Recently in Ponderings Category

Do you like to take drives? I love it. I find it to be so relaxing. We (Hubs, daughter, daughter's best friend and I) took a loooong drive this afternoon. It was SO nice. It always amazes me that even though this is a small town, I always find something new when we take those long drives. It's so much fun. :) Not to mention that I am a total looky-loo and LOVE looking at other people's houses. LOL I think that goes back to my childhood. My mom used to love to take long drives with us kids and look at houses. I learned to love it from her. :) I also love to go out into the country. The hills and plains are so beautiful! It's inevitable that while I'm enjoying the landscape my mind wanders back to the pioneer days, imagining the wagon trains traveling through. Yes, they actually did travel through here. You can even take a wagon train tour in the summer and travel along the very same trails they did. Cool, huh!

So, do you? Like to take drives? If so, what do you like looking at most?

I would love to hear your opinion on the following story, so get ready to share. :)

Apparently there has been an uproar in Durham, Hew Hampshire, over the Class of 2008 t-shirts. Why, you ask? Well, take a look for yourself --

The Oyster River High School class of '08 made shirts telling classmates to push the limit. Instead, they pushed the limits of administrators' tolerance. Why? Well, do you see that paw print decimal point just before the "08"? Yep, you guessed it -- .08 is the legal drinking limit. School Superintendent Howard Coulter doesn't think it's a laughing matter, but the administration has not banned the shirts. They are discouraging students from wearing them, however, and disciplinary action is still possible.

What do you think? Should they be banned? Is it just a "senior prank"? Or is it a much more serious matter? How would you address the problem if you were the Superintendent? Me? I wouldn't ban them, but I would certainly discourage them from wearing the shirts, and possibly even have a school assembly with discussion about drinking and the things that can happen when you do, indeed, push the limit.

Now, what would you do?

Drinking and Driving, Durham, New Hampshire, Senior Pranks, Class of '08 T-Shirts

You all know who John Mayer is, don't you? He's a fabulous musician/singer/songwriter, as well as an up-and-coming author (he has a book coming out before the end of the year entitled "The Pioneer"). Well, he also has a blog, which he updates quite frequently. It's really pretty cool. So anyway, he wrote an entry on Oct. 29th entitled "Change", which really got me to thinking about stuff. I thought it was too good not to share, so go read! :) When you're finished, come back here and let me know what you think, especially about what you would ....

change.

So, it's almost May you say? Really? You sure couldn't tell it around here! This is what we woke up to this morning -

Over in the sidebar under the heading "On Days Past" is listed each day the entry to this blog made one year ago. Today's is The Muse Speaks, so I clicked on it to refresh my memory, since that was about the last time I've heard from my muse. What amazed me and made me more than a little bummed, is that the feelings which caused those words to spill forth are still the same feelings I'm experiencing, a whole year later. Life sometimes digs its claws in and just won't let go, I guess. Or so it seems. ANYway, here is what I wrote one year ago today:

Today is June 18th. You know what that means, don't you? It's LILY DAY!! She will be arriving in Denver in approximately 15 hours. I am very excited. :) I will post pictures as soon as I have some.

Someday I want to travel -- a lot. There are sooo many places I'd like to go. First I'd like to visit every state I haven't already been to (NYC being at the top of my list -- a Broadway show, the Met, Statue of Liberty), then I'd like to go to Australia (Hi Debbie! *waving*), then Cabo, the Virgin Islands, Paris (I'd spend all my time at the Louvre), the Caribbean -- all over, really. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Now, if the Lottery Commission would just see things my way, I could get on with it. lol

It was a very chilly, gray, drizzly day, and has remained so through the evening hours. I love it. It's such cozy weather. Good sleeping weather, too.

My son, David, has had 2 migraines this week. His first was 2 years ago after a particularly rough football game, in which he got hit in the head pretty good. He hasn't had one for a really long time, though, then boom, all of a sudden he has 2 of them back-to-back. If they continue, I told him he was going to go see the doctor.

Saturday will be 8 weeks since Mom died. It doesn't seem like it could be that long already, yet it seems as though it's been 8 months. I know that doesn't make sense, but it's how it feels. I miss her so very much.

I suppose that's all that is bouncing around inside my head for now. I think I'll go and try to get some sleep. I hope you all have a fabulous Friday. *huggers*

I was talking to my daughter the other day about my Mother. I was very emotional about what was happening to her, and my daughter, being the kind soul she is, came to me and asked if I needed to talk. Well, I certainly was not about to burden an 11 year old with such grown-up things, so instead I began telling her about what Grandma used to be like when she was younger, and when I was a young girl.

So many memories came flooding back to me. Oh how I wish my children could have known her back then like I did! She loved to ride bikes and play tennis; sun-bathe on the weekends and take us to the lake; and of course, play bridge with her friends. She and some of her girlfriends had a little bridge club, so to speak, and they would take turns hosting the card games. My sisters and I loved it when it was Mom's turn, cuz we'd always try to spy on them. LOL We'd sneak out of bed ever so quietly, peer around the hallway door and watch them play cards while they visited and laughed. Of course, it didn't last very long before Mom would spot us and send us on our way back to bed, but it was sure fun to try and pull one over on her! LOL While I was telling my daughter all of this, I realized that while we thought we were being quiet, we were probably making all kinds of noise like kids typically do, leaving them wondering how their Moms could possibly see and hear everything. LOL! The seeming eyes-in-the-back-of-the-head thing never gets figured out until we have kids of our own and hear how noisy they are when they're trying to be quiet! LOL ANYway, talking to my daughter about all of those things made me feel so happy ... and so sad. I miss those times like you wouldn't believe; but I am grateful beyond description for having had them once.

