In the Beginning…..a woman’s version

Caution: The following blog is the opinion of the writer and owner of this blog site.  It reflects my views and no one else's. Please comment if you feel, but understand that this is only my opinion….and you won’t change my mind!

Our bible tells us; “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

He looked down on his beautiful creation and decided it something else…..it needed some animals to enjoy the land, the waters and the gardens….So he created these….

Soon he looked down and realized it may not be such a good idea to allow these beautiful animals to roam alone and care for themselves….They only ate parts of some foods, left parts laying all over and then began leaving there “waste” all over the land….Soon the smell would overtake the beautiful fragrances of the flowers….They needed someone to clean up after them…..So God, in his infinite wisdom, created man and called him Adam…..

Now Adam’s job was simple.  He had everything he needed to make him comfortable.  All he had to do was keep it clean….But Adam watched the animals eating and leaving everything all over for him to clean up and decided “Why should I clean up when all they do is mess it up?”

God looked down on Adam and watched as he began to do as the animals did….Before long, there were banana peels thrown about and the beautiful gardens began to look like a pig sty.

Adam watched as the animals pro-created and not having someone of his own, he chased down whatever animal he could catch and practiced on them…..

God Looked down and decided that just wasn’t right….Here he had put these beautiful animals in this beautiful environment and here Adam was abusing them…..

So God in his infinite, although somehow now tarnished wisdom, created Woman….which he called Eve….

Now Adam had someone to look after him and clean up after him.  They could run around naked all day and Adam could chase Eve and take her anywhere in the garden he could catch her.

But Eve grew tired of this game….Not only did she have to clean up after Adam and all the animals, but she had to feed him and take care of him in other ways….

One day after a long, hard day of Adam climbing all over her and cleaning, Adam said to her “What’s for dinner?”….Well that was the straw that broke Eve’s back….She told Adam in a not so soft and tender voice “You mean to tell me with that whole garden out there, you can’t find anything to eat?”  And with that, Adam grabbed the first thing he could find…an apple…..and took a big bite.

That was the end of running around naked and having everything you could possibly want or need….From then on, man and woman were made to wear clothes and work for a living….

Now I know that’s not what the bible tell us….But my theory is the bible has flaws because it was written by a man….And as a woman we all know most men will never admit to doing anything wrong….

I know God exists….Look at a delicate orchid, a sea horse or a tall oak tree….That’s all it takes to know there must be a greater being.  I know he is a kind, gentle person…..He gave doctors the skills and the calm, steady hands to correct the imperfections of a baby’s cleft lip, cleft palate or damaged heart….

Now some may argue that if there is a God, why is there famine, floods, poverty, starvation and pollution?  Because once, God gave man something beautiful and the ability to make his own decisions and MAN chose to do the wrong things….

I also believe in heaven…..Why??? Because I believe a God who created so many things would also create a place where one could go and be happy once there life was over.  I don’t believe that such a God would condemn us to to “Burn in Hell” after suffering so much on earth….and what about the babies who never get the chance to live here on earth?  Should they be made to suffer after they have never lived, or lived short lives?….

I also know that there are many religions, with different beliefs, and different names for their Gods…..and I respect their rights in their beliefs…I don’t believe that they will “Burn in Hell” because they don’t believe in “My” God.

Now I know I’ve left you scratching your heads and wondering where all this is coming from….The answer is simple……I live with 3 men….I work more hours per week than any of them…..and still, I am the only one who gets up every morning, cares for the animals, washes the dishes, cleans the house , takes out the trash, pays the bills, cooks the meals and care for the yard and garden…..

Really…..with everything I do here, I have to believe my reward will come one day.

Hugs and love to all!

IT’S FOOTBALL TIME!!

It’s Here! It’s Here! It’s Here!

 

These are images from the second day of football conditioning for the 2012 Football season.  Conditioning is when new players come out and show off what they have during the drills so the coaches can make their draft choices…This year, the field was mostly third graders who will be eligible to play for 4 years….

No, none of the children you will see in this year’s posts will be related to me, although I did hear there is a set of “Disbennett” brothers….(distant cousins maybe?)

Due to my work schedule, I couldn’t attend the first day of conditioning, but I did make it to the second day….

Miller “Mayhem” coaches going over their picks.

the draft

I also went to the Draft….held today….This year will be interesting as each team will have about 23 players…(some have 24)….Now if you add up the 11 players needed for offense, and 11 players for defense; this only leaves 1 extra player…so I’m sure there will be some players playing both offense and defense.

