Respect

       Isn’t respect just about the basis for everything?  It is the foundation of the best friendships, the best marriages, the best working relationships, and really just about everything.  It is what makes the world go round.  If you haven’t got mutual respect, you have nothing.  There is no order. There isn’t anything, zilch, nada.   Once you have lost all respect for someone, you are pretty much finished.  It is all over.  The fat lady has sung.

        I expect and hope for the respect of my husband and children.  You give me respect, you get it back.  It just makes life a lot smoother.  It isn’t a complicated concept or rocket science.  It is common sense and decency.  Everyone should be treated with dignity, respect, and kindness.   Everyone in this world has something special to contribute and so much to give.  Everyone has an equal chance to earn the respect of their family, friends, and colleagues.  It kind of brings home the ole saying about treating others the way you would like to be treated.  If you treat someone bad, you will get treated badly in return.  It is karma and it always comes around, always.      It will bite you in the butt worse than anything you can imagine.

       Respect is about following the rules.  It is about getting along with others.  It is about coloring within the lines.  It is all about caring.  If you don’t care, your actions will show it and you will be hard pressed to ever be on the receiving end of respect.    First and foremost, you have to like and respect yourself. You must do your best in all things.  If you can’t even look in the mirror and respect the person looking back at you, you will play hell convincing anyone else to respect you.  It is a choice.  Do you choose to demand respect from others?  You should because you are worth it.  While respect in almost instances is earned, it starts and ends with Y-O-U.  R-E-S-P-E-C-T, I’ve told you what it means to me.  What does it mean to you?  Aretha couldn’t have said it better.  

  

Birthdays

       It has been a full week since we had the big weekend of birthday celebrations at my house.  The month of birthdays for 2013 is behind us, the cakes a mere memory, and the balloons taken down and effectively popped by my overzealous Boston terrier Jolly.  In years past birthday decorations went up shortly before my son’s birthday on August 31 and finally were removed after my daughter’s birthday on September 29.  This year the time in between birthdays was relatively balloon and banner free.  Maybe it is because I am older and really couldn’t stomach looking at a month long ongoing birthday party.  For whatever reason, I took the decorations down and put up fresh the weekend of my daughter’s 13^th birthday when my husband finally rolled back into town.  While he had been gone, his birthday and our wedding anniversary had come and gone.

         Because my husband wasn’t in town for his own birthday, last weekend became a double celebration.  While the fighting Irish of Notre Dame were getting their butts beat in the nearby stadium we descended on the Golden Corral for a feast in celebration of both birthdays and our anniversary.  The next day my daughter’s birthday was off to a slow start.   In the last several years I have personally baked the family birthday cakes.  My daughter wanted a tie dye cake and my husband requested his favorite of angel food.  Both turned out really well, decoration and all.  We grilled steaks and mashed potato casserole with seasoned green beans completed the menu.  Decorations went back up, and for the first time ever we hung up a make shift piñata filled with candy outside for the kids to knock the shit out of with plastic baseball bats.  It was a hilarious spectacle to watch and in the end the candy was divided by all.

       We took a celebratory cruise of the neighborhood on the golf cart then returned to the house so the birthday boy and girl could open presents.   Dinner was eaten, wishes were formulated, and the candles were blown out in one large breath to the rousing musical strains of the birthday song. 

         My son’s birthday celebrated a month earlier transpired in much the same way with one big exception.  For the first time in history we didn’t wait for my husband to come home to open presents or blow the candles out on the cake.  While we had celebrated my daughter’s day without my husband by giving her gifts before Daddy could arrive in the past, we always saved the cake for when he could be here.  I hated to not have something for my son on his special day.   While it all turned out well, it simply was not the same without my husband there.  The experiment didn’t sit well with me and I am sure in future, we will revert back to planning everything for when my husband is here even if the birthday celebration is drawn out over several weeks.  Another year of birthdays have come and gone with many memories made and stored away to be savored for years to come.

The Slippery Slope

This is a fictional story written for the GBE2 writing prompt.    

