Friday, July 31, 2009

Funnies for the "Kids".. It's Friday!

"A child can ask questions that a wise man cannot answer." ~Author Unknown

"If our American way of life fails the child, it fails us all." ~Pearl S. Buck

"Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man."
~Rabindranath Tagore



Welcome to my Friday Blog where I share funny and almost always true advice with the young folks who Grace my life.. and enrich my world.. I am truly blessed to have so many young friends; children; grand-children; and my list goes on and on... I hope that everyone who visits here laughs aloud at least once.. Even if you only giggle or smile I will have accomplished something wonderful.. Won't you help me have a wonderful day and let me know you giggled!
:~}

1:)~ Plan on having a job at some point in your life.... Unless you don't plan to eat or like soup! ~ I guess there are people who live and survive with out ever doing any kind of work.. I even think I know a few of them.. they sit on the bench outside of my Grocery store and ask for "spare" change. Most people of this day and age just shake their head at these people and don't even slow down as they pass them. I will be honest with you.. I don't give them my money.. I don't have any "spare" change.. I keep my change for my own things.. I haven't been there yet but I am told that even as small as our town is that we now have a soup kitchen for our homeless.. A few weeks ago Dave and I spotted a young fellow with a sign that says he's homeless.. I hope he found the soup kitchen.. I was going to give him a dollar until I realized he was wearing expensive shoes and smoking Marlboro Menthol's.. I think instead I'll give him the book called Stone Soup and the directions to our soup kitchen.. At least the last person who sat on that corner had a sign that said "will work for food".. Unemployment in America is at an all time high.. I know times are tough for everyone.. even me.. But I am not on the corner with a sign asking for your money while I chain smoke..and wave at the passing girls with a devilish grin.. hoping against all hope that a wonderful job will fall from the sky and knock me into next week"s pay period!.. and if by some chance you do have to go to the soup kitchen... you could offer to wash a few dishes and always say thanks.. they always need volunteers and it's always better to work for food than sit on the corner waiting on the now extinct.. "spare change!" Please don't think I would never help a homeless person.. I have helped many people who were down on their luck.. even moving a few right into my life and my house.. I even made them a regular family member by assigning them chores! :~)


2:)~ Never spend your money for something you don't really need or want just to impress people that you don't really like! ~ This happens a lot more than people realize.. "It's also know as Keeping up with the Jones!" When I worked at the hotel we almost always had ball teams there on week-ends.. they came her to play baseball on our fancy new fields across town.. One Sunday morning I had the chance to watch and listen as a family came in for breakfast before and early game... The father grabbed cereal and fruit for the smaller two children and got them settled in at the tiny corner table.. The baseball player grabbed a banana and shoving his ear plugs deep into his ears he flopped back into a pink flowered wing back chair and closed his eyes..Pretty much ignoring everything except the thump thump thump of the loud music vibrating in his ears.. The Mom to this outfit appeared normal until she set off on the whining and complaining spree like none I have ever heard before.. The Jones had a New Tahoe .. The Smith's had a new Tahoe.. even the Green's had a New Tahoe~ "God Knows how when she doesn't even work!".. "Why can't we have a New Tahoe?" ~ He glanced at me and then explained that the Mini Van they had was paid for and he didn't want another car payment right now.. He even asked her why she cared what the others had.. Her reply was that she didn't want them to have more than her.. she said it wasn't right.. She went on then to say a few nasty things about most of the other team families.. Making it plain that she despised most of them.. I don't care who has more than me.. I have a junk car that runs and carries me where I need to go.. when people pass me in their new Tahoe.. I just smile to myself and am thankful that all my vehicles are paid for.. The Jones have what they have and they have the payments to go with it.. unless you need it.. and I mean really really need it.. Let the Jones and the Greens race to see who can have the most.. Get over here on the sidelines with me and watch.... I'll even loan you a plain old folding lawn chair.. it's nothing like the fancy one with a foot rest that Miss Jones has though!

3:~ Don't know everything! ~ Smartness is attractive.. but so is vulnerability. Do you know anyone who is a "Know it all"? Well I meant besides Me.... I don't know it all.. I know most of it and I'll look up for you what I don't already know so I guess I'm a "know most of it all"..( You can laugh here!) You know it's true! It's perfectly fine to admit that you don't know something and will have to look it up or look into it.. Once you think you know it all you will quit learning.. There is so much that we each have left to learn.. I'm pretty sure there are sights out there that have never been seen and thoughts that have never been thought.. And as long as you are learning you will be well on your way to knowing it all.. I try to learn something every day.. Some days I look at new words or new forms of poetry.. I read about places I have never been and will never have the opportunity to go.. I know a lot of stuff... I even know a lot of important stuff.. But I still don't know everything! Neither do you.. so quit with the he-man chest thumping I know it all stance and go read a book or visit a new place.. Learn all you can about the place.. Learn about the lives of those who lived there or who now live there.. Try to learn everything.. who knows.. one day you might be the first person to really Know it ALL!

4:)~ Don’t pay too much attention to “how to” advice~ It is everywhere.. Everyone knows a better way to do something.. Even I have lots of advice for ways to do things faster; smarter and better.. But the truth is that each of has to find our own way.. No two of us will make it to where we want to in life by following the same path.. You might be better off following the "how not to screw things up" plan that we have each and every one left behind.. Listen to the advice of your elders and then decide what works for you.. develop your own plan for your life... expect to make some mistakes.. and when you do make a mistake.. correct your plan and move on.. a mistake doesn't mean the plan was flawed.. Just that some adjustments are needed.. But if you do need advice from a really smart person... one who knows a lot of stuff... one who knows almost everything.. One who loves to give advice.. Don't call me.. I'm just a foolish Old woman with a blog.. I will most likely tell you to rethink your original plan and quit sniveling about how the world hates you.. then I will make you help me gather eggs while you tell me about your plan.. and as we dig a fish pond you can explain to me where the plan went wrong.. then if you are still sniveling and whining I will work you till you decide to rethink your plan alone in the comfort of your own room with your own advice being the best you have... See.. You already don't want to ask me.. You'll figure it out.. that's why it's called growing up!

5:~You can teach an old dog new tricks.. There is an odd belief held by many that learning is for the young.. It is true that children learn things like languages and some skills easier and faster than adults do..... You're too old. You might hurt yourself. It would be undignified. People will laugh at you. You'll fall on your face. Why bother at this point? I bet you have heard some of these.. I have heard most of these.. A few of them are even so.. People most likely would laugh at me if I tried to learn something wild and crazy like skateboarding for instance or maybe snow boarding.. I would also fall on my face.. But I know me I would get up and try again and again until I broke something or learned it... I am not likely to try to learn to snowboard.. But I can still learn to do new dance steps or new crafts... I learned the desk clerk software for the computer faster than the other girl who was supposed to train me.... She was half my age.. In fairness to her she had children at home and didn't own a computer so I had one less worry and one more already learned skill.. No kids at home and I already knew computers.. (On the other hand she learned not to talk back to the Boss man and I didn't.. She still has her job and I am back to the UN-employment line..)

Lawrence Katz, a professor of neurobiology at Duke University Medical Center and co-author of Keep Your Brain Alive, makes a convincing argument that the more you learn, the better you learn. "Children's brain cells are still growing, adding new connections, until about age 18," explains Katz. "When you're older there's still some of this plasticity left, but you need to rely on different brain pathways." By the time a person reaches adulthood, some of the brain's "wires" are permanently in use for other purposes. But there are always extra neural pathways that can be pressed into service. By doing what Katz calls neurobics, we can activate them. Neurobics can involve any new activity — from learning to speak a new language to brushing your teeth with your left hand or trying to walk around your house blind folded.. Things involving as many of the senses as possible are wonderful for nourishing our brains, says Katz. Activities that also involve interactions with other people are even better. These include dancing and sports. So if you pass by my house and see me hanging upside down from a metal bar tied under the old Oak tree.. I'm not crazy I'm just trying to rekindle my desire to be a flying Trapeze artist... if you knock onmy door and Dave and I answer blind-folded we are not trying a new kinky thing we read about.... We encouraging new Brain connections..If you're on the slopes at the snowboarding resort and see me coming down the hill at break neck speed; to tumble head over hills and fall before you.. Laugh with me all the way to the coffee bar because I will need a cup and I might have some good advice for you on the other aspects of life.. You are never to old to learn..

