100th Post & Giveaway

Hello blogging friends~

Welcome to my 100th post

I hope I don't bore you to death today,
but I'm just going to let it roll
since I will be taking a bit of a break from blogging
to visit my Sophia (and her parents) for Christmas!

But first...
To celebrate my 100th post,
if you email me and let me know you're interested,
I'll send you a little something from the Monterey Bay.
(It won't come to you until after Christmas - when I get back home)

~Happy 100th Post~

So should you be so inclined... settle in
because for some reason I'm a little long-winded today.

Wow... never in a million years did I think blogging would be like this! I started out pretty careful of what I wrote. I've focused on the good things in my life, and resisted writing about negative things. There are plenty of negative things in life, but I figure no one really wants to read about them.

Still, as I thought about what to write in my 100th post, I decided that life has both sides ... positive/negative, yin/yang, light/dark, up/down, good/bad... as a general rule I don't want to focus on the negative side of this equation, but I don't want to ignore it either...

so I've opted just this once...

for an open splathering (is that a word?)
of whatever is on my mind.

...hopefully I'll still have some friends at the end of this post!

I grew up in the 50's... a time when life was simple. Oh man, that sounds like an old thing to say! I remember my grandparents and parents talking like this ... and now I know how true it is! Life is always simpler when we were young! (My kids will probably say the same thing...)

I was raised in a religious family during a time when that wasn't a bad word. It was a time when it was safe to play baseball in the street until well after dark. A time when we knew there were bad people, but they were called "hobo's," and they weren't in our neighborhood.

I think I was a pretty lucky child.

-My parents were happy people.

-They made life good for us, in the best "family" kind of ways.

-They're still married.

-Oh sure, they had a few tough times, but who doesn't? Its what we do with those tough times that matters. They worked through them... did the difficult things, and are better for it today.

-We weren't rich, but we weren't poor either.

-We always had just what we needed... a roof over our heads, enough to eat, and clothes on our backs.

-We got handmade Christmas presents, and were excited about them.

-We made paper dolls by cutting out magazine ladies and their outfits. It took two years for my sister and I to get Barbie Dolls for Christmas... because they were a bit on the expensive side, and Mom had to stash money away for them.

-Mom was a stay-at-home-mom in a day when women weren't looked down on if they were.

-She was always there when we got home from school.

-We ate homemade suppers together as a family, and were expected to help with the cooking and cleaning up afterwards. No "if's", "ands" or "buts" about it!

-We didn't own a clothes dryer until I was around 8 or 9. Instead we had a wringer-washer and a clothesline.-We didn't own a television until I was at least 12... and it kinda looked like this
-Women looked like this! My sister and I laughed at the pointy pokes we got when our aunts hugged us!
-We made up our own entertainment, using ingenuity and imagination.

-No, I didn't have that beautiful canopy bed I dreamed of at age 13.

-No, I didn't get that cherry red Corvette that I drooled over at age 16... but I did get the horse I dreamed of ... and worked hard to get a B average in school to keep my end of that bargain with my dad.

-I didn't get a car until I was in college.

-I wasn't allowed to go out on a date until I was 16.

-I had a real job at age 15. Babysitting jobs long before that...

-I worked my way through college. It was hard, but I did it... no student loans.

-My parents never argued in front of us kids... Yes, they argued, but I didn't know it until years later.

-We contributed to our community by collecting food and clothing, and distributing them to those who needed them.

-My heroines were my Mother, Aunts and Grandmothers.

-My heros were my Dad, Uncles and Grandfathers.

-My Dad worked his hiney off ... even had three jobs at one point, to support the family. He was an accountant at first, then manager of data-processing for a hospital. He was also a teacher at the local community college, and accountant for the local credit union, as well as his flying club. He loved the outdoors... was a "rock hound," an explorer, and a nature buff. Both my parents taught us rock-climbing, wilderness survival, and how to identify local animals, insects and plants. My Mom was amazing! She could keep up with Dad any old day!

-It was difficult, but they also saved and bought a house. I'm still amazed at that... with 4 kids and all.

-We all worked.

-We had one car for most of my childhood, and my Mom didn't have her driver's license until I was 12.

-We worked to earn money for the things we really wanted... like bikes or other special items here and there.

One time my grandparents came to visit for a week, and Grandma taught my sister and I how to sew.... it stuck with her ... but not with me. (My mother worried that I'd be a terrible wife/mother one day!) Oh, I knew how to sew ... just preferred not to. I'd rather be outside.... riding my horse or doing outdoor things.

(Note - something must've stuck though, because I now think of myself as a "decent cook", and I keep my house clean. I still prefer to be outside in the garden though) Back then, I preferred to learn about "guy stuff"... like engines and how they work, how to drive a tractor, fix a fence... I learned to drive in a stick-shift pick-up truck long before I was allowed to drive on the roads. Does the word "tomboy" fit?

Does all this sound kind of corny, silly or goodie-two-shoes-like?

Probably, but it was my life.

Oh sure, there were bad things back then. Of course there were! We had bad people around, but for the most part I felt safe, and over-all I thought I could trust people.

But now....

I have to admit that I don't really feel safe. I'm kinda concerned for my grandchildren's future. There are people I know I can trust... but in general I don't have a "trusting" feeling about society.

Do you?

Sometimes it feels like the world is coming unglued. Am I alone here? Do you feel it too... or... is it just me?

The news never was a "good" thing, but I don't know... it seems absurdly bad lately. I can't hardly stand to listen to the news ... but I do anyway. I feel forced to, in a way.

And here's another thing... do you think most kids listen to adults? It seems like they are mostly in their own little world... with an ipod or cellphone permanently attached to their bodies, like an extra appendage.

Do families eat supper together anymore?

Who are the heroes and heroines for kids today?

What are the words to their music? Oh I know... there's good music now, but we had the best music back then!

And kids have so much handed to them. How many really have to work hard for anything?

And I think we're being robbed at every turn ... by all the popping "money bubbles" that suck our savings, retirement and inheritance away into thin air ... the government, the banks, the companies ... It seems we either have more scallywags around, or they are just more out-spoken (or maybe more bold) ... or all of the above!

Scallywags have always been around ... that's true, but I just feel surrounded by them now.

I don't even want to venture into politics here... that's kind of a taboo... but suffice it to say I'm not happy. Haven't been. Enough said.

Geeze... I sound OLD! Its embarrassing...

I'm really not, uh... what's that word my Grandma used to use? ...a "fuddy-duddy!"

(I just looked it up, and its actually in the dictionary!)

fud·dy-dud·dy (fd-dd)

n. pl. fud·dy-dud·dies

An old-fashioned, fussy person.

Well, I suppose that's what I sound like right now, but don't get me wrong here... I'm not a stick-in-the-mud. I love a good party. I know how to have a good time. I'm not afraid of adventure, or trying something new... but I sorta like being a fuddy duddy in certain things. I just can't seem to put my finger exactly on what I'm trying to say at the moment.... I'm an old fashioned kind of person ... but then, I'm not either. I love the old-fashioned family ways. I admire my parents, and hopefully I can give back to them when they need it in old age... because they gave me everything.

I have a lot to be grateful for, and I try to say so each day. I have a decent life. We work hard and try to do our part... We have jobs, and we can pay the bills. We have a roof over our heads, food on the table and clothes on our backs... and I guess that's saying something today.

So there it is... in all its wordiness...

~My 100th Post~
Thank you for stopping by,
and thank you each, for sharing your blogs with me too!
I enjoy each one so much~

Merry Christmas!
See you again when I get back~
(: