What Were You Thinking?

Mom did not pose this phrase to us, I recall. Dad was the one who stressed thinking things through before we acted. “Use your head for more than a hat rack!” was his mantra.

We lost the spontaneity of childhood by thinking of consequences before we acted. Of course, if a situation was dangerous, it’s a good thing to pause before acting. Looking back, I’m glad Dad insisted we learn to think first, act second. And yes, we lost spontaneity. That doesn’t matter anymore; I think learning how to problem solve, anticipate an outcome, and weigh one option against another actually helped me. I was a business systems analyst/programmer/coder long before there were many women in the field. It was a sure way to achieve equal pay. Technical abilities are quantifiable. You can keep track and make an assessment of job performance.

I’d never make a good adrenalin junkie. Skydiving is out because of my fragile spine, but I’ll hold your coat while you go! And I’ll cheer you on. Skateboarding, skiing, water sports are all out. There are people who live for that kind of excitement. We know mountain climbers are big risk takers. Sometimes they suffer frostbite, become trapped in avalanches, or die. Success at a big climb is huge. The media is all over it.

When I attend a concert with the Babe, I get a big rush. I take hours to come down from the high. I appreciate the talent and skills our local musician friends all have. It’s hard for me to come down and settle in to go to sleep after we get home. Sometimes it’s 2 a.m. before sleep finds me. But that’s ok. It’s a good thing, an enjoyable thing.

I know I’ll get another rush today when I go to the local nursery to purchase some special geranium plants for the yard. The beauty, the smell of fresh plants, it’s all part of the pleasure there is in the world. I love watching things grow through the summer. The past couple of years, I’ve neglected some plants. I have to form a better habit about that, too. So far, it’s been too cold and rainy for me to even think about the outside. And summer arrived yesterday. It was about 95 degrees. Humid.

And now, I’ve returned from my civic duty of voting, and my mental health improvement project for the summer, purchasing plants for the yard, deck, and patio. Feeling the dirt on my hands, the scent of the flowers, and the satisfaction of watching them grow fills my days with joy. The nursery is in Gretna, and they grow geraniums for the summer, and plant poinsettias for the Christmas season. A small business, they do great things. They start all the plants from the seed. The header is a photo taken this morning.

And as I unloaded the car, I filled the planters by the garage. The four cardboard carriers are now in the entryway. Before I brought them into the house, I looked down and smiled. I smiled because the first photo shows my Mother’s Day bouquet is still alive; second photo shows the hen and chicks are returning for yet another summer, the third photo shows what I need to plant (“What was thinking?”), The fourth and fifth photos show the cute gnome bees at Mom’s doctor’s office last week. I’m doing my part for the bees. How’s that?

Sometimes, folks say it’s no fun being a grownup. Yes, there are bad parts, but there is a lot of fun involved, too. It’s all part of life. Choose to be positive during yours. It helps the bad things more bearable. Time for some lunch now. And off to planting. Unless I take a nap first. We’ll see. Have a beautiful day. See you tomorrow!

Super Sunday! and Monday Reflections

It was such a great day Sunday at our VFW Post 2503. We had a lot of new people gathered together. We were mixed races, creeds, politics, religions, and heritage. We gathered to award money from donations, hard work, and what we earned from fund raising all summer. It was pretty incredible.

We had a board member from Nebraska COPS, the founder of Guitars for Vets Nebraska, and the founder of Moving Veterans Forward to receive their checks. It really made my heart swell. We’ve made a lot of new friends today. We have networked and we have new connections to make. It’s all going to be fantastic. And it seemed so effortless now that we are at the end of the summer. All it does is make us want to work harder for them next year.

To identify the people in the photo, here is a who’s who, from left to right:

Steve Cerveny, OPD, Nebraska COPS Board; Larry Quilliam, Commander VFW Post 2503; Ron Hernandez, Founder Moving Veterans Forward, Kathy Raabe, VFW Post 2503 Auxiliary; Peggy Ullom, Founder Guitars for Vets, Nebraska; Dan Raabe, Quartermaster VFW Post 2503.