Let me apologize that this post didn't make it on Friday night.. We had a thunderstorm that knocked me off-line three times in a row.. Finally I gave up.. Bright and Early.. before the crack of dawn.. this morning I planned to hurry and get it posted.. feeling that most people read me a day late anyway.. I sat here just about to hit publish when I heard a scary freakish frying sound and then kapoot! kapooey! .. my computer monitor went black.. Thank God and Dave that I had a surge protector.. Something fried my telephone line and my surge protector but missed my computer.. It threw the breakers in my breaker box and scared the patooky out of me... I finally got back on-line even though I still don't have telephone service.. I'm pretty sure it cooked the telephone.. The phone wires are black and crumbly.. But I apologize for being a day late.. I hope you enjoy my Friday's Advice for the kids for this week.. Have a great day!
Patsy

Thursday, July 30, 2009

It's Thursday.. Please enjoy these three!

"Writing, I think, is not apart from living. Writing is a kind of double living. The writer experiences everything twice. Once in reality and once in that mirror which waits always before or behind."
- Catherine Drinker Bowen, 1897 - 1973

"Life can't ever really defeat a writer who is in love with writing, for life itself is a writer's lover until death - fascinating, cruel, lavish, warm, cold, treacherous constant."
- Edna Ferber, 1885 - 1968

"Good writers define reality; bad ones merely restate it. A good writer turns fact into truth; a bad writer will, more often than not, accomplish the opposite."
- Edward Albee


1:) A Haiku!

Run Away

copper curls rest on
a bulging backpack pillow~
stars light the night sky

written by: Patricia Sawyer
6-16-2009


2:) Another Haiku!

Stormy Night

rain beats out a song
drumming on a hot tin roof~
frogs croak with delight

written by: Patricia Sawyer
6-16-2009

3:) A new style of poetry for me..It is for a contest on PoetrySoup.com .. Apparently it is considered to be a very challenging Poem to write..All of the comments left for me there said I did Great!!! I do wonder though if anyone would say so if a poem was Not good?? No one has even told me I wrote a bad poem.. From what I have read a few people even gave up on this challenge.. This style was new to me.. I don't think it would be a style that I will write very many of but I did enjoy writing this one.. Now hopefully you will enjoy reading it too.. Just for your Information.. I have many poems listed on Poetrysoup.com.. You will find me by My Name.. Patricia Sawyer!


My song- ( Solfège)-

Do- Re- Mi-

Do..Dodo.. flightless bird
fearless of humans; easy prey!
Extinct so long many believe you a myth....

Re master of universe
mirror image of Ra...worshiped
by millions seeking a ray of hope..
a ray of sunshine warming heart and soul...

Mi.. Mi.. ME
Calm me.. breath..deeply breath..
help me.. bless me.. sing my song..
Do - Re- Mi-

Fa- So- La-

Fa away from everything;
everyone I love.. wishing..
dreaming.. desolate..

So- so- Sewing
Grandma's old sewing machine..
bright colors.. tiny stitches..
warm quilts... So- so- Sew!

La- La- La-
Sadness.. Dark.. gloomy..
overwhelmed.. lonely.. Tears..
La-La-La-...LA! LA! LA!

La- Ti- Do-

ti-Ti- piercing.. Heart weary..
Ti.. Ti.. Tea!
a hot cup with lemon and honey..
faith ..hope.. a ray..

Do- stronger now!
Do- Do- Do what you have to!
find strength.. it's there..deep inside you..
survive! grow! learn! LIVE!!

do- re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do...
DO- RE- MI- Fa-So- La- ti- do!

Written By: Patricia Sawyer
7-27-2009


Bonus!! ~And to help you understand the poem a Bonus!~
Solfege or Solfeggio, is a method of assigning a syllable to every pitch / degree of a scale. Instead of singing the actual names of the notes in the scale (eg. c d e f g a b) we use the syllables instead (Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti). There are a few different versions of Solfege in use but this is the one they suggested for the purpose of writing this poem..

Solfege was created in the 10th Century to help monks to easily learn the chants for the mass. Guido d' Arezzo was having a difficult time teaching his monks the Gregorian Chants for the weekly mass services. He devised a system of placing the notes of the scale on his hand. Each note had a symbol on a different part of his hand. In this manner, he could point to a symbol on his hand and the young monks would sing the corresponding note. An entire song could be sung just by pointing to the different parts of his hand. The "Guidonian Hand" was widely used in Europe. In the 1600's the French standardized the use of solfege as we know it today. Most of us have sung Doe a deer... ect. in elementary school music class.. I will admit it was quite a challenge to write a poem in this way.. How do you think I did?

That's three for you this Thursday! I hope you enjoyed the things I have shared with you tonight.. Feel free to comment and remember I will even try write a poem from a word list you provide.. as long as I don't have to look the words up.. in other words don't send me your College chemistry Vocabulary words... I know that sounds like I'm lazy but you don't use words you don't know the same way you used common words..and for me words have to flow... Yea I know ... you still think I'm lazy...believe me.. writing is not all talent.. it does take some research and that is a lot like work.. Have a great day!
Patsy!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

It's Wednesday and YES !! ~ I'm still weird!!!

"Know what's weird? Day by day, nothing seems to change. But pretty soon, everything is different." ~ Bill Watterson

"It seems everyone in Hollywood is getting pinched, lifted and pulled. I'm looking weird because I'm not." ~ Robert Redford

"Yesterday's weirdness is tomorrow's reason why." ~ Hunter S. Thompson

How weird has your day been? My day hasn't been so very weird yet today.. But it's Wednesday and I'm sure something weird will sneak up on me before the day ends... I can almost promise that each and every one of today's questions will be weird.. My Answers will be weird.. I did try a weird new recipe today.. Apples and cabbage.. cooked together and seasoned with a little bacon grease.. Sounds weird doesn't it? Dave gave me a really weird look as I sliced the apples into the frying pan with the cabbage.. " You do know that~ Umm~ Umm~ that is cabbage right?" I just smiled at him.. I know it sounds weird.. I thought so too the very first time I had it.. Try it if you ever have a head of cabbage and a few apples that all need to be cooked before they ruin..Or even make a trip to the store with this dish in mind.. Sometimes weird is Good! I'm a weird Mother.. a weird writer and now a weird Cook! I never stop reaching new heights of weirdness.. Now on to the weird questions for today..

1:)~ What was a “fad” you remember from your childhood? I don't actually remember a "fad" from my childhood.. well there was the weird and ugly go go boots that weren't really boots at all but just Patent leather things like socks that went in regular shoes.. Mama bought all of us girls a pair of those when she saw them at K-Mart in Charleston.. I was laughed almost OUT of the fifth grade when I wore mine to school.. I am sure they had Fads back then but we were kept pretty close to home.. we didn't have much time for Fads.. There was a fad that I did become aware of when I was about eleven years old.. David came home one day with a big piece of red cloth and sat down at the sewing machine.. He split his pants legs open up to the knee and cut huge triangles from his bright red cloth.. he then sewed the material into the split making a gored leg on his pants.. I loved it.. He had several pair.. He might think it too weird to admit now but I loved him and his super coolness back then.. he was always stylish.. a weird style for sure but he was up to date! I looked and looked for some material to make myself a pair of those super cool gored legged pants.. Finally one day Mama came home with a big sack full of bright and cheerful new kitchen curtains.. The old ones were a few years old and a couple of them were even a little faded... I was going to miss those old curtains with the bright colored chickens and the wide yellow checked ruffles.. Suddenly as I helped hang new curtains I came up with a wonderful weird idea.. I was almost afraid to mention it to mama.. but since she had planned to throw the old curtains away anyway.. she agreed to my plan.. I went to school the next morning in my own weird creation of gored pants.. wide yellow ruffled gores filled the split from ankle to almost hip.. twin roosters decorated the butte of my old jeans.. with-in a week all of my friends and even a few enemies were wearing gored legged .. pants.. None were weird enough to use chicken curtains but everyone loved mine.. Everyone except my Grandma Morris.. she saw them and had a fit.. She tried to make Daddy burn my wonderful pants.. she said I'd be a rooster myself if I wore them.. That was so weird.. I didn't even know what that meant.. Mama said I could keep them and wear them.. I wish I still had my pants.. I'm pretty sure I wore them out.. I'm also sure that if I had tried that before David made his pants I would have been labeled weird.. I mighta even got a whipping.. he could get away with stuff.. Thanks David for clearing the path for the other seven of us!! Even if the whole world called you weird I'd still say you were the coolest!!

