Let's Send It Out....

With Grace in our Hearts and one of my Top 5......

Rinse and Repeat.....

Ms. G does not like July. I didn't post another tribute to my father this year because that memory, once written, is now neat and tidy and well maintained. But...this one still has some split ends and damage that need a little extra care and conditioning.  This is a Re-Post of my tribute to my eldest brother from 2010.  I finish the countdown. Four days left in July. The 31st is a day for goodbye. Perhaps August will improve my disposition.
 For now, once again ....

I'm Gonna Wash July Right Out Of My Hair!

Fly Bye Originally posted July 29 2010.

I was 5. It was so early it was still dark and I was awakened quietly to say goodbye. Groggy, I stood on the bed and reached my arms out. All was darkness. I could not see you, but I felt the rough fabric of the uniform beneath my hands and the warmth of your cheek. Your hair no longer sweeping my face as you bent for a kiss but shorn beneath a cap. The low rumble of your voice beside my ear....I love you, goodbye. I carried this in my minds eye waiting patiently as was wished, until you were safely home.


I was 9. Suddenly you were Home! And you picked up where you left off.....being my hero.

I was 24. I fully understood the problem and was saddened and helpless about it. I was used to the drinking but now sometimes your eyes were lifeless. I stop by. You are laying on the couch. You are cold and clammy and sweating profusely. I say "whatever you are doing stop it". Please. Just stop. I kiss you goodbye. Whatever it was seemed to stop and the you that had a soul came back but the drinking never stopped. The damage to your body from the years of alcohol was done.

I was 30. When the call comes in the middle of the night, just by chance I am not at home but out of town and actually closer to where you are than the rest of us. I would get there first, I would be there. As we drove through the dark I prayed, in time, in time, please.

As I was walking in a cloud of unreality, through the front doors, you were leaving. They would not let me go farther. I stood there, waiting patiently as they wished. And moments later they said, "we're sorry, we're sorry, no."

And you were alone. I could not reach out...how could this be?

As we drove away that morning the sun was rising over fields of green going gold. The light rising in tandem with our forward journey. I saw the rays light up their wings like sparks shooting upward as they circled and soared and I smiled. At that moment I heard the first notes of the song burst through to me and I reached to turn the knob up until it engulfed me, carrying me with it for awhile and opened the window to fly along through the morning because I knew...

God had allowed you to pause and soar just long enough

To say goodbye.









Google Video
pinkfloyd.com

The lyrics to this song, which I have included at the bottom of the page, were so appropriate to my brother and the situation that I am still stunned by this experience and it is the single most painful but powerfully spiritual moment of my life.

John
my brother
There for me
All of the things
big brothers should be
Johnny my brother
Ten feet tall
Or so it seemed
when I was small
Dec 1954-July 1996

My brother loved nature and had great admiration for birds. He was very quiet and none of us ever really understood why he was the way he was. He was different. He did not seem cut out for this world.
He made terrible mistakes. He was an alcoholic from his teens.

We loved him.

© 2010 All Rights Reserved

Learning To Fly

By David Gilmore for Pink Floyd

Into the distance, a ribbon of black

Stretched to the point of no turning back

A flight of fancy on a windswept field

Standing alone my senses reeled

A fatal attraction holding me fast, how

Can I escape this irresistible grasp?

Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies

Tongue-tied and twisted Just an earth-bound misfit, I

Ice is forming on the tips of my wings

Unheeded warnings, I thought I thought of everything

No navigator to guide my way home

Unladened, empty and turned to stone

A soul in tension that's learning to fly

Condition grounded but determined to try

Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies

Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I

Above the planet on a wing and a prayer,

My grubby halo, a vapour trail in the empty air,

Across the clouds I see my shadow fly

Out of the corner of my watering eye

A dream unthreatened by the morning light

Could blow this soul right through the roof of the night

There's no sensation to compare with this

Suspended animation, A state of bliss

Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies

Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I 

Climbing to the Top of the Footladder

I don't pay that much attention to my stats because it's irrelevant. My blog is not a job, it's sometimes what I do instead of my job.... or cleaning my house and I have no plans to ever change that. But every now then when I'm bored I take a peek. I am Very Pleased to announce that my Former Most Popular search term, Emo Boobs has been surpassed by Why Does My Car Smell Like Cat Pee!!! It's good to see that I have left my shady past behind and am now performing an important service to the world.

