loumercerwordsofwisdom.blogspot.com

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Oh, finally got something done with that damned hair!

Do you see who this is? This is my friend Trisha! Trisha just finished giving me a permanent and making me very beautiful! See, today I decided that I had all I could take of my hair poking out here and there and needing cut, so I took myself to the city. And it was there that she took me to her chair and worked her magic. She is a novice in that she barely started there. Her daughter will finish in March. Then daughter will start a shop probably on the south end of Colorado Springs and Trisha will go help her when she graduates in August. And then another daughter will do massage, so I am staying in tight with this bunch!

But this place and I go back a lot further than today.  See, many, many years ago, when I was first separated from my very first husband and waiting tables at Skaets Steak Shop in Hutchinson, Kansas, that self same husband was drunk out here in Pueblo, Colorado. Ah, the plot thickens.

This man found his way to this shop and to the man who at the time ran the Center Beauty College.  Frank Schultz was a very kind and gentle man, but he had a mission in life. Well, actually two missions. The first was to teach young girls how to be cosmetologists and do it at a very reasonable charge to them. His second was to sober up men he found and put them to work. That business was called Center Tree Service and the first husband was a tree trimmer. Frank did indeed sober the little fellow up and put him on the road to recovery. Unfortunately, we never made it that far, but such is life.

Years later I came to Pueblo. I remembered Frank Schultz and went in to get my hair done cheap! My daughter, Dona enrolled in his Beauty College and when she went to State Boards I was her model.  I then modeled for 2 more students and that was fun. I got facials, manicures, fake fingernails and it cost me nothing!  Course I let them practice on me once a week, but I had to leave the hair cause when you went to State Boards the student had to cut off at least an inch and you better have it to spare!

Dear, dear Frank Schultz passed to his much deserved reward three years ago, but Center Beauty College lives on in the graceful and very beautiful form of his daughter, Leasa Wood.  Cici is still there as the most able receptionist in Pueblo, Colorado. She has held that post for 38 years, if you can believe that! She could tell some tales, I am sure.

Center Beauty College is still located at 228 West Third in downtown Pueblo.  Right there on the corner where it has been for 38 years.  The phone number is 542-3833.  Poke that little number in and go get a haircut at a reasonable price, or do like I did and go top of the line permanent for $30.00.  It is a bargain for you and the students need some one to practice their craft on.  A boon to both of you.

So, here I set, all dressed up with no where to go!  But bet I could if I wanted to cause I am lookin' good and feelin' fine and it is thanks to Trisha, and the whole crew at Center Beauty College!
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World AIDS Day planning committee at work!

Here we are at Joe's Coffee Shop in the basement of Pueblo Community College.  This is our first year to  be on the campus at PCC and I must say it has been a real treat!  They have been most accommodating and the friendliest  people I have come across in a very long time.  Why it just makes me want to go back to school!

First I have to tell you who all these people are and if I knew I would sure share that with you.  Not really.  I did not get my little release like I need to go around the table naming names, so I am just going to point out a few.  Needless to say they are all friends of mine !  OK, top picture.  See that kid on the right with the dark shirt and glasses?  That is John.  He is on the National Quality Center Consumer Advisory Council Steering Committee.  Quite a prestigious fellow.  We just went and had Chinese before we came so he is probably dozing off, but more about him in another post.  The empty chair is mine.  The two ladies on the left are with PCHC. One is our co leader along with John.

Bottom picture on the right is Eric.  We used to go to church together, but I changed.  The lady with her back to me is one of the PCC Staff who is most kind.  Another one is behind her head.  The lady on the left is with Pueblo City/County Health Department.  So there you have a loose accounting of the people it takes to plan an event of this magnitude and actually pull it off with any degree of decorum.  Tomorrow is our test!!

Events will start at 9:00 AM and run until 7:30 PM.  Pueblo Community Health Center will offer free testing the first part of the day and then SCAP and IMPACT the rest of the day.  Dr. Steve Johnson, MD Professor & Director of Infectious  Disease, University of Colorado, will be our Keynote Speaker.  Our guest speaker will be Merilou Johnson, MSW, MPA, Program Director Colorado AIDS Education Training Center.  They are no relation, just share a last name. 

I have not met Merilou Johnson, but I have met Dr. Steve Johnson and can attest that he is one of the kindest and most intelligent men I have had the good fortune to visit with in my time in this business.  He and Dr. Swartz were Mark's doctors for the last several years of his life, so I had the good fortune to visit with them both every month.  They are both very caring men which is a necessity in this area of medicine.

Now for my far away friends, you should know that this is a coup!  I figure this is going to be the biggest WAD Commemoration to date in this fair city.  Right now I have to go finish Rick's panel or I will be standing there tomorrow night with egg all over my face and this whole table full of people glaring at me.  Not me, man.  I am looking forward to tomorrow and hope when I come home it is with a feeling of accomplishment!

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Cuban Caravan part 2!!


Here is that shot I told you to watch for.  This Google thing is like a whole new world to me.  Just put your mouse on the picture and click!  But in case that does not work, I have done it for you.  The teal shirt says:
Cuba has:

One teacher per 10 primary children.
Vaccinations against preventable diseases.
A lower infant mortality rate then the United States.
No homeless children.
100% literacy.

The red shirt says;
Now is the time to:

Free the Cuban 5.
End the economic blockade.
End travel ban for all.
Take Cuba off "terrorist list."
Hand Guantanamo back to Cuba.
Normalize Diplomatic Relations.