2:)~ If a talking Patsy doll were made, what are THREE phrases it would say?~ How weird it would be to have a talking doll named Patsy! ... Effenbee actually made a whole family of Patsy dolls.. Patsy Ann.. Patsyette.. Patsy JR.. None of them talked and though I have seen them for sale on e-bay.. I don't own one... they are way to rich for my blood.. and to be honest I think they are weird looking.. I am sure there have been other dolls named Patsy offered for sale.. most companies give their dolls common names.. Patsy is considered to be a common name.. I will say though that most people I personally know named Patsy are weird.. and if not truly weird then at least UN-common! Most people who are name Patricia choose other names such as Tricia or Pat .. even Patti.. I am glad mama chose Patsy to call me.. I like being the weird me I have became as Patsy.. Can you really see me as a Tricia or a Patti? Me neither!! And I hate being called Pat! It makes me feel weird.. I don't like it .. don't do it.. Do you think anyone would want a weird doll named Patsy that could talk? She would never shut up.. she would talk the buzzards off of a gut wagon.. ( Jimmy said I could!) She would say way more than three things.. She would say weird stuff like.. (1) " Sometimes ya can't understand.. Just accept.. it's easier that way!" (2) " You can't fool me.. I was fooling fools before you were a wicked gleam in your ugly Daddies eye!" (3) " Don't make me have a killing!" ~ she would also say things like "no food till this puzzle is done.." and "Load up young- uns we're heading to Olar!" and "that's my brother's cousin".. see I told you she would be really weird.. you would never get her to shut up.. she would hide in your closet and learn all of your secrets.. she might even black mail you.. On the other hand she would be a true loving friend as long as you didn't tick her off..

3:)~ Do you think how a person dances gives you a glimpse to how they perform in bed?
Here we go again.. weird sex questions.. I am going to answer this with a simple yes I do..
Maybe my family will neither disown me nor have a stroke.. I am still allowed to think..
and now I will add to my answer by saying that a person to decrepit to dance is most likely also to decrepit for other activities.. I also like to see people dance together when you can see by the tender way they hold each other that they have a deep and abiding love for each other.. It really has little or nothing to do with their sex lives..I enjoy watching others dance and always smile when I see a couple who dance well together.. Call me weird.. I like watching people do a lot of things- even walk..

4:) ~ Describe the ugliest outfit you have ever worn in public. Do y'all remember the weird "Hammer Pants?" On the very first public date Dave and I had... I wore hammer pants.. They were a silky weird.. man- made material.. a deep dark purple.. MC Hammer would have been so proud of me in them..I also wore black silk super high heeled shoes and a many colored.. Striped top in the same weird.. man- made material.. They came together .. I gave a lot of money for those weird and ugly clothes.. We walked in the club and People took notice of us.. He was wearing tight Black jeans and a Purple silk shirt that he borrowed from one of his co-workers..
Both of us had our long hair in a braid.... People turned around and stared at us..I think maybe we were weird... It was a red neck club and we were dressed like pansies.. All that purple had to be weird for red necks.. We are lucky to have survived I guess.. But man when we took to that dance floor.. then those people cleared out and watched us... We were wearing ugly clothes but we danced well together.. We have often had people stop to watch us dance.. either we dance well together or we were just so weird that they had to stand still to take us in?... I think I still have those hammer pants.. Yep!! Ugly!! Ugly!! Ugly!! If you ever need something weird to wear I can Most likely loan you something..

5:)~ Have you ever worn or tried edible underwear? What are your thoughts on it? This is such a weird question.. When Dave and I got married our neighbors all got together and gave us a party.. we didn't get toasters and blenders because we already had all that stuff.. we got weird stuff like jars of cherries and whipped cream .. we each got a set of matching pajama's... and as weird as it may seem we did get some of those edible underwear.. His were boxers and mine were a thong... they were both red .. one was cherry and the other strawberry flavored.... I am going to be perfectly honest even if it is weird.. we came home and opened the packs.. we tasted both pair.. they were nasty and left a weird aftertaste in our mouths.. we balled them up and stuffed them back into their packages and threw them into the trash can.. We brushed our teeth and finished watching a movie that we had paused to go to our wedding shower.. Later that night after he had went home to his trailer across the field.... as I was laying in my bed thinking about the day.. I thought about the fact that my kids would be home early the next morning and I went and got them because I didn't want my kids to ask me why there were underwear in the trash... I know I was being weird.. But Dave and I were careful about our Kids.. I put the edible drawers into several plastic bags and put them back in the trash a day or so later.. I don't have thoughts on edible drawers.. that to me would just be weird.. I wouldn't wear them... I think they would make your butt sticky... that would be weird... and they taste nasty... Maybe I'm just old and a little tiny bit weird but I haven't ever had a thought about edible underwear other than when I was given a pair and just now when you reminded me of that fact.. Now who is weird.. Me or YOU??!

6:)~ When was the last time you went to a carnival and played midway games? Oh man.. I can't say for sure rather it has been two years or three but that was maybe one of the weirdest nights of my entire life.... The carnival was set up in the field that is in front of the airport here in my little town.. Pretty much across the road from my house.. just an easy stroll for us.... I used to be fascinated by carnivals until i worked as clown for the county fair in my early twenties... being considered another worker there I was shown many of the tricks and traps the Carney's use in order to get a person's money.. I always warned my children to ride the rides and pass the games.. they are all rigged.. You can't beat a man at his own game.. weird as it may sound even the little pick up the ducks pond is rigged.. There is only one duck that actually wins anything worth more than a quarter.. and that one duck is very rarely released by a trigger that the Carney can pull without being seen.. They have so many tricks and secrets that it is a total waste of money to even attempt to win a big prize there.... Needless to say the children whined and begged and escaped to the carnival with a few dollars for rides and enough for an elephant ear and a drink.. they all worked so it was their own money.. ( yes they were weird and informed me that it was their money they would be spending!!) They planned to meet a bunch of their friends there and walked away across our field laughing and talking.. Around Eleven O'clock Dave came in and said that he had a yearning for a elephant ear and that after he bathed and dressed and shaved and all the other time consuming things.. we would walk up there and he could get one... By the time he got himself ready and we were walking out the door it was nearly midnight.. I suggested that maybe they would be closed and it might be better to wait till the following day.. He was having none of that.. after all the kids weren't back yet so he was sure they were still open.. He hadn't thought about the possibility that the kids had walked the girl from down the next road over home.. It was late.. Cooper wouldn't let her walk home alone would he?? Dave and I walked down the dirt road and as we crossed the road I realized that the only people I could see moving looked like Carney's to me.. Dave walked right on .. the woman in the cook wagon looked at us like we were weird.. I knew we were in a bad place.. I tried to explain to Dave that after closing the carnival is not a safe place for regular people to hang out.. He didn't want to hear me.. one of the barkers started yelling for him to TRY his LUCK!! and yes My weird husband decided he would do just that.. he gave the man two dollars and then two more.. I had already moved directly behind him so that no one could get to his pockets.. I had learned that while I worked for the carnival myself.. Many of the children who travel with them are superb pick pockets.... then so help me.. Dave asked the Carney if anyone there had change.. I was aware that a crowd had gathered around us and that we were the only two people there who didn't work for them.. I just knew our bodies would never ever be found.. I told Dave that we were leaving right NOW!! It was then that it dawned on him that we were in fact surrounded and he had just showed them that he had money.. He tried to put me in front of him but I was snug against his back pocket and I wasn't moving.. I finally said to them that I knew all the tricks and even named the Carnival owner who I once worked for.. I had recognized the woman in the food wagon even though she had not known me.. I knew that they would know who the man was.... Then I told them to clear a path and even though a few of them still called to Dave to try his Luck again and again.. across the parking lots and the field.. they followed us all the way to the road.. none of them touched us.. when we crossed the road to our own side of the road I thanked GOD for saving us from our own weirdness.... I told Dave right then that I would never go with him to another Carnival... I haven't either.. The children were home and watching TV full of cotton candy and popcorn.. They had ~ just as I thought ~ walked the girl from the next road over home.. Cooper was afraid a Carney might follow her.. He and Emily then came home through the fields.. Their own shortcut.. Let me say that as a rule the people who work for carnivals are not weirdo killers and criminals.. under normal circumstances and during the hours they are open they will not bother you.. but if you are weird enough to come to where they are set up after closing and flash around money.. then they are just weird enough to take your money.. One thing I learned while working for them was that where ever they are.. when the rides stop and the games close down... they are in their own little world.... they live a very different and yes weirder way than most of us do.. It is best not to enter that world unprepared..

Wow.. I made it through another weird Wednesday... I even talked to Trudy and she remembers the weird boot things.. she was smarter than me.. she said she never wore hers..I bet Mary didn't either.. I guess I was the only weird one.. Oh well if Mama and Daddy only raised one weird child they did pretty good and I don't mind being the strange one! At least I am a jolly and sometimes funny weirdo! Have a great day!
Patsy







Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Happy Birthday Jackie!

"One man can make a difference and every man should try."

"The one thing I do not want to be called is First Lady. It sounds like a saddle horse."

"For a while I thought history was something that bitter old men wrote."
~ All from Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, 1929 - 1994

Jacqueline Lee Bouvier was born at Southampton, New York on this day in 1929. Her father was a playboy stock broker"Black Jack" Bouvier. Her mother, Janet, was the daughter of a bank president, so she attended the finest private schools. Followed by two years at Vassar, a year at the Sorbonne, and finishing her degree at George Washington University in 1951.

While working for the Washington Times-Herald she crossed paths with the young and ambitious John Kennedy. They were married in 1953. After Kennedy's election she was a very public first lady. She charmed and impressed the world with her grace and dignity. After the assassinations of first her husband and then her brother-in-law Bobby Kennedy; she married Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis. Many people believed she married him simply because he could protect her and her children by taking them to live outside of the US. After his death she returned to New York and lived a quiet and by most accounts simple life, working as an editor at Doubleday.

Jackie loved horses and was an accomplished equestrian.. She loved to read and paint.. to write poems and stories..At an early age she wrote essays and poems which were sometimes published in local newspapers. In her high school newspaper she created a cartoon series and won the graduating award for literature. She later submitted an entry to Vogue magazine's Prix de Paris contest, the prize for which was to spend half a year in New York, and the other half in Paris as a junior editor for the magazine. In the required essay, she listed Oscar Wilde, poet Charles Baudelaire and ballet super- star Serge Diaghilevas some of "People I Wish I Had Known,".. she was named as one of the twelve finalists and interviewed by the magazine editors Out of 1,280 entries she won the contest. Her mother, Janet, did not want her to leave the U.S. and made her turn down the prize. After college, she worked for the Washington Times-Herald as its Inquiring Camera Girl, earning $42.50 a week. Her job was to photograph and interview local citizens with one question each day; her first interview was with Patricia Nixon. Other interviews included Vice President Nixon and Senator John F. Kennedy.. a meeting that resulted in their later marriage...The questions became more and more political, including topics like the Soviet Union, the Korean War, and the U.S. involvement in Vietnam ... One of her last assignments was to cover Queen Elizabeth's 1953 coronation.

Many rumors clouded her life and especially her time as the First Lady.. Through it all she maintained her dignity and pride.. She became world famous for her fashion sense and also for her dignity during her times of grief.

She died at home surrounded by family and friends in her Apartment in New York City
on May 19th, 1994 after a long battle with cancer. She was 64 years old..
She was laid to rest next to her first Husband John F Kennedy SR. at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia...

and now some Jackie trivia....

1:) ~When she toured India in the '60s, more people came to see her than came to see Queen Elizabeth.

2:) ~When she was First Lady she was asked what she fed her new German Shepherd puppy. Her reply was "Reporters."

3: ) ~Jackie used to smoke three packs of Salem cigarettes a day.

4:)
~ Jackie and her sister Lee Bouvier Radziwell disapproved of one another. Jackie felt Lee was a spendthrift and Lee thought Jackie a tight-wad.

5:) ~
Under her supervision the White House was restored and redecorated and declared a National Museum. She managed to do so with the help of her rich friends, without costing the taxpayer.

I never knew much about Jackie Kennedy Onassis.. As a teen-ager I remember seeing the gossip magazines with cover stories of how she had married a Greek tycoon because he had an island and that The former president was still alive and living on that island with her and her children even though he was brain dead... you know the kind of stuff they have on their covers... Many people believed that to be a fact though.. She did create quiet a scandal by marrying Mr Onassis though.. and that she wore a white mini skirt to the wedding only added to the scandal..

I was always inpressed with both her beauty and her quiet charm.. I also thought she had a keen sense of humor.. I would have never thought to tell an interviewer that I fed my dog reporters..
I am sure she felt like it many times.. She wanted to protect her private life so much that in her will she asked her children to continue to protect her private matters.. that her world not become public knowledge..

Franklin Mint created a collectible doll of Jackie and even now years after it's creation it remains one of the top selling dolls of all time.... It is almost always sold out or listed as back ordered.....
I have often looked at and wished for a Jackie doll.. Just a pair of shoes for this 15 inch doll sold on-line last year for ninety dollars.. Needless to say I will most likely simply continue to wish for one of the dolls.. Maybe I'll spot one at a flea market.. If that ever happens Poor Jackie will go from Chanel suits and ninety dollar shoes to home made dresses.. But she will be honored and loved here with me and my chickens.. so If any of you have a Jackie doll... I know where she can find a new home!! Until then I'll just wish her a Happy Birthday! Have a great night!
Patsy

Tuesday is here yet again.. do you know what I have?

"It's a wonderful feeling when your father becomes not a god but a man to you, when he comes down from the mountain and you see he's this man with weaknesses. And you love him as this whole being, not as a figurehead." ~Robin Williams

"Is the glass half full, or half empty? It depends on whether you're pouring, or drinking."
~ Bill Cosby

"Clothes and manners do not make the man; but when he is made, they greatly improve his appearance." ~ Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr.

Hi and welcome to another Tuesday in my world.. I do have an item for you to try and identify and I am sure someone will know what it is.. I thought I knew what it was.. I was wrong.. I have watched this item in my best friends house for many many years and wanted it.. I'm not sure why I wanted it but I did.. Some times when I visited her I asked her if I could have it yet and she always said " No, I need it for Temple! You No can have!" Then she would shake her head at me and Add.. " One day you have! Not today!" I quit asking about five years ago.. I still wanted it but I figured I would never
have it so I didn't want to be a pest.. She and I have played the can I have game for so many years now..

I first met her when I was newly married and sixteen.. she was well into her first marriage but new to American and twenty four.. she became my best friend.. My almost sister.. my protector!
I became her first American friend.. her "American Sister", her translator.. ( No I don't speak Thai!) Even though we spoke different languages.. we often finished each others sentences.. She would often say " what word I trying to say?" and somehow I would answer with the right word..

If she comes to my house and sees something she likes she usually leaves with it.. Sometimes I leave with what I want too; but with this item she always said 'NO!"... until today!

Early this morning she called because her lawn mower simply wouldn't crank.. she had pulled it enough times to sweat she explained " and still it never crank up!" She said she had cut with it yesterday and could a lawn mower break itself while it rested since yesterday? I will admit I smiled but I never laugh at her.. she is way to dear to me for that.. I knew she was leading up to her husband having died; ~ mine was now her nearest "sister's" Husband.. You see I have heard it so many times before.. Glancing at the clock to see if Dave could squeeze in a lawn mower repair project before his night shift I told her we would be over in about ten minutes... Then I went to break the news to him.. he gathered up a few tools and away we went.. (Yes! I know how lucky I am to have a wonderful; "Nearest sisters" .. husband!!) He never complains.. just gathers tools and away we go..

Dave was outside in the sweltering heat working on her cranky lawn mower and she was peeking out the window at him snickering as she informed me that he was "speaking to the lawn mower!" I watched her and wondered why she was reaching her hand up towards my much wanted basket.. I was simply dumbfounded when she handed it to me and said.. "today you carry with you..You my nearest sister!" She then told me about how she brought it with her from her country.. so many years ago and how she had had it so many years before that and " now she give to me.. You take care!".. She told a few funny tales of when she herself had used it in Thailand.. way back when she was a girl.... I didn't argue with her.. I just put it inside my big pocket book so that maybe if she didn't see it she wouldn't change her mind!!

What is this beautiful basket for? I am sure someone out there knows.. maybe you have one too.. It is not used for what I thought it was for.. But is is a very useful item.. Do you know what it's for? Please leave me a comment and share with me if you have one or if you have ever used one.. Maybe you just want to say hi and a comment can do that too....

