I see my blog is picking up a few readers! I did, however, forget to mention that over there on the left is a place some where (can't see it right now cause I am writing) that you can click on and you will become a "follower". Now I have never had a following, per se, but I did have a stalker once. He got tired of that right quick. Following me entails actually getting up and moving!
Anyway, this neat little widget over there is a great help if you came to this site and then want to come back to it. I think it should send you an email when I am active. At least that is how I think it should work. If it does not, just let me know and I will see how to fix that. I need all the followers I can get now that I am old.
Just a short note today as it is Sunday and that means church today. After church a potluck, then our annual meeting, then I have to run to Lamar to get my sister. She lives in Wichita, Kansas and is coming for a couple weeks. Her daughter will take her to Garden City, Kansas. My daughter will pick her up there about noon and bring her to Lamar, Colorado. That way we will be home before dark and nobody has to make the 430 mile trip.
While she is here we will be attending classes at the Sangre de Cristo Arts and Conference Center. This workshop is for the Brain Gym. Seems they have a program to take us little old ladies and teach our minds to work differently so we are not so forgetful. Some one said, "Will it help?" My answer is "Can't hurt!"
So I am going to keep you posted on how well I can remember after this workshop. Maybe you will want to attend one with me. What were we talking about? Who are you? What the h---! Who am I?
Have a good one!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Haiti
My God! The devastation on that tiny island is almost more than I can bear to watch! How can they survive through something like this? Haiti is home to some of the poorest of the poor as you know. What now that people who had next to nothing now have nothing at all?
Can you imagine something like this happening in your neighborhood? Suppose you were fixing supper or lunch and all at once there comes an earthquake that just flattens your home. Imagine further that you were under that rubble. Imagine further that you are still alive under all that wood and concrete. What would you do? Imagine your husband or children were outside. What would they do? I am sorry, this is a scenario that I do not even want to think about. It is hard enough to read about this in the papers and to see the devastation on the television.
I will, of course, send money. That seems to be the easy out every time. No problem is too large if we just throw enough money at it. I can not go to Haiti. If I did I would be more of a hindrance then a help. Haiti is not the first catastrophe, nor will it be the last, so I am going to make a plan. I want a plan whereby I can do the most good for more people. I have noticed that anytime there is something like this occurring there are 2 groups of people who are there before the government, before any other humanitarian group. That is Doctors Without Borders and The International Red Cross.
The work those people do is phenomenal and the reason they do it is most admirable. Both are there when there is any kind of need and they are there first and they are there last. They are very good at what they do and all they ask in return is a little bit of releif for these people. They do need money, because these operations take money. Someone has to furnish the water, food, bedding, medical supplies and the list goes on and on.
So, since I sell on Ebay and Ebay has a giving program, all I have to do is set here in my nice secure home and list things to sell, giving a large (or all in some cases) portion to these two groups. I already list occasionally for SCAP, so this is just an extension of that.
So now, I will say my prayers for the people in Haiti and the rescue workers who are already there. Then I will get busy and do my tiny little part of trying to make this world a better place to be.
Can you imagine something like this happening in your neighborhood? Suppose you were fixing supper or lunch and all at once there comes an earthquake that just flattens your home. Imagine further that you were under that rubble. Imagine further that you are still alive under all that wood and concrete. What would you do? Imagine your husband or children were outside. What would they do? I am sorry, this is a scenario that I do not even want to think about. It is hard enough to read about this in the papers and to see the devastation on the television.
I will, of course, send money. That seems to be the easy out every time. No problem is too large if we just throw enough money at it. I can not go to Haiti. If I did I would be more of a hindrance then a help. Haiti is not the first catastrophe, nor will it be the last, so I am going to make a plan. I want a plan whereby I can do the most good for more people. I have noticed that anytime there is something like this occurring there are 2 groups of people who are there before the government, before any other humanitarian group. That is Doctors Without Borders and The International Red Cross.
The work those people do is phenomenal and the reason they do it is most admirable. Both are there when there is any kind of need and they are there first and they are there last. They are very good at what they do and all they ask in return is a little bit of releif for these people. They do need money, because these operations take money. Someone has to furnish the water, food, bedding, medical supplies and the list goes on and on.
So, since I sell on Ebay and Ebay has a giving program, all I have to do is set here in my nice secure home and list things to sell, giving a large (or all in some cases) portion to these two groups. I already list occasionally for SCAP, so this is just an extension of that.