After that I thought it might be fun to Google my blog because occasionally I like to look myself up and see what I've been up to. Whoa, what's that? I have an Alexa rating? Seriously Alexa, don't you have more important things to do? Go get a manicure dear, why are you wasting your time picking up tiny pieces of lint, that only someone like a mom would notice anyway?

So I went to my Alexa page to see what was up. Not much. But I noticed they had some of my search terms. Hmm, Circle of Stupid at # 2. Interesting. That one doesn't show up very highly in my stats. What's up with that? So I hit the link. And my page is there but this is what I find on the search page in the Sponsored Links:

Search Results for the circle of stupid

Displaying 1 to 4 out of 4 sites.
Sponsored Links

Crazy Circle
Find Low Prices and Multiple Offers Crazy Circle

shopping.yahoo.com
Crazy Circle
Find Crazy Circles at Great Prices.

www.pronto.com
Schizophrenia Types
Learn Common Signs of Schizophrenia & Paranoia Type Treatments Now

UM....Ok Google....JUST WHAT ARE YOU IMPLYING HERE?


Then I saw  an "Audience' tab. Well, I know my audience and they rock.
 Let's see what Alexa is gossiping about under the hairdryer.


Audience Demographics for Momoftheperpetuallygrounded.blogspot.com


Relative to the general internet population how popular is momoftheperpetuallygrounded.blogspot.com with each audience below?

Age 25-34 Relative to the general internet population, 25-34 year olds are over-represented at momoftheperpetuallygrounded.blogspot.com.
Confidence: low 35-44 Relative to the general internet population, 35-44 year olds are greatly over-represented at momoftheperpetuallygrounded.blogspot.com.

Confidence: low Education
College Relative to the general internet population, people who went to college are greatly over-represented at momoftheperpetuallygrounded.blogspot.com.
Confidence: low Graduate School Relative to the general internet population, people who went to graduate school are under-represented at momoftheperpetuallygrounded.blogspot.com.
Confidence: low Gender

Male Relative to the general internet population, Males are greatly under-represented at momoftheperpetuallygrounded.blogspot.com.
Confidence: low Female Relative to the general internet population, Females are greatly over-represented at momoftheperpetuallygrounded.blogspot.com.

Confidence: low Has Children
Yes Relative to the general internet population, people with children are greatly over-represented at momoftheperpetuallygrounded.blogspot.com.
Confidence: low No Relative to the general internet population, people without children are greatly under-represented at momoftheperpetuallygrounded.blogspot.com.

Confidence: low Browsing Location
home Relative to the general internet population, people browsing from home are over-represented at momoftheperpetuallygrounded.blogspot.com.
Confidence: low work Relative to the general internet population, people browsing from work are greatly under-represented at momoftheperpetuallygrounded.blogspot.com.
Confidence: low

SERIOUSLY! Oh My God, Alexa, please forgive me for Hitting My Target Audience!!!!! And by the way Alexa, some of my favorite visitors are over 50. I will be turning 46 soon. Does that mean I Won't Find What I'm Looking For at My Own Blog? What a shame. That sucks. I kind of like my family even if they are apparently nuts according to Google. I'll break the news to them later.

I'm not sure I know what to do. God forbid I have any Smart Moms close to my age reading my MOM BLOG from their home while I write mine from My Home. But none of that matters because Alexa has 'low confidence in me.' I let her down. All that offering to watch her dog while she's out of town and run her clothes to the cleaners. Stopping by with little surprise gifts and letting her borrow my favorite scarf and she still doesn't have any faith in me and won't be my best friend. What else can I do?

I Know, YOU PEOPLE need to get with it!

Go get a sex change operation. While you're at it, change the age on your birth certificate along with your name. Or go lay in the sun and smoke and drink a lot so you age faster. Get your butt to graduate school or just quit school, why bother? And why aren't you reading while you are at work? Don't you know this is important? The boss can wait! Why are you at home? Get the hell out of the house and get A Real Job and for Petes sake, get rid of those damn kids!