There is the link you are going to need to learn more.  See in my simple mind I can not understand why we are carrying on diplomatic relations with every one in this world, from China, Russia, and Iran clear down to Osama Bin Laden, but we will not deal with Cuba, a struggling nation 90 miles off of our coast.  And this has gone on for at least 40 years.  I just can not see this.  If someone out there, reading this can give me a reason, I am a reasonable person.  I am fair minded, but we have 5 Cubans in prison for doing less than criminals walking the streets here in Pueblo.  Just clue me in cause I am clueless in Pueblo!


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I missed these Cuba shots and they are so worth looking at!

I want you to take a look at these pictures that I have been looking at for the last how many months and not seeing!  If you think that going to Cuba with a school bus full of anything is a piece of cake, you are sadly mistaken.  These particular pictures were sent to me while they were at one of the crossings.  I probably posted a link, and maybe you actually looked at them.  You should have hollered and said " Hey, dummy, here is the whole thing in a nut
shell!"  See those three little guys there?Pretty soon you will be able to read the back of their shirts!  Now see how big they are?  Probably about the size of most of us and they do not look like heroes to me, but you hang on there!  Now, see these guys at the back of the bus?  They are the crossing guards and they are looking pretty closely at these computers.  The computers look pretty evil to me!  They did in fact have to confiscate a few of them.  All of them contained the same hard drives, so it was not the info.

But look at these guys!  Can you hear the conversations?  I can and I am thinking a few of these guys may have made a few dollars off this little crossing here!

OK, I can not get the picture I want to load on here.  So I am going to continue on another post which will be called Cuba Shots part 2.  You have got to read these guys shirts.  It explains why myself and a lot of others are adamant about the Cuban Caravan.

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Saturday, November 27, 2010

Remember way back when you were dating?

I was young once and I can still remember that time.  I was young and actually dated boys.  I don't think things happen the way they did many years back.  For one thing, everybody has a car now days.  Usually given to the kid by one parent or another so they do not have to drive them around.  Back in the day, it did not work that way.  Cars were few and far between and if the boy wanted to use the car to take a little chickadee somewhere on Saturday night, the deal was made weeks in advance.  A date was a big deal back then.  The guy had to come to the door and actually meet mom and dad. Well, it was supposed to work that way, but it didn't always.

See back then I thought my parents were way to strict and old fashioned and and I just could not be bothered with those little customs that other kids held so dear.  One might say I was a bit of a rebel back then.  So I always managed to meet the lucky boy up on the highway.  Looking back, I see that I might have been sending the wrong message.  Well, I am pretty sure I was not getting the message across that I had parents who cared about me and wanted to know where I was more for my benefit than just because they were nosey!

So, I met Prince Charming up on the highway and we would go to the drug store and have a coke ore something equally decadent which cost in the neighborhood of five cents.  Dates were cheap back then.  Then we might walk around a while.  You know, look at the stars and stuff because back then there was not so much light pollution and you could see the stars.  Then back to the car and drive some where so we could see better.  Inevitably that damn car would run out of gas!  What to do now?  My idea was to hit the road and go get more gas, but his was to neck.  Neck!  We could neck all night and that car would still be out of gas.

I have always been a woman of action.  "Come on!  It will be midnight before we get back.  I ain't gonna set here all night."  And it was then that the truth came to light,  I could either give or walk.  Give or Walk?  Is that your idea of foreplay?  Well, I have also been scared of the dark most of my life, but here was a situation that would warrant closer scrutiny of whatever was in the dark.  On the one hand I was alone with an idiot who did not have sense enough to put gas in his car, thinking that sex would make that thing run.  And if we had sex, he would still be out of gas and I would be walking.  Either way, I knew I was going to hoof it home that night.

Ever look back on your life and just wonder how you could have actually been that stupid and ever lived?  I got more walking time in when I was a teenager than in all the rest of my life.  And you would have thought that the guys would have wised up at some point, but they never did.  I did finally decide all the boys in my hometown were jerks and started dating the boys from the big city.  Now those guys knew how to treat a girl!  Actually I think they were afraid of me because I had some very muscle bound legs.  Guess they thought I might kick them!

One of the guys from way far away in Dodge City caught my fancy and the rest was history.  We dated three weeks.  He met momma and dad.  Never made me walk home. Took me dancing and we drank some beer.  I got sick, but I knew I would spend the rest of my life with this gorgeous man with blond curly hair, blue eyes and a Roman nose.  Funny thing, life.  My forever lasted 10 years and 5 kids.  The Dreamer that I had loved with every fiber of my being turned out to be just that, The Dreamer.  He wrote the most beautiful love letters, but neglected to pay the rent.  He painted pictures of a most glorious future, but wouldn't change a diaper.  Guess life just kind of got in the way, and life does have a way of doing that, doesn't it?

Thursday, November 25, 2010

I have come to a decision and you shall be the first to know, after me of course.

I am going to start dating after the first of the year.  Now I know, I did hang out with the tall guy for a while, but I am not sure that qualified as dating.  The way that worked is I hung out at his house or garage and kind of helped him organize stuff and we talked a lot.  Sometimes he fed me or we went out and ate.  I do not think that was dating.  I think it was hanging out mostly.  None of that personal stuff, you know.

I think dating is where the guy actually would come to the house, ring the door bell, open the car door and take me some place, like out to eat or the movies or something like that.   Maybe we could hit some garage sales.  I don't know, but I am sure if we work at it we can come up with something to do.  Oh, yeah, like the fundraiser things that I hate to go to alone, I could like to have someone take me.  OK, now comes the "someone" part.  How do I get me one of those?   Sometime back a thing kept popping up on my email telling me I could find me a man at Match.com, or Zoosk, or any number of places and all I had to do was click on there and it was free.  Let me tell you, that sounded pretty easy to me, so click I did.  That is an experience I shall not soon forget. 

