Category: Daily Prompt

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Daily Prompt:  Neophyte

I have been absent from the blogging world for a month.  Not having time to do so many of the things I love to do, I have come to realize I am a neophyte when it comes to throwing things away.  Can you believe it?  After all of my complaining about Gary’s holding onto things that we didn’t need.  It has been quite a shock for me to admit to myself it isn’t quite as easy to throw away items from your past.  I feel a bit of a hypocrite.  I know my husband is somewhere in the universe with a big smile on his face because I have admitted this fact.  🙂

The thing is, I have sold my house and the apartment I am going to is very small.  So, the realization that I can’t take so much with me has hit home.  I have my grandmother’s antiques that are beautiful, but I will not have any room for them.  A quilting friend of mine’s granddaughter who will be graduating from college this year saw pictures of them and really fell in love with them.  I was very happy to give them to her.  I know that my grandmother is smiling knowing they are going somewhere to be appreciated and loved.  My girls are also happy that I have found such a good home for them.

I am keeping the antique bedroom set Gary bought me when we first got married.  It’s perfect for my smaller bedroom.  It has been stored for years because we had gone to a king-sized bed.  And I have a beautiful golden oak hall tree that will be in my sunroom right inside the door.

Joe and Kelly got a 30-yard dumpster for me to fill.  I am happy to report that it has been filling up.  I occasionally need to sit myself down and have a stern talk with myself about holding onto things.  I have a much greater appreciation of what Gary used to go through when he had to get rid of something.

I also haven’t even picked my camera up since I have gotten home from Florida.  I can’t wait until I can get back to photography.  I really have had so much fun with it.

The past two weeks my good friend Sue was visiting.  She makes my clothes and I quilt her quilts.  We always have a good time together.  It was a very needed break in the sorting of house and garage contents.  She left on Wednesday.  I always hate to see Sue go back home.  But we all have to go home eventually.

I have been doing some quilting and have decided that I will continue to do more through the rest of the weekend and when Monday hits I will get back to the daunting job of sorting through our past.

Have a good day.

Wanda

 

 

The Latest Assault

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Daily Prompt:  Interest

 

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Photo from The Telegraph

 

It is with great interest and sadness that I recall the terrible ordeal that has happened in Las Vegas this past weekend.  Interest because I just cannot imagine being pushed to the point of committing senseless murder.  In my mind, I have to believe that the man was sick.  There is no other explanation for his actions.  It is inconceivable to me that one’s life can have such little meaning so as to cause you to express your anger in this way.  I find I need an answer.

Or is it the work of the devil?  I believe he exists and he works tirelessly to corrupt our lives causing havoc and despair.  Is what so many have said true?  Is our country in a deluge of evil spirits?  Are the many visionaries right that we are in for a terrible chastisement because of our fondness for self-gratification and immorality? Is God losing patience with us?  I hope not.  I pray that He will continue to shed His light on us, to gently guide us to become the country we once were.

Satanic worship, blasphemes, the murder of innocent children, and discrimination have become commonplace in this country.  Respect for life has disappeared.  How much longer can we continue on this self-destructive path?  I worry for my grandchildren.  This country was founded on Christian principles.  It’s about time we get back to them because I am very afraid that if we don’t, we will cease to exist.

Wanda

 

Memories Of Fall

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maroonleaf

Daily Prompt:  Leaf

I have always loved this time of year.  The leaves begin to change to the beautiful colors of autumn.  Earth tones are my favorite.  I decorate with them.  I wear them.  I don’t think there is anything richer than those earth tones of fall.

I can remember sitting in my family room watching the different colored leaves float to the ground.  The golds, rusts, maroons, purples, and greens.  What a beautiful blanket they made on my lawn.

I have fond memories of raking leaves with my kids just so they could jump into the pile and start all over again.   I was always ready for fall after the hot summer.  It was like a breath of fresh air to me.  The only complaint I have about fall is that it ends into winter. Brrr!  I am not a fan of the cold weather.

Several years ago we moved down south to coastal North Carolina.  Where we are there isn’t much fall foliage. That is the only thing I miss.   Pennsylvania has some awesome color this time of year. For me to see anything like it I would have to go to the western part of North Carolina.  I choose not to travel out there so I will just have to be happy with looking at the pictures online.

