you must always and in everyplace give praise to Him; for He has given you freedom to wing through the sky and He has clothed you…you neither sow nor reap, and God feeds you and gives you rivers and fountains for your thirst, and mountains and valleys for shelter, and tall trees for your nests. And although you neither know how to spin or weave, God dresses you and your children, for the Creator loves you greatly and He blesses you abundantly. Therefore… always seek to praise God."

My grand daughter was very proud of me - and Uncle Frank's only comment was "Of course."

So, to the unknown man in the Mustang I say "Of Course."

Need a little inspriation for the start of a New Year?

Try this website:

http://www.purplesongscanfly.org/

The Home page states:

"........there's a song inside.......every single child........waiting to be heard....... Purple Songs Can Fly is a unique project that provides a musical outlet for the many children being treated for cancer and blood disorders at Texas Children’s Cancer Center and their siblings. In this program, which is the first of its kind, the children work with Anita Kruse and other professional composers to write and record their own songs. Using the latest technology in an in-house studio, composers work with the children individually or in small groups to compose, record, and burn songs to disc within short sessions."

It's amazing- don't forget to view the photos!