Beautiful Bloggers

Finally went and did some Christmas shopping yesterday. My daughter and I left early in the morning and spent the day together wasting spending money. I was pleasantly surprised that the stores I went to were not nearly as crowded as I expected them to be. Even at the mall, the parking lots were not overly crowded leaving me with long hikes to the doors.

I'm still tired today and have no plans other than do what absolutely needs done here around home, then resting and baking more cookies. I'm resting up so that Saturday I hopefully can finish the Christmas shopping when my son and I take a journey even farther away from home to another area to shop.

There are a bunch of other blogs I like to read, but I never read them every day. On days where the weather isn't nice and I don't have a lot to do I like to catch up with the reading. So today as I bake and rest, I'll be catching up with some of the good bloggers out here. The bloggers that make me envious with their talented writing. Ones that entertain and often make me smile and often make me think and remember.

Today I'm going to share three of those fabulous bloggers with you and I really hope you will check them out and find the as great as I do.

One is from a local girl gone south. I've known her dad for to many years to want to admit. I just recently found out about her blog and am impressed. She might give you some crafty ideas!

Quirky Forest

Another entertaining and thought provoking blog is,

Untroubled Kingdom of Laila Knight

This is one more blog that has a way of always entertaining me, making me remember and think.

Why I Wake up Every Day

Sure hope you'll visit them and then maybe stop back and comment. Let me and others know what you think of them.

I'm also curious.

Is your Christmas shopping finished yet or like myself do you wait until the last minute to venture out to the stores in search of the perfect gifts?

How are you finding the stores in your area? Are they overly crowded or is it just shopping as usual?

The lack of crowds yesterday still has me scratching my head in wonder.

Time now for me to make a trek to my kitchen for another cup of coffee then decide which cookies I'm going to mix up next.

Have a great weekend!

Gifts

The combination of bad back and bad weather leaves me with many mornings to watch morning news programs while sipping coffee between spurts of cleaning.

One part of those programs is tables filled with products that look similar but are very different in prices. What amazes me is that normally the least expensive is the one I find looks the most appealing. Often the cheaper is more ornate. Some of those programs even show clothes. I find the same thing true with clothes. The less expensive is the nicer looking. Over the years I've noticed the same with jewelry. Most of the time the really expensive stuff looks ugly to me.

Well, this kind of got my silly mind going. Like it needed an excuse...

I have found over the decades of life that I'm never totally alone with my thoughts and ideas. Many go back centuries. Now I'm sure I'm not alone in my way of seeing these products.

Which leads me to the conclusion that should you specifically want the more expensive item as a gift, you should probably point that out when you mention it. Otherwise we guys may get what we see as the prettier of the choices to go along with the beauty of you.

I really don't think we are as cheap as many would make us out to be, more that the item looks nicer to us.

I also began to ponder why the cheaper looks nicer. While watching one of these shows I noticed a cake saver. Once again the cheaper looked nicer to me. The more expensive looked a lot like the Uniroyal Tire guy. The less expensive had finer, crisper detail. Yet when the host picked them up the more expensive was heavier.

Now in my goofy head I understand that heavy means better built and built to last. Yet if I were putting it on my table I would opt for the better looking. Not a cake saver that reminded me of the pudgy, rolly Uniroyal Tire guy from the commercials who would haunt me by looking fat while I wanted to enjoy and savor the cake. If I wanted that abuse I could simply eat my cake in front of a full length mirror...

I conclude that the lesser costly looks nicer to entice us into buying a product that is likely to last a shorter time.

Not at all like the days of my youth when I saw many beautifully decorated items that were built to last. Pie plates with beautiful designs that my mother had and have now come into my possession. They are heavy and built to withstand the bumps over time.

Mom had cookie sheets that had stars embossed. When you saw the bottom of the cookies they had that star shape on them. Those my bright son around the age of 12 or so, decided to use outside in his play. I was totally unaware of that and when I finally did discover them hiding under a bush. They were so covered with rust, I doubt they could ever be cleaned without messing up that design...

