Did I Really Read This?? and other musings
Scary stuff, this whole religiously infused political climate. I am appalled at the attitude of the christian right. They do not represent christians as a whole and I find it particularly offensive that they presume to speak for the entire country. I find them closed minded, homophobic and intolerant of diversity and people who are not like them. So the wicked witch of the Florida election debacle of past has reared her ugly head again with some extreme pandering to the right. It is laughable and unbelievable. Katherine Harris has stated that the separation of church and state is a lie. She presumes to tell us that is not what our founding fathers intended, despite all evidence to the contrary. Gee, I thought religious tyranny was one of the things our founding fathers did not want to occur in this country - having had hundreds of years of it before. Katharine Harris said all this in an interview in the Florida Baptist Witness. She said
"that lie we have been told, the separation of church and state, people have internalized, thinking that they needed to avoid politics and that is so wrong because God is the one who chooses our rulers. And if we are the ones not actively involved in electing those godly men and women and if people aren’t involved in helping godly men in getting elected than we’re going to have a nation of secular laws. That’s not what our founding fathers intended and that’s certainly isn’t what God intended. " She went on to exclaim that God selects our leaders. So then what you are telling me is that when the christian right have a candidate that they find offensive and not like minded - then God selected them? Or wait, will we have to claim that Satan slipped them in. Hey folks, you cannot have it both ways now. Either God selects all leaders or none.
You can read the interview
here - so you can see that I am not skewing the interview. (That whole liberal democrat conspiracy thing you know).
While we are talking about Ms. Harris - let's take a peek at her and hmmmm, did God help her out over the past few years? Was it his will to have a nose job, eye job, etc? I suppose God wanted only an "attractive leader"... go figure?
BEFORE
Notice the nose, forehead and eye areas. Kind of scary don't you think? (Sorry John Walsh, only pic I could find), She also has the helmet head hairstyle, which fit her facist leanings back then but now on to a softer, more pleasant (but still whacky) Harris.....
Let's take a look at her "official" picture that is now used.
AFTER
Wow, extreme makeover to the rescue. Check out the new and improved Katharine Harris. Hmm, you go you God selected politico.
Maybe it is just me but damn it sure boggles the mind.
Dateline--August 27 - Bismarck, ND
I am in Bismarck, ND this week. I arrived today, after flying to Minneapolis and then on to Bismarck. Bismarck is the capitol of North Dakota. 57,000 people live here. A small town really. Very clean and lots of open garages, kids riding around on bikes alone, etc. The capitol (on the left) is a couple of blocks from my hotel. I will be doing training there this week. The green area in front of the capitol was full of folks today, families just chilling out, young adults playing rugby, etc. Something you do not see at the Capitol in Little Rock.
Bismarck is the size of Jonesboro. Can you imagine Jonesboro as our capitol? Well there ya go. Not a whole lot here but what is here is kind of neat. It is cooler here and breezy, I suppose that is because we are in the "plains". I did a quick search and last year there was 1 murder. The year before that NONE. Jonesboro reported 3 on a site I googled real quick. Let's not even start comparing it with Little Rock.
Today I have been thinking a lot about my brother, Billy. He would be 39 now. He left us in 1987, much too young and much too soon. I still miss him very much. I often think of how he would be now. When we get together with friends, he invariably comes up. He is still so much apart of so many of us. Whenever I listen to Robert Cray, I think of him. He was such a gregarious guy. He never met a stranger, he had the keenest sense of humor, he was devilish and fun. He was also sensitive and inquisitive. He also befriended all sorts of people, sometimes to the chagrin of his very dear friends from grade school. I love him so much and miss him very much. He is the person who got me hooked on this album (it was an album back then) and it is still one of my favorites...
Go grab a loved one and hug them, tell them how much they mean to you. Tomorrow could be too late.
You say Tomahto, I say Tomato
It's lunchtime in Memphis. I ran upstairs to grab a take out lunch from our in building cafeteria. I ordered their lasagna, which comes with 2 veggies, bread and a drink for $5.00. They were out of green beans and black eyed peas so I went with corn on the cob and
sliced tomatoes. I think it is a southern thing that whole "sliced tomatoes" as a vegetable selection but I could be wrong.
