Unsettled Sky

~This picture was taken by Zona, she titled it "Before the Storm" I see the unsettled sky~

Did you ever wake up and on your first eye opener realize that your day was just going to be very different from the day before, kinda like a intution. I have had those lately and it scares the crap out of me, I don't know if its all the change in the air, or just everything being so unsettled.

My mom always looks in the sky (and yes the stars) and tells me "Oh how unsettled the sky looks" however when I look up I don't see it, try as I might I can't see what she sees. Yet, when a new day dawns, and my one eye opens, some days I can feel it. I guess I don't have to see it, for me its the feel. I don't tell my mom I can't see what she sees, as we are both different people and can't always see the same. However my respect for my mom runs deep, so if she sees it, I allow her to, as its her right.

We all look at life differently, our personalities are who we are, it is what we created in ourselves, it is what we believe in. I look at my mom with admiration daily, even tho we don't always see the same thing, it really does not matter. As the respect is was matters most.

I wonder often in my life, how I was taught respect? Did I learn the hard way? Or was it instilled in me as a child? And as I wonder, I think back on my life and see that mostly I was given respect, and if I was not, I respected anyway, in hopes the respect would come forth. And as I write this I see more clearly the unsettled sky, I see my mom, and I see that respect was instilled in me as a child, for even tho the sky might be unsettled, the respect is not, it is clear~

Rich in love

By Lois Lane AKA No_Newz

The fads post and your comments put this blog into action. Seems many of us beautiful owls grew up in meager nests, loved and warm but without extras. I hope as I fly down memory lane, you will find yourself reflecting back.

Growing up Lane was fun, no matter how poor we were. I was the last of eight kids, raised in a three bedroom apartment in Chicago. Dad worked fulltime, and Mom ruled the roost. What we didn't have in material things and popularity, we made up for in other ways.

No matter where we went, we always had seven friends nearby. Seven other people who would always have our back, should there ever come a time. We should have been declared a gang.

Mom and Dad sure lucked out when the Catholic school offered a huge discount for large families. They got a buy three, get five free discount. And they were on that like an alter boy on the communal wine bottle.

Being popular was virtually impossible for a Lane kid. Everyone and everything in our school, St. Whack 'Em on the Knuckles, revolved around the almighty dollar, rather than the almighty, Almighty, if ya know what I'm sayin'. I suppose our parents raised us differently. Rich in love, rich in faith, rich in fun, rich in togetherness, which sometimes resulted in feeling... rich in claustrophobia.

I remember all of the cool and popular girls wore black and white Saddle Shoes. We Lanes had Trax from K-Mart. They were unisex, blue canvas with white stripes on the sides. If you stepped into a puddle, your toes and socks would turn blue. That was my favorite thing about those ugly shoes. I can't tell you how many times I rushed out of the house wearing one shoe that belonged to one of my siblings. That usually resulted in a mini war, ending in a per-syllable-spanking.

I had moments of jealously. Specifically of the kid whose folks brought McDonalds to him at school. I'll never forget how upset my taste buds were as the smell of those French fries wafted, my teeth sunk into my purple stained bread. That darn apple always squished my sandwich, and by lunch time, the jelly had kicked the peanut butter's ass. It was thin as a Frisbee, and purple as an elbow after taking a major brodie onto the concrete.

As I watched that boy enjoy his fast food goodness, and classmates begged to bum a fry, I reached into my lunch bag to get my apple. Instead, I felt paper. It was a note from my mom.

"Dear Lois, have a nice day! I love you! Love, Mom" She drew a smiley face after her name.

I do believe that note kicked that Happy Meal's ass.

Fabulous Fads!

by Bebbi

I just came back from walking. I took my MP3 player and was listening to songs. I came across this song and it made me start thinking about all the wonderful fads there have been.

I have personally lived to see Pop Rocks, Pet Rocks, Gum wrapper chains Clackers, Big Wheels, YoYos, Peace Sign, Disco Dancing, Rubik’s Cube, Hamster Dance, That Dancing Baby, Macarena, Mood rings, Roos and Jelly shoes are a few that come to mind for me. My kids would say Barney, Power Rangers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and a whole host of other fabs.

I picked this video because I don’t think there is a much happier thing that this song. It really gets you to smile, no matter who you are. I think that is what fads do for me. They make me smile and think back fondly of a period of time. Just like music can bring back memories, fads can too!

Gum wrapper chains were an important fad in my life. It helped me to make a way through my parents divorcing when I was 10. I worked on that thing nonstop! I wanted it to go around the house and believe me, it did. I had a piece of it up until a few years ago. It really helped me through a hard time to focus on such a mindless task. I am grateful for that gum wrapper chain. As I was chaining it up, my world was falling apart. It held me together, to go and work on it for hours and not think of all the chaos in my life.

