Grave Theif

I am astonished by the lack of consciousness from some human beings. What kind of person steals a flag from a veteran's grave? A friend of mine is extremely distraught because someone actually stole the flag and flag pole from her husband's grave. I'm not certain of the cost for replacement but whatever it is, she cannot afford it as she is raising a child alone and has little to spend on extras. She had sacrificed once to purchase this out of respect for her husband and his service in the military. Then, poof, it's gone. Stolen from the grave.

I am curious to know if the thief is flying it at their own home or did they sell it? Who buys used (and previously located on a grave site) flags? I understand that stealing in general is wrong. And, yes, all sins are equal in the eyes of the Lord. But don't you think that stealing from the deal ranks a little higher on the scale of evilness than, say, shoplifting a shirt? I would honestly be afraid of lightening striking me dead if I were to attempt to steal from a dead person's grave. Sad. Pathetic. Disgusting. Shameful. I am simply appalled.

Blog Design

Well, I've changed my blog design AGAIN but this time out of necessity. I just realized how difficult it was to read my blog with a picture as my background! I'm learning as I go, so please excuse my indecisiveness.

Have a wonderful Monday!

Happy Birthday Ocalablue :)

Wishing my new blogging friend, Ocalablue, a very very Happy Birthday this weekend!

I'm so glad we "met"! Have a wonderful weekend & enjoy your birthday!

I Will "Pray For You" (and you and you and you and you!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atBg9zLI2bA

This is my new fav song! I know it's wrong, yet I absolutely adore it! There are a couple of people I have in mind to pray for.

Lord help me. My last post was about going to church and here I am today singing a song like this. Let's hope lightening don't strike me dead in my tracks. But I'm only human. I would be lying if I said there were no people who got under my skin. The truth is there are a lot of people who get under my skin. I generally don't dwell on it though. I just let them be. But there are days that "enough is enough" and I explode (on my blog).

How 'bout you? Do you have anyone you need to "pray for"?

Jesus Withdrawals

I haven't been to church in a couple of weeks now and I miss it. I even posted this on my facebook status a few days ago. Someone  commented that I didn't have to go to a building to have Jesus. I could simply open up my Bible and read it. Well, they're right. I could just read my Bible but it's not the same experience as actually attending church. I rarely quote the Bible because even though I grew up in church, I wasn't very good at memorizing verses. But I do remember somewhere in the Bible, it speaks of where two or more people are gathered, then God will be among them. I believe this to be true because I don't get the same feeling at home by myself as compared to being in church.

I'm not a one of those church/religious fanatics. In fact, I just recently started going back to church (April). Before then, I had not been to church in years and years. But there was always a part of me that missed it very much. Growing up, my family went to church every Sunday, sometimes on Wednesdays and at least once a month on a Saturday night (Singing night). It was a very social experience for me. Mom and Dad would have friends from church over and I would get to play with their kids while the grown-ups mingled. This was our community, our village, our social network, our support group, our safe house. I am very appreciative to my parents for raising me this way.

I read a post this morning about raising a "churchless" child. (Here). I totally disagree. The entire reason I started going back to church was because I want my son to grown up in a church community like I did. I want him to learn the morals and values they teach. In fact, not only to I want this for him, I feel that it is my obligation as his parent to expose this to him. The world in which he will grow up in is filled with so many "wrong" paths. If taking him to church will prevent him from going down just one of those, it is worth every second spent there. I know that one day, he will question his beliefs like I did. But at least he will have a solid basis of religious knowledge to build upon.

It's Not My Birthday but Thanks Anyway Doggy!

I love my dog but his little gifts have got to stop! This morning, rushed to get to work as usual, I open the door to go outside and almost fall trying to avoid stepping on one of his "gifts"! Then I have the "grossed out jerks" all the way to work. It was a dead baby possum! Thanks a lot doggy, but the least you could do is wrap it and put a big bow on top! I'll get over it. In fact, I'll go on with the rest of my day and completely forget about it. At least until I get home and realize that I'm the one responsible for the disposal of it. Oh no, I'm getting the "grossed out jerks" again.