So now, I will say my prayers for the people in Haiti and the rescue workers who are already there. Then I will get busy and do my tiny little part of trying to make this world a better place to be.
May the good Lord take a like'n to you!!
Monday, January 11, 2010
The hoarders club does not include me! I'm different.
I saw something the other day that made my blood run cold. It was during day time television. Not the soap opera's. Lord, I have seen snippets of them and that is a whole 'nother blog. This was on the Oprah show. It comes on sometime in the afternoon and apparently is quite popular. I want to go on record right now as saying I do not watch television as a rule, but I do watch the news and sometimes neglect to turn it off when I go downstairs, so there it is when I come upstairs to rest my eyes a minute. (Some people call it napping.)
So back to the topic. There were pictures of houses with stuff piled everywhere and women and children sobbing because the mother had let the shopping and hoarding get out of hand and the kids had to eat on the bed because it was the only flat surface. Kids were embarrassed to bring friends home because, frankly, there was no where to set. I gathered from the snippets of conversation and the Psychiatrist in residence that this was indeed a mental problem.
Ok, to make a long story short, I looked around at my house. Now maybe it is getting a bit out of hand, but here is the scoop. I sell on Ebay for other people and so that stuff is setting over there in the corner, both on and under the table. Some of it has spilled around the corner into my bedroom and then there is that pile in the closet. I am trying to run a store out of this office (and bedroom and closet).
I see how you are rolling your eyes! Maybe the weaving has gotten a little out of control what with 3 looms, a spinning wheel, wool to weave someday, a truckload of thread, every book I ever bought, but that is what that room down there is for. That is why it is called the "Weaving Room." The next room down there is for sewing. When you have a machine quilter, 2 sergers, a heavy duty machine, 2 sewing machines, a mangle and tons of scraps and books, you need a "Sewing Room." The third room down there is called the "Embroidery Room" because it has my big embroidery machine in it along with 4 pickup loads of thread, 2 freezers, quilt batting, a train set....
Ok! So maybe I have a small problem. But it is just that, a small problem. Not nearly big enough to be considered MENTAL! I could sort right through this stuff and have it all organized in nothing flat. Let's just start right here in front of me on the desk. Here are three pencil holders full of pencils and pens. Maybe that is a tad excessive, I will give you that. Let's just sort this one. Two eversharps. Those need lead. Maybe I will pick up lead today. 3 pens. Two don't work. Maybe they are just a little dry. Pair of scissors, crochet hook, glue stick., magic marker. Looks like pretty good stuff to me. I will just leave that right there.
Ok! So I have a small problem. I am going to work on that. May have to get more advice from Oprah. Right now I have to go into town. I will start this when I get back. You all have a good day and take a look around. Bet you have a junk drawer, a corner where you put the stuff you need to do something with later. Have a good day and:
So back to the topic. There were pictures of houses with stuff piled everywhere and women and children sobbing because the mother had let the shopping and hoarding get out of hand and the kids had to eat on the bed because it was the only flat surface. Kids were embarrassed to bring friends home because, frankly, there was no where to set. I gathered from the snippets of conversation and the Psychiatrist in residence that this was indeed a mental problem.
Ok, to make a long story short, I looked around at my house. Now maybe it is getting a bit out of hand, but here is the scoop. I sell on Ebay for other people and so that stuff is setting over there in the corner, both on and under the table. Some of it has spilled around the corner into my bedroom and then there is that pile in the closet. I am trying to run a store out of this office (and bedroom and closet).
I see how you are rolling your eyes! Maybe the weaving has gotten a little out of control what with 3 looms, a spinning wheel, wool to weave someday, a truckload of thread, every book I ever bought, but that is what that room down there is for. That is why it is called the "Weaving Room." The next room down there is for sewing. When you have a machine quilter, 2 sergers, a heavy duty machine, 2 sewing machines, a mangle and tons of scraps and books, you need a "Sewing Room." The third room down there is called the "Embroidery Room" because it has my big embroidery machine in it along with 4 pickup loads of thread, 2 freezers, quilt batting, a train set....
