200th Post Give Away

Today is my 200th post and I am doing a give away as a way of thanking everyone who has stopped by to visit my site over the past year. My blog and blogger buddies have become very special to me. You guys who read me rock! So...because I want someone to win I have entry easy...if you are one of my followers then you already have a shot at my Pamper Basket....just leave me a comment and tell me you stopped by today. Want another shot? Post a link to my contest on your blog site and encourage your readers to stop by and enter. If you post on your blog, leave me a comment and let me know so I can stop by and check it out. That earns you two more entries...for a total of three. If you are not one of my followers and decide to become one...that gives you a shot at the Pamper Basket too. The Pamper Basket is full some books I picked up at BAM this weekend for to read, A few CD's to sooth the savage beast in us all, some exotic coffee, a pair of coffee mugs(one for you and one for your BFF), some candles, some bath stuff, a set of personalized notecards...just for you, and a few other surprises thrown in. It is a fun basket and I hope lots of you will stop by and sign up to win it. The sign up period is going to be from Monday, May 4th, through Wednesday, May 6th, at 9:00 cst when I will draw for the winner....so don't be left out!

Musical Monday

My favorite song for today is South City Midnight Lady by the Doobie Brothers. It reminds me of a time in the past when I was first finding out just exactly who I was....and if I even liked myself. When I hear it now...I think of L.A. and smile.



Like my choice of songs for Monday? If you do then follow the link and hear some more good music choices. Who knows you might want to make your own Musical Monday choice.

Turn, Turn, Turn

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

In 1946, Frank Capra made a low-budget movie called “It’s A Wonderful Life”. It is one of my favorite movies of all time and my very favorite Christmas movie...along with Miracle on 34th Street. This movie told the story of a man who spent his life in a small town, never really realizing his dream. His dream was to travel the world and get away from the small town. His dreams were always put on hold due to other problems; problems with his family (they were poor) problems with his job at the family’s small business. He was a kind and gentle man and was always looking out for the other guy, willing to help. As his life wore on and his problems mounted he became despondent and finally decided to take his life on Christmas Eve. Now it seems that God was watching over him and sent a guardian angel to protect him. After an encounter with the angel, he complained about his failures in life and wished he had never been born. Well, it seems that the angel thought that this would be a good way to save him, so he granted his wish and the world was as if he was never born. As he and the angel wandered back into town, he noticed things were different. The town was not the nice place he remembered. His children didn’t exist and his wife and mother didn’t know him. The people he had helped out in life with loans were despondent and down on their luck because he hadn’t been there to help them. His little brother, whom he had saved from drowning when he was very young and who went on to become a navy pilot who saved a troop transport ship full of men during WW2 and won the Congressional Medal of Honor, was not alive because he had not been there to save him from drowning. And, those men on the troop ship also died because the brother never lived long enough to save them. Nobody in town knew him. Nobody cared. It was then that he realized that he had touched many people during his lifetime, a lifetime he considered a failure. Its funny, isn’t it when you think about what the world would be like if you weren’t born. We just don’t think about all the people we touch in life. We are too preoccupied within the confines of
our own little world.

Well, this week I was reunited with an old student. One I taught my very first year of teaching 23 years ago and discovered...if you do the math, that I have touched a lot of people in my life. I have been a teacher of high school students for 23 years. Do you realize how frustrating that can be? But do you also realize how rewarding that is? So much is said today about heroes and all around us the world is clamoring for heroes; firemen, policemen, soldiers, which are all very heroic occupations. But I think that teaching our children is a very heroic endeavor, an endeavor that many times goes unnoticed. There is no finer calling in life than to teach a child. We don't make much money....but the rewards come in smiles, hugs, and the successes of our students. All successful people can usually point to a teacher who has influenced their lives and I’m sure that each and every one of you can think of a teacher who helped you in life. I have taught over 100 students a year....x 23. Do the Math...that is 2300 students I have touched in my tenure as a teacher. Some I may have touched subtly, others, like the one I ran into this week, I touched profoundly, but you know up until I saw this former student I never have sat down and thought about just how many lives I have influenced? I have always made my students work for the grade they got in my class. I never wanted to be known as a crip class. I never wanted to be the class that students signed up for to get an easy "A". I wanted students to leave my class knowing something. My former student is an OBGYN in upstate New York. A Doctor! How cool is that. He has been published in medical journals. He knows how to write well because I was tough on him. What a waste it would have been if Josh had never become a doctor because he took what I gave him and passed it on to young interns doing their residencies...and the circle is unbroken. We all touch people's lives.

