What kind of friend am I.....

You Are a Good Friend Because You're Loyal

You stick with your friends no matter what, even if you feel like they're doing the wrong thing. You believe in letting people figure out their own path in life. It's not your place to interfere. And part of your loyalty means that you'll do a lot for your friends. You definitely go the extra mile. You'll even do great things for friends without them asking. After all, that's what friendship is all about. You are truly a friend for life. And you have friends you've known since you were a kid. Your friends can count on you to do a favor, remember a birthday, or just be there to listen. Your friends need you most when: They can't turn to anyone else You really can't be friends with: Fickle people who change friends quickly Your friendship quote: "Friendship doubles your joys, and divides your sorrows."

What Makes You a Good Friend?

I thought I'd close out this month with another one of these tests. This one hit me pretty close too....or at least I thought so. Maybe I should ask my friends about that. Anyway, these are all kind of fun to take.

What Hand Gesture Are You.....

You Are a Thumbs Up

Your life philosophy can be summed up as, "Tomorrow is another day." Your greatest wish is for everyone to be content with what they have. You are naturally content and optimistic. You encourage people to be happy. Even if life isn't perfect, you believe that life is what you make of it!

What Hand Gesture Are You?

I got this from Mental P Mama's site and thought it was amazingly accurate as well as something a little different. Click on the link above and see what YOU are. I was sort of surprised because this does fit me pretty darn close right now. I wasn't always like this though. With age I have mellowed like.... fine wine? LOL

6 Things I'm Proud of MeMe.....

Janet tagged me for a meme to list 6 things that I’m proud of. This is a lot harder than it seems at first thought. This is all from my heart though so please don’t take it as bragging.

1. I am proud of the fact that I was raised to believe in God and to believe that if you lead your life as a good person, good things will come to you.

2. I am proud that I was given the parents that I had. They were good, hard-working people who raised me to live by high morals. I worked hard and never did an impetuous or thoughtless act. They taught me your name was only as good as your integrity.

3. I am proud of myself because I was able to basically raise my family alone. I lived on a strict budget and planned my life with cunning strategy so I would not be a financial burden in my old age.

4. I am proud to be an American. Being female and the main breadwinner, I’m glad I was given the opportunities to better my life. We take so many things for granted and reading as much as I do, I have been given glimpses into how some others in other countries are forced to live.

5. I am proud of my children because they both are caring and compassionate human beings who also believe in God and try to live their lives as decently as possible.

6. I am proud that I try to do things to make people feel better or to make things a little nicer in our world. They are just small things, but they are consistently done. I care about others and I don’t judge for it’s not my place.

I’m not used to patting my own back. In my previous post I mentioned how I felt like a failure…but I meant that in terms of being perfect. Nothing I do is absolutely perfect, but it did get positive results. So, my mom’s old saying of “If something is worth doing, its worth doing right”….could be replaced with mine…. “be as good as you can be, so you know you’ve given your all”. If its not perfect….well, who is judging? Its taken me a lot of years to be able to say that and feel OK with it.

I’m not going to tag anyone because I found this a very hard meme to do and I don’t want anyone to feel obligated. If you’d like to do it though….please do so and let me know if you’re going to. At least, if you don’t share it, write it out and sit and think about it for a while. It makes you do some deep thinking. Love you all.

Some reflective thinking.....

Some of the blogs I visit have hit upon an interesting topic and it’s caused me to do some reflective thinking. Its basically a question of dreams and goals and is your life today what you expected it would be. And…how do you feel about your present status.

My life now is not what I expected it would be. I’ve had some twists and turns but I have to admit that things could be a lot worse than they are and that sort of makes up for any shortcomings. I think one of the darkest clouds hanging over my head all my life is the fact that I never thought I was as good as what I should be. It seemed like no matter how hard I tried I never could achieve perfection, in my eyes. We all know women who have the perfect houses, the perfect children and the perfect spouses. Everything these women touch seems to turn to gold. They decorate perfectly, they cook perfectly and put together the most perfect parties or gatherings. I honestly don’t know HOW they do it. They must never sleep.

My mother was one of those women. I have not been able to follow in her perfect footsteps and for this I feel like such a failure. There! I said it. After all these years….I actually said it. I feel like a failure. At this age it bothers me less and less though. My children love me and somehow don’t think of me as a failure. My employer loved me and praised me for my work so I guess I wasn’t a failure there either. Why do I feel like one. Maybe its because my house is not as perfect as my mothers….or that perfect woman down the street from me. And, of course, "Martha" doesn't help your self-esteem much. I have some dust on my tables and a pile of books sitting near the couch, among other imperfections. I’ve always felt that reading a good book takes priority over dusting a table. Drawing pictures with the kids takes priority over waxing the floor and comforting a friend takes priority over ironing clothes.