I will treasure it forever.. I will most likely never use it for it's intended purpose.. Then again.. who knows maybe one day I might! You never can tell about us "nearest sisters"... we might do anything! Have a great day!
Patsy

Update!~ The basket is not a rice steamer.. In fact I myself thought it was a steamer for all these years as I have seen it and a larger one like it hanging in my friend's kitchen.. I finally asked yesterday what I was getting.. when she gave it to me.. This basket is a sticky rice serving basket... sticky rice being a certain kind of rice that is most often eaten by Thai people..Sticky rice is a staple in Northern Thailand and Northeastern Thailand where people eat it instead of long grain rice. Sticky rice is eaten with your hands. Many people roll it into little balls and dip into sauces.. The hand woven bottom basket holds the rice and the lid is another hand woven basket that fits over the bottom basket and is held together with red cord. The top basket is tucked under the bottom section to elegantly serve rice. Steamed rice will not stick to the rattan basket and the rattan actually adds a nice flavor to the rice. The rice steamer she uses looks like a spittoon with a straw hat on top of it.. As for the questions about why she would need it to take to Temple~ She has for years told me wonderful stories of going to temple every morning when she was a little girl.. How the people would bring food so the Monks could bless it and then also to feed the Monks who would pray all day.. Thoi was a bit of a rebel and would often get weary of waiting for the huge bells to ring for the people to eat.. After the Monks were fed the other food would be eaten by everyone else.. She talks about how poor people would gather there and that she knew that was sometimes their only meal of the day.. Apparently she had a soft spot for the children and would often times sneak into the Temple and with a nod from who I am assuming to be "the Head Monk in charge".. She would run and jump onto the rope and swing back and forth ringing the huge bells some times as much as an hour or more early.. she would then climb up in the bell tower to watch as the people hurried from great distances to the Temple.. wondering how they had been so off with the time.. She says the basket she gave to me was her own.. when she was a child.. she told me to~ "think of it as a box like today bad children take to school..." From her wonderful stories I believe that Thai Temple was and is not just a Church but a place where families and communities gather for many reasons.. She still carries food when she goes to Temple.. I do know they have many strict rules as to how you dress and behave while there.. Children can learn how to play musical instruments, dance and learn the Thai language; and history.. Families and friends can gather and eat and be with others who speak their own language..
I am glad everyone enjoyed My new what is it Item.. thanks to everyone who played along.. Have a wonderful day!
Patsy

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Three for you today.. Because it's Thursday!

"I had always thought that once you grew up you could do anything you wanted - stay up all night or eat ice cream straight out of the container." - Bill Bryson

"We dare not trust our wit for making our house pleasant to our friend, so we buy ice cream."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803 - 1882

"Everyone likes pie. But people like pie a la mode even better. In the pie of life, art is the ice cream." - Peter Krause


Good afternoon and welcome to my Thursday world! Today , because it's Thursday I have three things to share with you.. I'll get right to the sharing!

1:)~ Today is Ice Cream Cone day! As hot as it is today I can think of no better treat than a cone filled with a double dip of Blue Berry ice cream.. The true origins of the ice cream cone have been hotly contested by many.. Most "This Day in History" Calenders show that a man from St. Louis, Missouri, named Charles E. Minches invented the ice cream cone... and that on July 23, 1904 at the World’s Fair in St. Louis, he filled a pastry cone with two scoops of vanilla ice cream to make the first ice cream cone. There had been some speculation that another man named Italo Marchiony in New York City had already patented the ice cream cone before the Word’s Fair. He had been selling Lemon ice in cones from a pushcart since 1896 and had applied for and received a patent on the his mold On December 13,1903.. He described his invention as being similar to a waffle iron and producing several small pastry cups with sloping sides.. Doesn't that sound like an Ice cream cone to you?? I guess if you want to get technical, what Marchiony made wasn’t ‘ice cream.’ He sold Lemon Ice.. Lemon Ice would be closer to what we now call snow cones.. Contrary to what he, as well as others believed, his patent was not for a cone and he lost the lawsuits that he filed against cone manufacturers for patent infringement. His Patent was for the mold to make the pastry cups that he filled with Lemon Ice. I guess there are a few People who could claim to have invented the ice cream cone.. Or at least their version of it. Many Women baked pastry shells to fill with puddings or Iced fruits long before the Ice cream cone debate ever began.. Regardless of who invented it.. The Ice cream cone was and still is a very tasty invention!

2:)~ Did I brag about finishing the class on Haiku that I was struggling with for the last year?
I guess I did.. I am proud I stuck it out.. I wanted so many times to cuss, kick or even bite someone.. The instructor or his assistant or the phantom who sat behind me in class.. I didn't care who as long as it was someone.. ( Yes I know I was sitting here at home for that class.. call it artistic imagination when I say "sitting behind me in class"..!) The instructor said he was glad I had enjoyed the class and recommended me for another class.. The Advanced Study of Haiku... you do have to have his recommendation in order to sign up for that class.. Even so I am holding off for right now.. But the second thing I am sharing with you is the Haiku I wrote to finish the class.. I only had to write this one once.. WOW! He said I was brilliant and very talented? Did y'all know I was those things? I know I'm bragging but as long as the bragging is Factual I'd say it's OK..~ for those who are intersted.. a bluebirds call is known as a cheer..


Miracles


deep within the woods
a white dogwood blooms~
a bluebird cheers

written by: Patricia Sawyer
6-22-2009


3:) This week I was sent an e-mail about writing a septolet for an ongoing contest.. A septolet is described as a poem of seven lines. using exactly 14 words. There is a break between two parts.. the two parts each create an image of their own.. the two images deal with the same or complimenting thoughts and combined also create an image.. They even send words that you have to use together in a stanza of the septolet.. Three words for each stanza and you have to think of the other words yourself.. This week I was sent the words.. drops; sulks;Hypnotic;~ for the first part and the words.. perfect; cradle; snare;~ for the ending part.. Read what I did with these few words and let me know what you think of my septolet..

Captured- (a septolet)

Rain drops
Hypnotic..
He sulks
fireside.

The cradle rocks..
soothing Innocence~
Woman's perfect snare.

Written By: Patricia sawyer
7-23-2009


Now I have shared three things with you today.. I have had people to tell me that they rarely understand poems unless they rhyme and even then they have to be about normal things.. I guess a lot of poems rhyme.. I don't write well in Rhyme although I do write some that rhyme and or follow a set rhythm.. .. I write more freestyle than anything else.. I do like to try all the different writing styles though and you can bet you will see most of them here at some point in time... I do like the challenge of writing from a word list or writing a poem that has to convey a certain thought and have a limited amount of words.. I will be honest and say that those take a lot of thought and time to get done though.. the fewer words; the more each one has to say; if that makes sense to you.. I have been told that if you have trouble imagining what a poem is saying.. you should close your eyes and relax and have someone else read the words to you.. If you try that and it works.. let me know.. Maybe I'll try that as a way to write a few...I hope you have enjoyed visiting my blog today. I know that many people just click here to drop their entrecard and move on.. Hopefully a few will stay long enough to find a smile on my pages.. Please comment to let me know that you have visited here! Have a great day!
Patsy


Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Welcome to Wednesday and it's Weirdness!








"For the first time, the weird and the stupid and the coarse are becoming our cultural norms, even our cultural ideal. "
~ Carl Bernstein

"I go through major crises every few months, but then I have great peaks of belief and creativity. I'm a weird kind of animal. " ~ Brian May

"I had to perform at the White House for the president, That's always kind of a weird set to try to put together." ~ Jeff Foxworthy

Hi and welcome to my Wednesday. It was pretty normal for a Wednesday. I guess Y'all know by now that I'm just weird. Wednesdays are always the perfect day for weird. Smack in the middle of the week.. Not quiet as bad as Mondays and not nearly as great as Friday! I did have one great piece of news early this morning.. GO!! ME!! I finally graduated from the on-line Haiku class!! GO!! ME again!!! And the Weird thing was.. I only had to do this last assignment ONCE! Every single other one I have had to write then re-write then maybe re-word because he didn't like a word.. So how weird is it that I only had to do this one ONCE?? Super weird is what! Weirder than that? Yes! it gets weirder than that.. The instructor recommends that I take the Advanced study of Haiku because I am " Brilliant and truly talented!" Wow.. I was honored.. But I'm no where near weird enough to sign up for that class. It has taken me way to long and way to many re-writes to graduate from the first one! I can't decide rather it was just me being weird or rather that whole class was weird! Of course some folks think most Haiku is weird.. OK on to the truly weird questions for this week!