Happy Tuesday!

My Mother

My mom is my reality check in life. When I was young she grounded me but now she keeps me grounded. She is so many different things to me at different points in my life. At times she is my best friend, other times she is my enemy. I love her and hate her (not really). I just get mad at her and she gets mad at me. It is a constant give and take relationship between us. I'm always grateful to have her and cannot begin to imagine the day that she will no longer be here.

Nonetheless, as stated in my previous post, I have the right to bitch and gripe about her. She's family. This post is one of those bitch and gripe sessions. Today she was rear-ended. Nothing major, just a fender bender. But it did result in some minor damage. Her trunk is now off center and I'm guessing that when it rains, the trunk will leak. I wasn't with her when it happened but she called me right after. I asked, "did you call the police?" She answered, "no." What? That's right she let the lady go without getting any information about her nor did she file a report. This was simply irresponsible on her part. If I had done this, she would have fussed at me for a month of Sunday's. Yet, if I point out that she made a mistake, then she gets mad at me.

Okay, let me try to understand this rule in our relationship. If and when I make a mistake, she will not only point it out to me repeatedly but she will also reprimand me for it as if I were still a child. However, if and when she makes a mistake, I should completely ignore it and not so much as point it out to her. It's not considered a mistake if made by my mother. Shew, I had better add this one to my rule book quickly, lest I forget.

Am I going to act this way with my son when he is a grown man? Please, Lord, do not let me turn into my mother.

Family

What on earth would I do without my family? They have stuck by me through thick and thin. They have been there for the good, the bad, and the extremely ugly. They love me unconditionally. They are my life boat in this sea of chaos. They are truly my rock.

God first, family second. This is the way it should be. This is the way it is for me. My mother has always said, "husbands and wives come and go, but family is forever." It took some time for me to believe her on this one but after two divorces, I know she's right. This is one of the things about family that help create that unbreakable bond. Family doesn't file for divorce. Family doesn't sue for child support. Family doesn't quit each other. Although the "vows" are never formally spoken as in a marriage, family upholds those "vows" better than any husband or wife.

Another thing I find interesting about the family is their defensiveness for one another. We talk about each other within the family and always will. But, I dare an outsider to talk about one of us. That's right, I can bitch and gripe about my mother or cousin or uncle, but you had better not say the first word against them. If you do, then you'll bear the brunt of the entire family against you. It's true, there is power in numbers.

I'm lucky to belong to such a strong and loving family unit. The "family" life is becoming less and less common in our fast paced American lifestyle. It's sad because as a result, children who grow up without the emotional stability of a family do not usually develop strong morals and values. I thank God that my son has already developed a strong attachment to his grandparents and great grandparents. He will grow up knowing what it means to belong to a family.

"FRIED!"

My diet is FRIED, literally! It ain't southern cooking unless you batter it and slap it in a skillet full of lard! That is the God's honest truth! Growing up, every meal I consumed included at least one and usually two fried items. Our bread was the most common food fried as my mother normally served fried Corn Bread for every dinner. But she also served up a whole lot of other foods fried, such as, potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage, chicken, pork chops, apples, potato cakes, salmon patties, french fries, okra, corn, onion rings and even our eggs! It's hard to believe that we are not overweight but in fact, I'm a size 6 and my Mom's even smaller than me. I'm guessing that our arteries are probably not as healthy as our weight is. In fact, my Dad had to have open-heart surgery a few years back and was advised to stop eating a lot of fried foods. However, his view is that the surgery gave him all new "plumbing" and it should be like starting over for him. So, no, he has not followed his doctor's advice.

Out of all the fried foods we have consumed over the years, I am shocked that I have only tried two of the items listed on the 25 awesome foods you never knew could be deep fried. I've had fried pickles and fried macaroni & cheese. Both delicious, I must say. After looking over this list, my mouth was watering for the fried cheesecake and fried Oreo's. However, it does leave me wondering who in the world first picked up an Oreo and thought, "hm, I'm gonna try it fried,"? What thought process results in someone frying up a piece of cheesecake? These are truly southern artists and should be awarded recognition for their creativity. I'm surprised my mother didn't think of these herself.