There were pages and pages of men who described themselves as "good looking, hard bodies, long walks,romantic, financially secure, and looking for love."  Now no offense intended here, but if he has to tell me he is good looking that is strike number one.  A 75 year old man with a flat stomach and hard body is a little hard to imagine.  I am having a hard time even imagining one with hair!  Now his idea of a long walk and mine may not be the same.  Right away I started thinking of a long walk on a short pier!  First hit I got was a guy from Pennsylvania who was ready to relocate, all I had to do was send him my email.  I may be a bit of a doubting Thomas on this "Get the man of your dreams for only $7.95.  Limited time only." 

Now, in all fairness, this may be the way to go for some people, but not for me.  Hell, I could not quit laughing long enough.  I found another way!  And it is free!  I can just pick one up.  They are every where!  My friends know single guys.  Well, mostly widowers.  So I am a widow.  That works, or should work.  All they have to do is introduce me.  Course they have to screen them first, you know, weed out the ultra conservatives, homophobes, Catholics, men afraid of spiders, and things like that.  Don't want one in a suit. No smokers.  No drinkers. Like animals.  Don't want to ski.  No racists and must like big dysfunctional families.  I am a thinking, I may be a little too particular.  You think?

Well, now that I think about it, I am not sure I want to do that dating thing.  I suppose it would probably happen at night and I like to go to bed about 9 PM.  That could present a problem right there!  And say I did date one, what if I got to liking him?  What then?  If I start liking him and he starts liking me, then we got another problem.  But if he could just like walk me to the door at 8:30, peck on the cheek and hit the road, that might be alright.  Yes, dating will be a good thing if I don't actually have to spend any time with him!  I am going to think about this some more.  When I reach my final decision I will share that with you.

Right now I think I just looked at the full moon the other night and thought about the good old days when I was a young, romantic girl.  That was when the wee, wee hours were for snuggling with a fella, or dancing the night away, not trying to kick the cat out of bed and letting the dog out for a quick minute then back to sleep.  Well, I do love my bed and I think right now I am going to go crawl in it and say my prayers.  May rethink this whole thing.  Got a whole month before the first of the year and everything is subject to change.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Didjaeverthink?

I have secrets that I will take to the grave.  We all do, I know.  May not be earth shattering to anyone if they knew them, but to me they are sacred.  Well there is only one, really.  No, there are two of them.  One is something that was never a real secret, but I knew.  Wait, make that three.  There was that first one, and then that second one.  At the time people knew, but they forgot.  Those two were never real secrets, but that third one is so secret that only me and God knows it, because the other person who knew has been dead a while and I think that person forgot even before they died. 

Oh, boy did I ever have one of those didjaeverthink days today!  I had what I thought was a friend and I came that close to telling my secrets.  Imagine how I would feel now, knowing just how close we actually weren't, had I told my secrets.  A very wise man once told me, "You know of people.  You do not know a person. Only that person can know himself."  He was right.  I have a face I present to people when I first meet them, but I am not good at keeping that face on and next thing you know, I have a new best friend and I will tell that best friend only the truth about myself.  Well, needless to say, not everyone is honest nor do they want honesty.  So, poof, there went my new best friend.

Needless to say I have a bit of a problem trusting people, so when I do put my trust in one of the friends I make, and they disappoint me, I am crushed.  I am learning lots of little lessons here on this big world of the Internet.  I am learning that as well meaning as people are, and as sincere as they appear to be, it is not the same as setting down at Starbucks and having a conversation face to face.  Eye contact means a lot to me.  I have made friends (?) with several people on the Internet and had gut wrenching conversations with at least one of them, laughed hysterically with another, been advised in business by one, know an other's grand kids by name and thought about a quasi affair with another.  So, why am I sad when one of these faceless figures disappears on me?  Hell, I don't know!

But in my favor, I must say, I still have my secrets.  The key to whether I trust you will be whether I share my secrets.  So far there is no temptation any where.  Like I said I almost told that one guy, but lips are sealed and it turned out well that I kept mum.  I set down to write this blog and things come out of me that amaze me.  You people probably know me better then the people I deal with on a regular basis!  You are my Internet friends.  Some of you are actually family and friends that I know.  Some of you are faraway friends that I have met.  Some of you I will meet at a later date, but the one thing you all have in common is you see the honest, forthright side of Lou.  When I meet a stranger the first thing they say is "I feel I have known you all my life."  I, myself, have never met a stranger! 

The people I meet on the Internet are faceless friends.  Sometimes I have a picture I can put with a face, but there you go.  Is that face the face that actually goes with that name?  One of my friends is apparently a bull dog!  One will not tell if they are male or female.  I have a closeup of Amy's mouth.  I met Jacci in Blackwell, Oklahoma and Ely at the bottom of Missouri.  My son has raised his voice at me more than once over what he refers to as my insane behaviour, but he does not understand.  I do not just run around and meet people wily nily.  I first have a connection with them.  Then I feel their vibes.  And I always say my prayers.

OK, I am willing to bet I have strayed from the topic again.  I know one thing, I am getting hungry so it must be supper time.  I am going to run my spell check (I love that feature),  read this over and see if it makes any sense at all, and if it does I will hit the publish button!

Hey, I understand this and that is scary in and of itself!! 

A full moon over Pueblo, I hope it's shining on you!

I was going to post a picture of the full moon, but I do not seem to be able to locate the moon picture.  Do you like my title?  That should be a country song.  They could change Pueblo to Tulsa,  oh wait!  They already did that!  It seems like Shelly West and Somebody Frizzell sang that and it was a great hit.  Seemed like I really liked it.  Seems like someone will need to tell me who the guy was.

I love to look at the moon, whatever phase it is in.  It is so far up there and I am so little down here in comparison.  Makes me realize just how infinite the heavens really are.  I was laying in bed last night thinking about the dying part and I do not think that will really be so bad.  Probably not going to be anything I can put on this blog when I do it, being as how it will be one of those "once in a lifetime things!" 

I have been with several people when they took that last breathe and it does not seem to be anything except a peaceful passing over to the other side.  I think I will rather enjoy it.  However, I am also pretty busy right now enjoying what is going on here.  How I got off the subject of the moon is beyond me, but you know how my little mind works.  I am doing good kick starting myself in the morning without trying to keep me tracking in a straight line!

OK, here is where I think I was going with this moon thing.  I love to look at the moon in all of it's phases.  Crescent is nice and reminds me of a dinner roll.  I know if it is tipped to hold water there will be no rain.  If, however, it is tipped so water can run out, gonna rain!  When it is about half it is great and I do not know what that means, but I think it is kind of good fishing.  But when the moon is full and bright I love to look at it.  I guess they call that a harvest moon, or just a full moon.  I know I need to watch for werewolves.  I think it is also the lover's moon.  Well, that entails having something I do not have access to, so I will just go with the werewolves.

I know I have heard that the full moon effects people with mental problems, but I can not lay my hands on any statistics, so I just have to say, I have heard.  I love the moon and I am very glad it stays up there.  It must have a very strong string.  Someday I will go to the ocean and spend a month on the shore and keep notes.  Until then......... enjoy the moon for whatever reason you are looking at it cause it was really pretty last night.

If you have access to a honey pie, grab their hand and go outside and gaze upwards.  Just tell them Lou said!

Have a good one.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

The worst part about old age is getting there.

Did you ever just stop and think, "Where did the time go?  When did this happen? I am old!"  I did that today.  I realized that I am no longer young!  I did not feel old this  morning when I got up, but suddenly came the dawning of the realization that there will be no going back, no second chance at a first anything.  This is it and it is down hill from here to the end.  From the cradle to the grave sort of thing.

It seems like only yesterday, I was a little barefooted kid running the streets in Nickerson, Kansas without a care in the world. I do not remember being cold, but I don't remember being warm.  I do not remember being hungry, but i don't remember being full, either.  I went to school and apparently I learned something.  I remember babysitting to buy my mother a stainless steel mixing bowl because I had broken her glass one.  I remember clod fights, kick the can, watching the calf die, and eating green peaches.  I remember Howard Fein poking his false teeth out at me and scaring me half to death.  I remember many things, but I don't remember getting older.

I remember having babies, catching fish, and getting divorced.  I remember burying my brother, sister, father, mother, friends, husband, and pets.  I remember tears and laughter, good times and bad times, having money and being broke, but for the life of me, I can not remember growing old.  It just seems like one day I was young and the next day I was not.  The body that used to jump the fence, run a mile, dance to the twist, and unload 50 pound bags of feed, just quit cooperating.  The mind that was so quick with a comeback has slowed to a crawl.  Now the body seeks creature comforts of warmth and a soft bed.  The mind likes to drift back to another day and time.  Back to when the kids were babies and all I needed to be happy was a roof over my head, food in my belly and hope for tomorrow. 

Now my life stretches before me like a long black, endless ribbon of a highway with no beginning and no end.  Do all people face this mortality?  What a waste!  We start out as helpless little babies needing someone to care for us and move through a maze called life to end up as helpless old people needing someone to care for us.  Oh, the irony of it all!

I wish I had it all to do over!  If I could have another chance I would seize each day and savor it from dawn to dark.  I would examine every minute of every day and write each night in my journal and plan every tomorrow so that every day would be important to me and to everyone I knew.  I would hold my mother tight.  I would sing to my brother.  I would rock my children.  I would have been a missionary to the poorest of the poor and the sickest of the sick.  I would not have shed selfish tears for myself, but would have wept for the world and would have made it a better place instead of just drifting through in my own willful way.

But, alas, I can change nothing.  I set here a lonely old woman with my delusions of grandeur, and wish it were different.  But all my wishing changes nothing.  I just hope that when I get up to the pearly gates I can remember the one quote that fits this situation:  "Of all the things, of mice and men, the greatest of all, What might have been."  Or something along that line.

Jingle Bell Boutique all stocked up and ready to go!

Here is what a craft sale looks like when it is all stocked and ready to go!  Looks different than it did yesterday, doesn't it?  Today I am going to go around and take pictures of things that I think are special.  I bought a little sign that says, "Sarcasm, just another service I offer."
 This is my little corner of the world and I am really doing pretty well there.  Course I am a pusher, you know.  My arch enemy (Bet you did not know I had one of those, did you?) was in yesterday and we did a very good job of ignoring her.  Funny part was , Lyn stopped by and her arch enemy was also there at the same time as mine!  How fate works to try and set our Karma's to rights and how hard we work to keep it from happening.  Almost humorous.
Ok, I got to hit it.  If you get a chance hop on out to Pueblo West, 127 Spaulding in the VFW Hall!  I will be there until 5 and then I am out of there.

Have a good day, and be kind to each other.  Do as I say, not as I do!

Friday, November 19, 2010

The Jingle Bell Boutique is doing #32 in Pueblo West today!