1:)~
Have you ever left a restaurant without paying the bill?~ Well does it make me weird if I say I have wanted to? In fact a few times I have really wanted to walk out and not pay for the food because the service was so bad.. Once we had a drunk or drugged but either way weird waitress come running to our table and ask us "WHO HOLLERED FOR POPCORN?" we all looked at each other and said "No One!" She went away and in a few minutes was back leaning over the Table and whispering in my ear... " Crazy Bitch don't you holler for POPCORN not nerry nother time!" When she walked off I told Dave what she said and then with a smile here she comes with His and all of the kids a steaming plate of food..Nothing at all for me! She pranced off back to the kitchen as if we were all eating.. I didn't even have a glass of tea.. Then I noticed her at the bar whispering to several men and they turned and gave me weird looks.. One even said he had a cure for weirdo's like that one over there in the corner.. I glanced around just to make sure I really was the weirdo in the corner! I was!!! Finally she came over and asked Dave... weirdly ignoring me as if I wasn't there.. if everything was fine.. He told her that his food was OK and the kids nodded to say theirs was too.. He asked where my food was being that they were almost through eating.. She said "who's food?" .. I pinched me to be sure I was real.. I pinched Dave so he would know I was real.. Finally I told him "go pay for what Y'all ate and lets get out of here" .. I was really feeling weird by then.. As we walked across the parking lot talking she came running out the door like a wild woman screaming and cussing at us and asked if I needed to borrow her pen.. without even looking up I answered "no thanks I have the number memorized" ... I guess she could read lips and saw me saying I would call the main office.. That was the weirdest restaurant experience I ever had.. But Dave paid for the food and in fact even paid for the food I had ordered but didn't eat.. We had another weird night in the very same place a few years later with a different waitress.. Call me weird but I don't eat there any more! They hire weirdo's!

2:)~
Have you ever taken your clothes off for money? ~ Oh I can just see the weird frowns on my families and friends faces if I said .."WHY Sure I stripped.. Made pretty good at it too.."~ Hahahahahha.~ That would be way to weird... I did go with another woman once though to check out a big beautiful woman club and was shocked to find out it was a strip club that catered to men who like large bodied women.. She and I were even offered jobs by the owner.. he said we each needed to gain a few pounds though.. It was so weird seeing the big girls bump and twist around..I thought the whole thing was so weird.. I had always felt fat and I kid you not these women Were LARGE!!! just Imagine a Large woman dancing and twisting with a pole and almost no clothes.. SEE! I told you it was weird!!! . NO! I have never taken my clothes off for money...I guess I could try to get Dave to give me a few dollars the next time he's home when I go to take a bath??! ( I won't think you're weird if you laugh at this.. I did!)

3:~On a scale of 1 to 10, how gullible of a person would you say you are?~ You're kidding right? Or you really don't know me.. or You are just plain weird.. You can't fool an old Fool and I am an old fool! Were you planning on tricking me out of my money? That would be weird since I don't have any... Many people have thought they had me fooled.. Many have given it their very best shot.. a few (very few!) Have even come close.. But I am a suspicious person.. I always expect the weird and unexpected to jump out at any time.. I am always on the alert. I am not gullible.. I am weird like that. I believe nothing I hear and only half of what I see..Proof is what I wait for.. I have though let people.. especially my kids.. think they had this old weird lady fooled.. It is always interesting, as well as delightfully weird, to see just how far a person will go when they try their best to fool an old fool! Remember .. you can't dog a dog; trick a trickster; nor fool an old fool!

4:)~
Do you ever wish you were someone else? ~ I guess there have been times in my life that I didn't want to be me.. I think we have all had those weird "IT SUCKS TO BE ME!!" days. I have had way more that what I think is my share of those weird days. At the time I never thought about wishing to be any one else..Who could I have been? I have wished to have a little more money at times.. I have wished my children weren't sick or wished I wasn't single ( Dave fixed that wish!!!) I wonder who I should have wished to be.. I wouldn't wish to be anyone that didn't have my kids and my weird talents.. I don't know anyone at all like me.. well actually I do know one other person a little like me.. she is crazy as I am.. But she doesn't have my kids or my weird talents.. her life has been filled with the it sucks to be me days too.. I guess I'm weird but I'll just be grateful that not all days suck to be me and move on to another weird question!!

5:)~How often, on average, do you find yourself thinking about sex per day?~ Call me weird but I knew somehow y'all would sneak a sex question in here.. Is that all you think about? How do you (whoever you are weirdo!) have time to make up questions for the rest of us when all you think about is our sex lives.. Is your own life so boring? Are you having one of those ..IT SUCKS TO BE YOU!.. days? I will tell you that yes I think about sex.. I have fond memories of sex even.. I am a normal woman.. It would be weird if sex didn't cross my mind.. I just don't let it sit and rest there..Now is one of those times I should wish to be someone else! Why do you need to know about how often I think of sex? Are you a weirdo? Are you making a documentary about the sex lives and thoughts of old fools?? NO?? well when you are call me and I'll star in it.. until then.. I think about sex sometimes.. I have never counted how many times a day or how many days apart or any of those things.. I'm weird.. that's my story and I'm sticking to it..

6:)~ Did your parents know when you became sexually active? How did they find out? ~ I have got to tell you that I am laughing at this weird question.. I got married the first time when I was 16 years old.. I was not allowed to date other than to ride to Church with him and even then we usually had one of the younger siblings along.. so Yea.. I'm pretty sure My parents knew I had become sexually active.... As for how they found out.. they were at my wedding..They had eight kids.. they were aware of sex or I'm almost sure they were!!!! I'll even go out on a limb and say that they figured I would have sex on my wedding night and maybe even a few times after that.. Times were different back then.. People were old fashioned... Kids today call us weird.. Back then most young people didn't become sexually active.. they became Married.. and if they did get the two confused and became the wrong one first.. then down came the shot gun and someone had a shot gun wedding.. The old people didn't talk about sex to us kids.. Our family Doctor asked me if I knew what I was supposed to do when I got married.. I said.." yes Sir.. I'm supposed to cook and keep a clean house!.. I'll do my best to be a good wife!" I find it weird now but he didn't tell me any different.. maybe next time I see him I'll kick him in his wrinkled old butt! Weird old fart had to know I didn't have a clue.. Man times have changed.. I guess it's weird just how much things have changed even since I was a teen...Needless to say.. I wasn't quiet so gullible the second (and final!!!) time I got married.. I do still cook and keep a relatively clean house though..

Finally I am done with the weird questions for tonight.. They weren't too bad.. or maybe it's just that I am getting weirder myself from answering the weird questions.. I am still chuckling about taking my clothes off for money and the very idea of me being gullible.. Those two things would be just too weird even for me! Hopefully you will survive all the weird days in this world we live in today.. Where weird has become boring and wacky has become the norm! Have a great day!
Patsy




Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Today is Tuesday! Do you know what this is?

“Rice Krispies happens to be one of my favorite junk foods, just as I regard Michener as superior among junk writers.” ~ Christopher Lehmann-Haupt

“A society that thinks the choice between ways of living is just a choice between equally eligible "lifestyles" turns universities into academic cafeterias offering junk food for the mind.”
~ George F. Will

My body is a temple where junk food goes to worship”~ Unknown


What in the world is that thing? It sorta goes along with today being the crazy holiday known as National Junk Food Day! According to tradition, today is set aside to fill your belly with foods that are bad for you without a bit of guilt. I Personally will pass on that. My Tummy doesn't seem to like the oily fat that usually goes along with junk food.. I am also fat enough without adding any empty calories to my diet... even for one day! The photo is not food. Or at least not food to me though there may be something that would eat it.So my question to you today is what is this thing? And where would you find it? Then thirdly... yes I have a thirdly...
can you tell me at least three junk foods that can be found in the same place as the pictured item? You should have no trouble thinking of three since the last time I was there I ate four things that would be considered junk food and gained at least five pounds just from all the delightful smells. I'm pretty sure most people will guess what the picture is and where to find one..
From there they should have no trouble listing all the junk foods found there.

I would also like to add that today is actually a wild and wacky made up holiday.. Even so I have had three e-mails about it all with games to play today and new and exciting ways to cook foods that are considered bad for you.. Junk Food!

Junk food is generally high in fat, calories and cholesterol and is very often full of sugar and preservatives.. The list of junk foods includes Candies and chocolate; cookies and snack cakes; potato chips; Ice creams; carbonated and other bottled beverages; and almost all fast foods... In other words, junk food is all that sweet; salty or otherwise tasty stuff that the dietitians,
Doctors, and Mom, consider to be bad for us.

I guess if you simply can't resist the chance to splurge for just one day and you positively have to celebrate Junk food day.. then maybe just have a small amount of junk food.. you can always off-set it with a brisk walk around the neighborhood or a game of Jump rope with the children.

