Grateful

by EBJ

I got this video from a friend and thought it would be great to post as a blog It is really touching, and sad, and eye-opening.

The family at the end will make you get teary-eyed.

View this movie at cultureunplugged.com

YELLING FIRE

by Lynnd

That saying means so much. I understand why you would not yell that in a crowded theater and why it is used when you may be getting attacked both practical practices in my mind. When your husband yells it through your backdoor on a day when your back 4 acres has just been mowed and is in the process of being baled for hay it may cause a little panic!

When this happened to me the other day I have to admit I went into a low level of panic after I confirmed that yes indeed we did have a fire going in the back of our property in a year when everything is tinder dry. I suddenly felt like I was in an “I love Lucy” rerun and I was Lucy.

I immediately ran for the phone to call 911 I reached for that baby like it was a lifeline and then it dawned on me the damn thing is one of the new wonderful cordless phones that don’t freaking work when the power is out!!! Did I mention the cable and power were out? (See my post on July 23rd) after thinking oh fuck, I remembered I had an old stand by phone that I have saved for just such an occasion and it was sitting in the bookcase very close. I ran across the room grabbed it and hurriedly plugged it in. Dial tone, Thank Heavens! I dial 911 CRAAAAAP it won’t go through, I keep getting a high pitched beep instead. I slam the phone down panic rising by the moment. It finally dons on me (I know some of you were already thinking this, Shut up Tina) grab your damn cell phone!! Yep I finally remembered I have a cell phone for emergencies and this was one heck of one. I have it in my grasp and punch in 911, damn why isn’t it ringing. Hello stupid you have to punch call!!! Finally it is ringing. What do I hear? “All Circuits Are Busy At This Time” WTF!!!!!

I close the phone going into full panic mode now and the landline phone rings. I race across the room again and run into the wall trying to get to the damn thing. I right myself and grab it like a life preserver being thrown off a boat. I answer and I hear. “Hello this is 911 we received a hang up 911 call from this number”. I immediately respond with “Yes you did it was me and my property is on fire!!!!! They ask “Where is your property?” I gather my wits enough to give them the location and then they ask “Do you know how the fire started?” My brain goes into WTF again and I respond “NO and I really don’t care right now as MY FIELD IS ON FIRE!” Good lord do I have to do all the work for them? They finally realize I am on the verge and say they will send someone right away.

Mr. Lynn D pokes his head in the door and asks if I had called 911? I tell him Yes! “Then where are the fire trucks?” Ok I have to say at this point I am about to lose it!! I yell at him “how the hell do I know?” “Maybe it’s a slow day for the one operator at the damn one horse phone company we have!” He retreats out the door. I grab my cell phone and head outside while trying to keep the dogs inside. I think they realize I am on the edge and cooperate for once.

I finally get outside and smoke is billowing and you can see flames jumping. In all of this it finally dawns on me the guy baling our hay is still baling away! I keep thinking does he know the field is on fire??? Yep he knows hubby runs back to tell me Al is digging a trench on our side of the fence to try to create a break to stop the fire. He has a front loader on that baler and is going to town! Finally we hear sirens wailing away in the distance and 3 fire trucks arrive above our property on the state highway that runs to the back. Thank God! They are spraying foam and water like crazy! Seems that the wire supporting the power pole snapped and being under pressure it flew up and hit the power lines that caused sparking, hence the fire and also knocked out the power, cable and all.

The whole neighborhood is out watching and hoping that they knock it down fast. Cars are backed up on the state highway both directions. Thanks to Al the baling guy and the fire fighters they stop it before it can spread onto our property and the neighbors next door. Yay!!!!!

What I learned from all of this is that I am not as unflappable as I thought! I have always been someone who stayed calm in a crisis and then fell apart, but for some reason age, peri menopause, not doing Pilates, who knows? I went into panic mode and then was finally laughing by the time it was all over. Oh and Al he just continued to bale the hay after the fire fighters arrived. He is about eighty and I guess at that age nothing seems too dire and should never interfere with doing your job. I think he may have already been through menopause.

The Song ♪♪Africa♪♪

Chosen by EBJ

This fun YouTube video features a 1980s pop classic. The rock band Toto scored their biggest hit with Africa in 1982. The song is instantly recognizable. But it has been reinvented.

Perpetuum Jazzile is an a cappella jazz choir from Slovenia. It’s hard to think of something further from an ‘80s rock band. But their version of Africa may best the original. The group has amazing voices.

But the beginning of this video is really striking. Group members simulate an African thunderstorm with their hands. It’s really something to see and hear.

Buffet

by Iteach

Recently I went out to eat with my co-workers at a wonderful Italian restaurant. This place is known for its delicious buffet. Tons of pizza, all kinds of pastas, different types of bread, and yummy dessert. It is a wonderful experience for your taste buds. Unfortunately on that day when we went I was on diet #826, so I had a nice salad.

