Aww, Babe; You Did It Again!

Happy Birthday to ME! The Babe isn’t much for words, but he always slams it out of the park with the cards he selects for me. What a thoughtful guy. We don’t do gifts, we figure we’ll just attend things we decide upon. This morning, I signed up for a Painting of the Month Club for $20 per month. Cancel at anytime. They’re the kind of paintings you might see at a Sip and Paint session. Our VFW Auxiliary friends did that several times in the past ten years, and it was a lot of fun. I have a lot of supplies, so I’ll only need some canvas. Why not? It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, and the rest of my life is going to be about those very things. I’m so blessed to be able to do them. Painting, here I come!

And back to the card. It is celebrating the “woman that you are.” How sweet. I know he doesn’t want me to get over-extended, since I tend to do that, but he also knows I’m a giver, helper, coordinator, and compassionate person. This last year of coordinating donations for Moving Veterans Forward Nebraska has been so fulfilling. The generosity of our friends and members at the VFW Post 2503 and Auxiliary is overwhelming. These men and women know they could be homeless, have addictions, and and suffer PTSD. Many have PTSD. We work hard to make a safe place for them to be. For them to help other veterans. And be involved in our community. “There But By The Grace of God Go I.”

When this wonderful man, the Babe, asked me to marry him on Christmas Eve, 1997, I told him it would be an honor to be his wife. It still is, more so every day. I’m grateful all over the place. So our gift to us this year is go see Billy McGuigan perform (frequently) this summer. We have the good seats for the concert with the Omaha Symphony. It’s going to be awesome. Yes, it was a lot of money. Last time we saw him with the Symphony, we sat in the very last row indoors at the Holland Center. The acoustics were phenomenal, and the music played very well together. It reminded me of the old days, when you’d have an orchestra recording with music, like Sinatra, TransSiberian Orchestra, Rock and Roll, the Beach Boys, and the like. Go, people. Treat yourselves to the time of your life. Kick the summer off right. And catch all his other productions as well. You will be as hooked as the good people of Omaha are.

As I continue this special day, I’m grateful for friends and family, who make being on this planet more fun than I should be having. I’ve enjoyed getting to know all my adult cousins the past ten years. When they were all little “devils” I was the oldest girl, so I had to watch them. Ugh! The Bobell cousins grew up ok. I love you all.

The Jewell cousins are fabulous people in their own right. I never baby sat them, so all was good. Their fathers all had an impish grin and played pranks, and many of them do that very thing now. The impish grin is inherited by all the boys. I love seeing it. I love you all, too.

Our five kids make a great blended family. Five kids in four different cities is tough, we could never collect them all together at the same time. We enjoy visiting them all, even if it’s just in the Omaha area. They were mostly grown when we got married. I’d highly suggest that for people marrying later in life. We would have had a very full house if we’d met when the kids were young. Love all of you and your beautiful children, too.

There are some stock photos above, some actual photos. They’re all photos of what I look forward to doing this year, along with imags of what I’ve loved most in life so far: Babies, Music, America, Grandkids, Doing over Doubting (took me awhie!), My Doctors, who saved me from becoming paralyzed, Baseball, Ice Cream, celebrating (with a cherry on top!), writing, reading, trying out what comes next. I love what I’ve been through because it’s made me who I am. And I’m eager for all the fun we’re about to have publishing my book in a few months. It will be a real trip to go to the library or book store and see OUR BOOK on the shelf. Cartney will get a kick out of it, too.

This list is not complete yet, it is still growing. I am on a mission to make the rest of my life count for something. I want to make a difference, somehow. Join me along the way. We’re going to have a fun year. Thanks for being here, and we’ll see each other tomorrow. Be Safe. Have some ice cream with me today.

Discovery Wednesday

It’s a cloudy, humid day at the Home Office in Gretna, Nebraska. It’s supposed to rain later today, right at the time Gavin has his first ball game! Oh wow. I hope we get to attend. I missed baseball the most last summer! I’m sure the game will be made up if its a rain-out.

More straightening up will be in order after we visit a bit. I haven’t accomplished as much as I’d like to, I found some baby pictures of our three year old granddaughter Kayla Jolee. She is such a cutie. I’m not allowed to share photos of those grandkids, and I will respect the parents’ wishes.