 The Jingle Bell Boutique is starting today, but this is what went on yesterday!  This is the VFW Hall in Pueblo West where this little shindig will happen! This is at 9:00 yesterday morning.  Do you notice how bare this place is?  That is because the workers are not here to set up the tables.  Oh, Wait!  I am none of the workers!  Grand daughter Deven and I are going to get to help!
The unique things about the craft fairs that you walk into, searching for that perfect little something, is that they all start out the same way, in an empty room.  Somebody has to show up and set up tables.  Here you see all the tables set up nicely.  Bear in mind they are not where they belong, but see those 2 guys back there?  When they get through hanging that lattice or peg board, the tables will start being placed.  Now see this happy little lady here?  This is Mary Jo Cavender.  She belongs to the church I used to go to so I have known her for several years.  She is without a doubt one of the best cooks in the world.  I think that is one of the reasons that I put off changing churches.  But she will ply her wares here and I will no doubt be sick when I leave today!

Now you can see some of the tables back there all covered and placed.  Today when I go in I will take a shot of how the place looks.  You are going to be amazed at the transformation.  This is the 32nd annual Boutique and my first year.  So I am a virgin of sorts on this one.  Finally!
Now, not everybody gets to do this boutique, so I consider myself very lucky.  Of course I do have a rather unique product and an in with one of the ladies there, Marjorie Bratzler.  Marjorie makes handwoven baskets and those alone are worth the trip to Pueblo West.  She is an artist extraordinaire!  Whoa!  Hope I spelled that right! 

If you get a chance run out and see us today and tomorrow, that is November 19 and 20, 2010.  We will be there from 9-5, just like the working girls!  I am going to watch the door for you and bring me something to eat that is not chocolate and full of sugar.  As luck would have it my little corner is right across from Mary Jo!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Laughter is the best medicine!

Oh, it is now official!  I always thought that laughing was good for you.  At least unless you laughed at the wrong time or place, but now I know for sure.  My copy of http://www.realage.com/ came over the Internet today with tips to keep me younger than I think I am.  Had something to say about how good Butternut Squash was for me, but I promptly blew that one away and glombed on to the one about laughter.

It is a fact that laughter will lower your blood pressure 10 points in 20 minutes.  I have perfect blood pressure and take nada for anything.  Oh, one little thyroid pill which without, I am very tired.  That is to be expected at my age.  Lord, I have kids that are on all kinds of stuff for all kinds of things.  I have friends who look like a walking pharmacy.  But here I am, the happiest little thing you will ever come across and now I find it is good for me.  I know if I do not interact and laugh with my friends I just get a little blah.

Life in my little corner of the world is usually rather pleasant.  I keep the bills paid and the wolf away from the door so it is mostly a day to day thing, but if I keep an open mind and do not dwell on the mundane I can get a chuckle out of about anything.  Icarus the cat jumped on Elvira the dog and got a free ride one morning.  Goose tripped over a duck and landed in the pond.  Bret seen a spider in his room.  Now granted, I probably have a sick sense of humor, but it is humor none the less.

I think I am getting ready to make a point here.  Life is short.  Life is simple if you let it be.  When it gets complicated, you loose control.  So there is much to be learned from the KISS theory, which you all know means Keep It Simple, Stupid!  My biggest problem is trying to think for someone else.  I basically want to please every body, but it does not work like that.  I learned in seventh grade that "You can please all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you can not please all of the people all of the time."

I also learned that you never really know anybody, you only know OF them.  I can not be inside their brain so I can not know what they think.  Know what I do sometimes?  I should not tell you this, but I will.  Pretty sure I will live to regret it, but I am banking that most people who read my writing, chuckle and forget what I say.  Sometimes if I am listening intently to something you are saying that is boring me to tears, I have a little smile on my face and nod and interject my one word comments.  My mind is a million miles away at that point.  Know how to tell if I am really with you?  If I laugh.

If I laugh, I am listening, because sooner or later everyone I know will say something that my twisted mind can get a laugh from.  If I laugh a gut wrenching belly laugh, you truly have my attention.  If I touch you, you are home free.  I rarely meet anyone I can not laugh with, and if I do, I only see them once cause next time I will make an effort to get out of their way.

So your assignment for today is to lighten up!  Shake loose and get down!  Life is short!  Life is wonderful!  What does not kill you will make you strong!  So get out there and carpe diem!  And whatever you do, find the humor in the situation!

Friday, November 12, 2010

Oh, Joe! You are a human after all!

Well, the Internet was a buzz last night!  Get online! Joe just committed political suicide!  And at first glance it seemed that my very dear friend Joe Seiwert from district 101 in Reno County, Kansas had done just that!  Having won his re election bid by 79% it seemed that he was truly the golden boy.  Now, those of you who do not follow my hometown as closely as I do will no doubt wonder what the boy did to warrant such an outcry.  Gonna tell you here.

He forwarded an email!  Can you believe that!  Unfortunately, he is a politician and this email contained an essay on the Muslim customs.  He did not comment on it in any way, just hit the forward button and off it went to 40 people!  They ought to tar and feather that fellow! (Sarcasm, for those who do not recognize the form I write in a lot!)

Now here is the deal, folks, how many emails do you forward in one day?  I shudder to think how many I get, glance at the first paragraph and hit my forward button sending it off to one of my lists of receivers.  (Can't call them friends because I have about 2, 000 in my address book and I am sure some of them do not even like me and vice versa!)

