Thought for the Day - 4 Jan 2010

One thing absolutely essential to live my life, a sense of humor!

Avatar in 3D

Just a quick little note tonight.

I took the hubby to see Avatar in 3D this afternoon. What fun!!

He thoroughly enjoyed it. The effects were incredible and the landscape of this alien world was simply brilliant.

Needless to say, I got in a little jab with, "I have to say, if you enjoyed watching this, perhaps you can understand a little now why people love WoW so much."

Hehehe... never miss an opportunity. That's my mantra!

I Didn't Think it Would be so Hard

Silly me.

I've been avoiding this for the longest time, but I chalked it up to my usual procrastination. Then to the busyness of the holidays. But today I started. Just a little bit, but enough to make me realize how hard it really is going to be.

I started going through Harriett's belongings.

Let me set the scene a little. In the last months of her life Harriett moved into the "spare" bedroom on the main floor of our home. It was originally to be Mom's room so a lot of Mom's stuff was already in there. And it was the room that held the cookbook shelf, the candles & candle holders, vases, tablecloths, etc. You get the picture. Since her death the wheel chair and disability equipment has been put in there. Krissy's dresser when she got a new one. Holiday items we were uncertain of using this year. And under it all, Harriett's things from her final days.

The room itself simply needed to be organized and recovered from being a catch all. Then I got to Harriett's belongings and knew it would be a good idea to keep on. One of the first things I picked up was her wig.

Wigs sort of creep me out anyway. Like the trophy of a scalping. But along with the wig were a half dozen or more knit hats that Harriett preferred to wear. It's hard to handle those things and not think of her and miss her. It's hard to even write about it.

I didn't really expect it to be so hard.

Tidbits from an Aging Brain

If you are one of the "lucky" ones who used to follow my blogs on MySpace you may recall that I tend to blog in spurts. It appears that my long absence from blogging has acted as a dam that has suddenly burst and here I am with way too much drivel to share rushing down river.

Irony:
In October I was inspired to purchase a flat screen monitor for my husband's Christmas present - and ecstatic that I had done that shopping so far in advance. The beginning of December our PC bit the dust.

Another "If we can put a man on the moon" question:
...then why can't we make a pair of jeans for fat ladies that doesn't wear out in the thighs?

Hypnotic power of TV:
I can go through our dozens and dozens of DVDs and not find a thing I want to watch but if one of those same movies pops up on TV I will sit and watch it from beginning to end commercials and all.

I think that's enough stress for my old noodle on this first day of 2010.

2010 Has Arrived and Along With it....

Resolutions!

Of course.

Some people prefer to call them goals. Aspirations. The new year check list.

I'll stick with resolutions. A resolution means a commitment and I need commitment in my life. Structure.

1. Healthy Eating. I could go with the old "lose weight" resolution but I am more interested in being healthy than skinny. And eating healthy should promote weight loss whereas, losing weight doesn't necessarily equate to good health if I were to focus on weight loss only.

2. Exercise More. Or exercise at all, really. I think I'll start with walking and work up from there.
3. Learn Something New. I would really like to go back to school, but if I can't do that I'll at least commit to taking some classes.

4. Pay It Forward. Although I am overweight and understamina'd I have so very much to be grateful for. With so many blessings in my life it is only right to pay it forward with charitable acts and kindnesses.

5. Celebrate Life. Remember those I love and care for by showing it more.

I think five is enough. Please share your resolutions, goals, aspirations or whatever you choose to call the priorities you set for the new year.

Those Damn Starlings!

Last spring I had to take down my bird feeder because it was overrun and devastated by Starlings daily. I wasn't particularly upset as it was spring and there would be lots of seed and insects and other goodies for the birdies around my home to feed on. And, silly me, I just assumed the Starlings would go away again when fall/winter came.

The feeder went back up last week and five beeeeeautiful red Cardinal males and four gorgeous tan & red females found their way back and began to entertain me. Aaaahhhh.... I love watching them! And there was a bright blue Blue Jay and a Red Bellied Woodpecker (who's red, incidentall, is actually found on the head - go figure) and a couple of others I haven't identified as yet. My bird feeder was hoppin' and my delight in my feather'd friends growin'!

Today as I strolled into the breakfast nook with it's windows overlooking our deck I was beseiged - YES! BESEIGED! - by a deck, tree & feeder entirely overrun by Starlings. I kid you not - it was like a scene from Hitchcock's "The Birds." Eeewwwww!!! It was awful!! They scattered but not too far. Here you can see the sitting in the trees just across the small ravine, queing up for their next attack.

Look hard - all those little dots in the trees are the Starlings - and this is just one shot of the trees behind my house! I wish a had a way to scare off the Starlings that wouldn't affect my darlings!!

And while we are at it, let's talk about the squirrels. Last winter there were so many hickory nuts on my deck you could not walk across it. I am totally serious. To try to cross the deck without sweeping or kicking clear a path would mean twisting an ankle at the very least. This year the tree is practically barren and so is my porch. The squirrels are not coming to feast. I miss the little guy that had a special spot on the railing where he dropped all the hickory shells. It was messy but he was so cute.

If you look hard you can see three litte black hickory nuts. Not much for a squirrel family to live on....

So, thanks to my old friend Shelli, I found out about providing dried corn on the cob for the squirrels. This one has been hanging in my tree for several days now and I have not seen a single squirrel. Krissy says it has teeth marks and that the peanut butter she spread on it is gone, but I am not sure that means a squirrel came a'callin' - probably just another Starling trick!

Welcome Back to the Badonkadonk Cafe!

I used to have a MySpace page where most of my blogging happened. Then as life happened most of my friends and readers went "private" or moved completely off MySpace onto Facebook. Now I must say I am having a fine time on Facebook, but I miss my blog.

Therefore.....

The new home of Badonkadonk Cafe!!

Welcome. Have a seat. Grab a drink (your choice). Enjoy.

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