I have an Alexa Ranking to worry about after all!

Just between us? I heard she had Botox ; )



This Post is hanging out with lovelinks at Free Fringes Come on over and join the fun!


© 2011 All Rights Reserved

And Then It Rained

which was really lovely and hit the spot. A June full of hyper heat that broke records and a July that is not living up to it's reputation. A week of downpours flooding my soul like wine. A giddiness that floats to the surface and pops like little bubbles on my mood. They burst. Then July smooths my heart down with a sweep of it's hand. Flattens the wrinkles in my nature like a good housewife keeping order on my soul. Tucks in hospital corners, all business, none of this foolishness. No jumping on the beds and hiding beneath the drifting sheet. I stifle the giggles but it is apparent I will be discovered. A lump smack in the center and wondering how to escape. It's so suffocating here. I watch the sky. I see a haze of gray in the distance. But it is a lie. A tease. Stock still beyond my reach. Try to induce magic by tapping the wind chimes into action. A little prompt maybe......they were a gift you know. From someone I loved. A doting father. July cheats. July steals. It stares me in the face in the morning and challenges my accusations.
 It rained for a full week. What else do you want? At least no one died.



The moon remains silent. She keeps her own counsel this time around.
 Lets July take the blame.

Photo Courtesy of Miss Mid.

© 2011 All Rights Reserved

Problem Solved

Being  a parent means being a problem solver. I have been through so many situations where I had to search for the answers that I can't count them. But this is one I wouldn't have guessed.


"Could you do something about Nan?"

These are the words Littlest put to her Dad recently.

"She won't stop trying to tell me I shouldn't join the Marines and now she decided I'm a lesbian."

Ok. Awkward.

Some stuff about Littlest.

 Littlest is not a girly girl. She likes to wear a dress and heels occasionally and she uses makeup and perfume. She likes being a girl. She is feminine. She is also strong. She is very self possesed and composed. She isn't 'silly' about boys but she likes them.  She just isn't a..well...girly girl. But then, neither am I.

She will say just about Anything at home, to us. She won't say much to anyone else. My mother in law is a loving, caring, helpful woman who will sometimes run with an idea without knowing all her facts. She can be a little overbearing. She sometimes butts in a little too much when it comes to the girls personal business so they have started being a little more discreet. ( Like having Middlest in tears one time because she overheard a group of teenagers talking about a boy with the same name as Mids boyfriend cheating on his girlfriend, even though she had no idea who these kids were or whether it could be the same boy.) She sometimes can't take a hint and her feelings get hurt if you are too blunt with her.

A predicament.

"When you were gone and she was driving me to Jujitsu she said, Aunt B said that she was worried about me because I remind her of herself at this age.  She always felt like Aunt A was prettier, like I feel about Mid, so she is right about that but she is afraid I have low self esteem. So now Nan thinks I'm a lesbian too.  At first I thought she was starting on the Marines again but then I realized she thinks I'm a lesbian and I don't know if Aunt B thinks that too but Nan kept bringing up how Aunt B felt when she was growing up and talking like she thought I was having the same issues. She didn't say it out right but I could tell that's what she was getting at. "

 Ok. Littlest reminds me of Aunt B too. She always has.  Similar strengths and similar insecurities. Aunt B is one of the coolest young women I have ever met. She has traveled the world, she is a fire fighter,  she is super smart and in incredible shape. She is not a girly girl either but she is feminine as well. She has accomplished an amazing amount for someone who is just turning 30. I have known her since she was 5 and I adore her. I see her perseverance in everything she attempts and pushing herself to be her best mirrored in Littlest a great deal. I consider her an excellent role model for my daughters.
 Both she and her life partner are beautiful and accomplished women.

With Lit I see the same kind of persistence and dedication to what she is doing. She looks a lot like Aunt B and since she has been seriously working out, seeing her start to cut in with muscle tone just enhances it.  Lit keeps Marine Corp. recruitment posters on her wall as inspiration to get up early in the morning to swim and lift weights. Um, I'm sure the fact that they are all handsome young men has nothing to do with it ; ) But, when Nan was driving her to her Jiujitsu Dojo, which is All Guys except for Lit, she must have escaped noticing the mention of someone affectionately referred to as Monkey Ears and the fact that Lit's Gi (martial arts uniform) recently starting smelling a whole lot like Liz Claiborne Curve. But then again, Lit probably doesn't mention  it because she doesn't want it to become another topic for Nan to butt in on.