Mountain Dew & Peanuts

My previous blog about "going to town" on Saturdays reminded me of the snack/drink combo we would always have on our way to town. We would buy a small bag of salty peanuts and an ice cold Mountain Dew. Next, we would pour the peanuts into our Mountain Dew. I haven't done this in a while but I sure am craving it at this very moment. There is something about the salty taste from the peanuts mixed with the very sweet taste of Mountain Dew that was simply awesome! Go ahead. Give it a try. You know that you're curious about it now. If you've got any southern blood at all, I promise you'll love it! (Of course, you'll need to brush your teeth good afterwards!)

Going to Town

It's Saturday. That means we get to "go to town" and buy all the necessities southern living requires. It's a road trip for us since we live an hour drive away from a real city. In fact, the closest place to even get milk or bread is at least 25 minutes away. So, before I get home from work, I had better darn make sure I got everything I need for the night. And if I can't get it from the little grocery store on my way home, it becomes an item on the Saturday list.

I just love that we still call it "going to town." When I was a little girl, mom would take us to town every Saturday. Of course, by the end of the day, she would swear that she was never taking us back. Then the next Saturday we would do it again. Back then, K-Mart was our first stop. We would have lunch in their cafeteria and then walk through every aisle in the store. After K-Mart, we would go to Sears. This was always a treat because they had an escalator and a candy store. Mom would let us pick our own candy out and I always chose the candy fish. I have such wonderful memories of our trips to town as a child. It's a little different today. We go to Wal-Mart instead of K-Mart. We have lunch at McDonald's. But we do still go to sears and they have an escalator. The candy store is in the mall now and they don't even have candy fish. Nope, it's not like it used to be but at least it's still "going to town."

Clover Flower Jewelry

Remember when clover flower jewelry was in style? If you are about my age, then that would have been about 30 years ago. I didn't have to go to a jewelry store. Nope, I stepped right out into my back yard and there was a field of gems just waiting to be assembled. The process was somewhat tedious and time consuming but time passed rather slow at that point in life. I would spend hours designing my own necklaces, bracelets, tiaras and anklets. The design was simple. Semi-split the stem to create an opening just large enough for another stem to slide through. Slide the next flower through (stem first) until the flower itself created a "latch" like appearance. Repeat until desired length has been reached. I don't recall how I actually connected the two ends once I reached the desired length. Perhaps there is someone else out there who customized in clover flower jewelry that could clarify this for me. Nonetheless, those were the good old days filled with summer sunshine, wide open fields, a creative mind and clover flower jewelry.

Gas Cap

The very first thing I want to point out about us southern folks is our generous and never-ending supply of hospitality! Why, just today, I had to pull into the gas station and fill 'er up before headin' on home. Silly ol' me, got distracted catching up on the gossip with a fellow fill 'er upper and forgot to put the gas cap back on. Luckily I wut'n going too far (just pulling out of the way for the next customer), and a nice young gentlemen ran my gas cap over to me. That sweetie pie saved my butt. I would've been madder than a hornet if I'd a gotten home and figured out I'd left the gas cap at the pump. You see, we southern folks look out for one anuther like that. And dontcha know that I invited that sweetie pie over for dinner to show my appreciation for saving my gas cap. He said he'd be on over here directly so I've fixed a big pot of beans and the biggest pan of cornbread you've ever seen. I might be fatter than hog on slaughter day by tomorrow but I'm a sure gonna eat good tonight. Oh and lordy, lordy, gonna have plenty of gas tonight.

I Am From The South (iamfromthesouth)

Howdy! It's me, iamfromthesouth! I've entered the blogging world in order to share my littl' ol' life in these here hills of Tennesse!!! Are youns ready? Wellsy then, all I can say is "ready or not, heres I come!" (lordy, I'm a gonna have to pee)