OK, back on subject here!  I am not sure this email never came across my sight.  If it looked boring, I deleted it.  If I read the first paragraph and it sounded like a conservative thing, I sent it to my conservative friends.  If it sounded radical, I got a bunch of them also.  Bear in mind that this looks boring to me, so it probably got the delete button early on in which case it is a moot point.

You know the routine on the forwarded stuff.  If it ends with the admonishment that " If you are a good christian, you will forward this!"  "If you believe in God, you will forward this!" "If you love America, you will forward this!" all of those will be deleted.  If people question my love of God or Country they did not read it, so I delete it.

But there is the small contingent of people who, when faced with that selection, will forward it because they do love God and country or are afraid God or Obama may actually be watching what they do.

Footnote:


The Muslims have said they will destroy us from within.

SO FREEDOM IS NOT FREE.


THE MARINES WANT THIS TO ROLL ALL OVER THE U.S.

Please don'tdelete this until you send it on.

In red is the last sentences in the actual email!  Use your own judgement as to whether you would have forwarded this!

I want to go on record as saying Joe Seiwert is one of the most intelligent, caring men I have ever met.  Granted he is a Republican and I am a Bleeding Heart Liberal, but we are eye to eye on many things.  Well, actually, most things! I only pray that the people of Kansas can get their thinking caps on and realize what a treasure they have in this man!  But in the outside chance that they want to ride him out of town on a rail, send him to Colorado, because we could sure as hell use an honest man out here!

I love you Joe!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Dear Bret took these for me to enjoy!

I have always been fascinated by the powers of the Universe and by the beauty of the skies, especially the cloud formations. I spent many years taking pictures of these beauties and had a bunch of them in an album. Now this was back in the day when you took the roll of film out of the camera and took it in to the store to be developed. At that time you got an actual 4" x 6" picture that you could put in an album.
                                                           
One of the most beautiful pictures I had was one entitled "The Wyoming Cloud". Now granted the skies in Montana are one of the most spectacular sights in this world, but the Wyoming Cloud was a true work of art.  Alas, like all things bright and beautiful, my album was doomed.  Enter a son in law!  Open season for the Bronco's.  Stir up my natural desire to wager.
We started out small, "Here is a lovely shot of a cumulus over  Pikes Peak. " Well rats!  What are those Bronco's doing?  "OK, this Buttermilk Sky over Fowler on the way to Kansas the day after Al died."  Crap!  Now I was sure the Bronco's could not lose every game, so I was finally down to the wire.  "Alright, Jimmie, the Wyoming Cloud against all the others you are holding.  This will put me back in charge of my album!"

What is that famous poem that says something about "Ah, somewhere birds are singing and somewhere children shout, but there is no joy in Mudville, for mighty Casey has struck out!"  Or something to that effect.  Who would have ever dreamed that the mighty Denver Bronco's could lose every damn game!

So there I sat, a defeated woman and the new son in law!  Now one would think that a boy in his position would have been eager to please, but such was not the case.  I have the album and a few scraggly clouds that no one really cares about and somewhere over at Jimmie's house in the bottom of a box buried in a closet is the beautiful Wyoming Cloud, lost and forgotten.

But Bret took these for me one afternoon while I was gone and he just thought they were pretty.  I had one as the wallpaper on here until he got his new bike and now he sets there on his Harley smiling so I can see the $6,000 worth of dental work.  And why did I get up this morning thinking about that cloud in Wyoming?  I miss the days of dropping my film off to be developed.  I miss the jumping in the car and going somewhere far away on the spur of the moment.  I guess the cloud represents a part of my life that is gone and forgotten and it is just another thing I need to let slip away. 

 Life does take it's little twists and turns on the way from the cradle to the grave, doesn't it? 

Monday, November 8, 2010

Here is my Mohawk!!

Hey, look at that! Bet you think this is my mug shot, but it is not! This was taken when I renewed my drivers license.  You should know that a lot of thought went into this.  I have always thought of hair as a necessary evil and envied the men who could go bald and get away with it.  I can pass male pattern baldness to my son, but I can't enjoy the benefits myself.  Is life really fair?

For 25 years my late husband had gone to the barber out here on the Mesa named Louie.  He is right up there by Brian's Small Engine Repair on the South side of Santa Fe Drive.  Forgot the address and if you think I know where the phone book is, you are giving me way too much credit.  Just drive out Santa Fe and watch on the right.  Blende Drug, Frank's Meat Market, and pretty quick you see the turning pole.  Go in the back door and tell him Lou sent you.

Back to this tale.  Louie did not want to do this.  I actually had to get firm with him.  After much haggling he got out the clippers and this was the result.  Not the end of the story by a long shot, but I left there with the first Mohawk I had ever had and I felt good!  Life is too short to not try the things I want to, if you know what I mean!  First stop, step daughter's house.  Whoa on that reaction! 

"What have you done!  I was going to take you to the fair and look at what you have done! I am taking you no where!"  I was crushed!  This would have been my first outing with her in 23 years and I had blown it~!  Laugh Out Loud on that one!  Next I was reported to the son-in-law who came and rang my doorbell.  When I opened the door, he just started laughing.  My kind of boy!

I loved that Mohawk and I put that sticky crap on it several times a day so it would stand up nice and tall.  I knew this needed to be preserved for posterity, so since it was drivers license time, off I went to the DMV.  The guy taking the pictures was a little cool at first when I explained that this was my first Mohawk and I wanted the best picture ever on my license.  Bless his heart, he took several shots before he got the one he was happy with.  Tell me the government does not love us little people!