Speaking of Mom ....

One week from today, my oldest will turn 25. A quarter of a century old. How can that be? How is it possible that I have a "child" who is 25?? And now, he is expecting his own child. The cycle continues, and it is beautiful. My family is growing, and the legacy which is Grandma and Grandpa "Popper" continues. I know they live deeply and forever in my son's heart. He will impart to his child what he was blessed to share with them, I know. He is the only one out of all my children and those of my sisters who remembers "the Poppers" with any clarity. He was extremely close to them and loved them dearly. Grandpa, whom Ryan adored, passed away 3 days before his birthday. To this day he cannot -- and will not -- talk about it. It is too upsetting for him. My Mother turned 50 two days after Ryan was born. We had to set Grandpa's funeral for the day in-between their birthdays. Unfortunately, it makes the time of their birthdays rather bittersweet. When Ryan is very upset about something, he will oftentimes drive to the cemetary and sit and talk to Grandma and Grandpa. It brings him peace.

Now, the 8 year old little boy who was devastated by his Great-Grandpa's passing is turning 25; and whose wife will be bringing a new person into the fold of our family, to join in the legacy of love and giving which was, and is, Grandma and Grandpa Popper. It just doesn't get any sweeter or more meaningful than that.

Where were you when President Kennedy was assassinated? Were you even born yet? I was only 5 years old, so I don't remember much. I remember everyone at school being upset, and my Mother crying. I have much more vivid memories of when his brother, Senator Robert (Bobby) F. Kennedy, was shot and killed. I remember feeling so sorry for the Kennedy family. I simply couldn't conceive of someone wanting to kill one of them, let alone two of them. I felt really bad.

Tomorrow, November 22nd, will mark 40 years since President Kennedy was assassinated. It doesn't seem possible that it's been that long. It was such a tumultuous time in our country, and it only got worse. It was an amazing time, through the 60's and 70's. Sometimes I feel bad for those of you who were born too late to experience first-hand any of what occurred back then. Sometimes I feel envious that I wasn't. But I always feel sad for the Kennedy family.

This is just plain icky! But, as they say, it takes all kinds. My question, though, is ....

The cold front the weatherman promised us is here, and boy did it turn chilly fast! Big wind a'blowin' out there, too. I don't like wind. It gives me sinus headaches. *groan*

Can you give me your advice on something?

There is a big thunderstorm skirting us to the West-Northwest, and I can hear the boom of the thunder off in the distance, sounding much like the rumbling bass of railcars in the train yard across town. It makes me feel almost meloncholy, realizing that the season of rain and thunder is almost over.

I love rain. There is no other smell on earth as fresh and clean, other than a newborn baby. It makes me feel renewed, as if the rain had poured forth from within, leaving me feeling refreshed and energized. I will miss it immensely, and will be looking forward -- ever forward -- to its return.

Do any of you watch Who Wants to Marry My Dad? Well, seeing as I'm a reality show junkie, we do watch it, and tonight's show was really sad. The four children who are trying to pick a wife for their father eliminated Cynthia, the one woman I felt truly loved Dad. I thought Cynthia was perfect for him, and so did a couple of his kids. But Dad told them that even though he really felt a connection with her and cared for her deeply, he didn't feel the physical attraction that he does for the other 2 finalists. So, the kids eliminated her and kept the other two. All of this, really, is to preface my question:

How important do you think physical attraction is in a relationship? If someone is perfect for you in all other areas, but the physical attraction is only a thousand volts rather than a million, how much should that factor in when choosing your life partner? Enough to make you say no to a future with that person? Not enough to make you say no? What's your opinion?

If you were suddenly given a million dollars to do with whatever you wished, what would you do with it? How much, if any, would go to philanthropic endeavors vs. personal? What would be your top 5 ultimate wishes come true?

What is love?

No, seriously. What does love mean to you? I'm not talking about love between parent and child, or friends or siblings; I'm talking about romantic love.

I know what I believe, but I don't want to say until I see what you think. There are so many factors, dynamics and ideals to consider when talking about love, don't you think? I mean ... is love an emotion? A feeling? Both? Is it a matter of the heart, or something more cerebral? Both? Does one "fall" in love, or "grow" into love? Is there just one "one and only" out there for each person; or are there several that would "work"? Is there really such a thing as a soulmate? How about the saying "opposites attract" -- is it true? Why? Is the phrase "you complete me" only a romantic ideal, or a reality? If it is a reality, why? How? Do people today truly take their wedding vows seriously? Do brides and grooms these days really know what they're saying when they say them? Do they realize the full impact behind them? Has marriage become part of our throw-away society? What is love? Is it a universal phenomenon, or an individual perspective?

Why am I asking all of this? Because I think the word "love" and its meaning is taken completely for granted, and is way over-used. So c'mon, tell me what you think! What you believe. What you live.

Don't be shy now. ;)

I'm probably the only person in the entire blogosphere who finds this interesting and worth a nice long "hmmmm ....", but in the course of one day (today, the 17th, even tho I'm technically posting this on the 18th) I read 3 different blogs where the owner/author is pregnant -- 2 who just found out, and 1 who is just 15 weeks along.

In the 6 months I've been blogging, this is the first time I've read the announcement of a pregnancy, let alone 3 of them in one day. Do ya' s'pose that means anything? Naa ... it's just a big coinkydink, but certainly deserving of a nice long "hmmmm ....", nonetheless. (in my opinion, anyway ) Plus it made my day! :)

New babies! Happy Happy Joy Joy!