Now eating the salad did not make me sad at all, it was my friends who chose the buffet that made me sad. They went up to the mouth watering buffet and they all came back with a little slice of pizza, a tablespoon of pasta, and a little piece of bread. I just couldn't believe it! God created buffets to fill up the whole plate at LEAST twice with luscious food not just 3/4 of a plate. I felt so sorry for the buffet.

Now I know what you are thinking. Due to the fact that I treat the buffet with respect is the reason why I'm on diet #826. Yes, there could be some truth to that, I won't deny it. My thoughts are either do the buffet right or just order something else.

I wondered if my co-workers would have filled there plates different, if they were not with their peers? If they were with their husband or children would they have filled their plates? Do they hold back because they are worried what people are thinking? Or do they have excellent control?

I have recognized that I have no control when it comes to buffets not even when I was a skinny minnie. Boy do I love food!!! Thank goodness we will always have Shirley' buffets. They are perfect for every type of eater.

~ Pie-n-Beer Day ~

by Tina~in_ut

Last year I told you about Pioneer Day. It's a state holiday celebrated mostly by Mormons as the day they came to the state of Utah to settle and to also base their religion here. Well, last Sunday at church, the priest was making some announcements at the end of mass and invited everyone to get together Friday night for Pie-n-Beer Day. I couldn't help but laugh with everyone else.

This particular church is across the street from the university and quite a few students come to the 7pm mass even during the summer. Fr. Peter likes to have dinners after mass for people to get together and get to know each other. We have stayed for these dinners a few times. I have never heard of Pie-n-Beer Day, though. There is a pizza place around the corner called The Pie and there will be beer for those over 21 and root beer for those who are not.

As I said last year, I try to be out of state on the 24th. This year, no such luck. We may have guests staying with us over the weekend. This may be the first time I celebrate the day. You can bet, though, that I'll be celebrating Pie-n-Beer Day instead~

Clowns

by Dianne_in_Denver

My granddaughter was here the other day and brought up one of my clowns from my collection downstairs. It got me thinking about how so many people dislike clowns. I know it has been mentioned on the blog before.

As a child, I was afraid of clowns, but then again, I was afraid of Santa Claus, too. When I grew up, I was no longer afraid of either of them.

I find it interesting that so many people think clowns are "creepy." We have aliens, the vampires from Twilight, and different things from movies of today, and no one seems to be bothered by them. Sooooooooooo, I was wondering if you non-clown people would tell me why you don't like them.

p.s. - I'm sure most of you are saying that if I am thinking about these things during the day, maybe I should get more of a life or read a book or something!!!

~ Size Really Doesn't Matter ~

By Tina~in_ut, Dianne_in_Denver, and Maureen

Tina~

When I got married, I weighed 121 lbs. I thought I was a little overweight. My tummy was a little pudgy. Hubby liked me the way I was, so I didn't do much about it. When I got pregnant the first time, I ate like there was no tomorrow. I got up to 153 lbs at my heaviest. It took me two years to lose the weight, but I think it was because of the stress of moving to another state and building a new house. When I got pregnant with the twins, I was 156 lbs at my heaviest. I was on bedrest for over 3 months, in the hospital for 3 weeks, and forced to eat tons of food daily. I'm not even joking about that. A nurse came to tell me that I wasn't eating enough for the kids and I needed to add snacks in between meals. I followed every meal with a maalox chaser. It was the only way I could get all the food in that they wanted me to eat!

After the twins were born, I had no muscle tone. I couldn't walk very far without getting tired. I was tired anyway after staying up with the kids all night long. And I was constantly hungry. I was 143 lbs after giving birth, but within a month, I was back to 156 lbs because I kept up my eating habits. The only problem was, since I was constantly on the go, the "stuff" I was putting in my mouth was junk food.

As the years went by, I stayed pretty constant at around 155 lbs. I was never one for exercise and my idea of fun was sitting down to read a book or scrapbook. I've always been all right with that because right after my first child was born, my hubby's great uncle took one look at me and said that I finally looked healthy to him. He said that he always thought I was too thin, especially since I am 5' 8". I think that was the first time I really accepted the fact that I didn't need to get back to my 121 lb self.

A couple of years ago, I noticed that my clothes weren't fitting like they used to. I really thought that hubby had shrunk my clothes in the dryer! (That would have been a mean feat since I don't let him touch the laundry!!!!!) I started weighing myself and "magically" I had gained over 10 lbs. Last December, I gained more. I didn't think anything about me had changed. I still ate the same and still didn't exercise. I still worked the same job......sitting all day long. The only thing I can think of now that may have caused the weight gain was the fact that I was upset about a couple of things in my life, and when I get upset, I eat junk. The funny thing was, I didn't care. Hubby, and even my father, commented on my weight gain....and not too nicely, I might add! Once, my dad made the mistake of commenting during "that time of the month!" Not a good thing to do to someone who is PMS'ing!!! He and my mom have been trying to get me to stop drinking my Diet Pepsi's as well, to no avail. I've always told them, I'm not ready and left it at that.