Since Littlest is a private person, she doesn't share her personal thoughts with extended family much. I don't know if they realize that she does talk to me a lot and the fact is, though they love her, they haven't spent a great deal of time with her and really don't know her that well. I had noticed she was avoiding spending time with her Grandmother.  She actually was sad about it because she loves her and usually enjoys her company but she was driving her crazy.

 So Seamonkey and I were a little floored (and trying not to laugh because we already know the answer) and we said,
" Well, let's start with this, just to make sure."

"Are you? Are you sure? It's ok if you are. You can tell us : )"

To which Lit, who will say Anything to Us, looked at us with pure disdain and flatly answered,

"I Enjoy Shirtless Men."

To which The SeaMonkey left the room and I snorted... just a little.

I suggested she just tell her Grandmother flat out that she was barking up the wrong tree and to please climb down it but she felt uncomfortable and didn't know what to say. Plus,

"She won't listen. She will just keep talking about it every time I'm with her. Just like with the Marines, she won't quit and I don't want to seem like I'm being rude to her. She's my Grandmother. "

A dilemma.

So I pondered for awhile and I Got IT!

"You have two years before you do anything. Tell Nan that you haven't decided for sure whether you want to go in the Marines after all but you are keeping the Marine Corp recruiting posters up on your wall because you think the guys are really hot."

Two birds with one stone.

Problem Solved.

Next?

So obviously that isn't a real solution.  Though it's all we have so far and may actually be the easiest solution. This requires careful stepping. How do you manage sticky situations within extended family?



For awhile we have had songs that Big and Mid feel speak for them. We couldn't find one that defines how Lit feels because, as she explained it, "I am just too Awesome for anyone to manage it".

But then she found it.

© 2011 All Rights Reserved

Localism

Localism. I borrowed that word from Surf culture because it best describes my feelings. In surfing it can apply to being a  'kook.' as opposed to a 'Loc' # 25 top definition at link as applies to surfers. ( It isn't Exactly what I am talking about but it is hysterical because I have seen it.)

I don't post the grumpier side of my nature often and I have whittled this down considerably since I started it.  July is a pretty good place to put it.  I think I usually put my best foot forward on my blog. If you've read some of my posts you might be thinking "what?" But I mean my nicest side. I think I basically am a pretty nice person. I try to be kind and courteous and thoughtful of others. But I have an insidious under belly that rears it head in my real world. I have tried to fight it but it bubbles to the surface in my daily life as I navigate through my home town and take a look at the "progress" and meet new people wherever I may roam.

Just the other day at Office Depot a car was racing through the parking lot way too fast and as it blew past us I saw a NJ license plate and yelled, Why don't you go back to New Jersey and endanger lives there! And. I. Meant. It. No offense Jersey people who don't drive like idiots in my hometown. But.
 You see, I have to stand up and admit it in public:

My name is Ms. G. and I Am A Local.

There is a popular bumper sticker around here. It says 'Localized'. It's like a 'I'm not from here' beacon. It is people who want to be local. Cause this place is so cool. I roll my eyes when I see it. I can't help my annoyance. It isn't with all people who move here. It is for the ones who move here and make a big deal of being locals. But they are not. I know this is ridiculous but I also know I'm not the only local that feels this way. I don't know if this is a weird circumstance of where I live or something that takes place in other communities. Because this is my only community. As my husband says, "If you really are a local you don't have to tell anyone you're a local."

These days people move around a lot more than they used to. The home town where the families have known each other for generations is becoming more rare. I have the good fortune or maybe misfortune to live in a desirable area. It isn't common. It has something special. It used to be a sleepy little place where everybody knows your name but not because you sit on adjacent bar stools every night. Not anymore.