Now I am not talking fancy, schmancy sliced tomatoes with cheese and basil, etc. I am talking plain old sliced tomatoes.
I got back to my desk and opened the container and found that they had already added mayonnaise to the tomatoes. Now we are talking!! YEA baby. That is the way to serve up some sliced tomatoes. It is expected that you want mayo on your tomatoes. We are not talking no
wussy Miracle Whip either... we are talking mayonnaise. For the record, mayonnaise is "Hellman's" because you know you want to Bring out the best.....
P. S. You can run a tab at this cafeteria and pay later. They just write it on an index card and file it. Tell me someplace in New York City or Los Angeles where you can do that!!
Breast OWgmentation & Hot Lesbians
Breast Augmentation, boob job, breast implants, whatever you want to call it. I call it painful looking. Ouch, I hurt thinking about that whole "moving the nipple thing". Yet, sometimes the results look really go
od on some people and then other times....
You just have to wonder what thought process said "Hey, D cup just won't do. I need to be at least a Double H. Yes, that is it, a Double H. I mean more is better right?
Wrong.So I got sucked into another "reality" show of sorts "Workout". It is about this HOT lesbian who owns a gym/personal training business. Now I am no lesbian but I play one on tv, ok no I d
on't. This is one sexy, hot lady. Check her and her killer body out... Jackie is her name. She is really stunning. She has this annoying girlfriend, Mimi. Mimi is a pouty, whiny, self centered leech. I think they may have broken up for good since Mimi threw her drink at Jackie in the club in front of her staff of trainers. DRAMA.
Mimi is not that attractive. She almost has a snake like loo
k about her. She does not wear petulance well..... This is Mimi in one of her angry, brooding, "woe is me - you treat me so bad" moments...that pretty much sums up all of her moments.
Will Jackie find a new love? Will Jackie get her clothing line launched? Will Rebecca quit showing clients the pic on her phone of her boyfriends really HUGE appendage? Tune in... let me know what you think!
Blues City has the BLUES
A legend left us this past weekend. Chef
Bonnie Mack, of Blues City Cafe on Beale in Memphis, died on Saturday August 16.
"BonnieMack" (like it was all one word) was THE Chef on Beale Street since 1991.
I met Bonnie Mack in the 80s when he was working at Doe's Eat Place in Little Rock, Arkansas. We became acquainted more through his stint at Johnny's Market Cafe on Louisiana Street downtown Little Rock. Johnny's was an outstanding lunch place. The food was YUM. The menu varied but they always had a couple of items on the line, one of them being these "to die for" roasted potatoes. My coworkers and I would go through the line and we would all order those potatoes. Bonnie Mack would dish up 3-4 slices of those potatoes on everyone's plate but mine. When he got to me, I got that wonderful smile you see there in his picture, and 5 - 6 slices of those potatoes. I, being the pig that I am, ate those potatoes with much conviction. In fact, I can attribute some of these thighs to Bonnie Mack. When Johnny's closed we sorely missed the food and his smiling face. We could catch him at Doe's Eat Place but in 1991 - he moved to Memphis with Doe's. They opened up on a corner of Beale Street. Doe's eventually became Blues City Cafe and Chef Mack ruled Beale Street for almost 16 years. Whenever I would come over to Memphis and we made our way to Beale, I would always stop in and say hi to Bonnie Mack. He always tried to feed you or get you a drink. He was good that way.
He cooked for famous folks and the not so famous and treated each the same. President Clinton was a fan of his cooking back before he was President. There are many stories about how much of Bonnie Mack's cooking he did eat and enjoy! There were several
obits and tributes to him in Memphis this week. This Saturday they will send him on with a service at the Baptist Church on Beale Street followed by a processional, complete with musicians, down Beale Street. A fitting send off for a heck of a guy. Memphis will not be the same without you Mr. Mack!
