Here are a couple photos of the greeting cards I made with my friend G. Ann. She had the beautiful paper and I had the oriental stamps. We started at 10 and went till 3 p.m. with a nice little chicken salad lunch here in between. She only lives about 5 minutes from me. We have another playdate scheduled next week! Of course the photos don’t do them justice. There are raised parts on some of the cards and the colors are even prettier. Can’t wait to send them to someone special.
A relative of mine has a son who is station in Basra, Iraq. She shared this story that he sent her on Mother’s Day. It is a very moving story.
I met a lady by the name of Rihanna who runs a local shop here on base. She had a couple of pictures of what looked to be a little boy and her on a shelf near the back of the shop. I asked her if it was her son to which she replied, “yes”. So I told her that in American today would be her day and since she was with Americans that we offer her thanks for being a Mother on this special day. She seemed confused by this and I quickly learned that she has only been on the base a couple of months after one of the other shop owners decided to do something else. So her experience with Americans was little as most of the Soldiers just bought the jewlery and left.
She asked me; “so your country gives one day to Mother’s?”. To which I replied; “one Official Day, the other days we love them in our own way”.
She smiled and said; “Maybe someday, it will happen here too. A holiday just for Mothers.”
She kind of drifted off and I was about to walk out when she said; “Excuse me, but I must tell you something.”
“What is it?”, I asked.
In perfect English she said, “I wish I would have known about these things before about your country. I was offered a place on this base for years and I continued to say no. Other friends of mine who have shops here would tell me of the riches they enjoyed because of their shops on base. One shop on this base brings thirty times the money as a shop in Basra. I did not believe it for a couple years, but year after year of my friends getting richer and finally I took my place here. In four months on this base I have made more than I have in the last ten years.”
I asked her, “What made you afraid to come to the base before?”
She spoke as she began to cry, “You must understand, the boy in the picture you see here is indeed my son. But I have not seen him in the four months that I have been here. Because of the rules of this society, my husband will no longer allow me to see my son and I most likely get a divorce. When we get divorced, my husband will no longer let me see my son. But, I had to come here because we needed the money. With this money I can guarantee my son’s future. Even if I cannot see him, I will give him everything that I have to make a better life.”
I was about to talk to console her, but stopped as she continued.
“Perhaps in the years to come, I will be able to see him again. Maybe, if Iraq starts to think like America does, Mothers will be equal to Fathers in the law as well as the heart. I can only pray that this day will come to my country.” She turned to me and said softly,”before today, I never thought American’s could give me hope. I only thought you could give me pain. Thank you for letting me know about such a day in your country, so I can pray that it comes to mine.”
I thanked her for her wonderful words and went out the door much richer than I went in, hoping myself that her wish would come true.
So, this Mother’s day, thank you for what you do and who you are, and have a quiet moment and give thought to Mothers around the world who need a day like today.
Posted in General
It’s been a few weeks since I wrote about what we have been doing besides petting and holding Smoky and Sabrina which believe me takes a lot of time. They both not only like to sit in our laps, often together in one lap, they also like to be held. By held I mean crawl up in my arms and be held like a little child. It’s really sweet but hard to do when I am trying to work at the computer. Smoky is especially cuddly. Smoky still loves to watch the mouse move on the monitor and follow my typing on the monitor. He has been trying to figure out what the sink in our bathroom is for and today decided it was a good place to curl up in. Here is a photo of them playing with Bob.
In the last few weeks we:
Many people today are talking about scaling back and living a more
“Simple Life” – life just seems too complicated and filled with unnecessary
tension so let’s scale back and we¹ll be happier. Most of these people are
talking more about scaling back their physical attachments (such as housing,
wardrobe, luxury items, etc.) than their attachments to other people,
ideas/perspectives and beliefs, self-concept, being right and others wrong,
etc.
What are the things that matter most in your life (your children,
grandchildren, health, wealth, spiritual growth, helping others, your golf
swing)? In the past 24-48 hours, how much time have you actually spent on
these things that matter most?
What does it mean to be productive? Is meditation productive? Is holding the hand of a dying friend productive? Must production be something tangible and measurable?
What is the importance of telling our stories and history to family and friends? What have you done to tell your story or your families story?
Coming up this Thursday night I think we will go to the Greek Festival and check out Greek food and crafts and then on Friday through Tuesday we have company coming from MN. Yippie!
This post is to the many wonderful friends and family I have that are mothers. Your children have brought you great joy, you are so proud of them and you have all done an incredible job of raising fine young men and women. Yes, sometimes they drive you nuts, especially those of you with boys, but they still turned out great and you will soon see how great an influence you were in their lives.