The Miller Park Vikings have become the Miller Park Mayhem….the colors have gone from Purple and Gold to Black, Royal Blue and white. The Viking is gone….the new symbol is:

 

We have one new coach; Beau Rathburn…..and we have lost at least one coach, Bill Moore.

Thanks to Wal*Mart, I will be able to attend all Saturday games during the summer.  My store manager approved my temporary change of availability.  I may miss some of the week day games and some of the practices; but I will also be able to earn the team a $250 donation from Wal*mart for volunteering only 25 hours of my time…..which I will thoroughly enjoy.

 

But I wish it was me sitting on the sidelines watching my grandsons play again…I miss them so much…and I missed a whole season of cheering my youngest grandson on…. 

I will be thinking of him as I watch every game……………..

Hugs and love to all!

Where do I begin??

Wow! So much has happened this month; where do I begin?

Well, to begin with, I am now using my very own, brand new laptop to write these blogs….which means I can sit in my recently air-conditioned bedroom in the comfort of my very own bed to write them!.

Which is kind of where things started……

Turn the dial on the time machine back to June 29th…..

The last time I had air-conditioning was in the 2 story home I lived in back in 2007….Something snapped this year and we started getting unusually high heat early in the season….It’s like we skipped spring and went straight into the hot, humidity of mid summer….What the heck.  I’m working now so why should I lay upstairs in bed sweating?

Target came to my rescue….they had a room size air conditioner for $96….Well, once I had my checking account for over 2 months, I applied for and received a Target Red Debit card….unlike their Red Visa card, the charges are directly withdrawn from my checking account; and I receive a 5% discount on anything I buy…..Since my husband works for Target, I get an extra 10% team member discount…..so before I went to work that Friday, I bought my “cool air” for around $88…..I carried the relief out and had it in my car at work that day when a severe Thunderstorm ripped through our state.

Around 5:30 p.m, the lights in Wal*mart begin to flicker….and all the cashiers and managers knew it wouldn’t be long before the power went out….Furiously we tried to ring up as many customers as we could to get them out of the store before the storm hit…Then all hell broke loose…..the power shut off!  We had 30 minutes of back-up power to continue running registers….we worked in the dark as fast as we could….Very few customers left without what they came for, but some did get stuck with cart loads of things they couldn’t pay for. 

Outside, the storm showed it’s fury.  We had a large tent in the parking lot full of clearance items.  A heavy flower cart went air borne and hit a manager in the head.  The tent ripped, the poles bent and collapsed and merchandise dotted the parking lot.  Potted plants became missiles.  Mulch from around the trees relocated to the sides of the building and the sidewalks.

Inside, all available staff started cover all the open coolers and meat cases with tarps, plastic sheeting and duct tape to preserve any cold air and keep meats, cheeses and vegetables cold.  Then we went to work putting away the 25-30 cartloads of merchandise that did not make it through the checkout lines…..Within the hour, the power came back on an business went back to normal….at least in Wal*Mart……

Outside, the storm ravaged the entire state….over 1 million people lost power….thousands of trees were uprooted or snapped off

 

……cars and homes looked like they had been through a tornado….amazingly, no one was killed in our area. But the worst was yet to come…..Some people would get there power back within hours….but most had no power for days….some even went 7-9 days with no power. My new air-conditioner would sit unopened in my living room for 4 days, and even after I braved going upstairs in the dark in 100 degree heat to put it in the window, it would remain unused for another 3 days before it would feel the electricity course through it’s wiring.

The Fairgrounds became a “camp city” for electric power workers, trucks and Tree trimmers….Portable showers and semis full of bunk beds 3 high along the walls were brought in. The trucks went out early every day and came back late every night…

.

.Slowly lights came on a few houses at a time….sometimes only 3 or 4 per street…Trees were removed from streets, houses, cars and sidewalks and became mulch.

Ice, coolers, batteries, camp lights and oil lanterns were flying off the shelf faster than trucks could deliver them.  Charcoal, lighter fluid, grills and bottled water were snapped up by the cart loads.  The hum of gas operated generators  were the only sound in the night….the only exception was when the sun went down and people came out of their houses to enjoy the cooler (90 degree) temperatures.

The break for everyone was the July 4th parade and Fireworks.  Everyone lined the streets to watch children collect candy, cold bottled ice water and freeze pops.  The churches turned on hoses to keep those in the parade cool along the routes….