My concern is not really for those who will eat Junk food today.. My greater concern is for the children who live on a steady diet of Fast food.. Parents don't cook like they used to. My own children would rather eat out than cook at home.. Forty percent of meals are now eaten outside of the home... Every single day one out of every four Americans will eat from a fast food restaurant.. Americans spend $110 billion dollars a year on fast food... French fries are the most eaten vegetable in America.. and the only vegetable eaten by many children..sixty percent of all Americans are either overweight or obese.. One in three children born in the United States will develop Diabetes in their lifetime.. Do you see a pattern?

I try to eat lots of vegetables and fruits. I love tomatoes and cucumbers and eat them every day when I have them fresh in my back yard. I also love squash and string beans and peas and corn.. I try to grow as many of those every year as I can.... I love peaches and watermelon.. I also love candy and anything chocolate but don't keep it here.. because I'll be honest.. I would eat it every day if it was here and readily available for me to grab.. I don't buy chips and other treats unless I am planning a party.. Even then I try to offer both fresh fruits and vegetables and the more common chips and dip style treats..

Dave and I did celebrate Junk Food Day together just before he went to work.. I cooked us each a small hamburger and loaded it down with low fat pepper jack cheese and grilled onions and peppers.. he even had mayonnaise and mustard on his. We also had a pasta and vegetable salad made with fresh cucumbers and tomatoes with onions, bacon bits, hot peppers and pasta.. all stirred up with a small amount of ranch dressing.. I know it's not real junk food but if I pretend it is then I won't think about having a giant Chocolate Ice cream banana split pecan pie.. with whipped cream and a cherry on top!

Please leave me a comment if you know the answers to my three questions.. They were. 1:) what is the picture of?.. 2:) where can one of these be found?... and 3:) (yes.. Thirdly!) Name at least three junk foods found in the same place as this picture.. I'm thinking this weeks what is it will be a piece of cake for most of you!! Have a great day!!
Patsy

7-22-2009
Update!~ 1:)~ I guess this wasn't as easy as I thought.. Only one person guessed and she got it right.. Thanks ~Lashan~ The Picture was of a carousel Tiger.. Here he is being ridden by My niece Beth.. and her beautiful daughter Dorie Jean..

2:)~ Carousels can be found at amusement parks and carnivals; sometimes in large malls and of course at the Fair..

3:) I could name a great long list of junk food that can also be found in all of these places but I'll stick to my favorite three.. Cotton candy!..
French fries.. and Caramel apples!

Wow.. I would love to have a big caramel apple and ride a carousel right now! Have a great night!
Patsy

Friday, July 17, 2009

Friday is Here and with it~ Some advice for the "Children!"

"Never advise any one to go to war or to marry." ~ Spanish Proverb

"You should not live one way in private, another in public." ~ Publius Syrus

"Write down the advice of him who loves you, though you like it not at present."
~ English Proverb


Hello "children"! I hope everyone has had a wonderful week. I have had a most amazing week this week for a change. It has rained a couple of times and that meant I didn't have to water everything.. I have a lot of thirsty stuff as all of "My children" know so I love rain..
I know most of you are here for the laughs so I'll get right on to the advice for this week!


1:) ~ Invest in Memories! ~ I guess it is fine if you have millions to spend to go out and buy expensive gifts.. I was never so lucky myself.. Instead of spending a lot of money on a night out.. try a night out, under the stars! .. spread a blanket on the ground and make some tasty picnic food.. something cold to drink.. a pillow for each person you invite... (this is great for both dating couples and for those of you who have children~) After a meal with the night time nature sounds for background music.. invite everyone to lay back and watch the stars.. Make a pinkie wish if you want too. Talk quietly to each other.. snuggle! Go to the park and people watch.. laugh at the antics of others.. vote on the most outrageous outfit you see there.. By a postcard of the places you visit instead of an expensive but cheaply made trinket.. write about what made the day special on the back... Memories will outlast all of the trinkets. And when it's all said and done and you have a yard sale... you will only get a quarter for that rubber snake you paid $5.99 for at the beach... But the cheap scrapbook full of post cards will still entertain the "kids" when their own kids send it with them to the Nursing home 60 years from now! :~)

2:) ~ It's always darkest before the dawn. ~No matter how dark and dreary things seem to be the sun will rise in the morning and things always look different after a few nights of being slept on.. Bad times have to pass.. They don't like you any more than you do them it's just that we each have to have a turn of them.. Yes it's always darkest before the dawn... so if you want to steal your neighbors newspaper or bury your treasure in the back yard.. Just before dawn is the time I would choose!! :~)

3:)~ Use common sense.~ If a sign says wet paint you don't need to touch it! Fire is hot! Try to remember the simple things.. If a man has ten million degrees from different colleges and doesn't know to come in from a rain shower before lightening strikes him... then he is still an idiot! I could have used the money spent educating him to buy my kids one of those rubber snakes at the beach... Or maybe I could have went out for a decent supper once in a while instead of laying on the ground in the back yard!! Book sense is great.. But common sense will feed you when times get tough! :~(

4:)Be Organized!~ “A place for everything and everything in its place” is every organizer’s favorite saying.. I do admit that when things are in their place a space is much less cluttered and looks better. You could spend a million dollars on fancy organizers and shelving units. Or you can wait til just before dawn.. (when it's darkest) and swipe some milk crates from behind your local store.. Better yet you can ask for them.. most places will share! or sell them to you for next to nothing.. You can stack them up like Lego blocks and use them for neat shelves... you can sit on them if you don't own a chair.. they make great laundry baskets.. Even if it's just an empty shoebox to toss clutter into.. Once the lid is in place no one sees what a mess the inside of the box is.. I even saw a bedside table made from shoe boxes filled with junk ; stacked and then an old mirror recycled from a medicine cabinet laid on top.. It was the perfect size for the alarm clock and candle that sat there.. ;~)

5:)~ It's okay to be wrong. I think everyone has been wrong sometimes.. I remember once that I was wrong.. At least once.. I hate to hear someone say.. "Why am I always wrong?" as if it's my fault they are wrong.. No one is ALWAYS wrong.. but sometimes you are wrong.. when you are and I am around I will most likely tell you that you are wrong.. Please don't ask me~ "why am I always wrong" .. Use your common sense..It's OK to be wrong.. it's not OK to make me feel like I a heel because you made a mistake.. When you are wrong just go ahead and say you're sorry.. then we can both move on to something else.. :~(


~ Bonus~ A riddle~

What has a foot on each side and one in the middle?

Please leave me a comment if you know the answer to the riddle or even if you just want to say you laughed.. Or maybe you have advice for me?? I hope you have enjoyed your advice for today. I hope you have laughed or maybe even just smiled while reading here. No matter what problems may be weighing heavy on your shoulders a little laughter will help to lift your spirits.. I have always heard that it's better to laugh than to cry.. Just remember... sometimes you are the statue!! .. sometimes you're the pigeon!!! I hope that you are most often the pigeon! Have a great day!
Patsy



Thursday, July 16, 2009

It's Thursday! I have Three things for you!

"Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth."
~ Buddha

"Speak the truth, do not yield to anger; give, if thou art asked for little; by these three steps thou wilt go near the gods." ~ Confucius

"One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor. " ~ George Carlin

Wow!? Is it Thursday already? I guess it really is... I will be sharing with you three quick things today.. Having either quit or was fired.. I know, I should know, but either way it doesn't matter... from My job over a week ago I have been a very busy woman.. So tonight will be quick for a Thursday.. But I did do two posts on Tuesday so maybe Y'all will forgive me??? How about if I say Please?!

1:) ~ I am thankful to be an American! ~ I am Thankful to be an American for a great number of reasons but really really thankful after the escapade with my job... In many foreign countries
women are considered second class or maybe even no class citizens.. They are not allowed to have an opinion unless it of course either is or enhances the opinion of their husband.. Husbands and/or his brother, father, or any other piddling male relative may correct the families women if he thinks she needs it.. I will tell you that it was believed by my employer that I needed correcting and undoubtedly he had never reckoned with a red necked good old American woman before.. He kept telling me I was JUST a WOMAN.. and JUST an EMPLOYEE.. In between that and " IS NOT FOR YOU TO SPEAK WOMAN IS FOR YOU ONLY TO LISTEN!!!!" I couldn't squeeze in any good words at all.. Finally he said that Alla was slamming Heavens Gate in my ugly face and My Husband would get NO VIRGINS.. all because he said a room had no towels the night before and I said that they did.. because I had personally carried the guy towels just before I left the Hotel.. He was like a wild man.. ran at me and everything like a bull charging a red rag!..Then we waved his hand at me and said either I listen to man or I leave his property.... I was almost off of his property when he started telling the ladies that worked with me that I was a bad seed.. a bad influence on his wife and his families women.. Y'all do know I turned around and went back for round two? Yes! I thank God that I was born in America where we teach our girls that we too are important and where our husbands don't depend on our good deeds and our good wifely behavior to earn them virgins.. I am grateful for a good husband who allows me to have an opinion and who even lets me think!!! I never realized just how bad it is for many women in different parts of the world and even when they come here.. they are still bound by their own cultures.. I ask that each of you join me in Prayer for those women...