Today, I’m embarking on a Soul Discovering voyage. I think it will be interesting. I want to live a fuller life, and be more aware of life around me. I look forward to it at 2 p.m. today. Carol Gino, an author, nurse, and companion to Mario Puzo (who wrote the Godfather), it leading the soul searching endeavor, to find out what our souls are looking for. More tomorrow on that.

The rain has started and it’s too cold for us to be sitting in the rain. I truly believe the game will be postponed to another date. Darn! But we’ll meet our friends for dinner later. So, we’ll have a nice evening after all.

Today I received my first official piece of junk mail for Jewell Publishing, LLC. It was addressed to my attorney, at this address. How funny. The Babe handed it to me since it was the attorney’s name, OR Payroll Manager. Haha! I need a bank account first! Haha!

One area of human behavior I’ve never understood is wishing or delighting in someone’s misfortune or harm. The book I read that in further explained how a crowd gathers at accidents, fire scenes, and seem to be more excited than empathetic. I don’t believe that is what’s in every onlookers heart. It’s not in mine. Rendering aid is my first thought. Helping. Some of us are more geared towards that.

Whenever we delight in the misfortune of others, we demonstrate two things for sure: We don’t know all the facts, nor do we know what anyone deserves. God’s the only one with knowledge of those two things. So we can reap what we sow, let’s wish others good things, so we may reap what we sow. Let’s work on that today. Root out Schadenfreude. That is a German word for “Delighting in the Troubles of Others.” Let’s get rid of that. It’s destructive. Be Kind. Be Empathetic. Thanks for reading, we’ll see each other tomorrow! Blessings!

Acceptance

As people living on this earth, we’re never done growing and improving. It doesn’t matter if you’re an addict in recovery or a person simply trying to be a better person. We will never be finished! That is the blessing and the curse of being a person in this imperfect world.

It’s difficult to admit we’re not perfect. But you know what? After you are honest with yourself, it’s quite a load off your mind and soul. Accepting you’re not perfect helps a lot. And God loves us just as we are. He’ll give us every last chance there is, that’s how much he loves us. If nothing gives you goosebumps, that should. We get a lifetime of do-overs. What luck!

As we grow and change, we may or not want what we wanted ten or twenty years ago. That is especially true of things that keep us from achieving what we need to achieve in our lives. I have learned that despite the fact I only ever wanted to be a Mom, there are many, many years beyond being a Grandmother that can yield some awesome things; creations you’ve always dreamed of, getting to do more than you ever thought possible, and learning more than you could imagine.

There is a vitality in learning. In taking risks to do something you’ve never done before. In putting yourself out there for the world to see. Some will love what you do. Some will not. Will that stop you? I think not. As you go along, you have a new community you enter. Other people who love what you do. Others who understand your new found passion. Others who encourage you. It’s grand. Some will not be happy for you. Some will not understand why you want to work so hard when you’re retired. And that’s fine. You remember where you came from. You still love your people. You are not willing to accept the status quo. You want to push your limits, within reason. “Go for it,” I say! Why not?

We’re all born to reach towards love. We all reach towards our needs, in love and in life. Some lessons we learned weren’t universal. We are lovable. We can love. Our ideas aren’t wrong or crazy. Just because you’re different doesn’t mean you’re wrong or crazy. Since I almost always had my own room, I practically lived there while I was growing up. The old Beach Boys song, “In My Room” was one I related to on every level. I drew, designed fashion, wrote plays, and tried to draw. Mom always said, “You should quit trying to draw people. They’re terrible!” Thanks, Mom. I’d like to learn how to someday. My bucket list is long, and has numerous items like learning to paint. Learning to draw. Finish every quilt I’ve ever loved. All creative endeavors. My soul feels so good while I’m writing, learning, sewing, quilting, all the stuff I love to do.

I’m gradually carving more time out for all of this by correcting my bad habits that sabotage me. I’m not scolding myself when I fail. Some days I do. It’s ok. Tomorrow I won’t. Baby steps towards more life in my hours. And being positive. I would have never made it this far if I hadn’t always tried to be positive. So far, it’s worked for me.