I want you to know right now, that an old lady with a Mohawk will draw a lot of attention.  The people at church were astounded!  They soon recovered.  This was Lou after all, and she never did like hair.  Ok, this was people I knew and who knew me.  Off to the grocery store next.  Safeway on the East Side.  Tough place to play too since it is the East Side.  I was amazed at how many of the little "wannabees" and "gang bangers" in the parking lot smiled at me!  First they looked at me with their hard little eyes and I smile at them, and they everyone smiled back!  I think if we all got a Mohawk we could solve a lot of problems.  Could be wrong, but it was fun.

I still like to watch the faces of people who need my identification when I hand them my drivers license.  First they look at it, then they immediately look at the top of my head!  I just tell them "My wild and crazy days, last week!"  I am thinking I really want another wild haircut, but this time I will have Louie just shave it all except two circles in the front and I will shellac those suckers up good and  make me 2 horns.  Secretary at the church shakes her head when I say that, but the preacher thinks I might.  Tell me what you think!  Hit the comment button down there and if I get 2 yes votes I will do it and put it on my next license.

To my friend online who did not know I ever had a Mohawk, I first blogged this back on October 21, 2009, so it is no secret.  You just thought you had read all my blogs!  Now you got a picture to go with it.Posted by Picasa

Sunday, November 7, 2010

And finally the time change is here!

See that face? That is a very happy face because the time change has finally gotten here! I can let the fowl out and it is not even 7:00 AM yet. I got my young self busy on that changing of the clocks very early, assuming I moved them the right way. One year I did it the wrong way, loaded the grand kids in the car and arrived to an empty parking lot. I then called one of the church people whose number I remembered. He was very quick to tell me where my mistake was.

I hate this time changing. This particular one, I like because I am a very early riser, but the one next Spring is the one that makes me postal! I would like it if the government would kindly leave my clock alone!  They can figure all they want and give me statistics until the cows come home,  but I still know there will be the same amount of daylight hours.  My ducks and geese wake up when the sun comes up.  If I need to leave early I have to open the pen door in the dark and that leaves them vulnerable to predators.  Sure, things can come in the daylight and eat them, but it is a lot more likely in the early morning hours before the sun pops up.

Now, here I am and it is 7:20 AM.  The water fowl are out and swimming around.  They are fed and happy. There was just a moment of confusion when they saw Icarus, the cat, perched on the feeder in their yard.  Normally the cat does not linger when I open the door.  But today she thought she would like to visit a little while.  The geese started to make a circle around her, but being the agile creature she is, she escaped that trap.

So now that my life is on this even keel with the sunshine and stuff, I may be able to get something done around the place.  Oh, I doubt that!  Next I will bellyache cause it is too cold!  I know me pretty well after all this time.

Well, that is my thoughts for the day, so go have a good one and try to keep the cart between the ditches.




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Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Oh, Gino, I can hear your house from here!

I have a new pseudo friend on this side of the Niagara Falls! Now pseudo may not be the correct word here, but I can not find the one I want.  Pseudo means pretend, or spurious and I guess he falls it that category.  I have never met the man, but have exchanged several emails.  I know his political affiliations and know he likes fine wine.  I in turn shared with him my venture into the wine tasting arena and the 5 day bout of dry heaves that followed.  So I guess this qualifies us as friends.

I make seed catchers and sell them on eBay and Gino breeds and sells Canaries, so this is a match made in heaven.  He needs my seed catchers to keep is house tidy and I need his money to keep my house period.  I just want you to take a look at some of his canaries.  I remember way back when mother had a canary.  She kept it in a cage that hung from a stand, much like the grandmother  on Tweety and Sylvester did.  I do not remember momma having that little bun in her hair, but I can go with that!

What I do remember is that momma also had a cat!  Oh, you can see where this is going can't you?  Now the only thing I recall is momma coming home and a pile of yellow feathers and no cat.  Now, I am sure I would not have gotten the licking I did if someone were not pretty sure that little Louella figured in somewhere in the equation of open bird cage, pile of feathers and cat nowhere to be seen.  I am just as sure, that I did not do it, whatever it was.  I am also very sorry that had I did that it was the wrong thing to do.  The sad part is, mother never did get another bird!  Do not know where the cage went either.

Now, if my dear mother, rest her soul, were alive today, I would be for getting her one of these birds.  Let me go look. Oh, I would take either #4 or #6.  Did you see those?  It is this first link.  Highlight it and then click and click again.  Least that is how it works on mine. You will figure it out. But those two have messy hair and look like ornery little boys.  Gino tell me these little fellows are singers to the max.  I really like that early in the morning!  So does he, hence the covers to block out the light!  LOL

http://buffalo.ebayclassifieds.com/birds/niagara-falls/canary-red-bronze-red-varigated-yellows-yellow-varigated/?ad=6629253

Now if the birds were not enough, look at these little bulldogs.  They are so cute!  I did not even know there were such things as French Bulldogs until he told me.  I love these puppy pictures!  They have the shortest little legs.  I am sure Gino can give you way more info than I can.  See, my job is to see something that I think is unusual, cute, interesting, moving or evil and report it back to you, so you know about it also.  I know this man works very hard taking care of his birds and dogs so they are very healthy, unlike the puppy mills you see on 20/20.
http://www.napoleonesfrenchbulldogs.com/

Ok, that is it for today.  Just check out these 2 websites for my friend Gino.  They are free and may make you want to get some kind of new pet.   Gino is far away, but check out the local pound.  Oh, oh!  That is not politically correct!  Check out you local animal shelter!  That is better.

Have a good one!

My token Republican wins re election by like 79%!