I guess maybe I’ve just never had my priorities straight. However, I’m glad that I’m finally feeling comfortable in my own skin. And even though I do love her, it did help when Martha went to prison....I can make myself feel better by saying at least I don't have a record. I now have a “this is me, take it or leave it…..or what you see is what you get” approach to life. I’m not out to impress anyone….I’m just me and even though my life isn’t what I had pictured for myself, I didn’t do too badly. I certainly can't do it over now. I do seem to have the respect of most everyone who knows me….I just need to have that same respect for myself and acknowledge that even though I’m not perfect, it seems as though I am loved and that’s a pretty good accomplishment. How do you feel about your life so far?

A google view.....

Thanks to Brad for this idea. This is a google view of my neighborhood. I live right in the middle of all those trees, where the yellow pin is, so you can only see a portion of my roof. The parking lot at the right is for the elementary school where my kids went and now my granddaughters both go. Three "blocks" west of me is a huge lake, where they all learned to swim.

A good deed comes full circle.....

My daughter and I both believe in random acts of kindness and in doing good deeds if we possibly can manage them. She will help when she's in need of help herself because she believes that we should care about one another. God, I'm proud of her.

Anyway, a good deed has come full circle in our little family.

She took her son to the dentist to see about his broken tooth. The dentist has been treating her and her family for several years now and knows her situation. Well, are you all sitting down because you're not going to believe this one! But this is the truth. He fixed that front tooth....thank goodness there was no nerve damage. It had to be capped. My grandson's smile is as good as new now and you could never tell that anything was ever wrong. The price? Well....an unbelievable $100 out the door.

May this good man (the dentist) be forever blessed for his kindness and compassion. He knows their situation and gave them a deal of a lifetime. A beautiful smile on a young man....priceless.
Prayers answered and an act of kindness comes full circle....unforgettable.

I'm slowly going insane.....

THAT'S what I'm doin'! My daughter just got her son's (my grandson) braces off after years of him wearing them and her paying for them on the installment plan. HA.

He went to a party last night and during this so called get together where half of the people seem to be unknown to the hosts of the party, my grandson got hit in the MOUTH by some crazed kid that "no one knows". He hit him (for NO reason) and then took off running with one of my grandson's friends in hot pursuit. He jumped the fence in the backyard and was gone. Poof! Ever try to get a logical true story out of teenagers? It's like driving into the Twilight Zone ....into madness......where nothing makes any sense or has the same meaning.

My grandson (17 yrs old) is now sporting HALF of a front tooth. That's right peeps....this idiot broke his tooth and it sure looks to me like he smacked the other teeth crooked again...if that's possible. My grandson thinks it MAY have been over a girl. Sigh (rolling my eyes)

So if you hear reports on CNN of two women (that would be me and my daughter) running around in a yard, screaming and pulling their hair out.... Well, now you will know the reason for it.

I'm thinking that the homeowner's could be held responsible seeing as though it happened inside their house. What do you think? It was a witnessed unprovoked attack and my daughter does not have dental insurance.

Another recipe.....

I sure do wish I could take credit for this recipe because it is terrific. A girl that I work with and have known for about 25 years gave it to me and since her name is Sandy, I will call this

SANDY'S TEXAS CAVIAR

1 15/16 oz can of pinto beans
1 15/16 oz can of black eyed peas
1 15/16 oz can of whole kernel WHITE corn
1 small green pepper, cleaned and finely chopped
1 cup of finely chopped red onion
4 stalks of finely chopped celery
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper

Drain the beans, peas and corn. Add the green pepper, red onion, salt and pepper.

SAUCE

1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup of vegetable/canola oil
1/2 cup of Splenda/sugar mix (if you choose not to use Splenda mixture, use 3/4 cup sugar instead)

Bring to a boil the vinegar, oil and sugar. Let cool in the refrigerator and pour over the above vegetables. Serve with Tostitos scoop chips. Enjoy!

This recipe is absolutely wonderful and very addicting. One of the best things about it is that it's good for you! How about that!

Our forefathers never planned all this.....

I hope everyone had a safe Fourth...but its not over yet. It won't be over around here until September.

I have great memories of when I was a kid and ONCE a year my family and I went to see the fireworks, which were put on ONCE in a park with free admission. It was thrilling and an event we all looked forward to. I don't know when the transformation happened. Somewhere along the line fireworks and the displays got totally out of hand.