Six weeks ago, I came home from Denver with the flu. After day 2, I started to get that headache you get when coming off caffeine. I thought that maybe since I was already going through the pain of that, and a DP didn't sound good at all, that I would try to give it up. When I decided that, I thought maybe if I could do that, I could try eating right and exercising. I've lost 9 lbs since then. The important thing is, I'm doing it because I want to do it and not because someone is telling me to or shaming me into it. It's my decision and if I decide to stop, or I just give up, that's my decision as well. I'm happy with who I am. It shouldn't matter if I'm 100 lbs of funny or 200 lbs of funny!!!!

Dianne~

When I was a child, I was a normal active person. I was tall (5'10") and life moved along. I came from a big, not heavy, family so my height probably ate up the weight. As I married and had my first child, my weight "blossomed", so I did the normal diets, and then I had my second child and I "blossomed" again. Time marched on and my weight went up and down. I, like most people, always wanted and tried to lose weight and did the yo-yo thing.

I find that I am now at my highest weight. I have had a lot of health issues over the last few years. I have been on oxygen and had knee replacement and have always had leg issues from a car accident many years ago. As I get older and since I am not as healthy, it is hard to be an active person. If I try and walk far, I can't breathe, my knee/leg hurts and then my back hurts. It becomes a very vicious circle and it sounds like (and probably is) a lot of excuses. I can't exercise because of my problems and I need to exercise because of my problems.

I thought when I retired I would really lose weight without all those morning donuts, the daily lunch that we NEVER could miss, snacks in the afternoon and then dinner. I now sleep late, am not a snacker, and usually eat one meal a day. Now I will not say this is a healthy life-style, but I take in so many less calories and I have still gained weight. You would think, at the very least, that I would have stayed the same!!!

I don't hear many people very pleased about their size from my DIL at size 3 to larger sized people. I had to laugh today as MARY was saying what a young face I have and she thought I was younger than she is now. I am one year older, but explained to her that when you are heavy you usually don't have wrinkles at my age...double/triple chins maybe, but hell, no wrinkles. I am who I am: a fun, happy night owl.


Maureen~

My name is Maureen and some of you know me as a piggy girl! The truth of the matter is I AM a piggy girl! I am fat. Not chubby. Not pleasingly plump. Not pudgy. FAT. FAT. FAT. And I don't care. Love me...love my fat. A wise owl told me once that it doesn't matter what I look like because she knows me from the inside...not from the outside. Sandie, I will always remember that! I was always fat. As a child, teen and adult. I was tormented as a kid. BUDDHA. FATSO. PIG. Even then I didn't care. I love food. I love the taste, the smells, the creativity that goes with cooking, the social aspects, the comfort of it. I also could hide behind the fat. I didn't have to take responsibility for things...they didn't happen due to anything I did...it happened because I was fat.

When I met a gorgeous man, Bill, I was fat. I couldn't really understand why he wanted to be with me. But he did. Not long after we met, I wanted to lose weight. I wanted to be the best looking girlfriend I could be. I joined NutriSystem. One of the kindest and most loving things he ever said to me was that he hoped I wasn't doing it for him, as he loved me the way I was, but that I was doing it for me. I ended up losing 60 pounds going from a 16 to an 8...and we broke up! I think he was actually threatened by the attention I got.

I have been thin. A few times! Never skinny, but thin and rather sexy! Cute figure, cute clothes, good hair, great sense of humor...what more could anyone want? LOL!! I did enjoy the cat calls, the hoots, the hollas...the reflection in the mirror. But the love of food won out. I have owned clothes in every size...8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20. I called them my thin, not as thin, not as fat, fat, oopsies, holy cow and oh shit sizes! I won't divulge my current size except to say it isn't a 20 nor is it an 8! I still have the 10's and up...maybe someday I will wear them again. Or maybe not!

When I became unemployed a couple of years ago, I was a 10/12. Then my savings thinned out and my waistline grew...and grew...and grew. I found I could eat cheaper if I ate unhealthy. A pound of bologna cost $2.99 and a loaf of bread was $.85...lunch and dinner for a week for under $4...YIPPEE! And it was mighty tasty. Then I got a job where I sit. All day...everyday. Even though I have given up the bologna (haven't had it since I went back to work) I still am FAT. I do eat better, but not good enough. And I don't seem to care. I seem to be content...fat. Not content with my life, but content with my fatness.

They say size doesn't matter...OH HELL TO THE YEAH it does!! But not regarding my current size...