I grew up slightly upper middle class, but we were not even close to rich. Mom was about as cheap as one could come. I'm proud to say she made old Abe weep on those pennies by pinching them. So I'm sure she didn't buy the most expensive of anything.

So for this Christmas, why not let your hubby know exactly which thing it is that he should buy. Even if you have to give him a list of several so that you'll at least have somewhat of a surprise. Same goes for you guys out there.

I will add though, that if you really sat and talked more often and really listened, you may get keyed in to what makes your partner the happiest. But it's a little late now to go off on that voyage of discovery for this Christmas. Yet it could be in your plans for next.

That could also be the gift you give each other for your love and to improve your relationship...

Cementing Dishes

Tis the season to start spending boo hoo hoo hoo hoo, hoo hoo hoo hoo.

No wonder we need all those Christmas cookies and candies. After all the gift buying we do there is a desperate need of comfort foods.

Maybe that is why I put off Christmas gift shopping until I have started the baking.

Yet here I am still trying to get my kitchen cleaned after the busy spring, summer and fall. Hmm, my Santa's list this year will include a maid. One who is fully paid for the next five years.

Grandma's way was to do spring cleaning. However with only two guys in the house who get busy working and playing outside during nice weather, the kitchen and the rest of the house falls into dumpiness. Now compound that with a son who seems to believe if he hides dirty dishes they will just disappear and you have major cleaning to do.

There were some boxes in a corner of my kitchen. Why? I haven't a clue... Thought maybe the son had them there for a reason, so I never bothered with them. But as I decided to get busy with a good cleaning I figured they needed moved.

I picked up the boxes and found they were empty. But under the stack of boxes I found a treasure. A stack of dishes with lord knows what cemented to them and even cementing some together. How they didn't stink or even reek is completely beyond my scope of understanding.

I attempted to wash the plates and bowls. Ha ha. Needed a jackhammer to loosen the filth. I spoke a few words of praise under my breath to my son who was at work as I attempted to use a butter knife and a fork to loosen the debris. No luck. I tried a putty knife. I finally set them aside and washed what I could. Filled the sink with hot soapy water and left them to soak over night. That worked.

When the son got home from work that day I found out that someone I haven't heard of for quite a while has moved back in and no one told me.

When I asked him about that stack of nastiness he said it wasn't him. So thereby I have to conclude that Not Me has once again graced my home with his return.

Now that's not all bad. I do have a huge score to settle with Not Me... Not Me has haunted my household for many years while my kids were growing. Seriously, he moved in right after they learned to talk and then went on vacation for a while after my daughter got married and move out. But I see his little butt is back. I want to catch him. And I may be locked in a jail cell for what I intend to do to him.

Thanks to an unruly messed up back, the cleaning takes me longer than it should. I can only work in spurts until the pain gets to much and then have to vegetate on the couch or laying down on the bed until it lets up and I can get back to the cleaning. But it is finally about finished.

Then let the cookie baking begin! Let the wonderful aromas fill my sniffer! Let the smells and tastes of Christmas's past awaken the joy of yet another wonderful Christmas and spur me on to shopping!

Just the thoughts of the twinkles in the eyes of the grandkids as they open gifts gives me warm fuzzy feelings. Brings back memories of my kids on Christmas morning. Brings back fond memories of Christmas long ago when I was a kid being spoiled by my grand parents.

But looking back now on that stack of dishes. I sure wish I had thought before to wrap them up for the son...

Your Ruining My Life!

My parents are ruining my life!

But mom, why can't I do that? But dad why do I have to do that? Your so mean!

X$*?... Because I said so!!!! Danged little brat, who the heck do you think you are anyway?

Parents tell you no, because they've been there before and done that. In some way they've experienced it. Be it through their own experience or through the experience of someone they know. Possibly even know through reading it in the news paper or on the daily news.

They tell you to do things because they need done. You are part of the family and household and you should be sharing in the work. The parents also are trying to teach you how to work. A skill that you'll need the rest of your life. Not one thing comes for free. You must earn it.

