jane_and.the_dragon

BRIGHTER SIDE

2019-07-10

27

2

What started out as a really bad spring has turned into a wonderful summer. Yea the weather has been kind of hot and rainy, but everything else is going great. I am getting higher points in pool :) I have not had as much anxiety, I am getting many crafts done. My neighbors got a new vehicle and they have taken me on several outings with them. I got a new fan, and I love it the handle clips onto my window frame securely so I do not have to worry about it falling out. It is a 20 inch box fan by Lasko I have bought several fans from them over the years, and loved them all. If you are looking for a good fan you can find this one on the Walmart website, but I would hurry you know how stores are about changing seasonal things early. Before we know it the fall things will be out, the the HALLOTHANKMAS decorations lol that is what I call it when they have Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations all out in one store at one time.

I remember when the Christmas decorations were not put out till after Thanksgiving, and Christmas seemed more special back then. Our Christmas tree never went up till Christmas eve and would come down the day after New Years. Back then we had real trees that my dad himself cut down from his friend's farm. When the stores in an effort to sell more push all the holidays together at one time it makes nothing special anymore n1.gif?v=122

. The way things are going the children of today's modern high tech sell sell world will never know the joy and wonder I did as a child waking up Christmas morning to find Santa Clause had come. We were poor so our presents were usually a doll for me, and a truck for my brother, maybe a coloring book or or story book or a game if we had saved any extra money through the year. The rest of the things if any we got were clothes and things we needed. Kids today have too many things just handed to them. I remember saving pennies for 2 whole years to get an Etch A Sketch, and it meant more to me then if my parents had just went and bought it for me. I had it till I was too old for it and gave it to my sister's kids.

I really think if every parent in the USA limited their kids Christmas list to only a couple things and did not buy them any more toys till the next Christmas or maybe their birthday that they children would appreciate what they have more, instead of saying MY MOM WILL GET ME A NEW ONE IF I BREAK IT. WOW did I ever get off topic lol I am sorry sometimes my mind thinks of more then one subject that may not seem connected to you but in my brain they are.

Back to this nice summer. When spring started I thought it was going to be a bad summer because of all the fighting in the neighborhood, but it seems to have burned itself out. So far it has been a fairly peaceful summer. I have been spending more time with my oldest nephew's family. My oldest great niece just graduated high school and her party was a lot of fun. Well most of it anyhow. My great nephew got me all wet.lol He had tried to get me wet with water balloons that did not work well, but his dad drenched him with the hose lol and I sneaked around the house ane when I got inside his cousin gave me a squirt gun that I filled with ice water from the cooler, and sprayed my great nephew right in the face. I then scurried back inside the house. He tried to entice me into coming back out after he retrieved the hose. That did not work, so when he came in to change his clothes he hugged me with his wet clothes still on lol. I have got to admit I did not expect that. We would never have thought of doing that to one of our aunts lol .

I was walking across the street the other day with my big straw hat on that I use or really sunny days, and one of the neighbors videoed me. I looked up and saw him taping with his phone so I posed for him. I told him I have 3 more straw hats at the house. I really should look and see if he posted that anywhere on line lol. I would rather look silly in a big hat then have skin cancer or sun burn on my face from the sun.

BOOM BOOM BOOM

2019-07-05

46

7

As the 4th of July begins to wind down and the final booms are going off from the fire crackers, I just wonder if all those brave men who fought for our freedom had this kind of celebration in mind. The picnics are nice and I feel sure they probably had some of those, but I have often wondered if they would have wanted to be reminded of all the bombs going off and all the people that died to make it happen. The modern fireworks some times have a lot of smoke involved and I wonder if air pollution was something they had in mind back then when they fought so hard for control of our own land. Sure the lights from the modern fireworks are pretty, but who all have pets that are traumatized by the loud noises they make? I am sure some of this will sound un Americana to some of you no one is prouder of this country then me. I have native American blood in me along with several of the countries that came her seeking freedom. I myself like the pretty colors of the big flashy fireworks, I just wonder if all of the noise and smoke is necessary to celebrate our independence and pay respect to those that made it possible. I think more flag waving and less flag burning would be a far better way to show pride in this country and those that came before us.