I still miss my wonderful mom Arlene, even though she has been gone 20 years. She was a great mom. I am thankful to have Helen still in my life. I couldn’t ask for a better mother in law.
I am so glad that over the years I have been able to share through you and with your children many happy moments and celebrations. Their are many of you who kids who have “adopted me” as “aunt Fay” and I couldn’t be happier.
Job well done ladies. Happy Mother’s Day
Posted in General
To my wonderful younger friends who are in college, like April and her friends, and to Amanda who is studying for her third CPA exam – Study hard this weekend and into next week. Put off play time just a little longer. The end of the studying is so near and I know you can stay focused to crack those books. I have personally used the following quotes many times over the years when I felt I had to much to do and was feeling a little overwhelmed. These helped me stay focused.
“The world is run by those who show up.”
“I am what I do, not what I intend to do.”
“Successful people earned their success by doing those things that had to be done when they didn’t feel like doing them.”
And when you are done studying -
I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day. E.B. White
If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun. Audrey Hepburn
Posted in General
Last night we had a special HOA meeting. Our HOA has applied to be a special tax district in Greenville County and they wanted to explain that to us. Sounds like a good deal. They need 75% of us to agree. The county would then pay for electricity and yard/public space maintenance and we still have a say in who does it. The best part is that this expense is a tax issue and the developer would now have to pay it also. There are 98 of 128 lots built and the developer doesn’t have to pay a HOA fee on those lots and the HOA budget definitely needs the money. Now as a tax they have to pay. Also as a county tax district we can tie into longer term contracts with a cap on increases which saves money.
When we took over the budget last year from the developer and the company they had manage it, it was really a mess. Management company made many, many errors and the budget was way under the actual expense so when we met last year home owners were pretty upset by how much it was going up. I still think it is really cheap – $241 a year and with the new changes the total could drop almost $40. Keep in mine there is no pool, golf course and right now not even a playground. Just public space, insurance, etc. I hope it got approved.
Posted in General
Sabrina says:
I went to the vet yesterday for my last kitty exam and shots. I was a really good girl in the car and in the office. I didn’t squirm or cry but I sure wanted to be close to Fay. She protected me. I have been scratching my ears so the dr. thought something might be in my ears but he checked and everything was ok. Guess I just got itchy ears!
I am growing really fast. In a month I went from 5.5 lbs to 7.3 lbs. and will eventually get to about 10 lbs. Fay says I am getting really strong. Smoky and I play hide and seek and tag every day and also wrestle together and do acrobatics on our kitty condo so I get lots of exercise and am building strong muscles. The dr. thought I made really cute little chirps and coos when I talk.
I don’t have to go back for a year, Fay just needs to put on my flea and worm treatments each month. Smoky goes to the dr. next week. I hope he is healthy too. He is my friend and I love playing and sleeping with him. He helps me keep my ears clean.
I still love to be cuddled and held. Smoky and I can sit in Fays lap at the same time. Fay says I am like a sticky note. I can jump in her arms or lap and immediately stick, just like a sticky note. Smoky squirms around and takes awhile to settle in.
I thought these were really interesting. I didn’t know any of them Good tidbits to keep in mind the next time the conversation lags! Hope you enjoy this as much as I did. Thanks John for sharing.
I have always said, you should learn something new every day. Unfortunately, many of us are at that age where what we learn today, we forget tomorrow. Hope you are curious to do a little deeper digging on some of these. The original email had photos but I couldn’t easily insert those so you just get the words.
Amazon
The Amazon rainforest produces more than 20% of the world’s oxygen supply. The Amazon River pushes so much water into the Atlantic Ocean that, more than one hundred miles at sea off the mouth of the river, one can dip fresh water out of the ocean. The volume of water in the Amazon river is greater than the next eight largest rivers in the world combined and three times the flow of all rivers in the United States.
Antarctica
Antarctica is the only land on our planet that is not owned by any country. Ninety percent of the world’s ice covers Antarctica. This ice also represents seventy percent of all the fresh water in the world. As strange as it sounds, however, Antarctica is essentially a desert;the average yearly total precipitation is about two inches. Although covered with ice (all but 0.4% of it, ice.), Antarctica is the driest place on the planet, with an absolute humidity lower than the Gobi desert.
Brazil
Brazil got its name from the nut, not the other way around.
Canada
Canada has more lakes than the rest of the world combined. Canada is an Indian word meaning ‘Big Village’.