What a great feeling it is to help coordinate to make the effort successful and effective. We will create new ways to help our Veterans who often suffer from PTSD, and are homeless. One condition seems to have a domino effect in the lives of some people. They may turn to drugs or alcohol to cope, lose their income, job, home, family, etc. In the past year, we have made many new contacts and friends by reaching out to organizations who can use our help.

The leader of the ABATE group and some of their members were present; they made a donation to us, and we turned it over to the two Veterans groups, MVF and G4V NE. How wonderful it is to share! I don’t have a photo of him, but want to share with you what ABATE is. They are a group of motorcycle enthusiasts. A Brotherhood Aimed Towards Education. They dedicate their time and effort to educating the public, motorcyclists, and anyone who is curious about safety and rights of riders. We are so blessed to have this connection.

Ron Hernandez, Kathy Raabe, Peggy Ullmon, Jay Miralles, Dan Raabe

I’m writing on my laptop today. I left the Chromebook at the Post, and I really miss it! Every system works differently, and every keyboard has a distinct feel to it. This is no exception. While it works, my cheat sheets that appear to the right of my writing vanished. I poked around, trying this key and that key, it’s a test for my brain, I’m sure. All is good. The worst part? My laptop does not have a touch screen, which is a feature I will include on all future devices, trust me!

Today, it’s back to work around the house. Laundry, cleaning, all the stuff about life that’s not glamorous or fun. But it has to be done. And if you re-frame things you don’t like, you can make something positive out of it. For example, I can be grateful to God for the privilege of owning enough clothes to have plenty of clean clothes and be glad I don’t have to carry the laundry out to the laundromat. I had to do that with clothes and diapers from my oldest son. While his dad was in the Army in Germany, I saved money to buy a washer and dryer for the apartment. He took the money and bought a motorcycle. I should have wised up then, but I didn’t. And I would never have had another son and a daughter who taught me all about independence. She was a very independent baby and toddler. I didn’t want to squash her spirit like mine was. She still amazes me.

I’m just going to enjoy the warmth that’s in my heart right now from the weekend. The people are so phenomenal! And soon, we will dig in again, with a special project. More later! Have a beautiful rest of the day. Be kind to someone today. You’ll be better for it. Thank you for reading and see you tomorrow!

Reflections

It was a beautiful wedding yesterday. My cousin and his wife could finally have the wedding for their son and his beautiful bride. COVID did not win. They married last August, with a small group, and renewed their vows to a packed house of their peers. Young people all just beginning their lives in the post-COVID world. The priest commented; “This is the largest crowd in this Church in the last year.” Wow. That comment made it all hit home for me.

Upon entering the Church, I noticed everyone wore masks. Once they were seated, masks were removed. At the sign-in table, I saw a photo that took me way back. It was a photo of Rod’s parent’s on their wedding day. In my parent’s living room. A beautiful black and white photo, it captured my aunt and uncle perfectly. They have both passed on, and I was reminded of their kindness, both as a couple, and as individuals. The memories are good. They were people who raised a fine man of a son, and doted on their grandchildren. It was a wonderful day for families.

As I sat, I was aware how much has changed in the last year. We have survived. Well, most of us have. I felt comfortable surrounded by a generation of people who were all college graduates, holding down good jobs, and beginning their adulthood. Some carried babies with them, and it was a beautiful sight. The girls were all dressed in tasteful mid-thigh dresses, looking beautiful. The boys wore everything from jackets and unmatched slacks to shirts and dress pants. It was so nice to see people dressed in their Sunday best! When have I seen a group of people dressed up? I couldn’t remember. The pandemic has taken a lot from us. Things we didn’t even realize we were missing, at least until we experience them again.

