The Innocence Of Summer

Oct 042012

Children are so innocent when they are young. With innocence keeps out the worries of the world around them and allows them to laugh and play freely. When my children were younger I loved Summer and of course they did too. So the innocence of summer took over and we played.

I can here children’s laughter drifting through the window in the kitchen from the back yard. I stand on my tippy toes to peek out the window to see wild hair blowing in the wind. Big grins with a cool aid stained mustache on their faces. Shirts that don’t match the shorts they are wearing.

I see one set of feet barefoot, one with sandals on and another with cowboy boots on. One set of those feet belonged to my niece. Of course it was my son Vincent wearing the boots and that is a whole nother story in itself. During the summer I let them pick out their own clothes, and brush their own hair. When we left the house it was a different story. I did the picking out and the brushing.

Mid Summer was my favorite time of the year, when my children were little. Summer was a time for fun, relaxation, swimming, planting flowers and time spent camping with family. The camping was the best of the five. Fishing, cooking on an open fire and laughing til we cried.

We did what we wanted, when we wanted. No schedules, no getting up to early to rush around to get to somewhere on time. No work or school was the perfect recipe for FREEDOM. For a while anyway.

Those were the good ole days, but now we are older and all grown up. The troubles and the innocence gone. This is not a bad thing, we have grown, matured. We still have fun and laugh, but we do it from different states. Me from Texas, my daughter from Tennessee and my son from Italy where he is stationed in the Navy.

Sometimes I wish my children to be little again, running and playing in the back yard. Where they were innocent and free from the troubles around them. When it was Summer and Innocence ruled. That is a little selfish on my part I know. Hey I can dream can’t I? They are happy now and living full, happy lives.

I don’t see them now as often as I would like or they would like. When I do we laugh, feel free and sometimes act like children, but only as adults now. What is your favorite time of the year or favorite season? Do you wish your children were little again, or that they stay little always.

Traders Village: Houston Photos- Sundays In My City

Blog Hops, Family, Thoughts and Life 2 Responses »

Aug 122012

Most Sundays my husband and me go to Traders Village, which is a big Flea Market in Houston. There several flea markets in Houston, but I prefer this one because it is really big and there is always something new to see. (Pssst, I love the funnel cake).

‘This was my husbands bright idea. This picture does nothing for my rear’

‘I really liked the Knights In Armor, even though they are not authentic.’

‘This is a t-shirt, and I thought it was cute’

‘I absolutely love this table & chairs! My sister has one almost exactly like
it that she got from an aunt. I believe it is from the 60′s)’

‘Jose wearing a very big Sombrero’

There are my photos for today. I hope you enjoyed them.

Happy Sunday!

Kicking the Habit of Cigarettes!

Addictions & Habits, Family, Thoughts and Life 2 Responses »

Jul 212012

Smoking Is Not Cool

Back in October of 2011 I wrote this long post (which you can find here) about how I was going to quit smoking. I am ashamed to say that I was smoke free for about 2 weeks. I am not going to make excuses and say that “there were a lot of stressful things going on” or “that is normal, because most smokers try several times before they actually quit”. I am not going to say any of those things, even though they were true.

Quitting smoking is one of the hardest things I have ever tried to do. For some people it is easy, but you have to really want to quit. For the last week I have been saying to myself “tomorrow morning I am not going to smoke”, and it hasn’t happened yet. When we moved into our new apartment about 3 weeks ago, we decided we were going to smoke outside. So far we have been smoking outside on the patio. We decided not to smoke it the house because it stinks, it makes your curtains yellow and it is not good for our dogs. When I say we, I am talking about my husband and I.

I looks like it would be easier for me to quit knowing that my grandpa died with lung cancer, and he smoked just about his whole life. Just about everyone on my daddy’s side of the family have died with lung cancer. My granny reminds me of that all the time, and I know it is true! I think about it all the time, but I am still smoking. Most of those family members died in their 50′s, and that was to young. Almost 2 years ago we quit smoking for about 4 months and it was lovely. It was lovely because I didn’t have to worry about buying cigarettes, my hair and clothes didn’t stink. When you quit smoking and your are around those that do, you can smell the stink on them a mile a way (well not really a mile). Then in October of 2011 I said I was quitting and that didn’t last very long.