It is a string of small communities that I call, My Town, The Town across the street (Which is the one I mostly grew up in) and The Town a few blocks down and we band together as a generic group that calls itself The ----- Insert word that describes where we are.
My grandparents met here around ninety years ago. They were both from somewhere else originally but at that time not that many people were actually 'From' here.  My parents met here in the forties. My dad was from Rhode Island but it was wartime and anyone who was military and decided to stay is an honorary local.  My husbands family didn't move here until after he was born but I let him be a local because he's cute and he's considered local in the surfing department ( Has been known to drive a jacked up truck...and other stuff..a looong time ago.) The rest of his family are from Maryland and they moved away again so they don't get to be locals.

Several months ago I came across a blog that is centered on The Town A Few Blocks Down and the entire -----es area. It made it sound like Xanadu.  I honestly can't figure out why people think it's such a big deal to be a local here. Except, me of course. Because I'm a local ; ) The only thing I find special about this place is that it is My hometown.
The woman who wrote the blog seemed like a very nice woman. The whole blog is about how she loves being a local.  She loves it so much she is attempting to market products about it. She has been here for ten years. She loves it. I'm glad she does. She can have it. I would rather get out of here. Because my town is not my town anymore. It has been ' improved.'

When I was a kid we had a fishing pier. It was old and splintery. You could see the ocean between the cracks in the boards and if you watched long enough you could get dizzy with the motion of the waves. It was full of colorful old characters fishing and drinking beer. I used to go there with my brother to fish and listen to the old men and their bawdy stories. Just smiling quietly when they noticed I was there and sheepishly apologized for their bad language. Inside they made great burgers and you could sit on a rickety bench and eat with the ocean breeze blowing across your sunburned skin with a relief that central air can never duplicate and a million dollar view.

It's gone. After suffering some damage from a storm they decided to build a whole new one.
 It's....very nice.

There used to be funky little shops near the main street. A deli/bakery that was family owned. They had a neat little glass revolving display with birthday cakes. The library was across the street and we could stop in for a snack after a lovely morning choosing books. They are gone. We have a new library on some less prime real estate. The bakery is still in business in a strip mall even further away. When I was a little older I would explore the little independent shops. Like the messily arranged Asian import store, full of treasures stacked haphazardly in random piles. The used book store smelling of antique paper, old leather and dust.

We have new stores now. Upscale shops and restaurants in nifty stucco developments that accessorize  the condos. They are just beautiful. yes. they. are. Like Acetate lining in a suit.

You see the 'Localized' worked hard to get that distinction. They worked hard building color coordinated McMansions where there used to be woods. They put a lot of effort into creating an atmosphere of polish and small town sophistication. What the Locals find amusing is that some of the  tacky and crappy refused to be moved. It all now rests side by side. The 'Localized' have created a pretentious atmosphere and like to refer to it as "The Island." Ok, technically, surrounded by water. Like an Island? Like a bicycle wheel in relation to a semi tire. Really people? Get over yourselves.

 It used to be pretty cool here. Way before my time there was a boardwalk and amusement park. When I was little it was reduced to a Ferris wheel and carousel and some bumper cars but that was cool too. Then we went through a period of decline. The powers that be felt that the only way to shape things up was to upscale them. We do still have something of a boardwalk and it's true that there is an improvement on the area from 20 years ago when much of it was considered blighted. They still have failed to transform it into a tourist destination.
 I thank God they haven't accomplished this. I would much rather have my ratty little buildings next door to million dollar developments, now marked down to $ 250,000, overshadowing a few surviving beach houses,  than a Ripley's Museum.

This community never had a sense of history. It was always looking for something new. Until recently when they desperately began trying to collect any trivia to show there was a past and then had to house the Historical Society in a Brand New Building. By the time I was grown there were only a handful of quirky landmarks built around the thirties left,  but they were my quirky landmarks and I loved them. They are gone now or renovated beyond recognition. The most recent being a hideous turquoise monstrosity that used to have the best pizza on earth. For years it was a local icon. It survived the arrival of Pizza Hut and Domino's but with an influx of chains sadly the family run business was gone by 1994.  The building with it's sloping floors and funky light fixtures continued under new management for awhile. Then they tore it down. And put a street through it. So that people wouldn't have to turn left and drive half a block to turn right. It skirts our truly historic African American Cemetery. So now you just drive straight for a few yards and then curve to the left and curve to the right. OOH, what a relief. But it gave them a place to put a big fancy expensive sign Welcoming everyone. Set dead (no pun intended ) center beside the towns two cemeteries. There is some city planning for you! Welcome to our Beautiful (Hodgepodge), mediocre (if  not macabre ) not very special town that I personally would pass by if I was a tourist. Cause you know, if I'm a tourist I want my Ripley's Museum.