I have been going through all of the school papers I kept from when my kids were in school.  I found one project from my son.  It is a beautiful maroon leaf that is pressed between two pieces of plastic.  It made me smile.  I loved all of those little handmade projects my kids made for gifts for me.

My youngest is 34 years old now.  It’s time I let these things go.  I have asked them if they want them back, but they just look at me like I am crazy.   Apparently, I don’t have a sentimental one in the bunch.   They have all commented that they can’t believe I moved down here with all of it.  Let’s just see how they are with their children’s handmade gifts.

It’s true, holding onto things is really silly.  Memories are not kept in things, but in our hearts.

Wanda

My Trip To The VA Hospital

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Daily Prompt:  Mighty

Yesterday I had the mighty great privilege of accompanying my fellow quilters from Brunswick Quilters Guild to the Veterans Hospital in Fayetteville, NC.  We took approximately 40 quilts to present to the residents of the Community Living Center.

I cannot tell you how much of a rewarding experience this was.  These men and women who sacrificed so much to keep our country safe were both appreciative of our gifts and humbled by our thanks for their service.

These men and women who are suffering from the side effects of war stated over and over again that they served happily and would do it again.  They are our heroes.  They are our inspiration.  They remind us that we should never forget the atrocities of war and do all we can to prevent it from involving our young men and women.  However, they stay strong in the belief that if the need arises, our men and women will serve strongly, honorably, and dutifully to protect our homes and freedoms.

God bless you wonderful men and women who gave so much and have not always received the respect, honor, and support that this nation owes you.

Wanda

 

Home Again

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Daily Prompt:  Rhyme

Since my return from Florida a week ago Saturday, I have been at my daughter’s home. My three grandchildren started school this week and I had not seen them all summer so they wanted me to stay with them until school started.  I have really enjoyed being here with them, but I have to tell you, three kids 9, 11, and 13 can be exhausting.  Especially when you are with them 24/7.  Now I understand why God gives you children when you are young and foolish.  🙂

They are sweet kids.  But, there is no rhyme or reason why they can go from happy and getting along to miserable and fighting in no time at all.  It’s mind boggling.  I don’t remember my kids doing that.  Then I remember that between my first two there are 10 years.  So, by the time the next two came along I had a built in nanny.  I also worked the whole time my kids were growing up.  It was necessary and to be honest, I would have worked anyway.  I loved what I did.

I also loved being a mom.  I just loved it in small increments.  I can remember one time my youngest daughter said to me, “Why can’t you be a regular mother?”  She was basing my type of motherhood on her best friend’s mother who was a stay at home mom who could be the homeroom mother at school and go on field trips with them.

I did go through episodes of guilt at times.  But to be honest, if I had been home 24/7 I would have been a terrible mom.  I needed to work.  It kept me sane.  It gave me perspective.

My kids get it now.   Truth be told, they got it then too.  I can remember one time when I was out of work for a longer period of time than my usual vacation, I heard them talking upstairs saying they couldn’t wait until I went back to work.  They were not too happy about how  I solved their boredom.  I could always find a chore for them to do.  🙂

So probably tomorrow I will finally be home.  I am looking forward to getting things at home back on track, and to be able to enjoy my blogging again.

Wanda

 

 

My Home

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Daily Prompt:  Unfurl

Durning the summer when we celebrate our independence on the 4th of  July,  I often think of the many men who gave so much for us to be free.  I also wonder what it was like the first time our flag was unfurled and the feelings it evoked.  I can only imagine the feelings of relief that the struggle was over and the pride in a country that was new and had so much history to be written.

In the beginning, God played a large part of our lives and Christian beliefs fed our Constitution and laws.  This country was blessed with many natural resources which gave way to industry and wealth. As in all countries, our road to freedom for all has not always been easy or paved evenly across all of our citizens.  Race, religion, ethnicity have been sources of prejudice during our struggle to become a leading nation in the world. Our treatment of Native Americans was atrocious.  Slavery was evil.