Pete Seeger took the words to the Ecclesiates verse above and made it into a song that was very popular during the Vietnam era. The Byrds were very successful with the song in October of 1965. It was a time of great turmoil...yet the song was very reassuring. We are all born....when we are supposed to be born....live when we are supposed to and die when it is our time. Everything that happens in our lives has a purpose. My purpose it seems is to teach...and therefore touching lives forever. What is your purpose? Do you know? Can you see how you touch people's lives daily? If you don't....then you need to look harder...because it is right there under your nose. For every good thing that happens to us in life....there is a bad thing, true....but the opposite is also true....for every bad thing...there is a good one. You just have to be willing to search for it.

Filling My Bucket

I was visiting my friend Xazmin on her blog site and found a wonderful entry about bucket fillers. I just had to share it with you today because it left such a profound feeling with me. "Have any of you seen the phrase "the bucket filler" floating around blog land? I too have seen it here and there and wasn't quite sure what it was." I am glad I read This is the Year daily, along with several other posts, and I am always delighted by the wonderful humor, emotion, honesty, tales, recipes and many other posts and comments that I read each day. What I didn't realize was that each one of you has been filling my bucket on a daily basis!

The bucket filler was started by a blogger named Jan whose blog Xazmin just recently discovered and loves! Xazmin loves her....so I had to go and check her out myself. But that is how blog reading goes....you read it....talk about someone else's stuff...and your readers go and read it. But, that is beside the point...."the bucket fill revolves around the idea that we each have invisible buckets. Our buckets are filled when we have positive, uplifting interactions with people. By the things they say, or by their actions. When our buckets are full, we are happy.

We also all have invisible dippers. They can be used to fill the buckets of others, or to dip into and lessen the buckets of others. Unkindness and negetivity empty our buckets and diminish our happiness.

Perhaps many of us don't try to empty each others buckets, but at the same time maybe we find it uncomfortable to make the effort to fill the buckets of others. This tradition is an effort to overcome that difficulty and help us each receive the joy to be found both by having our buckets filled and by filling the buckets of others."


Xazmin did not toss the bucket to me but in her post....she did challenge me to be a much better person....and be more uplifting! "So, I too forthe entire month of May plan to do my best to fill your buckets! I don't know if there are any particular rules or protocols for this assignment, so I'll just roll with it! Each day I will share something that I hope will add a little more to each of your buckets. It may be a thought within my post, or it may be a post in itself. Either way I hope that each day you leave my blog feeling uplifted, and that your buckets are each a little fuller!


So for my very first "bucket filler", I'd like to share a quote from William James:

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does."



I truly believe that my life does make a difference to everyone I come in contact with. My thought is...what kind of difference? Happy Saturday!

Holding On and Letting Go

Ty Herndon does a song called "A Man Holding On." It is about a man who loves a woman....who lets go....in the first verse...she lets go of her inhibitions. In the second verse....she lets go of the relationship with her husband. The third verse is about a daughter who is getting married. Daddy's girl is letting go. The last verse...is about a woman dying....and letting go for the final time. I wanted to share the lyrics with you today...

Two young lovers with their bodies on fire
Aching to swim that river of desire
Leaving innocence there on the bank by their clothes
A man holding on to a woman letting go

There's a man with a bottle on the other side of town
Swimming with the memory that he can't drown
Lord it ain't sunk in that she ain't coming home
Oh a man holding on to a woman letting go.