On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, author, nurse, and companion to Mario Puzo, Carol Gino is holding a three day Facebook Challenge about discovering the rest of your soul – and adding a new level of consciousness to your life. I am very interested in this. I believe it will be an asset to me to learn what she has to teach me. Because of certain close calls in life (my son’s drowning, my other son’s ruptured appendix, and things surrounding my dad’s death), I think there is something there, inside of me, that I need to find and release. I believe it should be enlightening. Join us if you’d like. 2 p.m. CDT. Soul Star Academy on FB.

Thanks for reading today. We’ve had three weather changes already today, and it’s only 12:11 p.m. Rain, Sun, Rain while Sunny, and now more sun. Crazy. There’s a closet calling to me. It’s my spot to de-clutter today. Onwards, to better habits, folks! Be kind. Be thoughtful. Be back tomorrow. I know I will. See you then!

Wild Wednesday

Hello, friends. I hope you are all having a great Wednesday. Gavin is hanging out with us today. He told me he is sure Goldie was upset he wasn’t with her yesterday, that’s why she dug out my flowers from the pots sitting on the patio. Grrrrr! Naughty puppy! I love how Gavin explains things. We should all think like an 8 year old. The world would be a better place.

After enjoying milk and doughnuts, we talked awhile, and I started to look at another homework assignment for my novel. I’m not quite finished, but decided I also needed to blog, too. What a busy day to have a huge headache! I’m sure it’s allergies and from the constant wind this week.

There is more and more on the news that I’m beginning to not listen to for the negativity. I know there is a problem for some police and some black men. I believe in those cases they both could have an attitude, then it becomes a contest between egos. Things escalate and someone dies. No one wins this, friends. No one at all. I believe there needs to be retraining on the part of the police. I believe a lot can be done on the part of citizens. Be respectful. Both of you. Don’t do things that are illegal (shouldn’t even have to mention this, really). There was a young person with over 100 arrests who purposely shoved a 92 year old woman down. She had a head injury, as her head bounced off the fire hydrant near her when she fell. Totally wrong. Uncalled for. I hate people on the attack for no reason whatsoever.

Systemic racism has been mentioned a lot in the past week. What is it? I had no idea. I had to look it up. I read it is how racism permeates the fabric of American life. Statistics are given on post WWII housing purchases by white veterans. Many, many purchased homes. Black veterans were denied access to the neighborhoods that were white, and many never applied for loans for that reason. There was no data mentioned about from 1965 until 2015. I would think in that 50 year span of time there would be many, many more black veterans who were able to purchase in “white neighborhoods” because it is now illegal to discriminate in housing. I’d like to see those statistics now and see how they have changed. I can only guess there has been strides made in that aspect.

Education? From where I sit, I see public education as a resource that all races need to take advantage of. School is generally free, and perhaps we live where the quality of “black” schools is not less than the quality of “white” schools. We have had busing since the 1970s, shouldn’t that have made some progress? It’s been a long time since I had a child in school, but I believe there were more programs available in the public school system than in private schools. How about the exclusively black colleges? Don’t they help even the odds? Those are some prestigious institutions.

Discrimination in hiring is also against the law. I think there have been many, many changes brought about over the past 50 years. Don’t those count at all? I know, there should be more. I pray there will be. Better homes, food sources, schooling, work that we will all work hard to attain. We must work hard to get there on an individual basis. A kid with 100 arrests is seriously off the tracks. Where did that happen? Why is it allowed to continue?

I have no cures for social ills. They were here long before my time. They will be here long after I’m gone. What I’d like people on all sides have is hope. Hope backed up with hard work. Reliability. Being on time. The good feeling of earning a day’s honest pay for a day’s honest work. Not the quick buck earned on the street hustling or selling drugs or shoplifting. Don’t be a stereotype. Be the exception. Be what people don’t expect.

And to the police: don’t you be a stereotype either. Listen to people in your precinct. Build a relationship with them. Be the exception. Get the kid on the corner information about joining a technical education program at the community college in their neighborhood. Be an example. Be a Kerry Orosco. Care about the kids. You will make an impact in their lives. Let’s all start today.

Thank you for reading today. Let’s all do what we can to be an example. Not only to our kids, but to the community. It’s going to help us save America. Do it for your kids. And the community. I’ll see you all tomorrow. Be an example.