Ok! So maybe I have a small problem. But it is just that, a small problem. Not nearly big enough to be considered MENTAL! I could sort right through this stuff and have it all organized in nothing flat. Let's just start right here in front of me on the desk. Here are three pencil holders full of pencils and pens. Maybe that is a tad excessive, I will give you that. Let's just sort this one. Two eversharps. Those need lead. Maybe I will pick up lead today. 3 pens. Two don't work. Maybe they are just a little dry. Pair of scissors, crochet hook, glue stick., magic marker. Looks like pretty good stuff to me. I will just leave that right there.
Ok! So I have a small problem. I am going to work on that. May have to get more advice from Oprah. Right now I have to go into town. I will start this when I get back. You all have a good day and take a look around. Bet you have a junk drawer, a corner where you put the stuff you need to do something with later. Have a good day and:
Let he who is without sin cast the first stone!!
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Hansel and Gretel: a bedtime horror story for the kiddies!
I just finished reading a horror story! Wait a minute before you pass judgement, I think I am on to something here. Did you ever read nursery rhymes? I mean really read them? Back when you were a wee one, perhaps your mother read them to you. How did you sleep after that? Let me just give you a synopsis of Hansel and Gretel as retold by Rika Lesser.
This book was originally written by Wilhelm Grimm in 1810 and printed in 1812. It has been cleaned up because as I recall, it was a lot scarier the first 6 times around. As it is currently written, it is pretty scary. As the book opens, the father and stepmother are laying in bed and the stepmother tells the father he must take the children to the forest and abandon them or they all will starve. Pretty spooky, huh?
Hansel tells Gretel of her plan and goes out in the yard and picks up stones. The parents take them into the woods and Hansel leaves a trail of stones. Parents drop them in forest and when it gets dark the kids follow the trail of stones back to the house. Daddy was glad to see them but the evil stepmother was not! (Now this is probably where we get our ingrained sense of stepmother's being evil!)
Again the household runs out of food and the trip is planned again. This time the door is locked and Hansel can not gather stones. So the next day he crumbles his bread and leaves a trail. Silly boy! Birds ate the bread. Now they are really screwed. Of course, you remember the rest of the story. They find the gingerbread house and then are held captive by the old woman. Hansel is fattened up to be eaten and Gretel is the slave.
The old woman gets greedy and decides to eat Gretel first, telling her to crawl in the oven to see if the bread is done and Gretel tells her "Show me how"and the old woman crawls in the oven and Gretel slams the door, lets Hansel out of his pen. Then they go back and take all the jewels the old woman had and miraculously find there way home to learn the stepmother was dead also and they all lived happily ever after!
Let us dissect this story. Hansel and Gretel slept in the same bed. There is one for social services! They are abandoned in a forest. One is subject to child labor law violations, the other will be fattened for fodder. Gretel is a cold blooded murderer. Both of them are thieves! Found their way home with pure dumb luck, or maybe the witch had a GPS in with her jewels. They are overjoyed to find the stepmother dead. Now the old man becomes an accomplice. I can see all kinds of reasons whereby I would not be able to sleep after reading this story. Can't you?
If this were the only one, it would be different, but nursey rhymes were scary and evil! Tom, Tom the pipers son, stole a pig and away he run. (Thief) Little Boy Blue fell asleep while violating child labor laws. Hey diddle, diddle, the cow jumped over the moon! Where will that sucker land? Old Mother Hubbard could not feed her dog! The old woman who lived in a shoe fed her kids broth without any bread! And on and on go the fairy tales. And we don't wonder where we went wrong raising our kids? We read to them!
I think in later years the tales had a better ending. Now Hansel and Gretel would need seperate rooms from birth. The Gingerbread house would not pass the building code. There are no forests. The stepmother would be kept alive on life support paid for by Medicaid.
This book was originally written by Wilhelm Grimm in 1810 and printed in 1812. It has been cleaned up because as I recall, it was a lot scarier the first 6 times around. As it is currently written, it is pretty scary. As the book opens, the father and stepmother are laying in bed and the stepmother tells the father he must take the children to the forest and abandon them or they all will starve. Pretty spooky, huh?
Hansel tells Gretel of her plan and goes out in the yard and picks up stones. The parents take them into the woods and Hansel leaves a trail of stones. Parents drop them in forest and when it gets dark the kids follow the trail of stones back to the house. Daddy was glad to see them but the evil stepmother was not! (Now this is probably where we get our ingrained sense of stepmother's being evil!)