CHORUS:
His heart is telling him to hang on for dear life
Cause deep down he know she's letting go for good this time

There's a daddy walking his daughter down the aisle
Fighting back tears and forcing a smile
Over twenty-two years he watched her grow
A man holding on to a woman letting go

In Hill Valley home there's a feeble old man
And he's holding on to a fragile old hand
And the angels are coming to carry her home
Now he's a man holding on to a woman letting go


Two young lovers with their bodies on fire
Aching to swim that river of desire
Leaving innocence there on the bank by their clothes
A man holding on to a woman letting go

it has become kind of my theme song as I deal with my father and aunt dealing with lung cancer. I have discovered...that in my dad's case....it is a daughter holding on to her father letting go....and in my aunt's case...I am feeling like a daughter letting go while her mother's letting go. It makes me sad many days to realize...that time does draw to an end....it is just a matter of time. We are not guaranteed a specific amount of days in this lifetime....the thing is....you must live each day with gusto....cause it may be your last. Make your days and life count. Smell the roses and spend time with the people you love the most. You won't regret a moment of it. I promise.

It's Time for Random Thoughts

It’s Friday!

Which, to be honest, means next to nothing to me these days.

I really need to get out more.

Tonight I will finally be watching that Twilight movie. Please don’t squeal at me. No, I do not find Rob Pattinson attractive. No, I don’t wish I had my own Edward. Maybe it’s just me but I wouldn’t want to be with someone who removes the engine from my truck. That’s called being creepy in my book.

Since I have nothing else to report I’ll do my random thoughts.

So here is my random thoughts theme song.

Ahem.

Put your earplugs in. I can’t sing.

“It’s time for random thoughts, it’s time for random thoughts, be bop be do it’s time for random thoughts.”

Okay. I’m done singing. You can take out the earplugs.


----------------


So, the hotel that Jennifer and I stayed at while visiting the Mall of America was nice. But then Jennifer pointed out something.



Where did it come from? Who did it belong to? Jennifer said that she saw a black hair on it too.

I tried not to vomit.

I sincerely hope that it was a LONG black hair and not a short curly one.

I never saw any hair but it did amuse me that there was a washcloth casually tossed over the shower curtain.

I really need to get rich so I can afford to stay in places where that sort of thing just doesn’t happen.



--------



Like a lot of people, I’m a little tired of hearing about the Swine Flu. Or H1N1 which I’m sorry, reminds me of a robot. I can’t take H1N1 seriously. Not that I can take Swine Flu seriously either. I just picture a pig, which makes me think of pork, which makes me want a pork chop. Oh, and some bacon.

I have been washing my hands more often to be on the safe side. I make my kids wash their hands too. They aren’t amused. I told Tommy to wash his hands when he returned home from school and he went,

“But why? I didn’t use the bathroom yet!”

He’s used to only washing his hands after he goes to the bathroom.

I get that more people die from car accidents than from this flu. But what worries me is the fact that it could mutate into something worse.

I’m not ready to go yet. I have a book that I need to finish writing, you infectious disease!

I just hope it all goes away soon.



---------



I think it’s fantastic that Susan Boyle can sing. Who doesn’t like to hear about the less attractive girl making all the pretty ones gasp in shock? I would LOVE to do something like that. Alas, my singing stinks (see beginning of entry) and I can’t do anything else of importance.

But....if I have to see that clip of Susan Boyle singing on Britain’s Got Talent one more time I fear I may scream. I don’t want to see a stunned Simon Cowell with his palms slapped on his cheeks. I don’t want to see that female judge with her jaw dropped open anymore. I do not mind, however, looking at Piers Morgan. I have no idea why I find him attractive but I do.

I do hope Susan Boyle wins.

Then at least we’ll get to see a NEW clip.