There is always an excuse, either something stressful happens or I want to smoke so bad that I just give in. I know there is always going to be problems or situations that make me want to smoke, so that should not be an excuse. I wore the patch and it takes away the urge for nicotine, but does nothing for the habit. The habit is what you have to worry about. You have to find something else to do to replace the habit. Instead of drinking coffee and having a cigarette, drink tea. If you always smoked while driving, chew gum or suck on a sucker. That is all easier said than done. This is when you have to WANT to quit smoking! If you REALLY don’t want to quit, you are not going to.

Something that I know you should do when you are planning to quit smoking is to have a plan. Pick your quit date, get rid of ashtrays, lighters etc. Tell friends and family members and enlist their help and support. I didn’t really do either of those things when I tried to quit. I put ashtrays and lighters in a drawer instead of throwing them in the trash. I didn’t tell friends or family because I didn’t want to fail and them to know it. When I started smoking again I was so ashamed of myself. I beat myself up, when I should have just called it a slip up and tried again. I didn’t do that either, I just kept smoking.

The things that are motivating me to really kick the habit this time are:

I get out of breath just walking up one flight of stairs.
My heart feels like it flutters every once in a while.
I am coughing my head off every morning.

So tomorrow is Sunday and I am not going to smoke. I am going to put on the nicotine patch tonight before I go to bed and I am crushing any left over cigarettes and flushing them. My husband is on board with this plan and we are going to take it one day at a time. When I think about never smoking again it freaks me out a bit. So instead of saying I am quitting forever, I am saying tomorrow!

Have you ever tried to quit smoking, and if you were successful what are some of the things you did to kick the habit? Did you just quit cold turkey or did you use a nicotine patch or medication to help you? I need all the help I can get!

Hears To Getting Healthy!

What Are You Children Saying When Your Not Around?

Children, Family, Thoughts and Life 7 Responses »

Jul 132012

Do you know what is coming out of your child(rens) mouth when you’re not around? Do they say things outside of the home that they normally would not be allowed to say?

A couple of weeks ago I walked out of my apartment door with boxes in my arms and heard the words ‘f*** you b****.’ Those words came out of a 10 year old boys mouth. He is the child of a neighbor. He said that to a little girl who looked no more that 8 years old.

I stood there froze, with my mouth open for all of a second. I said t o him “I know I didn’t hear that come out of your mouth”! He quickly replied “sorry ma’am”. I asked him if his mama knew that he talked like that? He said “she doesn’t care”. I walked away thinking to myself, I bet she doesn’t know that he talks that trash when she is not around.

‘Trash Talk’

This is not the first time that I have heard curse words come out of a child’s mouth. At the swimming pool I hear 12 and 13 year old cussing each other like there is no tomorrow. I am not going to lie I do curse from time to time, but you will never hear the words god d**, f***, you get the picture right? I do say damn and sh** from time to time but to hear curse words come out of a child’s mouth shocks me. Yes, even though I hear small children and teenagers cursing just about everywhere I go, it still shocks me.

I have heard small children calling their mothers ‘bit** and worse. It amazes me that any parent would allow their child to do that! I even hear children under 5 years old cursing in Spanish. Their mother and father are standing right there beside them and they don’t even blink. Sometimes they laugh at what the child says. Even if it said in Spanish, there is nothing cute about it. It seems to be the ‘in’ thing these days.

I was not raised that way. If I would have said a curse word when I was little, I would have been running in circles while a switch was hitting my legs. We didn’t curse folks, especially our mother or father. Not because we were afraid, but because we had love & respect for them.

‘Love & Respect’

My children are 20 and 22 and they do not curse around me or to me. I have had my son say damn when talking about something. My daughter tells me things that happened to her throughout the day and so on. She will always say, “now mama excuse what I am going to say, but…. They have respect for me and that is what it all boils down to. RESPECT for SELF and OTHERS.

Some of you may have grown up where cursing was the norm, and you think nothing about it. In my opinion and it is just my opinion, if we let our children curse at us or others, what will they do when they get older? Will they disrespect teachers, classmates? I believe they will, because they will think that it is ok.

Sorry if I have gotten a little preachy and I do apologize, but I feel strongly about this. What are your feelings on this subject? Do you now what your children are saying when your not around?

My Day Spent As Judge & Jury

Family, Thoughts and Life, Responsibility 6 Responses »

May 102012

Have any of you ever been called for jury duty? Do you know what Jury Duty is? It is an obligation of a citizen to serve on a jury when called. It is a constitutional right, and one of the highest obligations of a citizen. It involves our participation in administering justice. When we are called to jury duty we have to appear in court and if we don’t we can be found in contempt of court. I received a summons in the mail about 2 weeks ago, informing me that I am being subpenaed to show up for jury duty on May 2, 2012.