I didn’t go to the reception. Instead, I imagined all of those young people, dancing, drinking beverages, and having a grand time. People came from out of town, gathering to wish their friends well. I love the images I had from that. I thought of how proud my aunt and uncle, Andrew’s grandparents, would be. It was a wonderful daydream. COVID cannot steal our memories, or our creativity. It cannot steal love from determined young people. It cannot steal dreams. It cannot take faith from your soul. So there, COVID. You can go now.

Congratulations to the happy couple and their families. It’s a lot to undertake, and we appreciate you shared your happiness with us. It gives us hope and resolve. We will still have young men and women falling in love and merging their lives, both equally important.

The human spirit is amazing. Nothing can keep us down. While life has certainly changed, we will come back, stronger than ever. I hope you have a beautiful day today. We are having a rainy day, and the grass will take off now. We have a fundraiser this afternoon and are looking forward to it. Another day of helping make the world better. Our kind of day. Take care, becareful out there, and Be Kind. See you again tomorrow.

Fab Friday!

This is a late start today. My gosh, Goldie has a lot of pent up energy. She wanted to play. She finally stopped and now she went off elsewhere to take a nap. I almost need one! She is a sweet girl, and I hope someday I’ll get some strength back to be able to walk her. Maybe by then she’ll walk better. Until then, the Babe is also the dog walker.

By the photos shared today, I suppose it seems I’m feeling a little mushy. Mushy is ok. I know people who are angry all the time. I think they’re just scared because they can’t control everything around them, and it causes anxiety. Anxiety is often what fear creates, and most don’t want to admit they are afraid. They’d rather act angry. Anger can be appropriate, it can be valid, it can be justified. What you don’t want is have it rule you. You lose so much then.

Later, I’ll be organizing the photos I have of Roxie. They’re a look back not only at her, but also of Gavin. They grew up together. They both could be a couple of stinkers at times, but when they were together, wow! They were good together, and she loved to just look at him. She trusted him. He loved her. It was sweet.

I have a little rewriting to do on the children’s book project, and will do that before the end of today. I want it fresh for a meeting I have tomorrow. Not sure how long it takes to get an LLC established, but once my attorney gives me notice, we’ll have cause for celebration!

I want to keep an open mind in 2021. Not that I didn’t before; it’s been a few years since I’ve thought, “Oh, I can’t do THAT!” I’ve listened to both my smart daughter, my sons and their encouragement, and of course, the Babe, who have all said, “Go do it!” Learn how, you’ve got time. By having an open mind, we can have new opportunities. Keep yourself open. I’ve found if I can’t come up with an immediate why I shouldn’t, I need to at least try.

The trouble is, when you want to do a lot of things, all of them different, it’s hard to pick what you’ll do right now. In the fall, I removed all the shiny new art supplies I bought. They went to storage in the crafting room, I can’t have them in my sight right now. I took a month off from writing about Katie Fitzgibbons, and my children’s book caught my attention. It’s “almost done.” Well, the words are “almost done.” I think inspiration got my attention and told me this project will finish soon. The wheels are in motion. 

Who knows what other opportunities will reveal themselves this year? 2021 will be good. The nation will heal. We have too many good people to not heal. The politicians all need to take a cold, hard look at themselves. And each other. Term limits will help. New ideas will never come to light by old, stinking thinking. And age has not a thing to do with it. Let’s all do away with stereotypes for groups we encounter this year. No, Republicans are not all old men. Democrats aren’t the only ones with heart and souls. We all have those things. You can be chronologically old yet have young ideas and heart. We all have to get over ourselves. Yes, all of us. We live in a world where we all affect each other eventually.

Thanks for joining me today. I appreciate it and plan to see you tomorrow. Let’s all be kind, be safe out there, too. Pray for our great nation. Let us remember we are supposed to be leaders, not followers. Have a beautiful afternoon.

Photo by Anna Tarazevich on Pexels.com