Hey, tell me I do not know how to pick friends!  Elections are now over and the token Republican that I call friend in Kansas has won his seat back by an overwhelming 79%.  When I was down there in the Spring my nephew was on the "Get rid of all them!  Everyone of them!" kick.  Twas then I told him, "No, kiddo, you got to check their record. See if you really want to do that.  It is a matter of the devil you know or the devil you do not know."  Apparently he listened.

My friend Joe Siewert and I can set and discuss and you all know my philosophy.  I am the Bleeding Heart Liberal who wants to save the world.  My friend Joe is the Conservative Republican who also wants to save the world.  I even have a picture of him on my phone and I have been know to flip it open and show people that I am not all bad.  I actually have more than one Republican friend, but Joe is far away and I only get to see him once or twice a year. 

So, I send out a big Congratulations to Joe Siewert back in Kansas.  I don't remember his district number, but it is around Hutchinson or Pretty Prairie somewhere.  The important thing is he gets to continue in his job, although he would not starve without that income because he is a farmer.  Joe and I will continue to fight the good fight and just this one little word of warning to the boy,  "Remember your roots and remember that Democrats and Bleeding Heart Liberals also have a stake in the nation.  Oh, and go get 'em Tiger!  I am behind you all the way, nipping at your heels!"

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

It is the annual Handweavers Guild of Pueblo Sale at the Vail Hotel!


I would like to cordially invite you to the 26th Annual Handwoven Holiday Sale

November 5th – 13th

10:00 A.M. – 6:00 P.M. Daily

Historic Vail Hotel, 217 S Grand Ave, Pueblo, CO

(Union & Grand Downtown)

The sale will showcase one-of-a-kind hand-crafted items, including handwoven kitchen and bath towels, table linens, rugs, blankets, tapestries, hats, bags, wall art, jackets, scarves, wraps, basketry, gourds, exquisite pottery and jewelry, handmade cards, ornaments, roving along with hand-spun, hand-dyed yarns and more…..There will be demonstrations of weaving and spinning at 11:00 and 2:00 daily.

If you ever just wondered how to go from the first picture to the second  picture your are going to get your chance to learn.

All you got to do is show up at the Vail Hotel on Friday the 12 of November at 11:00 AM. Well any time between 11 and 2 cause I am going to be there to give you a demonstration. Oh these demonstrations are so much fun! Did you happen to pick up that the first 5 letters of the word spell DEMON? I have been told by the avante guard that I am to behave like a lady! That failing I am not to get too far out of line! I am not sure that they told everybody this, but they might have. There are a couple other women there that we need to caution from time to time and the one in particular knows who she is!

I guess what I am telling you is this sale runs a full week and we have us a good time! Not rowdy, mind you, because I would never do anything to embarrass my dear friends, but this is an event that you need to attend. We work all year getting ready for this sale and there is beautiful workmanship in all our products. All I can say is it is a very good thing that some of the members work harder than I do! Could not pay the hall rental on my meager showing, but I have my lotions and soap there, so that buys me a spot.

And then there is the table over by the door with cookies, coffee and hot apple cider! These people are not only damn good weavers, knitters, gourd decorators, artisans, craftsmen, but accomplished bakers as well. And trust me on this, they all try to out do each other so there will be some cookies on that table that will make Betty Crocker green with envy!

So I hope to see some of you there and when you show up be sure and tell somebody that Lou Mercer sent you! Got to get my brownie points in, you know. A good time will be had by all!










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Monday, November 1, 2010

John Clay, my friend in Beulah, is now a stone cutter !

See this little fellow here?  Remember all the beautiful wood carvings he did, like the tree stump he made into a beautiful dragon up on Pine Drive?  Well, guess what the little fellow is doing now?  Stone!  He is making some of the most beautiful pieces of art I have ever seen and he is doing it by chipping away at stone.  A regular Micheal Angelo if I ever saw one.

And do you see that big smile?  He is actually glad to see me!  This is taken at the Beulah Arts and Crafts Fair that I have been trying to get to for 30 years and never made it yet, but this was the day Val and I went up and just got lucky!  Serendipity, they call that!

(Sam, if you look real close on the right that is half of Melinda's face.)

So I went by his shop and checked out the Hawk he is working on.  In my usual haste I did not visit with John about what kind of stone this is.  I do recall a lady who had a gravel pit telling me that Beulah has some on the most beautiful marble in the world and that if I needed any she had access.  So from that conversation and the feel of this, I would say it is some kind of marble.  I do know Beulah has pink marble also.  I have seen some of John's stuff that is much lighter.  I am going to just publish a bunch of his work one of these days.
This is the back side of that Hawk.  I do not know how much more John has to do on this, but it is very smooth.  This just amazes me to no end!  I know rocks are very hard and I can not imagine how that man can shape something like that out of anything that hard, but you can rest assured I am going to visit that boy in the very near future and come away a much wiser woman!


But still I go back to this!  This is the Dragon's Nest that he started last Spring.  This is made out of a tree root and still needs a lot of work to be the work of art that John saw the first time he touched this.  I am going to nag him into submission on finishing this thing if I have to buy it myself!

 
Now I know I have once more given you a report and raised more questions than I have given answers.  Bad Lou!  Some day I will remember to take the notebook with prepared questions, write down the answers legibly, remember where the notebook is at when I write......There is just so much to do and so little time!
But anyway, hats off to John Clay!!  A Beulah Artisan, Stone cutter, Wood Carver, friend, handyman and just all around great guy! This man is going to make his mark on the world and I will be here to say "I found him first!"
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Another year down the tubes!

Counting today, there are only 5 days left in this year.    Momma nailed it when she said "When you are over the hill you pick up speed...