Where's YOUR Easter Bonnet?

Ah yes, it's that time of year again. I was scanning the ads in today's Sunday paper and almost all of them featured adorable little girls in Easter hats. When I was an adorable little girl, my mother never let an Easter go by without my having an Easter hat. And I LOVED it! My only problem was that my mother insisted on cocking every hat she placed on my head to one side. She thought it was cute and "jaunty". I thought it was going to fall off at any minute! When I turned 4 or 5, she finally started letting me wear my Easter hat the way I wanted to...

Oops! Maybe not! This hat looks a little "cocked" to me, don't you think? I lovingly refer to this little number as my "upside down candy dish" hat. As you can see, I also had the matching coat and dress, along with the shoes (which you can't see here). Yes, I was quite the fashion plate as a child, and thank you for noticing!

As years went by, hats seemed to go the way of the late '50's/early 60's. At least they did as far as MY head was concerned. But I held a secret love for hats, and wished they would come back in style. When I was going to school, anyone who came in to class sporting jaunty head gear would have been laughed right back out again! Well, unless you had one of those cool, Twiggy kind of hats - Then you may have gotten away with it.

Hats are just cool things, you know? You can sometimes even tell where a person is from by the hat they're wearing! Well, not so much in this country anymore, but think about it....What country is known for this hat? France, yes! How about this? I would say Pakistan? Middle East? (New York cab driver?)

It would be nice if our country adopted hats again. I would suggest hat-wearing regions, since our country is so big. Let's see....what might I suggest ....????

This is my nomination for Region 1, which encompasses all of the northeast section of the U.S. (And I'm sorry, White Plains, New York and Vermont, that's what you get for living anywhere close to New York City. By the way, if you're from New York City, you have to hold onto the end of the feather ALL THE TIME, just like the model is doing....)

EVERYONE knows the young man modeling this stylish hat. He's cool, even if he WAS selling cigarettes and beer in this picture. And I think it goes without saying that this hat represents the Southeast Region of the U.S. SEE? People are already lining up to wear the official hat of their region!

Now I don't know if you can call the hurricane states a "region", but, they HAVE to have a hat. And here it is: WATCH OUT! CATEGORY 5 on woman's head! Film at 11!

The Southwestern Region includes (gulp) California! My nomination for this Region's hat is this stylish recycled number....For oh, so many reasons.... Again, SORRY to New Mexico and Arizona - YOUR penalty for living in the California region!

And now ladies and gentlemen, the Pacific and Inland Northwestern Region - Mostly a region of beautiful lush, green forests, and for good reason..... Here is the hat for the Northwest...

Yes, that's right...The RAIN hat, of course! Note the stylin' floppiness of the brim, allowing the pouring rain to run right off the hat and down onto your shoulders and chest. Oh so right when it's pouring rain with a wind chill of -10!

Finally, we have the Region of the GREAT WHITE NORTH, and by that, I mean ALASKA....

This is what I affectionately refer to as the Coyote Ugly Hat. Shot and designed by this state's governor, it's multi-functional and enjoyed equally by man and wife. Man's hat by day, lady's stole by night, and it's all fun and games until the thing gets wet...EWWWW! IS THAT A WET DOG I SMELL?? And you wonder why we stuck Alaska clear up where we stuck it!

We have several more worthy nominees, folks, but regrettably, we're out of time. I still say, however, that this is an idea that deserves more looking into.....

Carson's 5th Birthday Bash! (Thanks for the collage, Carly!)

Of Satirists and Cynics....(and cabbages and kings)

I've been blog-surfing lately (more like blog lurking (blurking?) and there are a lot of great blogs out there! There's a blog for just about every thing you could possibly imagine (which I'm sure you're aware of), but I think my favorites are those whose authors are cynics. Not caustics, mind you, but the WTF tongue-in-cheek folks who see something odd and are compelled to bring it to the attention of the rest of us.

There are a lot of people out there who hate cynics. They view them as mean or cruel. But I think that in fact, we all have a cynical streak in us. Don't tell me you've never at least rolled your eyes at something or someone you thought was silly or absurd beyond words! What I love about cynical blogs is the humor in them. A good cynic can make me laugh longer and louder than most comedians (with a few exceptions)! I think it's because I've secretly harbored the same view as the cynic, and was just never honest enough to bring it to attention for fear of "offending" someone!

Some of my favorite "cynically-themed" blogs are cynical only part of the time; most make it their primary theme. Visit this one and see if it doesn't make you smile... or this one....or maybe even this. If not one of them made you chuckle even a bit, remember this: Cynics force us to view things from a different perspective, which can lead to a broader understanding. And I think that's something the world could use right now, don't you?