       She should truly have her head examined.  She wasn’t getting any younger, but the Olympians on television made it look so easy.  The royal princes of Europe learned as soon as they could barely walk and enjoyed it.  They looked so handsome and athletic on the slopes.  Why not her?  How hard could it be?  She wanted to feel that free just once.  She wanted to learn, and she was determined that she would.  She skied all the time on the Wii.  That should count for something, right?

       She had made reservations at one of the best ski lodges in Colorado.  The lodge had been kind enough to recommend and put her in touch with an instructor, had made arrangements for all the equipment she would need to be at her disposal during her stay, and had even guaranteed that there would be snow.

      Sure she had her misgivings.  God knows, she could catapult down that hill and break her ass and lots of other bones she would need later.  It could be viewed by most as a suicide mission or simply a moment of insanity she was determined to have a taste of.  She wasn’t going to tell a soul because she didn’t want anyone to talk her out of it.  The skiers she had watched on television looked so free, so powerful.  Hell, they looked like they were flying!  She wanted to feel that free.  She wanted to fly.  She wanted to feel the cool crisp air blast her face as she flew down that slippery slope. 

       Buckling on the skis for the first time was awkward.  Standing and moving on them was worse.  The instructor was patient and kind, showing her the ins and outs, explaining techniques.  She listened carefully and desperately tried to do as he explained mimicking his every move.  This was a lot different than what the Wii simulated.  She fell more than once, laughing like a lunatic at first then crying in frustration as time went on.   After much practice and many falls, the instructor encouraged her to try the bunny slope.  She was ready he insisted.  Well hell, he should know.  It was populated with the kindergarten set.  Well maybe some were a little older, but she by far was the oldest out there.  Even the flipping instructor looked like a teeny-bopper compared to her.  Oh God, she must be out of her mind to think she of all people could do this.  She stood at the edge and looked down, took a deep breath, and flew down the slippery slope turning this way and that as she had learned ending up flat with a face full of snow.

         She fell many times after that first try but she got back up and tried again and again until finally she made it all the way down that stretch of slippery slope not only in one piece, but upright.  She finally flew.  She soared.  Her heart exploded with happiness and accomplishment.  She did what she had come here to do.  You can do anything you put your mind to she thought to herself with satisfaction.  You can conquer that slippery slope.

Wrong Way! Go Back!

It is day 16 of the Ultimate Blogging Challenge and NaBloPoMo. This post is in response of the picture prompt hosted by the GBE2 blogging group and is a true story.

      I have lived in Elkhart, Indiana all of my life.  I was born here and more than likely I will die here.  There are two main one way streets in downtown Elkhart.  I worked at the public library for 6 whole years which sat on one of those one way streets.

    Several years back when my kids were still small I was downtown on my way to the local library.  The library has a microscopic size parking lot and if you aren’t fortunate enough to find a place there you are forced to either park on the street or plan to walk a few city blocks from a public free lot.  Since I am not the best at parallel parking, I usually do laps until a place opens up that I can pull into.

      That particular day I had my head up my ass a little more than usual.  I had circled the library looking for a place to park several times.  Without thinking I turned toward the library’s lot in hopes that a place had opened up.  It didn’t take long for me to realize that a line of traffic was coming straight at me.  Holy shit and sunny Jesus!!!!    I was going the wrong way on a one way street in a place I should have known better.  I almost shit my pants, literally!!  Instead of going back there was nowhere to go but forward so I floored the accelerator and zoomed into the library’s parking lot like a bat out of hell jumping a curb and hyperventilating all the way.

         My heart was in my throat and racing.  I simply could not get my breath.  Thank God and sunny Jesus there were no cops around to witness that little spectacle because I am sure I would have had some big time explaining to do.  The cops probably would have given me a breathalyzer, sure that I was three sheets to the moon drunk, and hauled my happy ass straight to jail for that little stunt.    Go straight to jail, do not pass go, and pass over $200.00 plus.  Fortunately the only repercussion from the whole event was the racing stripe in my underwear.  Until now, I have never told a living soul this little tidbit of my sordid past.  The truth is out and my conscious is clear.  You live and you learn and from that day on, I pay a bit more attention and keep my eyes, ears, and brain tuned into the road!