Little People Dancers
In Fort Wayne, IN this week I saw this odd sign. I saw it my first day there on my way to a nice mall. It is, obviously, a gentleman's club aka a strip joint.
My co trainer took this picture the last night we were there. Midget Dancer. What images that conjures up for me. However, isn't the term "midget" no longer acceptable. I believe the preferred, and politically correct, terminology is Little People. Of course, I guess the term "Little People Dancer" would not have the same impact. There was a street level sign that said "Little Sisters" and the same dates.
Is this a huge draw really? Isn't this exploitive? I did a google search of this and got tons of porn sites, of course. Then there were some pictures of some little people strippers and one bills herself as "Bridget the Midget". There are even several sites in NYC that offer up the rental of "midget strippers and bartenders" for your next event. Who would want to "rent" another human being simply for the oddity?
I have to admit this colors my vanilla view of Fort Wayne a bit. I am guessing there is an underside, sordid side of Fort Wayne that we never saw while there. Not that we would. I only saw this because Shangri-La is on a major road out of downtown and to the uber fancy suburbs.
I am still scratching my head and wondering if men all across Fort Wayne are giddy with excitement at the thought of being the first in the club on the 23rd. What do you think?
EVIL
These "two-bite" brownies are evil. They lure you in with the thought of "hmmmm just two bites, so they are tiny and hardly have any sugar in them." So you buy a bag and take them home. Sometime later you think "hmm, I have those two bite brownies in there, I will eat one." Two bites later you get another and then a third. You walk off. You repeat this scenario several times over the weekend. EVIL I tell you - just pure decadent, delicious and wonderful EVIL.
Hello from Fort Wayne!
Fort Wayne, Indiana. What is here you ask? Hmmm, I am not sure. I did see something about Johnny Appleseed. I did see the remaining structures of "Fort Wayne". So far, what I have seen of FW - it is ok. There are some lovely parts of the city and some not so lovely parts (like any place). Lots of green here, I like that (green as in grass, trees, etc..).
The Little Rock airport was eerily empty Sunday morning. The past 5 times I have flown out on a Sunday - it has been packed!! This time, when I got to screening there were just 2 people ahead of me. The screening was no different than before. In fact, it went faster than it has in a long time! However, once you got past all that and got to the gate, they had it blocked where you had to come in at one area and they then hand searched your bags. I did not see them at every gate and I am not sure how they picked which gates to do it at. I thought maybe they were making sure you did not go purchase something like a bottled water and try to sneak it on or something. However, in Chicago I could have slipped just about anything on (hand cream, lip gloss - the whole works).
It is cooler here than in Arkansas and I am enjoying that. It was stormy today so I had wonderful humidity hair. For me that means a huge frizzy mess.
So Lana tagged us Scrapmuse gals with blogs- so here I go and my answers are in bold, unless I had to qualify an answer:
YOUR HOMECoffee table or soft ottoman?
NeitherFlower arrangements or
candle-scapes?
TV/DVD/stereo
black or silver?
Garden annuals or
perennials?
Antiques & flea finds or matching sets?
Mixture of old and newOffice or
junk drawer? (make that plural)YOUR SELFPony tail or butterfly clip?
Make-up or nada?
if I do not want to scare off the worldCotton or synthetics?Flip flops or leather sandals?Silver or gold? ( all of these apply)WITH HUBBY (for me Boyfriend)Fine dining or picnics? ( of course, we consider the Whole Hog Cafe to be fine dining!)
In
jammies or unmentionables?
You click the remote or he does?
Theater or
rent?
NetflixLowes or the mall?
House work or hire it out?
Ok, so I met the challenge... step up ladies!!
Finally, I am watching David Letterman and Gnarls Barkley is performing "Crazy
". I like this song, it is pretty cool. They are interesting to look at though ---> I also went to Barnes & Noble yesterday and picked up a couple of cd's; I got Joss Stone - The Soul Sessions. Her version of "The Chokin Kind" and
"Dirty Man" are just awesome. I love this cd.