Again the household runs out of food and the trip is planned again. This time the door is locked and Hansel can not gather stones. So the next day he crumbles his bread and leaves a trail. Silly boy! Birds ate the bread. Now they are really screwed. Of course, you remember the rest of the story. They find the gingerbread house and then are held captive by the old woman. Hansel is fattened up to be eaten and Gretel is the slave.
The old woman gets greedy and decides to eat Gretel first, telling her to crawl in the oven to see if the bread is done and Gretel tells her "Show me how"and the old woman crawls in the oven and Gretel slams the door, lets Hansel out of his pen. Then they go back and take all the jewels the old woman had and miraculously find there way home to learn the stepmother was dead also and they all lived happily ever after!
Let us dissect this story. Hansel and Gretel slept in the same bed. There is one for social services! They are abandoned in a forest. One is subject to child labor law violations, the other will be fattened for fodder. Gretel is a cold blooded murderer. Both of them are thieves! Found their way home with pure dumb luck, or maybe the witch had a GPS in with her jewels. They are overjoyed to find the stepmother dead. Now the old man becomes an accomplice. I can see all kinds of reasons whereby I would not be able to sleep after reading this story. Can't you?
If this were the only one, it would be different, but nursey rhymes were scary and evil! Tom, Tom the pipers son, stole a pig and away he run. (Thief) Little Boy Blue fell asleep while violating child labor laws. Hey diddle, diddle, the cow jumped over the moon! Where will that sucker land? Old Mother Hubbard could not feed her dog! The old woman who lived in a shoe fed her kids broth without any bread! And on and on go the fairy tales. And we don't wonder where we went wrong raising our kids? We read to them!
I think in later years the tales had a better ending. Now Hansel and Gretel would need seperate rooms from birth. The Gingerbread house would not pass the building code. There are no forests. The stepmother would be kept alive on life support paid for by Medicaid.
Just some thoughts from my demented mind!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
The Baby Llama is holding still for me!
This is the baby llama I been telling you about. This thing is the most beautiful chocolate color I have ever seen. If I could just catch it and get that wool I could spin it and weave it into something and all my weaving friends would be so jealous! That is the mother in the background and I think she may be stomping over this way to spit on me! I have heard they do that, and in fact, seen it happen one time years ago. Have pretty well given them a very wide birth since than.
This is mother and Llamette approaching the chocolate adult. Hey! Maybe that is the daddy! "Hello, Father, may I come into your area of the field?" In order to establish paternity here I am going to need to get a lot closer then I am willing to do. Oh, but I just remembered, I am the writer here and I can tell you anything and unless one of you calls me to task, if it is true in my mind, it will be true in yours. Let me see; do I want to compromise my immortal soul over the sex of a Llama that I barely know? I am thinking that is a big "NO". 
(Well, I see my picture is now miraculously over there on the left. This blog is way smarter than I am!) This is the whole herd. This chain link fence is 4 feet high so that gives you some idea of how big they are. I love the tail on that baby!
I just wanted to show you the pictures of the baby Llama. Please do not look at the area near the camera where the remenants of last years garden are awaiting my able hand. Lord, I am glad it is below zero and there is nothing I can do about that mess. Those wretched geese and ducks are supposed to help me out on this.
Ok, you have seen the herd next door, the mess in my garden area and listened to my ramblings, so now we can both go get busy. I have 33 shirts to embroider for the Kearny County Library and laundry piled over my head. Also today the new dog gets beautiful and I see nap time will come early today!
Take care and God Bless. Oh, that made me think of Red Skelton! Remember him?
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
The teenage mind is an easy thing to scramble.
This is the boy. This is the teenage boy. This picture is 2 or 3 years old, but it was the only one I could reach without actually getting out of my chair. My purpose today is to teach you how easily a teenage mind can be manipulated. I like to screw with him, because it keeps me young!
This boy is 18 now. Yesterday he wanted to go to the shooting range and set his new scope. I told him that would be fine if someone went with him. So he came to tell me Matt and Chris would be going also as Matt wanted to try out his new shotgun. The following conversation ensued. See if you can guess which words are his:
" Ok, I am off for the shooting range."
"Smoking pot?"
"With guns! No way!"
"So before then?"
"Before a loaded gun? No way!"
"So later then?"
"No, after, we are going to play Xbox."
"Well, when?"
"I don't smoke pot!"
"Why didn't you just say that? Could have saved a lot of time."
