Wordless Wednesday: Daddy's Hand

Tuesday's Soapbox: Facebook, Friend or Foe?

I admit it...I love Facebook and I hate Facebook.

WHAT?! I don't really think this is anything new, since I have heard this from several other people, but here is my take on it.

I love the ability to connect with long lost friends & to stay "updated" on their lives. On the other hand, I am terrible about keeping my own status updated so if anyone is sitting out there trying to keep tabs on me...they don't really ever hear too much. It seems kind of unfair that I should get to know all about them & they get nothing in return...

I love the games, especially the word games, that are all right there at my fingertips just waiting to be played, but then when I begin to play them somehow time is sucked right out of the universe & a whole evening has been wasted doing nothing but playing games (of course this is all after the child has been taken care of~no worries about neglect here).

I love "Facebook stalking" or in other words-hopping around to check different peoples' profiles, but never acknowledging the fact that I was ever there...hmmm...sounds sinister doesn't it ;)

I love that you can write on someone's "wall", but I hate that sometimes it seems that the things people write may have been better off in an email (which is available on Facebook for any of you FB novices out there) & not published for the whole world to read & participate in.

As I said above, I love the ability to be able to connect with others, but I hate not knowing what to do if I don't want to connect with someone who wants to connect with me (this really hasn't happened to me but once or twice, but you know how I like to think about the "what if's" in life :)

And a final word...

PICTURES~truly some things should NOT be shared for the whole world to see unless you truly don't care if people think less of you or you don't care if prospective/current employers are checking it out & some profile pics always leave me wishing that I could control the world & what pictures people decide to post to "represent" themselves.

If only I could control the world... :D

Anyway, please feel free to leave your own thoughts below~I always love visits from/with my readers! :)

Disclaimer: "Tuesday's Soapboxes" are not meant to be offensive-Comments I make are not directed at any one person or group, but are just my thoughts on whatever topic I choose for that particular Tuesday. The topics may range from serious in nature to just downright silly. As always, I appreciate hearing what you have to say about them, however, I am not here to start any 'debates'. Thanks for reading & I hope you enjoyed :)

Goodbye Old Friend!

Earlier this month, we said goodbye to Scott's car...it moved on to a new home & someone who can put it to much better use. I must say that I was very excited about all of it after it was all said & done, but my husband was a little sad.

*This car was his first & only "brand new" car that he purchased.
*This car was a "cool" car~nothing makes a man feel "cool" better than a minivan ;)
*It sat & felt like a race car when you rode in it.

I was happy because...

*This car only had 2 doors~not very practical with children/carseats/etc.
*This car was going to need some money dumped into it to be very reliable for a family
*This car made #4 sitting in our driveway with the addition of Scott's work car-definitely not necessary!
*I disliked that it sat & felt like a race car when you rode in it. (Keep in mind, I am 6 feet tall & it was very low to the ground!)

And then I remembered...

*This car was what Scott took me on our first date in.
*This car was where the topic of "marriage" first occurred.
*This car has been connected to many very special moments that occurred during our first 5ish years of marriage as well as our dating years.

So then I was a little bit sad to see it go...

but I am still much more happy than sad to see it gone! ;)

Time, Where do you Go?

Dear Time,

I think of you as a good friend, but somehow you are always evading me...

I always think that I have so much of you, but then it seems there is never enough of you to go around...

It doesn't seem like so long ago that I was a child & knew that you & I would be together for a long while, but here we are with almost 3 decades spent together & I still feel that way, yet I wonder more than I use to about just how long that while will actually be...

You are a fooler, I think of my "little" man & how he is still so young-then I remember when we first brought him home & we had to swaddle him in blankets to even get him to fit in the infant seat safely...he is not so little anymore & I know that somehow I will be fooled by you into believing that these "days" will last forever, but soon enough he will be a grown man the very age I am now & I will be left to wonder about where these days went...

I've also learned that you have made me wiser. I am much wiser now than I was just a few short years ago & even way more so than I was 1/2 my lifetime ago (when we think we "knew it all"). I cherish the wisdom you have given me & I know that I am way more tolerant than I was back then-I've learned that things are not so black & white & I can't wait to see what other lessons you have in store for me...

You're not a racer, even though there are many times it does feel like you are trying to have me race against you. I know this is not the case, but it is still hard to keep myself from trying to compete against you-I shall try to slow down & just enjoy your friendship...

So, my dear friend time, here's to you-all that you have given me & all that you have left in store for me! May I always appreciate every moment we have together!

Your Friend,
Anita

It's been 365 days since...

I turned 28, which means today I am 29 years old & only have 1 more year left to be carefree & young! [please insert your own sarcasm here :)]

Or at least that is what the media seems to want me to believe it seems.