I also picked up a Lucinda Williams cd that I have been meaning to get for a couple of years . I have been a fan on Lucinda Williams for several years. She was in Little Rock a couple of years ago at Robinson
Auditorium and a whole bunch of us from the station went. It was fantastic! If you like chick singers - then I recommend either of these.
Elevated Threat Level Insanity
I just hate all this "elevated threat level" stuff. I have felt for a long time that it was used as a means of playing on the fears of Americans. This daily reminder is used to control our fear and reaction at whim. It has allowed this administration to railroad so many of our civil rights - hidden in the name of "security".
Now, we are banned from taking even more things on the plane. To be honest, why don't they ban carry ons other than one that holds your laptop, etc. NO clothing, etc... I get so tired of being behind those folks, cramming with all their might, an overstuffed bag or two (not to mention their backpack) into the area above your head.
Nevertheless, we are now banned from taking on the following extremely dangerous and deadly substances........ this is not all inclusive... Here are some of the no-nos
Liquid Foundation - they will take it. If it is expensive stuff this will likely piss you off!
Hand cream - yep that dangerous stuff that women all over the world carry in their purses to attack folks with.
Lip Gloss - oooh another bad one. Bad, bad lip gloss. What? You might slather some on your lips and give someone the kiss of death?
Mascara - hmmm? Do you see a trend here? Makeup? Hell if this stuff is this deadly, maybe we need not be wearing it. OR maybe there have been plots for men to come on board planes and go to the bathroom and turn themselves into a drag queen? What a horridly, evil plot. How wicked in its design and terror!!
Seriously, I understand they want us to be safe. I understand that there is a war on tarrrre (terror for those that do not speak Bush). But come on, really now are we taking this a bit too far? I understand things with alcohol content (hand sanitizers, hair sprays, hair gels, etc..) I do. But lip gloss? Mascara? Come on get real. When was the last freaking time a woman did anything to terrorize anyone on a plane? Those 19 pigs that conducted the chicken shit acts of 9/11 were all MEN, every last one of them. While we are at it, let's also be real - they were of middle eastern origin. They were not 68 year old grandpas from Kansas City, or 15 year old cheerleaders from Dallas, or 92 year old great grandmas from California or even a 45 year old, 26 year federal employee, female from Arkansas. Not a single one of them were anything other than Middle Eastern Males. Hello? I see a pattern here and it ain't with the folks carrying on a tube of lip gloss. Now am I saying every Middle Eastern Male is a terrorist? NO!! I am saying let's just be realistic here and recognize the real threat. Most folks flying are not the real threats.
Oh yes, Jello, Yogurt and any other food item of a similar consistency is banned. Bottled water is banned. Great - I just love that tiny cup of water you get when they finally get around to you about 40 minutes into the flight. Fine, I can live with it. You cannot bring your coffee on the plane with you. This sucks - trust me - I take that 6am flight to Cincinatti out of Little Rock periodically and they do not provide coffee on the flight!! 6am and no coffee... YIKES.
Oh yes, mom - don't you dare bring that teething and crying baby of yours to the screening area with a gel teething ring. Banned. Great - I hope I do not have to sit next to the poor child teething with no teether ring, no anbesol because it is a gel or topical ointment, no liquid tylenol or liquid advil whatever you give kids these days. NADA. Doesn't that make for a pleasant trip.
I fly out tomorrow, going to take my bee bar hand cream (it is literally a bar, like a bar of soap). Bars of soap are not on the banned list but liquid soap is. I just know they are going to take it. You are supposed to be allowed to take lip balm in a tube that is not liquid - yea let's see my burt's bees lip balm make it through. Flying is becoming such a pain, wonder if a train goes to Fort Wayne, Indiana?
It's the Weekend Baby!!
Whoo hoo! We made it to Friday. It is officially the weekend, baby! See this little jewel to the left? Yep, that cool, delicious looking Margarita... I plan on having a couple of those this evening. We are meeting up with John & Becky and Dano & T for dinner at Senor Tequila. Mmmm, I can almost taste it now. They have great margaritas there. I like mine on the rocks. Reminds me of when I was in Mexico last year at El Placer (in the middle of nowhere, on the beach, about 1 hour North of Belize) and I ordered a "margarita on the rocks" and Alex, the cook, looked at me sort of confused. He then said "really?" and I said "Yes". Then it hit me, he thought I literally meant on rocks instead of ice. Kim, the owner of the place we were at told me on ice. We all had a good laugh about it. In any event, Margaritas and Camarones el diablo are on tap for me tonight.