2:)~ a Haiku~

Scents of Summer

in the summer heat
luscious blackberries glisten~

cobbler scents the air

written By: Patricia Sawyer
6-23-2009



3:) A fun Picture and an acrostic poem!

Fishing ~ She said/ He said!

Fling it over that way baby!
I said that way.. over there!
Shoot! you didn't fling it where I said!
How do you know there aren't fish there..
I saw one jump just a minute ago!
Never listen to me.. I'm just a Woman!
Good thing I didn't want fish!


First and Last time I bring her with me!
I know how to fish!!!
She did NOT see a fish Jump!
How does she know where the fish are?
I always fish here..
Now I have an EXPERT along!
Good thing I didn't want to catch any fish!

Written By: Patricia Sawyer
7-15-2009


I hope you have had a great Thursday.. I hope you have enjoyed the three things I have shared with you tonight.. I am also always thankful for Dave.. My favorite fisherman! My Hero! My friend! Have a wonderful day!
Patsy

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Welcome to Weird Wednesday!


"If you can't annoy somebody, there's little point in writing." ~ Kingsley Amis

"A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs, jolted by every pebble in the road. " ~ Henry Ward Beecher

"It is only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous." ~ Napoleon Bonaparte


Hello to everyone who has been eagerly waiting on another weird Wednesday!.. What??? No one was waiting? Wow! Wouldn't I feel weird if really no one was waiting see just how weird I could be??? I hope that there is no one who would actually wait on my post.. I might get all weird and not post for a few days.. what would happen then? Would they just keep waiting? Would they go away and eat some pizza while they waited? Would they go away and not come back? OK enough of me being weird.. Lets get right down to the questions and answers.. those should be weird enough!


1:)~ Would you rather always get first dibs or the last laugh?~ when we were kids Jimmy was always hollering dibs over something.. if we were going somewhere it was dibs on the seat by the door.. or dibs on the front seat.. if we were grilling out by the pool it was dibs on the first hamburger or hot dog.. about the only time he wasn't yelling dibs was when Mama said " honey I'll pay you a quarter.." and Daddy said "line up to get your butt cut" .. then Jimmy didn't want to be anywhere in the first of the line when Daddy was freshest.. I never got first dibs on anything. If Jimmy didn't get dibs then Frank did.. they were both pretty quick with their dibs...
I don't really know if I ever got the last laugh either till I was really grown.. I have gotten the last laugh a few times since I was older.. The first time Mason peed on Anthony I got the last laugh.. I tried to explain how to change him so that wouldn't happen.. I got.. "Mama I KNOW what I am DOING!".. OK.. go ahead then big boy.. I even laughed right out at him as he tried to wipe it off his new shirt.. with his hand.. while the baby continued to pee on him.. then he covered it with a diaper and had pee on the bed and the child's clothes.. everywhere..( But he did learn and is a great Dad!) ~ My kids have all been good for some last laughs.. I am chuckling even now as I sit here alone in my weird little space and relive all of my last
laughs..MUHhahahahahahaa!! Yep! I'll take last laughs always.. Weird as it may sound first dibs aren't all they seem to be sometimes.. But he who laughs last~ laughs loudest!!!!


2:) ~Have you ever had an imaginary friend? ~ I guess it's weird being that I have such an imagination.. but I never had an imaginary friend.. I had so many siblings and so many other real children around that maybe I never needed an imaginary one.. Our Cousin Frances had one and he would cry if you sat on Tater.. Yes it's name was Tater!.. I know it's weird.. but he believed in Tater... Heck we even believed in Tater... we got a few whippings for deliberately sitting on Tater to make Frances cry... I wonder where Tater is now? I wonder if Fran ever thinks about Tater.. I think about Tater and he wasn't even my friend.. I couldn't see him though once I smelled him when Fran said Tater farted!.. It was weird but it didn't smell like an imaginary fart! It smelled like the real thing! I wonder if I'm too old for an Imaginary friend now?? It would be soooo weird! So much fun .. you could fart and say they did it.. just point to an empty chair and say Bogus did it.. In fact I like the idea.. I might get me a new friend.. Will Y'all think I'm weird?

3:) ~ Which is a stronger emotion: anger or love? I'd like to say Love.. I even think it should be love.. But you know for some weird reason.. anger can blind you to love.. or maybe it's that Love makes your anger so much stronger because you feel that a person you love shouldn't hurt you...shouldn't make you angry... I will admit that I am easy to anger sometimes.. some mornings I wake up angry.. I'm not even sure what I'm angry at.. I even think sometimes that I am just angry at myself.. then I realize how weird that is and figure I'm just angry in advance for something some one will do later in the day! Usually in my case though.. no matter how angry I get.. I still love the people who I do love... I think my love is hard to kill... I love people who have done me wrong.. I forgive and move on because I don't like to carry anger with me.. I guess I'm weird but anger can't hurt the other person.. they don't care or they wouldn't have hurt you to begin with.. Be weird like me and love everybody... My Motto is this~ Love Many! Trust a few! Harm None!....

4:) ~ Would you prefer the lights on or off during sex? ~ Somehow I knew there would be a sexual question on here.. My Kids won't think this is funny.. they think sex is too weird for old people like me.. ( is 49 old?) Maybe we can get a clapper and then we can take turns clapping when our hands are free and have flashing lights.. Or better yet I know where they are building a road... they have some yellow flashers set up there... maybe you will run and get us one for our bedroom???? Is this an overhead light or a lamp? .. maybe a lamp with a small watt bulb.. how about a night light? Can we maybe light some candles? .. some scented ones would be nice I think..Maybe we could just put a flash light under the pillow.. just in case you know... . I might like to see where something is.. I might even like to see ..... never mind just cut the lights off I know where all my parts are..

5:) ~
What do you have handy at your bedside?~ What a weird question.. I don't have a flash light.. I do have a lighter even though I no longer smoke.. I use it to light incense sticks and candles.. I do have both of those right by the bed too..You know just in case Tater ( the imaginary friend of my cousin) was to come visit and fart in my bedroom.. I also have my Bible there and My medicines that I take each night just before bed.. I always take with me a bottle of cold water from the fridge and sometimes I take something else to drink too.. I drink a lot.. Weird as it may sound I drink all night too.. I wake up and drink and go back to sleep.. I dream weird stuff and get thirsty.. I have even had to go after the second bottle of water before.. I also have a pen and a notebook there.. and a pencil.. I dream stuff and will wake up and write it down sometimes..I know Y'all think I'm weird so I don't mind telling you that I am weird.. really and truly.. I have woke up before and had a poem in my mind and wrote it right down while still in my bed.. then took a drink of water and went right back to sleep.. then the next morning I looked at the notebook and for a second wondered who wrote that?.. that was a weird feeling.. but it was my hand writing so I know it was just me being weird and not a ghost or anything really weird like that.. I don't think the ghosts here can write.. they never leave me notes.... I also have a stack of paper backs that I have already read and need to swap with someone.. and an Inhaler.. Wow you are nosy tonight! Now I wonder what you have beside your bed.. how weird is that???

OK all done with the weird questions.. who writes these things? Weirdos?? Y"all would be surprised at how many Internet sights there are simply devoted to weird questions.. I have been to a million of them and haven't even scratched the surface yet.. I am telling Y'all that this world has some truly weird people in it.. YES!! Weirder than ME!!! weirder than YOU!!! Weirder than me and you put together.. They make up these questions and every Wednesday I like a weirdo go and answer them.. or at least the ones that I think won't kill my Mom and my Kids! I hope you laughed at me tonight.. I had a few laughs myself thinking about the time tater farted and about the time Mason Peed on Anthony... I love to laugh.. I love to make others laugh too.. If you laughed tonight even if it was a weird laugh.. then I have accomplished much! Leave me a comment !!! Have a great night!!!!
Patsy