Today things are far from how they should be.  Sadly prejudice remains.  We still have poor in our country.  We have veterans who do without after risking everything for our continued freedom.  God is being placed in the background of our governments, schools, and neighborhoods.  Abuse of natural resources continues.  Rudeness, selfishness, and disregard for the property of others are the norm.  Our elderly can barely exist on social security that has been raped by politicians in the past and the new word for it has become an entitlement.  Big business continues to rip off the American public.  This saddens me.

Our country needs to come together.  It needs to stop the waste of money over politics.  It needs to take care of the citizens who elected our leaders.   The worst waste of money in recent history is the nonsense going on in our government fighting the election of President Trump.  He won.  Move on and stop this outrageous spending to prove otherwise.  In four years there will be another election.  I believe our congressmen and senators would be less anxious to spend our money if they received the same benefits as we do in insurance and retirement and didn’t have the luxury of voting themselves a raise each year.

The worst invention in our recent past is cable TV which has opened the door to 24 hours a day news programming.  Unfortunately, to fill the time news is created and defined for us rather than reported.  So much for journalistic integrity.

If we wish to remain a leader in the world, we need to act like a leader.  We need to remain the USA and not an off shoot of other countries.  We need to expect and demand assimilation to our country, not force our citizenship to assimilate to immigrants ways. Never in history has this been the way immigration has been handled.  Immigrants were welcomed legally with a specific set of requirements.  In my mind, this is not an unreasonable requirement.

When the Stars and Stripes are unfurled and hoisted up the flagpole it is a symbol of the United States.  It is what we pledge our allegiance to under God.  It is my home and I am tired of people showing it disrespect.

Wanda

 

Pictures

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Daily Prompt:  Grainy

When my grandmother died I found a large box of pictures.  It was so sad to me because most of the pictures were grainy and I couldn’t tell who was in the pictures.  What a shame that part of my history was lost as most of them, I am sure were old family pictures.

When Mom(I called my grandmother Mom) was alive, we did go through some pictures she had kept willy-nilly in a box and of course, there was nothing written on the back of them to identify who was in them.  I am so grateful that we took the time to go through that box of pictures then.  Even she had trouble remembering some of the people from her past.

In an age when pictures are taken so often to memorialize events, it is a shame that we don’t take the time to make notations about the subject matter and the date taken.  Today we are fortunate enough to have digital photography.  The benefit of it is that we don’t have to have the film developed.  But, we become even laxer about notations on our photos.

I have already taken pictures of my grandchildren and if I do not upload them to my computer in individual files I lose details about the events.  I have been working really hard to correct this.  For one thing, I have set my camera to keep the date for each photo but not put it on the photo itself.  I  have found this to be a great help.  Then I just rename the file on my computer to whatever the event was.  It works for me.

I realize that many of you out in Blogsville already knew this, but since I have just figured it out I thought maybe someone else was having the same issue.

Wanda

My Weekend With Isabella

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Daily Prompt:  Prickle

I spent the weekend in Miami visiting with my son, daughter in law and my 18-month old granddaughter.  I had a wonderful time.  Isabella just loves to walk around the building they live in.  I walked about five miles just inside the building my son’s condo is in.

I drove over on Friday evening getting there about 5 PM.  Although I face time with Isabella all the time, she was acting shy with me.  I quickly learned that if I took her for a walk in the building and let her go on the elevator she would warm up to me in a jiffy.

On Saturday we went to the Children’s Museum of Miami.  What a wonderful place. The museum is hands on for the children.   Right now there is a Dinosaur exhibit for them. With the cutest display of moving dinos and a lot of things for the kids to play with to learn about the animals.  Carnival Cruise Lines sponsored a huge area that is like the ship’s decks.  There are a bank and an emergency room and hospital too.  So much for the children to play with while they learn about their world.

The food store chain, Publix, has a huge grocery store where the kids can shop for all kinds of food and then go through a checkout.  There are little green vests for the kids to wear just like the real Publix.  Here’s a picture of my little Isabella sitting on the cow in Publix with her daddy.

Isabellaoncow

Some of the food in the food store at the museum gave me a prickly sensation when I touched it.  Didn’t bother the kids though.  It was so funny to watch all of the kids shopping and sharing the food on the shelves.  Once all of the food was off the shelves, the workers at the museum and some of the parents began organizing the area again. Isabella loved putting the stuff from her little shopping cart back onto the shelves.