We are supposed to go to a pool party at Flap's house tomorrow afternoon. The pool being a big inflatable kiddie pool!! How fun is that? She is cooking outside, we will have cold drinks and beer and if we get too hot, well then you can sit in the kiddie pool. We are also looking at a house with 17 acres near Pinnacle Mountain. Not sure what will come of that but we are looking.
Sunday I leave for Fort Wayne, Indiana (what the heck is there to do in Fort Wayne?). I am allowing extra time at the airport for all the shampoo, cologne, hand cream, breath spray, etc.. that they will be confiscating to make me safer. Yes, I am worried about grandma with her hand cream. That sums it up for me.
Hope you have an outstanding weekend!! I plan on it.
Monday, Monday
Things are fine. I am so over Denver - I have to be.
I had a great weekend. We (Michael, Maya and I) went to Siloam Springs to see his sister and her husband's new house. It is a cute house, with a great yard. They will have a great time decorating it. Their housewarming was fun and we met some cool folks. We spent the night in Springdale and took a leisurely drive home on Sunday. We slept late (and it felt good) and went to Atlanta Bread Company in Fayetteville for lunch. We ate outdoors with Maya at our feet. It was great!
We took the old hwy 71 home. I love that drive and the views are awesome. The interstate is faster for sure but you just do not get those views from I-540.
I took a couple of bottle of wines to the open house and we opened a Spanish Red. It was outstanding!! I highly recommend this wine to you if you like red, with a tiny hint of sweet. It was the best Spanish red I have had in a long time. It was very inexpensive, as well.
This is a pic to the right. It even has a bull charm around the neck. I think I paid around $10 for the bottle. A great find! I intend to purchase more to keep around the house for family and friends that stop by.
On the way home we stopped in Morrilton at McDonald's. Maya and I shared a vanilla ice cream cone sitting outside on the curb with my feet in the grass and the sun beaming down on us. It was great!! Those little things just make me smile.
When we got home and unloaded, Maya and Michael took a nap together on the couch. They snuggle up and the snoring begins.
She loves to snooze with him for sure. Check out this pic from a while back and you will see what I am talking about... Don't they look like two peas in a pod? I think so.
I piled on the bed and read the Sunday paper. I found a home on 17 acres in Roland and we have an appointment next Saturday to look at it. Who knows? We really want to build but we just might find the perfect house already built.
I am happy. I am content. I have many wonderful and
diverse friends that I have learned so much from. They enrich my life by being a part of it and I would not have it any other way. I was looking at our calendar for the next several months and we have a monthly dinner with friends, we have a lake outing with friends and families, we have our annual retreat to the top of Petit Jean Mountain with friends, we have King Biscuit with friends, we have birthdays and holidays. We have family events. We have enriched lives and for that, we are thankful!! I love them all! Sorry to gush poetic here but recent events opened my eyes to the fascinating people I already know. I am lucky that I have met all these people. How sad would life be if I limited myself to just one type of friend? Pretty sad, I think.
Mile High Musings
Yes, I was in the Mile High City - or very close to it. I went last Friday and returned Wednesday afternoon. While it is great to travel and see old friends, it is always wonderful to come home and sleep in your own bed!! I missed Michael and Maya and it was good to get home to them.
The weather in Denver was HOT! However, it does help that it is not humid like it is here. Not sure what I would have done if it was hot and humid...just melted I guess. The other wonderful thing about the weather there is that it is always nice in the evening and at night. So sleeping was just fine.
I got to see some dear friends from my early teen years. I lived there from 1973 - 77, so I think it makes it ok for me to talk about Colorado, how it used to be and how it is now. I was told that since I did not live there I should not say anything about Colorado and I think "hmm, whatever happened to free speech".