From the Eyes and Heart of a Mother with a Difficult Child

(The following is a blog written by my daughter, Carson's mom, with her permission, of course. It's a bit long, but please take the time to read it through. It will give you some insight, and hopefully, some compassion, for parents and children with challenges. I am just so very proud of my daughter for recognizing that there IS a challenge to be met, and for being courageous enough to seek help for him. It's a testament to her strength and love for her son.)

March 18, 2009 - Wednesday
Current mood: drained

I write this in the midst of one of Carson's episodes. He is 5 now and oh yes, we still have some serious tantrums. As I have written previously, we are in the process of identifying behavioral issues Carson struggles with. For every parent that has a child labeled difficult, my heart goes out to you. I know what it is like to have a child scream at the top of their lungs and throw toys to try to get your attention when they have done something wrong. Screaming such terrible things just to try to get a reaction. The attention that you have been told not to give him. He screams and stomps and yells. And though, repeatedly, I do not give him the attention that he is looking for by this negative behavior, we still go through the same stubborn routine. What triggers it and when is it going to happen? I never know. Anything will set it off. And it continues for a couple seconds sometimes, to literally an hour. There is nothing worse then when it happens in public or with family or friends around. I know anyone who does not or has not dealt with a child like this is thinking, there is no discipline, no boundaries, no rules. Take control of the situation, right? I thought that too before I had one. Even the therapists struggle with him. The most heart breaking thing of having a child with these types of issues is the sadness they feel. They honestly believe the whole world is against them. Carson has repeatedly told me and his therapists that 'God made him a bad boy'. Such a heart breaking thing to hear because he really is a good boy. When he is good, he is amazing. Unfortunately, there is something in him that causes him to act out the way he does. I have never told Carson he was bad. He tells himself he is bad because he knows he gets into trouble and he believes he can't control it. Carson is a very intelligent child (a majority of his problem) so he has deduced that if other kids who behave are told that they are being good, he must be the opposite, bad. Amazing enough, he is one of the most confident boys you will ever meet. His issues do not lie in the fact he doesn't believe in himself. They seem to lie in the fact that he is disappointed by everything and everyone around him. At this moment, he's frustrated with himself for not following directions when we were reading our nightly story and not being able to finish the story. In our house now, there are no warnings. He knows what is expected. If he doesn't do it, then it is done. No second chances. He is screaming at me that he wants a hug. Which is totally heart breaking because as I have learned in my counseling, if I give him a hug, it is actually reinforcing the negative behavior. I have told him 'calmly' that when he calms down and stops screaming at me, I will come in to say goodnight and give him a hug. He is literally screaming at me 'I am calmed down you stupid moron.' Shocking for a lot of people to hear, I know. It is for me too. And oh yes, hurtful. In my mind, I know it is all to get my attention and I must ignore it. My parents would say, go in there and smack his butt. Prior to this institution, I would have done that or gone in and yelled at him to not talk to me that way and this outburst would continue for literally hours because odd as it may sound, the presence of me going in their and rewarding him with even negative attention, is still attention. He is still getting his way and has control. The school is right that by not reacting, it does limit the number of outburst we have and does shorten the length of the battle. By sitting here and not saying anything but repeating a broken record, he does calm down faster and he will apologize after it is over. Staying calm for me is extremely difficult, as I do come from a family of yellers. I'm learning and certainly do have my extremely challenging periods, hence the reason for this blog. As a single mom, I don't have anyone to come in and take a round for me in the ring. So, I find something to occupy my mind to block it out while he takes the time needed to calm down, stop and think. It does not come naturally to Carson and unfortunately that piece is genetic. Carson will be beginning ADHD medication soon to identify if possibly hyperactivity is triggering his frustration. Unfortunately, there is no test that you can give a child to guarantee his issues are hyperactivity. Only that his issues indicate hyperactivity. I've been anti medication for a long time but we have literally gone through every non medicated treatment. I have agreed to give medicine a try for his sake. It must feel awful to get in trouble all the time and feel as angry, hurt and let down as he feels every day. Although his reactions and outburst do frustrate, embarrass, and hurt me, all I want is for my son to feel happy and learn to cope with disappointment. To know that he is as beautiful, smart, loving, charismatic and above all else GOOD, as I know him to be. ....For those other parents raising difficult children or even 'normal' children going through a difficult time, hang in there. It will pass. Just put in your mind the wonderful, happy, smiley times that you and your child(ren) have together and above all else, don't take it personally. The battle is within them as they grow and learn. You are just here to guide and teach them and hope that, in the end, they are well adjusted and happy. They will be as long as you don't give up. I'm not and never will. ....FYI, Carson calmed down shortly after the stupid moron comment and at 9:17 pm (after a hug and a kiss) is fast asleep. As will I be shortly.