They tell you no because they want you to remain safe and not get hurt in some way or another. They tell you no because not every little bauble is necessary and costs money that is hard earned. They tell you no because not every wish needs to be fulfilled.

You may know your parents as dull and boring people who do nothing but work and have no life. But before you came along they had a life. A life very similar to yours.

They went out for exciting evenings. They went dancing. They went to bars and restaurants. They went on adventures. How do you think they met? Oh gee, they even made love. Don't believe it? Consider how you got here...

Even more outrageous! Your parents had parents too. Their parents told them no. Their parents made them do things they didn't want to also. And if you get your head out of the clouds and read a little thing called history, you'll find they didn't always have the objects to make the work easy.

You have a cell phone you can carry with you everywhere you go. Chances are your parents had to look for a phone booth to call home or had to call from someones living room.

There wasn't always a thing called a tiller to dig up a garden. Gardens needed dug with a shovel, the clods of earth needed chopped up with a hoe and then raked to make a decent bed to grow vegetables and flowers.

There wasn't always an extra car sitting in the driveway. Only dad had a car to get to and from work and family shopping trips and outings which were made on the weekends when dad didn't have to work. A trip by the kids to a friends house was made by a thing called a walk. Now I know that's a hard thing to understand, but you do it by placing one foot in front of the other until you reach your destination.

Snacks and food did not come from the shelf or microwave. They were made when mom had time to make them. Washing machines used to have ringers. Mom had to take the wash from the machine and put the clothes through the ringer to wring the water out.

Driers were a rope strung between two posts or trees. You hung the clothes on the lines to have the sun and breeze dry them. There was no demanding that you have your favorite outfit washed and dried within an hour.

Kids blame their problems on parents.

I'm fighting back, kids are the blame for parents problems.

Without kids parents would have money and time to do what they like to do.

Why Me

Life is full of the insane moments where nothing seems to go right. Or go the way we would like them to.

There is seldom any certainty. Many times I feel the only certain thing is the word certain.

All this leads us to those hands in the air “WHY ME” moments.

No mater how much you feel like it only happens to you, it happens to everyone. Think about it, how often do you hear others say the exact same thing? Many times with tears in their eyes. Often with despair and defeat in their voices and in their eyes.

They cry that they give up. They'll never try again. There is no hope for their life!

Yet as long as there is breath there is hope. Giving up is just not an option. We keep breathing and life goes on. We keep trying. Some sad souls get so desperate they try taking their lives. Some find success at that, but many more find they have only made their lives more miserable.

Why me?

Because life is full of wonderful uncertainty. Because the universe is full of the mysterious and the strange. Because life is filled with beautiful possibilities to do things in many different ways and have millions of different outcomes.

Why me?

Because you are given the chance to stretch your imagination and be creative.

Why me?

Because you are so awesome that your given the opportunity to be the first to do it your way. You are the creator or acceptor of your outcome.

Why me?

Because you got off your rear and dared to do.

Sometimes why me's come from things breaking down. Or one thing after another in your home breaking down.

When you moved into that home you purchased all those things. As you used them they slowly wore. Bearings ground against metal, electronics heated and cooled wearing them until they became weak. So when the first begins breaking down, you should just know that others will soon follow.

That is why a savings account should be kept at hand. Then when things begin to break down there is money to buy replacements.

But the little things that go wrong when we do things are only lessons on how not to try the next time we make an attempt to do what we did.

Why me's of love are the teaching lessons also. They teach you that you didn't know the jerk idiot butthead person you thought you knew all so well. Yet also that your well of to be without them.

Why me's of health issues teach you that your body can't do some things. Maybe you can't do some things any longer that you used to do. Your body wears too. They can also teach that you need to make changes.

Why me just happens. The only people I feel sorry for are the ones who sit alone in a room and cry out why me. They don't attempt to live and enjoy life and really, while alone in their room no one can hear their why me.

Well except for the person responsible for the why me...

Lists

It's odd how when we have useless information go in one ear that other information goes out the other. It's also odd that when we see something that an entire days worth of plans and information start falling out of both ears. It's eerily odd how the information that falls out is the most important information.