I enjoyed Friday at the pool, swimming with the kids and visiting with Mrs. R. We had a wonderful dinner that night with a lovely family. The food was great, the fellowship of friends was outstanding and I miss those folks already!! They made me feel so welcome and accepted. I wish I could say that for the entire trip but I can't. Saturday I got to visit an Archiver's store in Highland Ranch. It was awesome!! My first time to visit an Archiver's store. I spent awhile scouring the aisles and taking in all the products. I spent less than $45 there. It was so great for my friend to take me there. We went to Whole Foods and got some stuff to make a veggie tray and dip for that night. I got some snack type foods and did not realize that the Chicken Salad I bought was $11.99 a pound!! It was good but I am not so certain that it was $11.99 a pound good.
Sat night we went to another friend's house for a "stitch and bitch". Of course, not much of either happened. Although we did get in lots of chatting and laughing. A couple of folks stitched a bit. I enjoyed it a lot and met some really neat ladies.
Sunday was ok. It did not start out well for me in the morning. I was personally attacked by the man of the family where I was staying. He hates that I do not believe (religiously) the way he believes. He resents that I will not attend his church when I am there. However, I am true to myself and mean no disrespect. I do not feel the way he does. Plain and simple. I am not saying his beliefs are wrong - but they are wrong for me. Mine are less complicated and less punitive, in my opinion. I wish that he would have respected that the way that I respect his right to believe in whatever manner he deems to. Along the way, I learned that he was also hating me for writing a blog entry two years ago about a similar trip to visit his wife and family. He felt I attacked him, his lifestyle, his home and Colorado. I did not. There was no attack at all and no malice on my part in any of the posting. I sent the link for them to read because I wanted to share it with them. I hardly think I was trying to attack him. In fact, he is not a motivator for any of my blog entries. Now, he "fears" I am visiting for fodder for blog entries and told his wife I was forbidden to write about them, her brother or anything about Colorado. Naaah, not gonna happen.
Remember that free speech thing? I still believe in the constitution and bill of rights and do not intend to let them be taken from me. Control your home and your family - let me worry about mine. Live and let live. A matter of respect - that is all. I was very hurt by his actions on this trip. I was even more astounded that his wife let it occur. I would not have allowed anyone to treat her disrespectfully in my home. Cest la vie'. It has bothered me tremendously. I really liked this guy - it is hard for me now but I do not want to dislike him. I always thought he was a neat guy (yeah I think he is a little uptight and a little worried about what others think of him but I liked him and we all have our hang ups right?). I think he is a good dad, good husband and a good provider to his family. I do not think his house is substandard and I do not think his lifestyle is bad. It is not my lifestyle but that does not make it bad. I embrace diversity, you can tell by my friends and associates. I love all types of people and relish learning things from all sorts of people. I am not afraid of someone who is different than me. I do not think hate is a family value. I do not think homosexuals are going to hell. I do, however, feel that those who presume to judge homosexuals and preach intolerance and hate are on a fast train to somewhere not so nice, should it exist. The bottom line to me is that judgement does not come from my family and church family or some preacher in a billion dollar empire - judgement comes from above - plain and simple. Who are you to judge another person? What gives you the right? Not your faith.
By the way, when I blog about faith issues, the government and such - it is not a personal attack on a sole person - it is the ideology of intolerance, religious bullying and such that I am opposing. Just for the record.
I was also questioned as to why I visited there? What was my agenda or purpose? Well duhhh color me stupid but I thought it was to visit a dear old friend that I love so much. I have been friends with her since I was 13 for crying out loud. I spend my money to go visit, spend money on her kids (whom I love dearly - they are all three great kids), oh and buy her a ticket to come visit here twice - yet my motives are questioned? How would that make you feel? It made me feel like shit. Plain and simple. Then it angered me to feel the "how dare they question my motives, who are they to think that my life evolves around blogging about them, one blog entry in 300 does not make you fodder for my blog!" - then I progressed to bewilderment again and now I am just sad about it all. I did offer to remove the "offensive" blog from two years ago. However, I cannot agree to never blog about them again. Pullleeeze. I blog about my life, my experiences and the people around me. It happens. It goes back to that whole free speech thing again. Ya know - we still have it although there are those who would like to say we do not. I will blog without malicious intent. I will blog the good, the bad, the ugly and such.
