Autumn, Myth or Reality?

I love fall, but after a long winter and a hot summer I have forgotten what fall is suppose to be like. Now, I know that the first day of fall started this week; at least that's what they tell me.

Today I even went out to the market and bought pumpkins because I know that if I have pumpkins on my hearth, fall will come. I am going to will fall to be here. Tomorrow I'm getting out all of my fall decorations and I'm going to make pumpkin cinnamon rolls. Now if that doesn't bring fall, what will? As soon as the temperature gets under 85 degrees I am even going to make hot cocoa and top it off with a mile high serving of whipped cream. Then after I finish eating my pumpkin cinnamon rolls and drinking my hot cocoa I'm going for a walk on this street under all these beautiful orange trees......could someone please tell me where I can find these trees, please?

"You First"

I don't know if anyone else feels this way but this is absolutely one of my biggest driving pet peeves. I'm going to preface this by saying that as of Sunday I'm trying not to think terrible thoughts about the people who do this anymore. And believe me, my thoughts were not nice. Okay, this is it. My pet peeve is those people who, when you get to a four way or even two way stop they wave you on. Now you could get there first or you could get there last and they still wave you on.Who the heck made them the "you go first" police? If I got there first there is no need to wave me on, because believe me I am going to take my proper turn, which is before you. If you got there first then, doggonit, just go and take your turn. I don't want you to think you can tell me when my turn is. I haven't had a traffic ticket since I was 17 years old and I am considerably older than that now. I have always passed my driving tests, I know the rules! It's kind of like this; you get in line at the grocery store and someone gets in line behind you. They tap you on the shoulder and tell you " you can go ahead and go before me". Well, no kidding. Since I was here first I had every intention of going before you. But if you are there first, I'm not going to shove you aside and get in front of you, I don't care if you do wave me on. My thoughts go to someplace mean when people do that to me at a stop sign. I really want to just sit there and see what happens. Will they just sit there waving me on and not go until I do? Will they just sit there scratching their head because they don't know what to do? Well, I'm not going to do that and I'm doing my best to not think those mean things anymore. At church on Sunday we had a wonderful talk about looking at the positive and not saying unkind things or thinking unkind thoughts, so I am reforming, really I am. And if I meet you at a four way stop and you wave me on I am simply going to go and wave to you and smile as we pass each other.

Life Is Good, Honest It Is

"Life is what we make it, always has, always will be"

Grandma Moses

"Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we're here we should dance"

Author~Unknown

Honestly, it really is; life is good.

That is not to say that my family is perfect and everything in my life is perfect. Far from it.

The thing is, and I figure this out often, but just as often I seem to forget, we don't have to have a perfect life to have a really good life; one that is perfect for us.

These are some of the things that make my life perfect for me.

1. family, as weird as we all are I love them and they love me. What else do you need?

2. My grandson who calls me on my cell phone while I am in town running errands simply to tell me that "The Walking Dead" actually is coming back on tv in October. And he's so excited about it, and I'm so excited about it; we love zombies.

3. A husband who knows when I NEED chocolate and brings me home some just because.

4. I have the most fantastic view from my deck at home. Sometimes it actually takes my breath away.

5. Most of my grandchildren live nearby and those who don't, like to talk to me on the phone, how great is that?

6. My granddaughter, Maggie, promised that she would be my caregiver (remember Nurse Rachett?) when I am old and feeble. That scares me a little bit, but who else would promise you that? And she's a promise keeper!

7. Tylor will tell me "love you" just right out of the blue. And you know what? He really does.

8. My daughter and son-in-law just got a much needed new car to replace their "ghetto car" (their words, not mine). Life is good.

9. My Son-in-law got a teaching position, one that he really, really deserves.

10. Our new kitten, Millie.

11. Our dog learned to open the front door all by himself (okay, that's not real convenient for us, but you must admit it's pretty interesting).

12. All the housewives, NY, NJ, and Beverly Hills. I don't care how crappy my live may seem sometimes, I know I've got it better than they do (well, minus the money maybe).

13. Ghosthunters

14. Billy the Exterminator

15. Mantracker

16. Reality TV in general.....I love it.

17. Daylight Savings Time

18.......everything else

Now, I didn't mean for this to seem all Pollyannaish, but I am truly grateful for all of my blessings, of which I have many.

So now, I'm going to try every single day to remember the things in my life that make it perfect for me.

Me And My Ill-Controlled Brain

"Worry is evidence of an ill-controlled brain; it is merely a stupid waste of time in unpleasantness"
Arnold Bennett


"It ain't no use putting up your umbrella till it rains"
Alice Caldwell Rice



Worry. I do it all of the time. I worry about my children, I worry about my grandchildren. There are just so many things to worry about.

I have a "little" brother, who is now about 43 years old. When he was a little boy he used to worry about everything. He would worry the minute my parents stepped out of the house; they could get run over by a bus, lightening could strike them, a hole might open up in the middle of the street and swallow them.

He worried about globle warming before it was in vogue. He worried about the rain forests. He worried that his dog might become ill from eating her own poop. My brother worried that the car might run out of gas on the freeway, he worried that an earthquake would hit while he was in school and then he worried about how he would find our parents if it did.

Now, I don't worry about those kinds of things, I just worry about the others things that I have almost no control over. I like to think I can control the things and mostly the people around me, but I know that I can't, nor would I want to. Well, I really would like to but I know I'm suppose to not want to.

When I was talking to my second daughter on the phone last night I was thanking her for being the one child that I almost never worry about. It's not that there is never anything in her life or her families lives to worry about. It's just that she does all the worrying without worrying me. How thoughtful is that? There are plenty of challenges in her life but she handles them the way I wish I could handle mine. She doesn't whine and cry about her setbacks, she simply takes care of them.

I know my other children and grandchildren have little or no idea of how much I worry about them, but I do and I probably always will.

Now, I know that there is probably nothing I can do about the things that worry me, so why do I worry? Well, knowing my brother and even my dad, I think, I come by the worry thing genetically.

But, this afternoon when one of my grandchildren gave me the tiniest thing to worry about I came to a conclusion. I am not going to be a worrier anymore. I am going to save my worrying for the important stuff like the holes that could open up in the middle of the street and swallow us up while we are driving to Taco Bell.

This is the awful beginning of fire season and unfortunately Old West Ranch got hit again with a pretty large fire. They aren't the only ones to be affected by this fire, however, and this community has really come to the aid of those whose homes and lives were and still are in danger. Here in Kern County we have a great fire department that really does such a wonderful job and I for one really appreciate the work they do. Thank you to firefighters all over the country, especially those in Texas who are almost battling large fires.