We had a wonderful time at the museum.  Last time I was in Miami we went to the Miami Zoo.  It was way too hot to go there over the weekend this time.  On Sunday we went to church and just hung around the house.  We had a wonderful Peruvian supper that was delivered to the house by a near by restaurant.  I headed back to Orlando around 5 PM.  I hated to leave that baby.  She is growing up so quickly.

Wanda

Tortureous Eating

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Daily Prompt:  Spicy

I am not a fan of spicy food.  Or I should say, of hot spicy food  I have always equated spicy with hot but I guess that’s not accurate.  I use many spices when I cook, but hot tasting spices I stay away from.

It is inconceivable to me why anyone would want to suffer while eating.  I associate eating with pleasure, not pain.  I guess that for those of you who love to indulge on a tear producing hot dish, you find it pleasurable.

I can remember when my son was a little boy.  Maybe 4 or so.  We went took the kids to Disney World.  He kept seeing the signs along the highway for Popeye’s Chicken.  Finally, after listening to him say he wanted to eat at Popeye’s we gave in.  He said that the chicken was a little hot, but he liked it.  Personally, it was too much for my tender GI tract and my youngest wouldn’t even try it.  After our lunch, we proceeded to the park where we had a delightful day.  It was the next morning when the full effects of Popeye’s Chicken were felt.  My poor little boy was sitting on the commode crying as the spicy chicken made its way out of his little body.  Needless to say, he never wanted Popeye’s Chicken again.

I don’t get it.  My husband used to tell me that when he was young and his dad worked evening shift on weekends he would stay up until he got home and eat hot peppers with him.  He loved how they tasted going in,  but hated how it felt in when they exited. But he kept eating them.

Maybe I have done my family a disservice by not cooking hot spicy food.  I may have denied them the experience of international cuisine.  If so I apologize.  Somehow it goes against my maternal instinct to cause pain while eating.

You will never find hot spices on the spice carousel in my kitchen.  My recipes don’t include things like Cayenne Pepper or Extra Hot Cajun Seasoning.  Just thinking about these things gets the acid churning in my stomach.  For those of you who enjoy these dietary tortures enjoy.

Wanda

 

Foggy Brain

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Daily Prompt:  Foggy

Twelve years ago I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia which is a disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, sleep, memory and mood issues.  It is believed that fibromyalgia amplifies painful sensations by affecting the way your brain processes pain signals.

Symptoms sometimes begin after a physical trauma, surgery, infection or significant psychological stress. In other cases, symptoms gradually accumulate over time with no single triggering event.  My symptoms began after I had an injury.

Women are more likely to develop fibromyalgia than are men. Many people who have fibromyalgia also have tension headaches, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders, irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety and depression.

There is no cure for it.  It is something that won’t kill me, but it sure can make me miserable.  I have pain every day, but the real frustrating thing for me is the fibro fog which affects my memory.  Sometimes while I am talking I just lose what I am saying.  It drives me crazy.

I have found changing my diet to a paleo one has helped alleviate the pain a bit which in itself is reason enough to stick to eating the paleo way.  I do have to take medications which keep it manageable.  Weather also affects my symptoms.

At my age I have the luxury of picking and choosing what is worth aggravating my symptoms and increasing the pain, and I can tell you that cleaning my house is low on the list.  🙂  My hobbies come before any housework and spending time with my family, especially my grandchildren, comes before them.  I feel that if I am going to hurt, I want it to be over something I love doing, not something that isn’t fun.

Take yesterday for instance.  Dottie, Frank and I spent the day at Sea World in Orlando. We met her ex-brother in law who had his grandchildren with him.  They are the cutest kids.  John 13 and Julia 9.  It rained most of the day, but we walked all over the park. Julia wanted to sit down close when we saw the Shamu show.  I sat right down there with her and we go soaked.  We laughed so hard.  I rode the roller coasters with them and we petted the rays together.  We got back to the house around 8 o’clock last night and I can tell you I was exhausted and I was hurting.  But I was also happy and excited about how I spent the day.

That’s the thing about fibro.  You can’t give into it.  You have to keep moving and doing what you enjoy.  Like I said it’s not a condition that will end my life, so I don’t intend to let it dictate what I can do either.

Wanda