Then everyone flocked to the fairgrounds to eat Fair food, ride rides, play games and wait for the fireworks.

my power was out for 7 days….the people across the street were out for 9 days, as were some of the people on the same side of my street just a few houses down….It’s been 21 days and all over the city some trees still remain on houses or on the ground in yards.

Life is slowly getting back to normal.  People flocked to local agencies for disaster relief…..Families with children and the elderly (over 60) received food vouchers to replace what was lost in their refrigerators and freezers….but it was a drop in the bucket for most.

The storm wasn’t the only news….

I became a “full fledged” Wal*Mart employee on June third after 90 days with the company….The manager has given me extra hours for the past 3 weeks putting me at almost 4 straight weeks of over 38 hours each…

Throw in a baby shower for a niece, a car wreck that killed a third cousin and her unborn child and left the husband in a coma, battered and bruised, unable to bear his own weight for the next 3 months to grieve and try to rebuild his body and his soul…..the death of my husband’s only remaining uncle….and his brother who was diagnosed with skin cancer….My son lost his best friend because of rumors and lies…..another son moved from New Mexico to North Carolina where he now has 2 of his 3 children with him after years of trying to get them….My oldest grandson got a job in Florida, My oldest Grand-daughter, now speaks to me and she got a job in North Carolina because I was able to send her a copy of her birth certificate that her mother wouldn’t give her, and my youngest grand-daughter is now a licensed driver and a High School Graduate..

And football is just around the corner…..I went to the first sign ups,

and I will go to the second day of Conditioning next Tuesday….then it’s practices until August 25th when the first games are held….My store manager has already approved my amended availability to allow me to attend most of the Saturday games before 5 p.m….and told me that when I volunteer for 25 hours a quarter, I can get a $250 donation from Wal*Mart to the team/league.

I have my new spirit wear, and will probably buy more.

The good with the bad…..I will buy the things I’ve always wanted, even if it means putting things on layaway for a couple of months….

I love my job, the hours, the pay, the managers and the people I work with.

But most of all, I love my family and all of my friends, like you….that read my blogs, leave comments, pick me up when I’m depressed, make me laugh, cry with me and laugh with me.

Hugs and Love to all of you!

This is a test

This is a testThis is only a test….

I just bought a new Acer Laptop and I am trying to set up all my accounts, programs, photos, documents and e-mail accounts….

I hope this works…..

I Think I have got it

It’s been so long since I published a new blog and there is so much I can think of to write about….

I could write that I love my new job….I love the people I work for and with, I love the hours I’m getting and most of all I love finally being able to have my own money to spend on things I want.

I could write how excited I am that football starts next Monday.  All year long I wait the arrival  of the Conditioning; because that means practices and games are just around the corner and I will have a reason to push back from the computer and go outside with my camera.  This year, by volunteering a mere 25 hours a season, I can get a $250 contribution to the team from my employer.

I could write about the severe thunderstorm that came through here June 29th and knocked out everyone’s power for up to 0 days.   Mine was only out for 7, but you can’t imagine what a techie like me missed without power….the computer, Facebook, my on-line friends and just being able to upload the photos I took from my camera to the computer.

I will write abut all those things soon, I promise.  But another subject has been weighing on my mind.

Over 2 years ago, my daughter stopped talking to me.  At  first I could see and talk to my grandchildren, but things got worse a few months later and the only ones I could see were the older 2….Then came the revolution….The middle grandson threw a royal fit because he didn’t believe it was fair that the older 2 could see and talk to me and he couldn’t…..He feels as I do…an disagreement between me and my daughter should not effect the relationship between me and the grandchildren.

Eventually, right before they moved to Florida, I was able to have all the grandchildren come and spend time with me….

Then they moved away.

I can’t tell you how many times I have cried since then.  I truly miss them so much.

My daughter’s birthday is July 27th.  Last year I made a special effort to go out, buy her a card, express my feelings for her and even sent text messages to her phone along with sending the card…My hope was that she would at least acknowledge them…..My grandson sent me messages reminding me of her birthday  and I told him what I had done.  I even sent a second message so he could read it and know I was trying to mend things…

Nothing worked.

This year, I am torn between sending her a card and just giving up on the relationship we once had.  She has developed a relationship with the father who was never there her whole life….never paid a dime of child support, never changed her diaper as a baby , wiped a tear or kissed a “boo-boo”…..And for the longest time didn’t even know her birthday or who her mother was!!!  He never knew the grandchildren’s birthdays, never sent a card or a present, never attended a game , practice or school event…..or graduation.

I’m starting to think all my effort to mend things isn’t doing any good and I have been slow taking her hint….She doesn’t need me or want me in her life….So should I just give up and go on with my life without my only daughter??