Heck, I'm considering a list for when I walk from one room to another!

Wonder if I could just have a dry erase board implanted in my arm...

Now what was I here for? Oh well, I'll just go back to where I was. Oh no! Where the heck was I ???

When we're really young it's never a problem, there is always someone around who will remind you of what your to do. As you get older you begin to learn to write a list of homework assignments so you'll remember to get it done or face the humiliating wrath or an angry evil teacher who will berate you in front of the entire class. Will also be sure to use you as an example to each and every class that follows, thereby humiliating you in front of the entire school.

You get older and find you need to keep a list of all the things you need to buy in order to have food in the house to eat something more than Twinkies and chips.

You begin to find value in keeping a list of the millions of things your boss wants you to get accomplished in a day. Even though the boss is blowing off the day for a golf outing which translates to a trip to the bar...

Really smart people keep lists of all the dumb stuff their spouses want them to do. That at least helps a little when they find you haven't done them. You can at least pull out your list and it might help you come up with an excuse as to why that they will buy. Like hun, I just have so much to do that I haven't quite gotten to it yet, but I will as soon as I can. The list is reinforcement to your argument. But watch out for flying lamps...

As I grow older though I see need for other lists.

Lists of people you don't like and have a grudge against. When young there are fewer people known. That list is short and usually not hard to remember. As that list grows you need to write them down along with why you don't like them. There is not much that is more irritating than remembering you don't like someone, but can not for the life of you recall why. You will however remember when they pull the same aggravating crud on you again...

This list later in life becomes to long. Now you could use a computer database to file all the offenders. You could write an encyclopedia with all the offensive idiots names and descriptions. But then you'd be burdened by carrying those around. So you find it's much easier and uses less ink and paper to just write down the tiny few you do like...

Maybe that would lead to another list. A list of things people would need to do to get on that list. Heheheeeee, a test!

Hmm, come to think of it, wouldn't that test list be a good idea at the very beginning? It might head off being angry with people. It might head off being heartbroken by some fool that says they love you, when all they really meant was until something better comes along.

After all, wouldn't it be better to know what fits your idea of life, friendship and love before you go and let the wrong people in?

Intimacy

Men come under severe scrutiny because of lack of intimacy. That complaint comes up quite a bit. I hear it from women, I overhear it in conversation from women and I hear from guys that their woman has said it to them.

One of the biggest problems I know of though is, just what is intimacy.

From my personal experience and from that related by other guys, what one woman finds intimate another finds boring. Sometimes gross. Sometimes even sick.

Guess years ago when partners would spend a lifetime together they got to know one another well enough to discover what was acceptably intimate. Yet even as a boy I remember overhearing conversations about the lack.

I've also noticed that couples who were very open with each other and communicated freely and openly don't seem to have the problem.

It could take years for the most willing guy to discover what his woman likes by trial and error. Yet when he gets shot down with a snide comment it's very likely he will give up and quit trying. That is kind of like an atomic bomb blast to the ego.

The same thing goes for romance. What one finds romantic may well not be romantic to another. There again the trial and error rears it's head and that head too can become ugly with a snide comment.

Some people are people readers, but there are many more who are not. Some people can read body language while many others can not.

With most people being different in what they find romantic and intimate, it would be impossible to teach. Suggestions from a book or from another person would still be trial and error.

Could it be that women need to communicate more about what they find intimate or romantic with their partner? Could it be that women should maybe find a more pleasant way of letting her guy know what doesn't work for her?

Could it be too that men need to try harder to learn their women? Could it be that men need to open their ears and hear when their women tell them? Instead of hiding in front of the TV watching ball games or other sports, wouldn't it be better to spend some time talking and listening?

Nothing gets cured or even helped just by complaining or ignoring it.

Maybe it's time to just start communicating and letting each other know what you want.

Maybe, just maybe the greatest gift you could give to each other and yourself for the soon coming Christmas, could be the gift of communication. The gift of learning what makes your partner happy.

And no! It's not a conversation I would like to have either, but it could bring new happiness to your partnership which in turn would give happiness to you.