There is one thing the forefathers knew and that this modern generation seems to have forgotten, WE ARE STRONGER TOGETHER AS A UNITED COUNTRY THEN WE ARE FIGHTING WITH EACH OTHER. I blame the media for the racial tension in this country today. They constantly make a big issue of anything involving people of different colors, when someones color should not matter. The color of a mans skin has nothing to do with the value of their heart. If there had been modern media in the days of the revolutionary war we would all still be under the British flag because they would broadcast every move the colonist made in the interest of higher ratings but pretending to keep the colonist informed.

OK I time to climb back down off my soap box again. HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY TO ALL! Hope you all remembered the sun screen.

BE CAREFUL OUT THERE

2019-07-03

22

2

We have had a pretty hot June and July is stacking up to be hotter. It is never a good sign when you can hear your mettle window frames popping from the sun's heat at 9 30 in the morning. It is going to be another hot one today. In this hot weather it is wise to take precautions. Always drink lots of water. Dehydration can cause you to get dizzy tired and confused. Use sun screen. The sun on a cloud free day is very dangerous. I have a friend that was painting a deck for her mother in law and did not use sun screen. The next day her skin was purple and she could not lift her arms over her head it hurt so bad.

Many times people do not realize the real dangers because sometimes you will get confused from dehydration or sun stroke. People also do not realize what the extra sweating can do to existing problems like diabetes. In any extreme weather be it hot or cold it is a good idea to check your glucose levels more often if you are a diabetic, because getting too hot or too cold can cause them to shift unexpectedly.

Another problem that I myself have in the spring and summer is allergies. Sometimes my head gets so congested it makes me a little dizzy and my eyes film up and itch so bad I can hardly see. Eye drops help, but they do not fix the problem only a season change may fix it for a time.

I have noticed something else lately. All this heat is making people irritable and grouchy for no apparent reason other then they are uncomfortable. An ac or a big fan can help with that problem.

So in closing you all be careful out there, and keep your sun screen , sunglasses and hats handy when going out side. Bad sun burns can lead to skin cancer that you could avoid if you take the right precautions.

LOL hope I do not sound too much like your mother, but at 61 if I can pass on any advice to help others I want to do it.

TURNED OUT GREAT IN THE END

2019-06-24

25

0

Today started out a bit bumpy. It was my oldest great nieces graduation party. I went with my sister my oldest reg niece and her daughter. It was like in the high 80's when they picked me up and I was starting to get an upset stomach from the heat. I could not believe it when I got in my sisters car SHE HAD THE HEAT ON!!! High 80's and she is running the heat. So of course I protested. I tried to roll down the window and it would not work ( apparently this vehicle has a thing that allows the front seat to lock the windows in the back seat in the upright position. My sister unlocked it then complained that pollution would get in and it would mess with her breathing. So I rolled it back up, but I added that I was already nauseous and that the heat running with the windows up was making it worse. I told her if I threw up from the heat it would not be a good thing either. So she relented and allowed the ac to be on at 77 not great, but at least the heater was not on anymore.