-----------



Because I’m immature, I found this article to be hilarious.

It’s from Redbook , which always has interesting stuff to read. When I was on the airplane headed for the Mall of America I was able to catch up on my magazine reading. It’s always an enjoyable event when you can read all about if your vagina is healthy. (Mine is. Neat.)

That seriously was another article that I flipped through and it had a title that said, “Is Your Vagina Healthy?” I had to tilt the magazine away from my seat neighbor lest he look over and think I had something rank going on in my junk. I could imagine him scooting as far away as he possibly could (which wouldn’t be far, since we were in coach) and tossing horrified looks in my direction. Then I’d be all, “No, sir, you’re confused. My vagina IS healthy. It’s just a silly article that I’m only reading to pass the time away because I HATE to fly and I’m two seconds away from going into panic mode from all this turbulence…”

Anyhow, in this poop story, it says that you should listen when you sit on the toilet.

I’ll try to listen.

But it’s sort of hard when you have an audience.

My daughter usually follows me in and waits in the corner of the bathroom.

So I do my business as quickly as possible and quite frankly, I don’t have TIME to hear anything.

I suppose I need to make time because the Poop Story says that “poop should swoosh into the water like a professional diver, not go in like staggered belly floppers.”

Um. Ew.

Comparing poop to a professional diver is just not cool, yo.

I brought up the article to Tom when he called me and I asked if his poop went into the toilet like a professional diver or like staggered belly floppers.

“WHAT?” Tom boomed.

“It’s from an article I read,” I explained. “I’m just making conversation.”

“This is the weirdest conversation, Amber. I’m going to go now,” Tom said and then quickly said goodbye.

I suppose it was a little gross.

But sometimes when we talk on the phone, Tom is distracted by the television which makes for a stilted conversation.

So I had to get his attention SOMEHOW. And using the word poop did the job.

(For the record, shouting the word "boobs!" seem to get his attention too.)



---------------



This story was on The Today Show this morning.

Apparently this is the new bathing craze for babies.

I guess it's supposed to simulate the womb or something.

It looks uncomfortable to me.

I'll stick to regular baths, thanks.

One of the ladies was all, "Children up to three can bathe in this!"

If I tried to put my two year old in something like that she'd pitch a gigantic fit.

Of course, she pitches a gigantic fit when I put her in a REGULAR bath sometimes.

You just never know with her.

A Tale of Woe and A Plastic Horse

When I was a child my mom would take me to Woolworth's 5 & 10 store. I loved the smell of this place. It did for me then what the smell of shoes does now. I would have my twenty-five cents allowance and I would be allowed to get whatever I wanted. I would spend a good bit of time pouring over the little cheap plastic things...trying to decide just what I wanted. What I really wanted cost five whole dollars....I wanted a big plastic horse. I wanted to collect them...I wanted them all....the palamino, the white one, the black one, the brown one...the Appaloosa. Every week I would look at them lovingly and wish I had enough money to buy one. Every Christmas and Birthday I would ask for one of these plastic horses...only to be denied by Santa and the parents....year after year....no horse. *Sigh!* How I wanted that horse. One day...I turned around....and I was the mommy....and my daughter and I were in my home town...at Davis's 5 & 10...and she looked up and said, "Mommy, I want one of those plastic horses....can I have it?" Her sweet little face was so full of want, need, and love for that horse. I had to make it happen for her. I picked up the box...and the little stinker were now ten dollars...so much for inflation....and I put it in her tiny little chubby hands...and off we went to pay for it. When we walked out of the store....I was a hero. My daughter had her plastic horse....and in my own mind....I was thinking....hum....just wait til she goes to bed....the horse will ride again....this time...with me at the reins. LOL. Sometimes...we just have to live vicariously through our children....especially...when we had unfulfilled dreams as a child. For a few short hours....one lazy afternoon in South Florida....A 30 something year old mom....got to experience life...with a plastic horse....and IT WAS SO GOOD!