And with eyes rolled back in his head he was off to do his thing. His curfew used to be midnight, but I have noticed that now that he does not have a curfew, he is usually home around 10. We are now in the "fine" phase of our relationship. If he does not bring up his laundry, it is a $5 fine. Don't take out trash is $5 fine. Forgets to load the duck/goose feeder, $5. If I tell him to do something and it isn't done in a timely manner, that is $10. So far I have made nothing off him. Guess he likes his money.
So, that is where we are right now. I am smart enough to know this smooth sailing will not last, and about half of what he tells me has any resemblance to the truth, but he has to learn a lot of lessons the hard way. After all, I am the mother and as such I am very stupid and probably will not pull my head out for another 6-8 years. That is when I will suddenly get smart. Right now he knows all there is to know, so we will just let him think that. He will, no doubt, be a father someday. I hope I have instilled something worthwhile in there somewhere. At least I have his respect and that is a lot more then a lot of mothers have!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Resolutions, or the lack thereof.
Once more the New Year has come and gone and I did not swear by all that is holy that I would quit eating, quit complaining, quit cussing, feed the poor people, work from sun up to sundown, and never let a speck of dust settle on my furniture. For many years I made the resolution to quit smoking. This was really going to be the year! This time I would really quit. It never seemed to matter how firm I was in my resolution, it just never happened.
Then one day, without any forethought whatsoever, I got up and never smoked since. I had not planned it. There was no gum or other snacky food in the house and no one knew I had decided to make this life altering change, but here I am 10 months later, still smoke free. So here is my thoughts on the resolution thing:
I get up every morning and do the best I can all day long. For the most part, I don't gossip, lie, steal, kick dogs, and I do like babies. At times the foot gets a tad heavy on the accelerator, but that has been going on for 50+ years and I have yet to get a speeding ticket, so it can't be too bad. I would help old ladies across the street if I could find one wanting to go there.
I have a lot of friends, and I have those friends for a reason. I live my life in an honest and forthright manner, although I have been told I may be a tad overly forthright, but I see that is not changing, so why do I want to say I will change that when we both know I will not? I tend to surround myself with people who are like minded to myself.
If I did not like you on December 31, I am not going to like you on January 1, because there is probably a good reason I don't like you and it is probably not my fault I don't like you. It is your fault because you are not an honest, trustworthy, sober, reliable person. Or maybe you are into the "me" phase of your life. I like to help the poor, sick and the needy, because I can. There were many years when I did not have the resources to help those less fortunate then myself and while I am not rich I have time and talent to help others.
So, back to the resolution thing. If it will make you feel better, I shall make a resolution:
Then one day, without any forethought whatsoever, I got up and never smoked since. I had not planned it. There was no gum or other snacky food in the house and no one knew I had decided to make this life altering change, but here I am 10 months later, still smoke free. So here is my thoughts on the resolution thing:
I get up every morning and do the best I can all day long. For the most part, I don't gossip, lie, steal, kick dogs, and I do like babies. At times the foot gets a tad heavy on the accelerator, but that has been going on for 50+ years and I have yet to get a speeding ticket, so it can't be too bad. I would help old ladies across the street if I could find one wanting to go there.
I have a lot of friends, and I have those friends for a reason. I live my life in an honest and forthright manner, although I have been told I may be a tad overly forthright, but I see that is not changing, so why do I want to say I will change that when we both know I will not? I tend to surround myself with people who are like minded to myself.
If I did not like you on December 31, I am not going to like you on January 1, because there is probably a good reason I don't like you and it is probably not my fault I don't like you. It is your fault because you are not an honest, trustworthy, sober, reliable person. Or maybe you are into the "me" phase of your life. I like to help the poor, sick and the needy, because I can. There were many years when I did not have the resources to help those less fortunate then myself and while I am not rich I have time and talent to help others.
So, back to the resolution thing. If it will make you feel better, I shall make a resolution:
I, Lou Mercer, do hereby solemnly resolve, on this 3rd day of January in the New Year of 2010 that I will continue to live my life as I have in the past. I will not cheat, steal, lie, coerce or in any way degrade my fellow man. I will continue to laugh at you when you do something stupid, point out your faults, and give you my honest opinion whether you want it or not! I will continue to love each and every one of you in my own little way. I will continue to support the weak and down trodden and attend the church of my choice every Sunday!Peace to All!!
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