Chicago
Next to Warsaw, Chicago has the largest Polish population in the world.
Detroit
Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, carries the designation M-1, so named because it was the first paved road anywhere.
Damascus Syria
Damascus, Syria, was flourishing a couple of thousand years before Rome was founded in 753 BC, making it the oldest continuously inhabited city in existence.
Istanbul Turkey
Istanbul, Turkey, is the only city in the world located on two continents.
Los Angeles
Los Angeles’ full name is:El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula
– and can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size: L.A.
New York City
The term ‘The Big Apple’ was coined by touring jazz musicians of the 1930s who used the slang expression ‘apple’ for any town or city. Therefore, to play New York City is to play the big time – The Big Apple.
There are more Irish in New York City than in Dublin, Ireland; more Italians in New York City than in Rome, Italy; and more Jews in New York City than in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Ohio
There are no natural lakes in the state of Ohio, every one is manmade.
Pitcairn Island
The smallest island with country status is Pitcairn in Polynesia, at just 1.75 sq. miles/4,53 sq. km.
Rome
The first city to reach a population of 1 million people was Rome, Italy in 133 B.C.
There is a city called Rome on every continent.
Siberia
Siberia contains more than 25% of the world’s forests.
S.M.O.M..
The actual smallest sovereign entity in the world is the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (S.M.O.M). It is located in the city of Rome, Italy, has an area of two tennis courts and, as of 2001, has a population of 80 — 20 less people than the Vatican. It is a sovereign entity under international law, just as the Vatican is.
Sahara Desert
In the Sahara Desert, there is a town named Tidikelt, Algeria, which did not receive a drop of rain for ten years. Technically though, the driest place on Earth is in the valleys of the Antarctic near Ross Island. There has been no rainfall there for two million years.
Spain
Spain literally means ‘the land of rabbits’.
St. Paul, Minnesota
St. Paul, Minnesota, was originally called Pig’s Eye after a man named Pierre ‘Pig’s Eye’ Parrant
who set up the first business there.
Roads
Chances that a road is unpaved:
in the U.S.A. = 1%;
in Canada = 75%
Russia
The deepest hole ever drilled by man is the Kola Superdeep Borehole, in Russia.
It reached a depth of 12,261 meters (about 40,226 feet or 7.62 miles). It was drilled for scientific research and gave up some unexpected discoveries, one of which was a huge deposit of hydrogen – so massive that the mud coming from the hole was boiling with it.
United StatesThe Eisenhower interstate system requires that one mile in every five must be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies.
Waterfalls
The water of Angel Falls (the world’s highest) in Venezuela drops 3,212 feet (979 meters).
They are 15 times higher than Niagara Falls.
Just in case you were wondering how Smoky and Sabrina get along, here is the answer.
A picture is worth a thousand words.
Posted in General
Smoky says:
Last night Fay couldn’t stay asleep again and this time it wasn’t my fault or Sabrina’s fault. We were sound asleep. Anyway, Fay woke up at 2:30 because she was hot, sniffed her lavendar, laid awake until 3:30 and then got up to make something called tea. She hasn’t had problems sleeping for a long time so it could be the full moon, new medications or the Chinese medicine she takes to raise her energy level.
I heard her get up and followed her to the kitchen and after she fed me a little I waited for her to sit down. For a change Sabrina stayed asleep. She can be a little pest sometimes if I want quality time with Fay and Bob. For example, if I want to sit in their lap she has to sit there also.
It was warm outside and Fay put my favorite soft blanket on her lap and sipped her tea. The frogs and crickets and birds were quietly singing in the background. After a few minutes in her lap I cuddled up on my back in her arms, she said just like a little human baby and I went to sleep. I didn’t know Fay and I could have such a special quiet time. Fay said she doesn’t remember having a kitty go to sleep like that before in her arms. After about 45 minutes she was tired and we both went back to bed and she slept until 8 a.m. Then Sabrina woke up and started cooing and chirping and cuddling.
Sabrina and I both sleep together in the middle of the bed. She is always washing my face. Fay got us a new little bed and I know how to sleep in it but Sabrina hasn’t joined me yet. Maybe tomorrow.
I think I’m smarter than Sabrina cause I know Fay wanted me in my new bed and I pretty much come when you call Kitty Kitty. I sometimes know my name. I don’t think Sabrina knows her name yet or else she is just more independent because she doesn’t come when you call her. Fay is thinking maybe she needs a new name like Freckle, because of her one Freckle. Will wait and see what happens.
Posted in General