I will admit I freaked out a little at first. Jury Duty… (what if I am picked and have to decide someones fate!!!). Then I read further and it

said subpenaed to ‘civil court’! Well I was still freaked a little because I have never been called for jury duty. I didn’t want to go, but hey it said ‘subpenaed’ so I had not choice. I know it is our constitution right and I didn’t feel I have the right to judge anyone. I have no desire to get arrested and spend time locked up just because I was a little nervous that I might actually get picked to be a juror! There were 6 jurors chosen and I was one of them.

When I got to the court house there were about 30 people there that were summoned to show up for jury duty. After waiting about 15 minutes a bailiff came out and collect the papers we had to fill out. After about 20 more minutes we were called into the court room and given a number. Then the judge came out and took his seat. He explained what was going to happen, and then asked us a series of questions. Depending on your answers was one of the determining factors if you stay or were sent home.

A few of the questions were:

Do you have any religious views that would interfere with you judging another person? No (one raised there hand)
Do you have any racist views against any certain race? (still no raised hands)
Does anyone have any small children or disabled person at home that need your care? (There was only one raised hand)

Those are just a few questions the judge asked. Then it was the attorneys from each side got to ask each juror questions.

Some of those questions were:

Have you ever worked for an insurance company? (a few had)
Have you ever worked for an auto repair shop? (no one raised their hands)
Have you ever worked for a company that constructs the body of vehicles? (2 people answered yes)
If you purchased a product and it broke on the first day, would you return it to the company for repair?
If you returned said product to have it repaired by the company, and they sent it back to you claiming it had been repaired. Then you tried to use the product and found out it wasn’t repaired would you still have faith in that company to send it for repair a 2nd time. (About 15 people answered no to this question. Stating that the company was not dependable and to be trusted. I was one of the 15)

There were several other questions, but I am not sure I remember what they were. Then the lawyers and the judge got together and picked who would be the jurors. I was nervous! They picked 6 jurors and one of the six was me, as I said above. The judge dismissed the people that were not chosen. The remaining 6 were asked to be seated in the juror box, and the judge announced there would be a 2 hour recess. Oh, my goodness 2 hours! By this time we had already been in the court room for about 1 1/2 hours.

I want bore you with the details of lunch and the waiting in the hall, not for 1 hour after the 2 hour break, but for 2 more hours! After about 2 hours we were called back into the court room, and seated in the juror box. The trial began finally! The judge had us swear under oath to judge each party by the facts and not personal opinions. So both attorneys then stated there opening arguments, then each side continued to voice their cases for their clients. Then their closing arguments for their clients.

We were told we could speak about the trial once it was over. The trial involved the defendant, she ran through a red light at an intersection, and was hit by a car coming through the light to the left. Her (defendant, let’s call her Mary) car spun around and was hit by another car coming through the intersection. The plaintiffs car was damaged and the insurance company of the defendant paid for the repairs. In the state of Texas everyone has the right to choose a body shop to repair their vehicle that was in an
accident.

The plaintiff (let’s call him Jerry) had his car repaired and had to take it back because the front end was pulling to the left really bad. Jerry took the car back to the body repair shop and once again they repaired the car and said it was ready. Jerry and his wife were driving the car home and it was still pulling really bad to the right. His wife became really upset and wanted to sale the car. She wanted a safe vehicle for her daughter that is 6 years old. So instead of calling the insurance company Jerry sold the car for $12,000. The car was only 6 months old at the time of the accident and was in perfect condition. The market value for the car was $18,000.

So to make a long story longer Jerry wanted Mary’s insurance company to pay him $6,000 he lost by selling his car at a cheaper price to buy a new one. We had to decide if Mary’s insurance should pay him for the loss of selling his car. After listening to both sides all 6 of us jurors were taken to a room to decide the verdict.

It took us only about 20 minutes to come up with a verdict that we could all agree on. Two jurors thought Jerry shouldn’t get anything because he didn’t call the insurance company and let them know his car still wasn’t repaired. They felt he should have taken the car back to the body shop and letting them know the car still wasn’t repaired. The other 4 of us felt they should pay something but not the full amount. We decided Jerry should get $2,500 and no attorney fees. Jerry’s lawyer was not a very good one.