Recently my husband and I went out to a popular local eatery.  We have gone there for years but we aren't 'regulars'. We only very occasionally go out. We do know the bartender though. We have come in enough years for that. We go early to avoid the crowds. It was about 5 and we settled in to relax when a gentleman came in with his kids and bypassed the restaurant area, where people who are not morons sit to eat dinner with their small children, and the rest of  the entire, huge, empty bar, to park on the corner where we were sitting and crowd us and block the window we were enjoying looking through, watching people wander around looking for something special, with his children. Who were cranky. And one of them was sick and coughing all over the bar. Or maybe he trained them to do that. I don't know. (ok, they were cute too and I had a more enjoyable conversation with them because I'm not really that mean and grumpy.)

 He hailed the bartender with a mighty wave of his hand loudly calling him by name. "The usual please!" Wow. That was so cool. But our quiet little corner was gone and uncomfortably crowded by this guy who stood 5 inches away from my elbow on the corner of the bar while I tried to eat instead of sitting down on the other side and hyper actively jumped around like a freakin monkey.

Finally he couldn't stand it anymore, He turned to us and said hi.

 "Hi", we answer and turn back to each other to continue our conversation.

"Are you guys Local?" he asks condescendingly.

"Yes". We answer.

I swear his face fell.
Really?

"Yes."

Darn we ruined his chances to lord his localism. He wasn't quite buying it though.

"When did you come here", he asked?

"When I was 5", my husband answered. I smiled sweetly,  "I was born here." Maybe it was an Evil Smirk.

"Wow", he said, "you guys are an anomaly, did you know that?"

 "Really?", I said. No kidding, I thought.

 He launched into the story of how he lived here for awhile after he got out of college and then came back or something and I don't really care so he goes on to 'who do you know ?' Which floored him because I think he was still suspicious and we knew everybody he mentioned, only we knew them ten years longer but he had never seen us before and blah blah blah - We Don't Care. We came here so we could have a conversation with each other without other people blathering at us.
  He then asked if we ever went to the local Dive Bar which is about the only historical place thought worthy of preservation around here and it's depression era but not ancient, or their special celebration every year in which people go get drunk first thing in the morning on a family Holiday. I said, "I haven't been there in years." And I haven't. Because they pissed me off 24 years ago and one thing about a real Local, we hold a grudge. And as for the Famous Dive. Oh Boy, it's a dive, full of transplants who think they are hanging out with the 'local flavor' when they are all just hanging out with each other.

At one point he looked crestfallen and murmured that his wife wanted to move back to Michigan.

"Really?"
Well Michigan is a wonderful place too. You want your wife to be happy don't you?

Eventually the rest of his posse showed up- yoga pants mom who looked like she had just rolled off a couch ( and wanted to go back to Michigan) and the neighbors. That explained the crowding. Apparently we were 'in their spot'. I would have stayed longer just to annoy them but we had to drive home and I couldn't have stayed without switching to bourbon.   Before we left he managed to get where we live out of us, which just happened to be very near them so they know about my secret neighborhood. He said, " We ride our bikes down their all the time!" Oh. Joy. Hopefully we were just stand offish enough that I won't have to be on the lookout in case they decide to bike over and visit.  He introduced us as 'they are actually from here', but his wife was being appropriately stuck-up and didn't really acknowledge us, so we are probably safe.

 In any case, when we left I told my husband, we should put up a sign,

 "Chat with a Real Local, 5 minutes for 5 bucks". We could make a killing.

  I'll stop being mean now. But this is honestly me. And my snobbery. Because that's what it is. When we bought our house it was on a dead end dirt road and just beyond was the homestead of one of the oldest families in the area. My house is the one the Matriarch of the family built for her retirement. A few years ago the last of the family sold, to misquote Longfellow, "folded their tents, like the Arabs, And as silently stole away."