The problem is,what will my grandchildren think of me if I do give up//….Already they have had less and less contact with me….I know they are growing so fast and have lives of their own…They are busy with work and school and sports….Have they also outgrown me??  Am I now only a source of money for all the things they want but my daughter can’t afford??

I need advice….Should I send the card as I always have with a note saying I miss you can’t we still be friends?  or should I just give up and give her time to miss me and hope one day she will???

I don’t know…..

Hugs and Love to all!!!

I’m Tired…..

I’m tired of being the one everyone else depends on….

To do all the work

To do all the photographs

To go to when they need something

To being the “Bank of Mom” (or grandma whichever the case may be)

To do all the shopping or run all the errands

To be the “Taxi” driver

To be the one no thinks about to call or invite out

When will it be MY time??

When will I be the one that everyone wants around just to be around?  To invite out to a dinner or movie?  To ask if there is something they can do for me???  To get something back for all the times I have helped others when they needed it? 

Without thinking twice, I have been the one to offer to help.  I give money out like it was the air we breathe…free and never ending.

I am there with the camera to take all the photos….but I am never in any of them….

I have heard “I will pay you back” so many times….but never received it….yet I still give…

I have taken people to doctor’s appointments, friend’s homes, the store and the hospital…..but if I needed to go somewhere and didn’t have a way, I had to walk.

And I am the one always at home, alone…..No one to talk to….No one to comfort me when I cry for no reason…..No one to tell me I am important to them…..

The only time I hear words of encouragement are from people I have only met through WLS or Facebook….most of them I have never met in person, only through on-line chats….And yet, these are the people who tell me how much I am valued…..

I am Tired……..Tired of thinking that the only way I will be remembered is On-line…..

Hugs and Love to all my Dear friends….

the ones who always think of me…..

The ones who read this

Graduation and car shows….

June 3rd…..

Summer is just around the corner.  The last days of school are here…..County and local fairs are a weekly occurrence now.  Work is keeping me busy with at least 30 hours a week now…and sometimes even more…..

Tomorrow, I will have 30 days remaining of my 90 trial at Wal*Mart and I haven’t had a single problem arise yet….I like my job and the people I work with….I have seen several people be walked out including one that started the same day I did….She didn’t make it 30 days!

I have missed a few things I wanted to go to; The McArthur Wild Turkey Festival, The Oak Hill Festival of Flags, The New Straitsville Moonshine Festival, and the Lancaster Memorial Day Parade…I may be able to attend one day of the Logan Washboard Festival….and if I can find it, I may make it to the Stuebenville Ohio Frontier Days…..

Next Sunday, I have a special trip coming up….The photo club is going on a private tour of the “Wilds” in Zanesville….a privately run open setting of wild animals roaming free….That should be fun…Don’t worry….”Photography Club” means camera will be in tow and all batteries will be charged with extra memory cards in tow…..

I missed my grand-daughter’s graduation in Florida….Not because I wanted to but because she found out at the last minute that they were going to et her graduate; and of course, I was working….That and I really can’t afford any trips right now….never mind one over 855 miles away with gas at almost $4 a gallon….But I have started an account to save for one at a later date.  Mean while, she sent me a photo of her first tattoo. (Before you say anything, I have one, too.) To both of us, they have our own meanings….

Her Tattoo is a symbol of her indecision and suspension between two lives.

Her graduation was bittersweet for her….First, she was graduating without her friends….She moved at the end of her Junior year, starting her Senior year among strangers.  She lived and went to school here for 8 years.  Instead of graduating in Blue with the rest of her close friends, she graduated in Green….in the evening of May 30th…Her friends graduated today at 2 p.m…..It rained at her graduation held outside; the sun shined and a gentle, sometimes strong wind prevailed today for Lancaster’s graduation….

Since I knew many of her class mates here, I decided to attend for her and take photos of some of her friends.

Stephanie (in the back ground) Victoria (also in background) Arianna (with sunglasses) and Shannon, a National Honors Society graduate with Honors

After the caps were thrown into the air, 

the bedlam of finding individuals began….I could only find Arianna who was very willing to stand for an additional photo for her “bestie” who couldn’t be there.

After graduation, I came home and uploaded the photos and  then went to the Fairgrounds with my middle son for a Custom Car Show….

the show was almost over and some cars had already left, but I was still able to get many photos of some nice rides….I hope you enjoy them…..

My son checking out the Fire truck Simon!!!! Is this your car????

Hugs and love to all!