Another important and great fad in my life was disco dancing! My brother and I would go to the teen clubs and do a disco routine. We had a lot of fun together doing that. We would practice and practice on it. My brother is very outgoing and he always made friends wherever we would go.

One fad that made me sad was Roos. I always wanted a pair of the “real” Roos but we could not afford them. So I substituted and got Kmart brand Roos. It just wasn’t the same. To this day, I have a bookmark for Roos at Zappos. I am going to buy myself a pair of the real ones someday.

So Enjoy the Hamster Dance and tell me all about which fads mean a lot to you?

Wonderment of Beginning's

Today is a day of a new beginning, our new President will be chosen today, as we the people have spoken, and will be voting for who we believe will be the best person to lead our country.

My vote for President might perhaps be different from yours, our views for what we want in a President might be different as well. However by days end our differences will have to be cast aside and our common thread will begin as we will share the same President. Some might not be happy with the choice that was voted on, and some might be ecstatic. No matter what our feelings, it is what shall be, and we will be a America with a new President. I only hope that these changes that were so very much wanted by both parties, become reality and all the talk was not for naught.

As I continue on my day and wait patiently for the results, I will also be thinking of this blog, as today marks our 300th blog. It has been quite a journey, a journey that was so unexpected yet so satisfying. My written word that was hidden for so many of my years, has surfaced, and given me such pleasure. The daily blogs that have been created here, by myself and others have become a start to my day. The friendships that have been made are just a testament of how this blog creates a wonderment of life.

Life is full of surprises at every turn. And today is no exception. We will be surprised as to our President elect, and just as surprised to realize we have all been thru 300 blogs. Much different of course, but life just the same.

Wonderment of Beginnings, it is just the journey, its the road, straight, narrow, curvy, no matter the form, it will be life~

What's in a name?

by Sacbarb

Zona and I were talking about names the other day and I told her I didn't like my maiden name. I never looked forward to the first day of school, because every teacher would screw it up. It was a long (12 letters) Italian name and all they had to do was sound it out, but it seemed to intimidate anyone who read it for the first time. So when the teacher started to take roll on the first day of school, I would answer "HERE" as soon as she said "Barbara," to save me (and the teacher) the embarrassment.

When I was around 10, I asked my parents if we could change our name to the English translation and my Father had a fit. I got the lecture of how I should be proud of our name, blah, ,blah, blah. I was 10 for heaven sake, I just wanted a 'normal' last name. My mother blamed my attitude on our moving to Los Angeles when I was 4, because if I grew up in New York, where I was born and had tons of Italian relatives, I would think our name was normal.

When I started dating, I would only date boys with easy last names. I dated John Mason, Edward Jones, Bill Raleigh (I thought he said Reilly or I may have declined) Joe Duncan, and others whose names escape me, but I know they were easy to pronounce. I didn't want to take the chance of falling in love with some hard to pronounce last name guy and have my kids go through what I went through. I eventually married -you guessed it- a man with an easy (even common) last name.

Of course, now when I look back on it, I feel badly that I didn't appreciate my heritage when I was young. I think my Mother was right, that if I grew up with all my cousins, I wouldn't have given it another thought. But then I also wouldn't have met my Husband and had 33 1/2 years with him and we wouldn't have had our three wonderful sons. So there IS a reason for everything, even my attitude.

What did you think of your name when you were a child? Or did you even give it a thought or just take it for granted?

♪♪ Downtown ♪♪

Petula Clark - Downtown (1964 TOTP)


I just love old songs, even if they were popular when I was a small child, if the song made a impact, it could go on forever. This is one of those songs, when I hear it today on the radio, I turn the volume up and sing along with the song, as this song just makes me feel happy, and when one is happy, how can you not sing along.

I adore this video, the singing, the dancing, everything about it makes me smile, and I am hoping you are smiling too.

Enjoy!

:O)

Trick or Treat Treats

by VIG

Based on an idea from Zona! Thanks, kiddo!



So it’s the day after Halloween. When I was a kid, this day was as important as Halloween itself because this was the day that you really got to spend time with the candy haul from the night before. It was a day, if one could swing it with parents, that candy was on the menu for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. It was a time to sort the candy and create groupings….my categories were always along the lines of chocolate, chewy, and rejects. It was the big negotiation day and the trade period of the rejects for siblings’ non-faves. It was a day of really treasuring the best and getting rid of the ones you weren’t happy to find in that pillow case candy bag. Apples, raisins, peanuts, and toothbrushes were definitely in my discard or trade pile. In the olden days when I was a wee trick or treater, homemade caramel apples or popcorn balls were a true find. It kind of saddens me that those have had to go the way of the dinosaur. Mars bars, Smarties (Canadian version of M&M’s), Oh Henry’s (Canadian?), Reese’s and Twizzlers were always my most treasured candy treasures and I hung on to those ones tightly and savored every bite.

What was your favourite candy to get at Halloween? What didn’t you like to get? Do you give out the kind of candy now that you liked to get as a kid?