"Girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice."

Yes, spent the entire day at Dance competition again - such a good shot of estrogen! Wow, they just never get old! As a matter of fact, I kind of miss the old days when people dressed up more and girls dressed like girls and guys dressed like guys. Now, sometimes it's hard to tell if someone is a guy or gal since the dress is so unisex. I'm really tired of jeans - gosh, it's all anyone wears... Even church is so dress down these days. I miss men wearing suits. It seems like it's just the bankers and the undertakers that still wear them.

A few years ago, there was a perfume ad that said, "If you want him to be more of a man, be more of a woman."
Certainly some truth in that!

"Shop 'til you drop..."

Well, I'm dropping... ugh... we've been shopping all afternoon looking for dresses for my seventh grader's Spring Dance and 8th Grade Graduation Dance - one casual dress and other dressier like wedding.

I've never been a shopper. My dear mother used to take my fashionable middle child shopping all the time, which was wonderful bonding time for both at the mall. As a matter of fact, after she passed, Alex had dreams of them at the mall together...

I WISH I loved shopping - it's what girls are supposed to DO! But I've always worn my hair the same and I buy the first pair of shoes that fit and then buy them in several colors. I was always sort of a tomboy that wanted to be a girly-girl. That's why when Alex, my first daughter, was born, I bought all the pink, and roses, and flowers and accessories, so she'd be REAL girly-girl. And she certainly is. She is our shopping and fashion consultant since she has the knack for knowing how and where to buy. And her new husband is actually pretty good as well!

To me, shopping is only REALLY fun if you have a lot of money, but I have to work with what I have, so......

Lottery anyone??

"Put on your big girl panties and deal with it"

Wow... Thank God it's Friday! What a long week of drama...

"Happiness is a choice..."

Are you happy? I get asked this a lot and the answer is, compared to what? Happiness is relative. Compared to being sick, then yes, I'm happier than a clam. I'm happier than living in Haiti or Cuba or China or Africa. I could be living in Afganhistan or Iraq - wartorn countries. Or live in Pakistan or a Muslim country and have to wear a Burka and not be able to worship as a Christian without the threat of prison or death.

I think happiness is based on meeting our own expectations. If you would have asked me in high school if I'd be where I'm at in life at this age, I never would have believed it. I had MUCH higher expectations of myself, and at my age, I'm not young anymore. I'm still surprised at where I'm at... but life happens in small steps with everyday choices and many of mine were poor choices. They weren't intentional - just poor. I chose advertising for a career because it sounded fun, and I was all about having fun when I was younger. I never thought about the future but should have. My unconscious thought must have been, 'Manana.' But I never thought about retirement or saving or the future. I've never been a good planner, and if you 'aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time.'

Happiness gets down to seeing the glass half empty or half full. Happiness really is a choice. Joy comes from doing God's will. Happiness comes from meeting our personal goals OR deciding we're going to be happy regardless of our circumstances. The Bible says a lot about being content with what we have. We can still aspire and pursue more, but we must be thankful for what we have. "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you." I think God is trying to help us not be miserable with these words...

Mind over matter!

"He who spares the rod, hates his son..." - Proverbs

Bullying gets on my last nerve. For example, this recent case of the high school kids in Massachusetts that bullied the new girl from Ireland, so much so, that she committed suicide. And if you're a regular reader of my blog, you know that my father committed suicide, so it's something that hits a raw nerve with me. Everyone is playing the blame game. My co-workers all think that Facebook is responsible. This seems ridiculous to me. It's like gun control - guns don't kill, people do. You simply cannot police these social networking sites. It goes back to the parents, and probably the lack of discipline these kids got. This is the price we are paying for letting the schools raise our kids. Every school we know of has a bullying problem. And actually it's a PERSONALITY problem with the kid. We have to teach the difference between right and wrong. These kids have no conscience. And there has to be CONSEQUENCES for wrong doing.

At my youngest's current school (she's in 7th grade) there have been several cases of bullying this year. And her school has had three children that I know of, leave the school for this reason. The first case did involve Facebook, and when the grandmother went to the principal, he said that he couldn't do anything since it wasn't on school property. She then said she would go to the local police. The principal finally decided to discipline the wrong doers any way since it is a private school, and they are supposed to behave or they cannot go there. But the public schools don't have much recourse.

Back in my day, they didn't need all of these 'alternative,' (a.k.a. you're one step from juvenile detention) schools like they have now. If you were acting unacceptable, you got kicked out. End of story. Of course, they could paddle back then. Oh, and pray. And say the Pledge of Allegiance.

Back in the 'old days' there were still bullies - it's human nature. But most had parents that would spank, ground them or pull privileges until the lesson was learned.

It's either learn it now or learn it later in prison.

I'm just saying....

"Just say NO..."

As far as I'm concerned, drugs are the bane of our society. When I was growing up, drugs were just starting to be used recreationally. We can thank the Beatles and the Rolling Stones for making it 'cool' to the Woodstock generation, along with most rock groups that followed. And look at America now... Compare the World War II generation to Generation X. It's a sad story...

When did people stop caring? About themselves? About others? Why is getting high always the answer? I've never done recreational drugs; our high school health classes made a huge impression on me. We only have ONE brain, (and one life.) We had better take care of it. Personally I cannot afford to destroy any more brain cells.

Last week on ABC News they reported that the Mexican drug cartels are making heroin 60% more powerful and going into junior highs and selling small amounts for $5 marketed in Twilight bags... How wicked is THAT?! They said once your hooked on heroin (and with that stuff, it doesn't take long) you only have a 10% chance of getting off of it.

Why not go through life sober? It's been done for thousands of years, and they survived. I've heard that Meth actually changes the brain forever. It was recently on Yahoo that Marijuana use might be causing Schizophrenia. And they are also seeing a link between drug use and becoming Bi-polar. Every action has a reaction. There ARE consequences.

I'm not against drugs/meds for sick people. And if Marijuana helps sick people, so be it. Let the doctors prescribe it, and the pharmacies fill it.

But drugs are for sick people - ONLY!!

"You don't marry someone you can live with, you marry the person who you cannot live without."

Congratulations to my niece who just got engaged! This weekend she was telling us at Easter lunch how her boyfriend popped the question. (At the ski lodge in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.) These days, it's just as important how a guy asks a girl to marry him, as the ring is. Just yesterday at church the pastor recognized two members that had just gotten engaged - just after they landed from their first skydiving jump!

I think I should be a consultant to young men on how to ask their bride-to-be to spend the rest of their lives together. I think the bar has been raised these days with all of the cable bridal shows, so creativity is key! Maybe a scavenger hunt to find the ring. Maybe baked in a cake? And public places are always fun because other women are suckers for romantic men. Each proposal, of course, must be customized to the couple, but in a way that's very special for both people. Marriage, they say, is like a plant. It must be watered, pruned, taken care of, and...

They lived happily ever after...