Inland Empire Girl recently posted a blog with a meme about books. She got it from the Peacock Blue blog. When I saw it, I knew I just had to give it a shot, so here goes. Mind you, my interests run in spurts. I am not currently in a reading spurt, and haven't been for awhile now. I really enjoy reading, so I'm hoping my reading spurt will spring to life again soon! Since IEG gave an open invitation to everyone to try this meme, I will do the same. And if you DO try it out, let me know! I'd like to read your list!

Four Childhood Books I've read:

1. Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates by Mary Mapes Dodge
2. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
3. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
4. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Four “So-Called Classic” books read and never forgotten:


1. An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser

2. Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe by Charles Dickens
3. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
4. The Good Earth by Pearl S Buck

Four personal modern “Classic Novels”:


1. Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt (whoops, not a novel!)
2. The Miracle of the Bells by Russell Janney
3. Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally
4. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Four authors I've read again and again:

1. Lisa Scottoline
2. John Grisham
3. Gregg Olsen
4. John Steinbeck


Four authors or books I'll never read again... ever:

Believe it or not, I can't think of one!! (I KNOW!! Surprised me too!)

Four books on my “To-be-read-list":


1. The Guggenheims by Irwin and Debi Unger
2. The Summons by John Grisham
3. Feeling Good by David D Burns, M.D.
4. THE LAST LECTURE, by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow

Three Non-Fiction Books and One Fiction book I’d take to a desert island:

1. The Bible
2. War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy (when else would I have time to read it??)
3. Letter to my Daughter by Maya Angelou
4. A Short History of the World by H.G. Wells

Four Book recommendations I have followed (and loved):

1. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
2. The Deep Dark by Gregg Olsen
3. Sources of the River by Jack Nisbet
4. My First 90 Years by Hap Murphy

The last lines of one of my favorite books:

"Her darling boy. The light and color of her declining years. She must be kind to him, more liberal with him not restrain him too much, as maybe, maybe, she had---She looked affectionately and yet a little vacantly after him as he ran. "For his sake."
The small company, minus Russell, entered the yellow, unprepossessing door and disappeared."

An American Tragedy - Theodore Dreiser

HAPPY ST. PADDY'S DAY!

Lullaby

(Originally written in 2007)

My first child was born when I was very young. He had his days and nights turned around at a time in my life when I only wanted to SLEEP! Here is a lullaby I sang to him, handed down to me by my Grandma Hodges. I love it to this day:

I know why you're crying, I know why you're blue,
Someone took your kiddie car away,
You'd better go to sleep now...Little man, you've had a busy day.
You've been playing army, the battle has been won...The enemy is out of site,
Come on little general, put away your gun, The war is over for tonight.....
Time to stop your scheming, time your day was through...can't you hear the bugle softly play,
You'd better go to sleep now, little man you've had a busy day....

My son has children of his own now, and he STILL keeps pretty late nights, whether he needs to or not!

I guess lullabies aren't all they're cracked up to be!!

My life has been a tapestry

Of rich and royal hue,

An everlasting vision

Of the everchanging view ~

A wondrous woven magic

In bits of blue and gold

A tapestry to feel and see,

Impossible to hold........

From Tapestry, by Carole King

Have you ever talked to a person regularly on the telephone but never actually met them in person? I mean, you talk to them several times and have even struck up a bit of a relationship with this faceless voice, but if you passed them on the street you wouldn't know them from Adam.
Well, being a "Boise out-stationed employee" for the State government, I experience this on a fairly regular basis. Over time, I tend to form an image of these people in my mind, based solely on how their voices sound. When I finally meet these people face-to-face, I'm often shocked at how far off my imaginings are! I realized recently that I've done this with my dogs in reverse! I've developed an idea in my mind of what my dogs' voices would sound like, if they could actually talk, based on the way they LOOK!

I love my dogs. No, I REALLY love my dogs. Always have. I've always had dogs, and I've loved each and every one of them. My current two, Brodie and Goliath, are about as opposite as night and day....

Brodie is a 13 year old Belgian Malinois. Goliath is 2 year old chihuahua/terrier mix. I spend a good deal of time with them and as a result, think I know their personalities pretty well.
Brodie has always been a bit of a fool. Malnut that he is, he took out 2 screen doors as a "child". Went right through them, no problem. He's eaten Christmas tree lights, swallowed camera film and made a snack of the remote control, batteries and all. He dove through my bedroom window. And he's LIVED to tell about it. He's older now, so he's not quite as wild and crazy as he was in his youth. But I'll tell ya, he still enjoys a nice wad of toilet paper if he can get his mouth around it! Goliath, on the other hand, is just a cute little thing, with a face that will remain puppy-like forever. He is very submissive and sweet.