Needless to say they are more powerful now. The sonic booms actually rock my knick-knacks on their shelves. I can imagine 90% of the canine population are under the beds if they fit or else behind the couch, resembling quivering pools of jello, absolutely out of their minds with fear. What a time for a break-in.....most dogs are either petrified or else tranquilized so they can live through the weekend. Been there, done that. My dog I now have, however, could care less. For that I am extremely grateful because it will be a nightly ordeal until September or so.

Ever heard the term, "less is more"? Of course you have. Well, its true. When we just get a little of something, we can't wait for it to happen again. Fireworks and the displays of them are on overkill. I don't care much about them anymore and have learned to put the earbuds of my mp3 player in my ears so to drown out the booms. I had to go to sleep like that last night because some simpleton or maybe more than one simpleton thought it would be clever to continue shooting them off until 4:30 a.m. Yes, you read right. I can't understand why the neighbors of these idiots don't turn them in or shoot them. I can't tell where they are coming from but its relatively close-by. Where's the police you say? Well, since I used to work for them, I know exactly what they are doing....breaking up drunken brawls, domestic fights and rushing people to E.R. with blown off fingers. An afternoon shift dispatch log in our small town will have at least a hundred fireworks complaint type calls. Tis not a happy time for police and fire/EMS workers.

So, I've put my two cents in about the fireworks. I certainly wish someone would wise up before the whole celebration is ruined and people are immune to the beauty of a well-planned fireworks display and the meaning that goes along with it. Bet hardly anyone thinks about THAT as they are watching.

Sigh.....I guess maybe I'm showing my age....dagnabbit. Oh yeah....and one of these days I'll tell you about the neighbor kid that has gotten NEW speakers for his vehicle....I think the speakers are bigger than the car. I can hear this little jerk coming from a mile away and when he drives by you just have to pause your conversation or your fillings may vibrate out. Gee, I bet his folks are proud.

My take on some movies.....

Ok, as promised, I am going to delight you with MY TAKE on three movies that I recently viewed. These aren't brand new, just released ones, as I wait for them to come out on DVD before I view, in the comfort of my own home so I can watch in jammies and pause for bathroom breaks if I so desire....not to mention a dish of ice cream.

First up is American Gangster. I put off looking at this one because I am a Denzel Washington fan and I WANT him to be the GOOD guy. He is such an excellent actor, however, that he can take on whatever is thrown at him and portrays the bad guy just as well as the good one.

American Gangster is based on the true story of a real gangster. Most people think that gangsters were either Irish or Italian, but this one (Lucas) was black, which enabled him to fly under the radar. He was very good at what he did. The movie had predictable violence and he shows himself to have about as much concern shooting a guy in the head as he would have stomping on an ant. He deals in the drug trade and the movie takes place during the Vietnam war era. Lets just say that our military covertly played a part in supplying illegal drugs to thousands. Lucas was from a large family and gave them all jobs helping him out. He put the hurt on the business dealings of other, more established gangsters, causing them to attempt to get rid of him, using different methods. The soft side of Lucas is shown too by his purchase of a large mansion for his mother to live in. The other side of the coin shows a police officer (played by Russell Crowe) being punished by his own kind because he's too honest and his personal life suffers due to his dedication on getting to the "big guy" doing all these drug imports. The movie is good but its LONG. The ending has a nice little twist that will put a grin on your face. On a scale of 1 to 5, I would give this one a 4.5. I've only seen it once and I'm sure if I look at it again, I will notice much more that I missed the first time around. If you like these types of movies, I don't think you will be disappointed. However, this is obviously not for the younger set.

Fool's Gold with Kate Hudson is the next movie. I just love her and had heard (from someone I'm going to bitch slap) that this was a good movie. I don't know....maybe its just me....but I found this movie to be horribly BORING. I was dismayed that Kate would make a movie so boring because she's so.....GOOD. But boring it was. Its supposed to be a romantic comedy and it was SORT of romantic but I didn't laugh anywhere that I can recall. I'm not a fan of Matthew McConaughey either, so that didn't help. The daughter of the rich guy just wanted to make me smack her into next week.....she was so stuuuuupid. Although I guess I can call her a good actress then because she did pull off her character very well. I would have been really REALLY upset if I had paid $8 or more at a movie theater for this waste of time. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give it a 2 and that's only because of the scenery. I can't think of any reason why, other than they would probably fall asleep due to boredom, a kid 10 and up couldn't watch this. I don't think they will like it though. There is a little violence over the finding of the gold.