I have no problem with getting older & it seems hard to imagine being 29 only because I remember being a kid & thinking that I could never imagine being that age-it seemed so grown up...also there were always a lot of shows about the world coming to an end (supposedly) around the years I was going to graduate high school or be in college so it was not something that I had to worry about anyway ;)

But, obviously, here I sit so that did not occur & I CAN imagine myself at this age, but when I'm checking out in the grocery store & see those magazine covers that say something to the effect of "Be Your Best No Matter What Your Age! 30's, 40's, 50's!" it's nice to know that I still have at least one good year left!

It's a little disturbing to know that next year all of a sudden I get bumped up into an "older" category for magazines, survey age groups, etc, but I can honestly say that life is getting better with each year that passes so bring on the "old" age! :)

Fun Friday: Gotta Love Roger!

Be Happy! Just do it, do it, do it! :)

The Types of Things I Think About...

I'm not sure if you all are really ready for this trip inside my head, but these truly are the types of things that I think & wonder about sometimes...BEWARE~you've been warned~it's still not too late to stop reading & I PROMISE that none of these thoughts are intended to be derogatory towards any group of people-it's just the type of stuff I think about :)

This morning while I was getting ready for work my mind began to wander as it always does, but this morning my mind wandered into a little bit different territory. I began thinking about the "pioneer" days & shaving. I was thinking about how it seemed like the majority of the men back in those days had facial hair, but that they could go to a barber for a shave if they wanted one. That led me to wondering about the indians & how I don't ever recall having seen a picture of a Native American with facial hair. For that matter, I've also never seen a picture of a Native American with chest hair while walking around or riding a horse. This led to the questions...Were they shaving it all off in order to be hairless or were/are they just genetically predisposed to not having hair on their faces & chests? & Why did the white guys want to be so hairy because it mostly seems to be the opposite nowadays?

These are the kinds of questions that never get asked in history class & maybe never anywhere else except in my head ;) I hope none of you got lost in there & if anyone knows the answers, oh please, feel free to fill me in :)

Wordless Wednesday: Goodbye Summer!

"Make Me Think" Monday

So I picked up this little book yesterday at the picnic I mentioned in an earlier post & it gave me an idea for a series of posts. The book is called The Book of Questions by Gregory Stock, Ph.D. & it is stocked full of all kinds of questions designed to make people think & to promote conversations about topics that are sometimes deemed "uncomfortable" or "difficult" for polite conversation. I am going to tackle a question from the book each week until I get tired of doing it or I run out of questions :) I am excited to hear what other peoples' thoughts are on these questions-there are no right or wrong answers-please feel free to leave me a comment with your thoughts on the questions. If anyone wants to do a post about a question one week, please leave me a link to it in the comment section. Here it goes...

Since today is the 7th, I will go with Question #7:

"Do you think that the world will be a better or a worse place 100 years from now?"

Honestly, I think that it will probably be about the same as it is now. I think that in regards to medical & technological advances, yes, the world will probably be "better" in a sense that there will be better medicines (maybe less disease) & faster ways of communicating with one another, but I don't think that those things make for a "better" place by themselves. I think that people in general are probably always going to be about the same. I think that we like to believe that we are a better people than we were hundreds or even thousands of years ago, but I think that when it comes right down to it society is going to be what it is. Countries & people will always find something to argue about or want something that the other one has. There have always been people in the world who will sacrifice their own needs for the needs of others & there will always be people in the world who are looking for some way to take advantage or to exploit these people. That same scenario carries out again & again within all levels~families, towns, cities, states, countries, etc until it ends up effecting global relations. I do not believe that within the next 100 years there will be some kind of "magic wand" that makes this different, but I can always HOPE that it will happen someday & that my words here will be proven wrong :) If we could all just start looking out for someone else's interests besides our own, the world could be a much better aka 'nicer & gentler' place and maybe those 'differences' we use to keep ourselves separated & to judge others wouldn't be such a big deal anymore.

Your thoughts please... :)

Luckier Than Grandma?

When it comes to church picnics & luck, my mom is one of the luckiest people I know. It seems like she is always winning something from the raffles of those she & dad attend. And I can hardly remember a time win she has left a picnic without first having won a cake from whatever kind of "cake stand" is there. Unfortunately (for my dad anyway), this luck does not seem to carry over to lottery tickets or casino boats! :)

Yesterday, we attended a local church picnic. While I was retrieving Luke's bag from my parents who had kept him overnight, I told Scott to take Luke to the cake stand to waste time & maybe, just maybe we would win a cake, but probably not since we usually don't. I came walking back around the building with Luke's bag looking for Scott at the cake stand, but they were nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, I heard my name being called & there was my husband & son walking towards me with...2 CAKES!

I could not believe it & asked Scott if they had actually won both of them (what other scenario I thought had occurred~I have no idea :) Scott said "Yep, 2 quarters, 2 pulls...2 cakes. Luke might be luckier than Grandma when it comes to winning cakes!"
Now if only his 'powers' carry over to lottery tickets & casino boats... ;)