Another good thing about the trip was the time she and I went to dinner alone. We talked, laughed, cried, etc. We ate Greek food in Greektown (even though we were later told it was a bad part of town - it did not look so bad to me). We closed down the Greek restaurant. We shared lots of things that have not been shared before. We drove around our old stomping grounds and reminisced about our high school days there. We ended up at Waffle House and ate breakfast!! We rolled in after 2am. We had not been partying, dancing or clubbing.
I did get to visit another Archiver's on Tuesday in Aurora. It was even more awesome than the other one. Larger and well laid out. I would love to have one near me. Of course, I might spend more $$ than I would need to but it would be nice to have the choice!! We did a lot of Starbuck's visits.
We also did lunch at Pei Wei and I loved that. That is one of my favorite Asian places.
Overall, except for some sad moments, I had a great time. I am conflicted about some things but I know that I love my friend and her family. I know that I have never, ever done anything to hurt them. I know that I embrace them and keep in touch far more than they do. I know that I remember those kid's birthdays because I want to not because I have to. I know that I enjoyed our friendship all these years even though I believe with all my heart that I have had to work harder at keeping in touch than she has. I chalk it up to being busy with 3 kids, keeping records for business and all the family obligations. I hope I was right. I love her family (siblings, mom, etc..) and really enjoy visiting with them. For crying out loud, I have known them for 30 plus years!!!
In any event, Denver was fine. It was nice to be there and see how much more it has grown. NO, I do not think it is always a good thing for development after development to go into areas. You lose the land, the family farms and ranches, etc... that is not a personal attack on anyone living in a development - you have to live somewhere - it is more of a statement on society as a whole, we are so willing to expend all the land for the sake of progress. It sucks.
I have been playing a letter out over and over in my mind but cannot sit down to write it. Do I think it would do any good? Probably not, all of my motives have been questioned and there is always a curt reply about my intentions or motives. I am not given one iota of an open mind yet I try to keep an open mind about his intentions. I keep going back to that "Christian like behavior" model and it just was not there with me. Again, hate is not a family value. Rudeness it not a family value. Disrespect is not a family value. I apologize if anything I ever said or wrote hurt anyone in any way - that was not my intent but even so, if it was a perceived wrong - then I apologize. I mean that. I am big enough to apologize for my behavior (intentional or otherwise). I would love to see others step up to the plate and own their behavior.
As a final note, my seat mate back to Arkansas was a charming lady from NLR. She attends the First Pentecostal Church on the interstate. You know the really, really huge one. We had the most enjoyable 2 hour conversation about jobs, land for sale and her church. It was enjoyable because it was not accusatory, snippy or self righteous. She was humble and sweet. She even gave me the code to the sanctuary so I could go pray there anytime I wanted. I have a large Pentecostal section in my family so I am not unfamiliar with their religion. She even had me laughing about some of the rumors about that church. The one about them having ATMs in the church are not true. The one about you being required to show your W2 form and tithe 10% are not true. Yes, they have a HUGE church and Huge Education bldg/fellowship hall. There is a school there with 200 attendees. We exchanged cards and promised to keep in touch about a couple of things. That made the flight home so much better and eased my troubled mind somewhat. Amazing how a stranger with a message can sometimes be just what you needed.
Off to the day I go. I had a steroid shot for my shoulder/arm, which my doctor suspects might be a rotator cuff injury. If it does not help in a couple of weeks, off to the ortho doc I go. Keep me in your thoughts and prayers that it is not something that will require surgery. I was up at 3:30 and could not go back to sleep. So I am doing grocery shopping, house cleaning, laundry, the radio show at 3 and a hair cut at 5;15. We are off to Siloam Springs tomorrow for an open house at Mel & Todd's new house. We will come home on Sunday. Where does the time go?