When a Stranger Calls is my third review. Now I had seen the original Carol Kane version way back when and it was a heart-stopper that you just can never seem to forget about. This is a remake of that movie. They have updated it to modern times. Of COURSE our heroine has to babysit at a house that is something out of Science Fiction Plus in the middle of BFE....with NO neighbors and the nearest town 20 minutes away. She's been grounded and one of the things she's lost is her cell phone so that's not with her. The movie follows the plot of the original pretty much and it still makes you stop breathing, even though you basically know the storyline. One impressive thing is that this movie actually proves that you can be scared and not have to deal with copious amounts of blood. It was really a nice detour for a thriller movie, I might add. Note to film-makers: We don't always have to be subjected to blood and gore to be scared. Of course, movie makers still have a hard time dealing with reality here. There is just NO effin' way a teenaged girl, alone in the middle of BFE, is going to unlock the door of the house and go outside in the dark, in the middle of a storm with winds of nearly gale force, and run probably the length of a football field to go inside a "supposedly" rented guest house to ask for help.....only to have to run all the way back again. Tree limbs breaking all around her and....oh yeah....the power is out too. Get real here folks! But then, they've always had a hard time keeping heroines out of basements during a power outage, wearing nothing more than shorty pj's. At least this heroine is dressed. It was a good movie; it was scary and it kept you on the edge of your seat. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give it a 4.5 also. (I rarely give a perfect score, as you can see.....well, there WERE mistakes in the movie) It was, however, good entertainment. I would say that it would be ok for ages11 and up, depending on the maturity of the child.

I hope you've enjoyed MY TAKE on these three movies. Have a great holiday weekend...and BE SAFE.

People watching at Wacky-mart.....

Yesterday was a gorgeous day and my daughter, granddaughter and I decided to go out for some breakfast and then hit Wacky-mart....my nickname for you-know-who.

A booster seat law passed yesterday and my daughter found out that the one she's been using is now obsolete and has to be replaced. The ticket for not having the right seat is $165. So that was the impetus for shopping yesterday.

Our breakfast was great. I'm an avid people-watcher and there wasn't much to offer at the restaurant. They were not crowded at all. So I figured my trip to Wacky-mart would prove to be much more abundant....it did not disappoint.

She dropped me off at the door and went out to park. I find it very painful to walk very far, unless I can rest here and there and get off of that pesky knee of mine. So I went inside in hopes of getting a rider cart but they were all in use. That's the first time that's happened to me. I told my daughter to go ahead and start shopping and I'd catch up with her. I sat on the bench to wait for one and people-watched while I was at it.

So many interesting people, so many interesting outfits! I can't believe people go out in public like some of them do. I was rewarded by the mother-lode when a family who looked like extras from the Deliverence set came in. I was in people watcher heaven! You have to be cool when you're doing this....you have to pretend you're reading a circular or better yet, a book. If you get caught looking at them, you immediately blank out your face and smile a sweeeet smile...nothing judgemental or threatening. I could not believe these people. They were fascinating and scary to boot. I sure would hate living next door to them.....but had to stop and think...that somebody probably does. Unless they live in the woods and they just may.

I finally got my rider cart and came across these people several times in the store. The only one who seemed to notice me.....or should I say notice my purse...was the male teenager of the group. I could almost read his mind.......If I grab that purse and take off running, that old bag would never catch me. After he eyed it enough it dawned on him that THIS old bag has been around the block. I always loop my purse handle around my wrist and then grab hold of the cart handles. No way anyone can grab and run. The last time he looked at my purse he looked up from it to me and we had eye contact.....I did not look away first.

Its a scary world out there, Peeps.

Anyway, I spent more than I intended ..... Cha Ching .... but most of what I bought I really did need. Replenishing supplies, so to speak. The only extravagance were some DVD's. They are on sale for $5. and I came across some good ones. Ack (hitting my head with hand) It dawned on me later, after we were home, that I should have additionally gotten the cheaper booster seat for MY car, since the car seat I have is now obsolete as well. The seat I got for my daughter's every day use was $50 and the cheaper one, which just consists of a seat (no back) is $19.00. I'll have to send her back to get that one for me today or tomorrow. I'm expecting them to be sold out, if things go as usual. From what I understand, the idea behind these new seats and the new law is that a child over 40 lbs needs to be constrained by the VEHICLE'S chest seat belts and not the car seat's. So these are designed to do that. I guess they have to sit in these until they weigh 100 lbs. Sigh.....money money. $$$ But if it saves the life of just one child, its worth it.