Peeves

Howie Mandel was once asked if he had a pet. He answered, "yes, I have a pet peeve". As of now, that too is the only pet I have and let me tell you about it!

I will start with this: I am a parent and am continuously proud of my children and their achievements. I don't however, feel the need to post signs about them in my yard or over my garage door.

I am sure you have seen the signs about which I write. You know, "proud parent of a "insert high school name" lives here" and the child's/student's name is written in giant bold letters and whatever sport the said child participates in advertised for all to see.

It isn't that I begrudge the pride these parent feel or their wanting to proclaim to the world they have the smartest most athletic child in that school. No, it isn't that at all! What I do begrudge is the danger these parents put their children in and I suspect they have no clue!

I taught personal protection and crime avoidance seminars for some time and one of the things we always stressed was: DO NOT GIVE OUT TOO MUCH PERSONAL INFORMATION!!!!!!! And that is just what these parents are doing!

Said pride plaques tell every pervert, sexual predator and Chester the molester your child's name, address, the high school he/she attends and the sport or activity he/she participates in. How difficult do you think it would be to find out any additional details one of the above seedy individuals would need to track your precious baby down? Not very!

With the Internet age and most schools having websites with photos, practice schedules, game times etc. at the disposal of anyone who cares to tap a few keys, the information is there! A few cross reference keyboard taps (Facebook search, newspaper articles etc.) and VIOLA! Chester now knows little Susie Soccer lives at 123 Proud Parent Lane, is the star player of All American High School, has practice everyday at 4:00 and walks home alone when finished! In fact, he may have even followed her a time or two!

No one wants their child to be a victim of the local gutter scum lurking around the neighborhood and furthermore, I don't want it either. So Proud Parents, take those damn things off the garage, out of the yard and if you have to put them up somewhere, do it in the privacy of your home!

Another year goes by.....

Do you mark the passage of time in months? Perhaps days and hours? Sometimes all I can manage is a minute at a time.

I honestly do not know where the time goes. But nevertheless it is gone. And once again I find myself here visiting my old friend...a visit long past due.

In a nutshell, the past year has seen: a new son in law,  two new granddaughters, two new jobs, a new residence....

Lots of new for a girl who professes to hate change!

Update

All good things must come to an end, Gram died early this morning. My friend is "rejoicing" knowing Gram has gone to be with her beloved, Gramp.

Grace....Gram epitomized the definition of the word.

97 years of grace...rest peacefully Gram.

My Friend....

She hurts tonight. Her heart is heavy and she is weary. I want to wave my magic wand and take all her pain away. But it was this friend who once pointed out to me, "your magic wand is simply a toy and the sooner you embrace reality, the better your world will behave".

She isn't a kill joy, this friend of mine. She deals in facts. She has had to, as everyday since her now 26 year old son turned three, life has been one challenge after another. This summer has been particularly difficult. Imagine making the decision to have a large part of your son's brain removed...for his own good of course. At what cost?

Uhhh..."well we will have to wait and see. But odds are good he won't suffer too much brain damage and there is a good chance it will stop most of his seizures....yeah, I can't even begin to consider what they went through. But they did, her and her husband, and they did it with grace, strength and dignity.
That was less than two months ago. Today....

Her Gram, dear sweet Gram, is dying. Some would say it is not a tragedy for Gram is 97. She outlived her husband, a son in law, a granddaughter.....a very long life, a good life, a great family. But the tragedy lies in the heart of my friend. My friend who loves her sweet Gram and will miss her terribly when she crosses to the other side where Gramp will surely be waiting.

It will be then, I will get that damn wand out and wave it with everything I have in hopes there is just a teeny tiny little bit of magic in it, just enough to ease her pain bit. Is that too much to ask?

Change

Those who have read these pages over time know I dislike change. With that being said, if you have read these pages over time, you also know I have seen a great deal of change.

Nothing has changed....I still don't like it.

Once again though, I find I am in the midst of that nasty six letter verb.

This time it is preceded by "job"...I have had a job change. Nasty? Not the adverb I would use to describe the "change". It hasn't been too bad...different yes. But not bad.

Huhhh...maybe there is hope for "change"?

I will keep you posted......

Tuesday Catch Up!

A Shutter Sister's One Word Project Catch up

Elevate!

Not so much in the "supernatural" get your feet off the ground kind of way...but more in the "celebrate the everyday" kind of thing way.

Through their One Word Project,  Shutter Sisters encourages us to use our cameras during the month of August to "Elevate" those things random and often ordinary.

I am starting a bit late (what's new) and combining the first three prompts:
my morning, favorite space and cameras....

A quickly staged photo of my Nikon D60 and my favorite morning beverage. I am just becoming reacquainted with the camera after a long absence from looking at life through its view finder. I wonder if I will capture a photo of my favorite space? As of now...I seem to be aimlessly wandering seeking a place to once again call "favorite".