I have to add that the judge in the court room was not like any other judge I have seen before. He joked during the whole trial. He told the lawyers to get on with it and quit repeating themselves. He even went out into the hall way to talk to the people that were waiting to see if they would be jurors on the next trial. He joked with them too. It was the funniest thing, and thanks to him I didn’t fall asleep!

So what have I learned from that experience?

The I am glad there are lawyers to defend us in a court of law, because without them we would probably get really screwed (some do still).
Court trials are basically like I have seen on television.
That I never again want to have to sit in a court room and judge someone else.
That you can take anyone to court for anything these days.
Don’t EVERrun through an intersection!

Stay Safe!

(Photos are taken from Foter.com)

Grandpa’s Old Red Tractor…If It Could Only Talk

Family, Thoughts and Life, Grandparents 20 Responses »

Apr 192012

This old red tractor sits in the front yard of my granny’s house in Kingston Springs, TN. It belonged to my grandpa, who passed away in 1987. He was in his 50′s, which was much to young to die. This old red tractor still looks good to have been sitting there, unused for almost 25 years.

I think my uncle Neal likes having it around because it was a big part of my Grandpa’s life and reminds him of his Daddy. You see they had 2 gardens, one big one about an acre or more on the left side of the house and one across the street in front of the house. My Grandpa worked hard taking care of those gardens and tilling the soil.

We used to go help my Granny dig up the taters, pick squash & tomatoes. I loved getting my hands dirty. We would pull a tomato off the vine, wipe the dirt off on our shirts and eat them right there standing in the garden! You can’t buy tomatoes that taste that good in a grocery store.

I can remember one time we were all standing out in the garden watching my Grandpa on his tractor, tilling up the dirt. All of the sudden he stopped and we didn’t know why. So he turned off the tractor and hopped down to see what it was. He picked up something and brought it over to us. It was a tiny baby rabbit!

So being the person that my mother was (a lover of all animals), we took it home with us! My mama fed it with an eye dropper, and eventually he grew into an adult rabbit. We named him ‘Peter Rabbit’. Original right, but we loved the story of Peter Rabbit!

Keep in mind that Peter was a wild rabbit and we were keeping him in a cage that he hated. I know this because he kept trying to get out and was hurting his nose very badly. He would butt his head up against the cage over and over. So my mother decided we should let him go, because of course wild rabbits belong in the wild. Sure we were sad, but it was the right thing to do.

If my Grandpa’s old red tractor could talk, there is no telling the stories it would tell. I am sure it would tell stories of sweat, hard work and repairs. It would tell stories of children riding in Grandpa’s lap around the garden. Stories of wild animals found and cared for, and the many vegetables that grew there and the bellies that they filled.

If my grandpa was still here with us, him and my Granny would’ve been married for 64 years. My Grandpa was my her one true love and only husband. She has never remarried. Love like that is very rare these days! We all should be so lucky to find that someone that fills your heart until there is no room for anyone else and makes you happy with their memories even when their gone!

Is there a special memory you have of your grandpa? If your Grandpa is still alive and well, what memories do have of him as a child. Consider yourself very lucky to have a grandpa to love and to be loved in return.

To Grandpa!

Sunday…A Walk Through My Neighborhood

Family, Thoughts and Life, Sundays 4 Responses »

Mar 292012

This past Sunday my husband and I went for a walk through our neighborhood, which we haven’t done in a long time. It was nice and peaceful! We even meet a few new people along the way that were in their yards mowing the grass. There are still friendly people in the world! It was lovely!

I work from home and sometimes it seems like I never leave the house. It can get a little dreary. It felt pretty good outside too. It was about 82 degrees and a little humid, so it wasn’t too bad. I did break out in a little sweat.

Here are a few of the pictures I took with my HTC My Touch. I didn’t realize that my phone took such good pictures. I have a 14 mega pixel digital camera and my phone pictures look better that the ones from the camera.

I really like this one…this bush was in a neighbors yard. The pink is so pretty!’

‘This one is pretty cool. I took it with a setting on my phone called Vintage.’

‘I took this one just to see how it would turn out and the sky is always a beautiful picture.’

‘I just thought this tree was pretty’

‘We walked about a mile and ran into this sign and kept walking… lovely!’

Just thought I would share with you all. I think we should get out and walk more often. It was nice… just walking and talking and slowing down for a while from day to day life!

Til Next Time!

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