When you got to our nephews house things got wayyyy better. We got my sister inside and got her oxygen plugged in and got her a chair with a foot stool. Someone made lady locks, they were yummy. I should not have done it but I gave my sister one. Her daughter has her on a strict diet for her health. Then I had some of the cookies my nephew's father in law made they were really good and soft. I gave my sister a piece of one of them but I told her she did not need a whole one on top of the lady lock. She did however talk me into getting her 1 and 1 doreto later. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the piece of cake she was eating I did not give THAT to her nor would I have after all the other sweets and with her youngest daughter on the way to the party. When I saw it I said to my sisters son and oldest daughter your sister is going to kill us all if she sees her with all that frosting on that big piece of cake or if she finds out how much water she has drank today. My sister has kidney probs and is only allowed so much water a day. I am a firm believer in it is not worth living to be a thousand if you do not enjoy any of it, but my sister got wayyyyyy carried away today. Think is I am nearly as bad my sugar has been high and I ate 6 cookies myself. I got kinda mad at my sister later when she accepted a white chocolate sucker on top or all that and her youngest daughter had arrived. I was taking photos all over the place. I took 3 different cameras with me 2 regular and 1 waterproof one. I took the waterproof one over to the pool and handed it to one of my other great nieces and told her to take it under the water to see if it really was waterproof. It is. The pictures under the water were kinda hazy because the water was a bit cloudy but the ones taken ofer the water level were really good. Some of the kids were throwing water balloons around and spraying a hose I did not want in it, because I did not bring any other clothes, but my second to the oldest great nephew was not having that. I was helping a couple of the girls in the pool with their goggles so i did not notice him sneaking up on me with water balloons. The first one bounced off me and broke on the ground. He did not have it full enough so it did not break on contact and it hurt when he hit me with that. He then went back on the hill over the pool and threw a bunch from there. One of those struck the pool just inside the rim right where I was standing and drenched me. When I went back to the party I walked all the way around the house to avoid the hose. One of his cousins had brought squirt guns and she gave me one. I waited patiently till my nephew put the hose down and walked away from it. Then I sprayed him right in the face with ice water I took out of the cooler. lol He ran back for the hose and I stepped back inside the house. Hew tried to trick me into coming back out, but I am a little smarter then he is when it comes to things like that. lol 61 years in this family teaches you a lot. I cracked the door and called him by name and said I was born at night but it was not last night lol When he could not get me to come back out so he could spray me he came up with another plan he came in with his clothes all wet cause his dad had sprayed him good, and he hugged me lol. I told him if his aunt would not let me ride home with her cause I was wet, he had to take me home. lol he said maybe if I was good. I dried before we were ready to leave. All in all it was a reallllly good time one of the best I have had in the past 2 years.

WHAT MAKES IT FAMILY?

2019-06-21

19

1

I was just setting here thinking about some things, and the thought about what makes people family came into my mind. There was a time when it was easy mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents made family. As I grow older I have come to realize it is not always blood that make a family. True families center on love, trust, respect, and compassion for one another. I have a few friends in my real life that are more reliable then some of my blood family. Even though these friends are not blood I consider them family. My one friends grand daughter calls me Aunt Jane. :) She came up with that herself. I never told her to do it, but I do not top her either. Just like I did not correct the nurse at the hospital one late night when she called her grandma my daughter. We just looked at each other and smiled, because that is how I feel about her like she is the daughter I never had. No real daughter could be as good to a parent as she and her whole family have been to me over the years.

One time when my nephew was little he had to draw a picture of his family for school. It had an extra person in it. His mom asked him who it was. He said it was his sister. He had no real sister, so his mom said who? He turned and pointed to his aunt that was born between him and his older brother in age. The ironic thing is about 8 years later it became true. His grand parents died and his grandpa left his youngest child to his daughter and my brother to raise. So she became like his real sister after all. I can see why he got confused in the beginning. My sister-in-law always wanted a daughter, and never got one, so she would go up to her parent's house and take her baby sister to her house all the time. My sister-in-law always loved kids.

I remember one time before she and my brother were married we talked her into playing ball with us in the rain, and she had a tooth ache at the time. My brother told my mom she had a tooth ache and she made us all get in out of the rain. She would have stayed in the rain even though she had a tooth ache to make me and my little brother happy, if mom had not made her get out of the rain.

Now a days family can be anything that your heart says it is. Today's families can have 2 of the same sex parents. Two parents from different countries. Children in all sizes, shapes, colors, and nationalities. One could walk down the street with a rainbow made of kids you adored and no one will even look twice.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT FAMILY IS: That you love them and they love you, everything else is easy after that.

Bilard 8 - 2009

BRIGHTER SIDE

BOOM BOOM BOOM

BE CAREFUL OUT THERE

TURNED OUT GREAT IN THE END

WHAT MAKES IT FAMILY?