Sunday, June 24, 2012

Nostalgia...the good old days

A dear friend of mine put a picture of her front porch on her facebook page. Basically saying she was taking time out from her hectic life and learning to relax on her front porch. Well, that really got me thinking about my childhood. Yes, a front porch brought back many memories. I mentioned how when we were little we could never get away with doing stuff. There was always someone's mom sitting on the front porch watching what was going on and always ready to call your parents and tell them when you were up to some shenanigans.


It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness.... Oops wait, that's the opening line from 'A Tale of Two Cities'...LOL  but  I digress, childhood was such a fun time of exploration and adventure. But as they say, times are a changing. It's pretty rare these days to be without a cellphone. Even if I forget my cell at home, I go back home and get it. I feel lost without it. How did we survive before cellphones?

During my childhood there were no cellphones. Yet, my parents ALWAYS could get in touch with me. I don't care if I was playing in the park, riding my bike over a friends house, in the school's parking lot, on the playground. If your parents needed you to come home, they found a way to get a message to you.

I call it the 'messenger method'. It always started out with your parents saying to someone passing by..."have you seen..." if the person said, yes, the response would be 'well, tell them I said it's time to come home.'If the person said, no, the response would be 'well, if you see them, tell I said it's time to come home.'  LOL! Somehow, this 'message' would work it's way to you and the funny thing is that it never took very long to get through the grapevine.

 We never wore bike helmets, yet we were probably the biggest daredevils around, especially if you were around during the Evel Knievel era. (the original XTreme sports guy) I remember once, my sister talked me into sitting on the front of her bicycle handlebars while we rode down a steep hill. Halfway down the hill, she let go of the handlebars and put her arms in the air and shouted "Weeeeeee" Yes, you're probably thinking 'uh,oh'. And Uh, Oh is right, We crashed! I had a gash in my knee so deep, I swear I saw the bone.

I showed my mother and the first thing out of her mouth was not...OMG let's get you to the doctor... it was...well, why were you silly enough to get on the handlebars, go put a paper towel on it. LOL!! yep, that was it...no ER visit...and surprisingly I survived!

When I went fishing with my father on the weekends, I ate Vienna sausages, spam, sardines, bologna and drank lots of soda. Surprisingly, my cholesterol is not too bad. We ate gobs of candy & junk food from the corner store, and yet we stayed slim. But I'm guessing during those days, especially in the summer we probably put in 20-30 miles a day either by foot or on our bikes.

I sometime wonder what would happen to the kids today if they were forced to spend all day outside. Or, heaven forbid, have to walk a few miles to a friends house. Uh, I don't think they'd do it LOL!! But then on the other hand I don't think we had as many crazies running around that would try and snatch us up!

Times are a changing...

Sunday, June 10, 2012

1 Year Blogiversary!!

Well, time sure flies when you're having fun!

It's hard to believe that I've been blogging for 1 year!! 

Let's see, I guess I'll need to make some goals for the 2nd year.

1) Spend more quality time reading bible.

2) Snag another publishing contract!

3) Lose weight--bikini ready by next summer! (hmm, I think I had this same goal last year. LOL!!)

4) Finish my current manuscript.

5) Complete rough draft of at least 2 more manuscripts.  (I actually have 6 books outlined ready to start)

6) Maintain healthy eating habits.

7) Compete in a 5k.

8) Be more aware of the words that I speak. Stay positive, cancel the negative.

9) Teach my dog some tricks.

10) Write, write, write!!!


Blessings!

Sunday, June 3, 2012

My New Best Friend...

Say hello to my little friend...

Oh, yeah!!

Introducing my new best friend!

Sennheiser CXC 700 Active Noise-Canceling Ear-Canal Headphones 

This is by far the greatest thing ever invented since, since, since....Pizza!

When I write, there are times when I need quiet--no TV, talking, radio, nothing... or else I'll get distracted and lose my train of thought.  Well, at times this is not entirely possible. Especially since I'm not the only one in the household.

One evening I was in the office trying to write and the basketball game was on...well, hubby had the volume on HIGH BLAST!! So, instead of me focusing on my manuscript, I was actually thinking about the game.

Enter my new best friend--Sennheiser CXC 700 Active Noise-Canceling Ear-Canal Headphone-- Same scenario...put these things in my ear, turn on the power...and presto, chango....................SILENCE.

It has a cool little 'talk through' button you can press, if you want to hear whats going on around you. I had them on the other day while the game was on and it sounded like this.

LeBron James, for the steal, heading down court and he *presses button*.........................................................*presses button again*....what an awesome move by the Heat.  Woo Hoo!! 

I love these earphones so much and wish I could wear them all the time. Wouldn't it be great to silence anything or anyone you didn't want to hear.

The co-worker who always complains about everything. "oh and another thing, I was over my mother-in-laws house, and lemme tell you what she said. *presses button*............................................................................................................................*presses button again*..okay, well, thanks for listening, we'll have to talk again soon.

The doctor's office. "Overall you're in good shape, but step up on the scale, let's see how much you weigh, oh, wow, you weigh. *presses button*........................................................................................................................*presses button again* Okay, well, we'll see you at your next visit.

The car repair shop for an oil change. "Let me show you what your filter looks like, I think you need to *presses button*............................................................................................................................................*presses button again* we'll just do the oil change for you.

Just a great little gadget if you need quiet time to study, write, work, etc. Especially, if you travel, this would silence all the crying kids, plane engines, loud talking,  a/c noise.

Okay, so you get the point :) 

Blessings!!