I talk to my dogs. And, I talk FOR them. My Brodie voice sounds like a slow 4 year old with a lisp. My Goliath voice just sounds like a proud mother talking to her baby (hence the term "baby talk"). You can imagine it. It's the kind of sickeningly sweet yammer that makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck. The person talking is trying to SOUND like the baby LOOKS. And so it is with my dogs and me.

One day, I was talking to Brodie (and "he" was answering me), and something about the look on his face said "That is SOOO NOT what I sound like!" And so I tried to envision Brodie's persona- I have a sneaking suspicion that this is it:

Yes, in spite of all the havoc-wreaking he's done in his life, if Brodie found his voice, he would speak with a very controlled British accent. If he dressed, it would be in a 3 piece suit with a buttoned down collar. He would have a MENSA vocabulary, and would brag about the fact that he was once tenured at the most prestigious canine university in the United States. He would tell me that he's been very resentful of the voice I've saddled him with. He would tell me that I have the mind of a slow 4 year old with a lisp.

Baby-talking Goliath on the other hand, would have a whole different persona. And here it is:

If Golly was a talking dog, he'd sound like George Burns with a Joizy accent. He'd be a walkin', talkin' tough guy who always wore a tee shirt with a pack of cigarettes rolled up in the sleeve. Males would fear him. Females would adore him. He would always have a poodle in diamonds at his side. He would be the model for whichever artist painted the picture of the pinochle-playing dogs (on velvet).

So folks, we must all remember - Don't judge a book by its cover, don't judge a person by their appearance, and never, NEVER judge a dog by the voice its "mommy" gave it!

YOU MIGHT BE A SOUTHERN SNOWMAN IF.....

My oldest son Rick and his wife Jen live with their 2 girls, Maris and Sophie, in Salisbury, North Carolina, just outside of Charlotte. It's rare that this area gets snow, but the night before last, snow it did ! and Maris took advantage of it to build her first snowman with daddy.......

Pretty handsome dude, is he not? I learned a few new things about snowmen from the south.....

They have celery stalks for noses instead of carrots!! And blueberries for eyes and mouth!

They have big gold buttons (or are those Reece's little peanut butter cups?) and no arms!! And of course, they wear NASCAR-related baseball caps (this one sports a Toyota Camry hat, which maw-maw is especially partial to). But most off all, THIS one has the cutest little 4 year old girl on earth giving him a hug and a kiss. What snowman could ask for anything more??

They also have daddys at the ready with replacement eyes or lips, as the case may be.

Southern snowmen may have short lives, but they're good ones while they last!

I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!

My daughter and grandson set out Saturday for a vacation to DisneyWorld to celebrate Carson's 5th birthday. First stop was a trip to a lighthouse, because Carson LOVES lighthouses. Have you ever seen a kid more excited??

Don't take your eyes off that lighthouse!!

We're here, we're FINALLY here!!

CRAZY Bliss!

Oh, to be 5 and on my way Disney World!! (I can't WAIT to see his face when they go to Cape Canaveral for the rocket launch!)

A Frustrated Subject

My husband Kelly is an awesome photographer. He's made it a real hobby and he has an eye for scenery that is just amazing. However, when he finds something he wants to capture, he tends to take several pictures of the same thing, just to make sure he gets a least one 'keeper'. And so it is when he finds a living subject. His brother, sisters, nephews and nieces have been his target on more than one occasion, and before he's finished, he sometimes has some pretty disgruntled relatives! It's usually worth it in the end though. He does take some great pictures.

It follows that when we got Goliath last week, Kelly's camera went into overdrive. At first, Goliath didn't seem to mind....

After a few days, however, you could see that Goliath was getting tired of being daddy's poster boy. He was subtle at first - running off when Kelly pointed the lens, or barking at Kelly when the camera came out. At the end of the week, though, I think he really got his point across. Kelly was leaving on another quest for photos when he turned around, and lo and behold, he saw this:

Kelly was captivated by such a little dog jumping up on our window sill to watch the world go by, so he snapped another:Whoops, too much window reflection. Let's try it again....

Do you sense a little aggravation building on Goliath's face? Kelly didn't and he just kept on clickin'. Little Golli finally got his point across.....

Kelly hasn't tried to take his picture since!