 I don't blame them. They moved to a quieter place. It is too crowded here. The new culdesac down the street is named after their family. The street is named after the woman who built my house. I like that simply because I know it and they don't. The market fell and the investors who bought the land beyond me were left hanging. I get to enjoy my natural view a few more years before the walls of beige with little squares set meaninglessly into the corners goes up. When they do I will be ready to leave. I always say that if I have to live in the area I do, I want to live right where I am. In this town. In this house. On my nice little chunk of property that gives us just enough privacy. I love my home and my yard but I know that will change as progress...progresses.

 I have tried to find a way to come to an understanding of my duality in this. Even though I think this place is ridiculous,  it has always been My ridiculous place and I have great pride in being one of the real locals.  At the same time I don't know why I get so annoyed with people who want to be locals. Maybe because I have lost my feeling of connection with the place, for the most part. Maybe that's it. New people made it a new place. Not the one I knew.

 I wish I could go someplace else. This place is the story of my life but I can walk away and never look back. It's always been too darn hot here anyway.  I only hope that if I ever go, I can go to the place I love. I have mentioned before that I love the mountains. I feel about them the way the nice lady with the 'local' blog feels about my hometown. If I ever do,  I hope the locals won't be mean like me.

 I can promise them this. I won't pretend to be one of you. I won't show up, say, "what a great place" and then suggest improvements. I won't try to change the face of your world to suit what I like. I won't change the rules. I won't commandeer your environment. I would just enjoy it the way it is.

I hope they would Not feel as I do.

The only thing special left about this place is that it is My Hometown.

And I wish they would all go back where they came from.

How about you? Are you a local or a transplant?
Do you suffer from Localism or are you a victim of it?

I just used I or I'll to begin 6 paragraphs in a row. That has to be some kind of grammar travesty. Obviously a local yokel ; )


© 2011 All Rights Reserved

What's That Chiming Sound? I'm Busy Blogging....

I can be really bad about making appointments. I avoid the phone as much as possible and usually schedule  a certain amount of calls I can handle in a week. Nuts, I know, what else is new?

Anyway, about a  month  a couple weeks ago Middlest was complaining that her gums hurt and she thought a wisdom tooth was coming in. Ok. I need to call a dentist. Except the next day she said, "oh it's not hurting. I guess it went away." Ok. No rush. Then it came back. Then it went away.....Then it grew in. And was fine. Then the other one started so I know she needs to have them checked out. It is summer now.

Summer is a good time to get that stuff done and they were due for a check up anyway.
I would have to make the appointment. I'd ask, how is that tooth doing? "It's not bothering me right now." So no emergency but I will get to it.

 I have six email accounts, you know, one for each personality, and the one for my company  uses Outlook which has a nifty little calendar with reminders that chime and pop up a set amount ahead of time. So I set it to remind me to make the appointment. The problem is my regular schedule has not been regular and has been packed. Often with things that I knew were coming up but didn't have a lot of advance notice on exact dates so it was hard to know what I was doing when. Which makes it hard to schedule appointments.

The reminder also has a snooze feature so that when it pops up you can reset it to remind you again later. Yeah.

 So. I also have this nifty little sticky note feature on my desk top. I love it. I use it for things that are VERY IMPORTANT and  Absolutely Cannot Be Forgot or Put Off. Knowing I had to go out of town last week I remembered to leave myself this note for important things that had to be finished the day I came  back.


But yesterday when I came back it said this:

Which appears to be a combo of German and Reggae. I don't know.

Then....

and lastly

Ok. I Get The Message! Or most of it....anyway...

Then this morning I found some new ones.


Of course. Yesterday she 'is almost 18' and can make her own decisions. Today I'm Mommy.

This does prove that my theory about what this young lady will try to do to make a living
is correct. I quote myself from This Post last fall,

"Should she skip college and set up shop on a street corner? Will she have to hold up a sign saying,
Will paint you for food?"


Yes. It's true. She will be standing on a street corner selling her art.

She is Incredibly Undeniably Awesome. Truly. And I Raised Her!

I will collect my Mother of the Year Award right after I push the snooze button on this reminder make this telephone call.


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