Vacation

It is the 8th day of the Ultimate Blogging Challenge and NaBloPoMo and I am still in the game writing away!  This post is in response to this week's blogging prompt from the GBE2.

      I haven’t gone anywhere for vacation since my honeymoon and that was 16 years ago.  My husband and I went away to the Lake Erie Islands for the weekend and had a great time.  Since then our vacations have been more stay-cations than anything else.

       Any time my husband is home and out of his semi-truck it feels like a vacation to him and to us.  He came home the 3^rd of July and has been home 5 days.  It was nice to have him home.  We got a lot done and enjoyed going out to eat, swimming in the pool, going shopping, and watching fireworks.  It was hectic at times and relaxing at others.  As always his time here goes quickly and already it is time for him to go back to work.

      These days we have 4 dogs and a cat so even if we had the extra money to go on a big vacation we would have no one to watch our animals.  That is one reason why we never stray too far from home. If I could pack them up and take them all with me, I would.  Actually we have taken the dogs with us camping before.   If I

could go anywhere, I would love to take my kids to Disney World because I know they would love it.  Of course the list of all the places I would love to visit stretch into infinity and beyond!  I dream about those places and imagine what they would be like envying those lucky souls that get to throw caution to the winds and just go leaving their bills to accumulate until they return.

       There are so many places I would like to see and explore!  There are so many sites I would love to see!  There are some days when I am just happy to get out of the house let alone to get completely away from here.  Funny thing though, if I did get away it wouldn’t be long before I would long for home.  While I crave the excitement and change of pace a vacation would offer, I am also content to stay home.  Sometime, someday, in some way I will get away from here and have the vacation of my life.  I just know it!!  

 

Siblings

      I remember when I first married my husband my grandma telling me I couldn’t just have one baby.  I needed to have at least two.  She was convinced that a child would be better off with a brother or sister.  After my Dad died, I yearned for a son that I could name after him.  Before a year passed I was pregnant and I got my little boy who I named after my Dad.

   

  I will never forget when I found out I was pregnant.  My daughter told me she had prayed for a brother and couldn’t wait to go pick him up.  She actually asked me if we could go get the baby the next day.  Unfortunately, it takes a little longer than a day for a pregnancy. 

     I have to admit I had another reason for wanting a brother for my daughter.  I had a sister who I never got along with.  Our relationship had been chaotic and a nightmare from hell from the start.  I never see her and we don’t speak.  It is like not having a sister at all.  In the long run, it is better this way.  The fighting, hatred, and drama just isn’t worth getting together for.  Life is too short.  It doesn’t mean that I don’t think about her sometimes.  I wish her well.  I do.  It is just that it is pointless to have any kind of relationship with her.  It is too much water under the bridge as they say.

      Because of the hellacious relationship my sister and I have shared,   I feel even more blessed and relieved that my kids get along and probably always will.  My family is important to me, although I know a lost cause when I see it.  I remember telling my dad before he died that once he was gone there would be no reason why I would have to put up with her crap anymore.  He was saddened by my statement but he understood better than anyone could.  Like a prophecy my words that day became reality.  One truth remains…you don’t get to choose who you are related to.  You can only do the best you can and live your life.  

     

What if…

What if everyone had enough money to get what they needed or wanted?

What if there really were unicorns magically prancing about pooping rainbows?

What if what went around didn’t take so long to come around?

What if there was more laughter in the world and a little less sadness?

What if you really could stop the world and let the assholes off?

What if everyone really got to fulfill their dreams and do the job they went to school for instead of settling for a poor substitute?

What if gas prices stayed at a dollar a gallon? Or even two dollars a gallon?

What if people learned to mind their own business and let people live their lives and allow fate take its course?

What if life was all sunshine and lollipops?

What if the song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy!” could be the theme of the day?

What if nice guys finished first instead of last?

What if you didn’t have to choose whether to go to the doctor or hospital because it was free?

What if you only had to imagine it and dream it and whatever it was would become reality?

If only….wouldn’t life be grand?