Posted 11:10 AM by Bonnie

Mr. Peabody's Way Back Machine: Well, not really way back, but my sister Victoria reminded me of that recently, so it seemed an appropriate title for this blog. Recently, on Ebay my husband won an auction on some 1961 newspapers. Okay, not that far way back, but way back enough. We got them because it had Kennedy's First Hundred Days, The Cuban Crisis and some other historical issues. So, I read through the papers reliving the past when I came upon the classifieds. Talk about culture shock! What I hadn't remembered was the separation of employment. The listings were under Female and Male! Okay, not such a shock back then, but I had actually forgotten that. Under Female it had listings for waitress, secretary, housekeeper, bookkeeper, filing, etc. Under Male the first category was Manager, and also under Male were things like Machine Operator, Driver, Accountant, (Note: women were bookkeepers, men were accountants). For those of you who entered the scene after the Women's Liberation Movement, I just thought you might find this interesting and for those of us who lived in those times, maybe a reminder of what used to be.

Posted 11:14 PM by Bonnie

A Moral Issue: Let's suppose someone you know confides in you that they don't love the person to whom they are married and can barely tolerate life with this person, but due to circumstances is stuck with them. Suppose they tell you the real love of their life is someone with whom they not only cheated on their spouse with, but with whom they actually lived with for a year. And suppose the person to whom they are married is someone you have close ties to.

Suppose when you tell the person you are outraged they would confide this in you as it puts you in a very bad position, they become angry at you for not siding with them and sympathizing with them over their situation.

Now, do you tell the person to whom they are married that they are being used or do you let them go on believing all is well with their marriage? This is a case of shoot the messenger, because even though I have held my silence the person who confided in me has managed to convince the other person I have done some great wrong to them, so now I and the spouse do not see or speak to each other. I know what the person is doing. They are making sure I won't let slip what was said to me in confidence. What would you do? Would you remain silent because the person will still stay turned against you even if they know the truth, because they won't want to believe it, or would you give them a heads up.

Let me add the person who confided in me has also tried to get me to take them to local bars where they could pick up someone and keep it a secret. I never did this because I felt it was wrong, but as you can see, it is not an easy situation. And the worse part is these aren't young kids! These are mature people who should be far beyond this game playing. What would you do?

I am not mentioning names, locations, sex, or anything else as I want to keep this as impersonal as possible and not bring personalities into it. Look at it as a generic situation with generic people and decide what you would do.

Posted 2:43 PM by Bonnie

Good words? Bad words? I've been meaning to do a post on what some people call "bad words" for some time and a recent email prompted me to do it, so here it is. I will list the word some think should not be uttered for fear of eternal damnation and why it really isn't a "bad" word at all. As a writer I consider all words, just what they are, words. Words to be used to convey a thought, a scene, an emotion, a person, etc... and all words are fair game. So onto my list...

FUCK... Did you know there is a FUCK law in England? It is the acronym for Forced Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. Here we just call it rape, so to say fuck is a bad is saying we shouldn't say rape. Both mean the same thing. We in America are the ones who turned it into a slang word for sexual intercourse. So, I guess that would make sexual intercourse a bad thing to say also. As you can see this gets a bit ridiculous when you think about it.

Bitch - the female dog or one who complains.

Hell - okay, if ministers, priests, etc. use Hell in their sermons then are they swearing? No, if Hell is a "bad" word then so is "Heaven", because those who believe in god/God believe this being created Heaven and .... yes, that nasty word Hell.

Damn - to condemn someone to Hell - see above.

God Damn - See above :-).

Now, the funniest part is the person who claims to have been offended by these words of mine used the following in describing someone else.

Bastard - an illegitimate child.

Mother Fucking Bastard - okay, I guess fucking is okay as long as mother precedes it. If one is fucking a mother then it is okay :-).

Son of a bitch - again, I guess if something precedes the word then it is not considered "bad".

I could go on and on, but the point being in my opinion... Zephyr thinks all words are okay. And it's a bit hypocritical to cry foul when you use the words to suit your own purpose. What was that old adage of people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones?

Now which is the strongest statement?

You sexual intercourse female dog, please remove your unsightly butt from my vehicle.

OR

You fucking bitch! get your ugly ass out of my car!

Words are words, but some certainly do make a stronger statement :-).

Posted 12:56 PM by Bonnie

Where do you draw the line? Local businesses are complaining, to the Dean of the college where my husband teaches, that students from this college don't show up for work on time, don't show up at all, work for a couple weeks then just quit, etc etc etc. There is a litany of complaints and they think somehow the school should be held responsible. So, the Dean decided the teachers should make sure the students, once graduated and moved on into what is now supposedly their adult life, show up for work. They were told they needed to make sure the students showed up for work, etc. Now, the teachers said, hold on. We are responsible for them when they are in the classroom and we can teach them the subject, but we can't hold their hands every step of the way. Once they are out in the world our responsibility is to the students now in our classrooms. It isn't mandated, it isn't in their contracts, so they cannot be made to do it, but where do we draw the line? When does the child become an adult and become responsible for their own lives? I certainly didn't need my teacher or parent telling me to show up for work. I grew up with the values instilled in me, by my parents. This just seemed so silly to me I had to post it and see if anyone had any comments on this.

Posted 2:55 PM by Bonnie

The good news and the bad news: The good news is in 2003 I lost 23.5 pounds and in my TOPS group came in second in my weight division for the most weight lost last year. The good news is I have gone from a size 2X or 22/24 to and XL or 18/20 depending on the type of clothing. A couple weekends ago I did a 3 mile walk for the heart fund and when I got there our leader handed out tshirts and knowing I always asked for a 2X apologized for only having XL shirts. It was cold and I was only wearing a tshirt so decided to try it and was actually able to comfortably put the XL tshirt on over the one I was already wearing. And I made the 3 mile walk without breaking a sweat. Now I have a 6 mile walk coming up on April 24th... time to start training.

The bad news is I have gained 2 lbs. over the last week! I have been going to CURVES 3 days a week, walking, watching what I eat, and drinking plenty of water. My sister, Victoria, explained I am building up my muscles again with my workouts and that muscle does weigh more than fat. I know that eventually the muscle will start burning more fat, but for now I am in that aaaarrrrgghhh!!! stage. I see the muscles in my legs again and love to feel it as I work them out. I used to be...oh such sad words... a downhill skiier and had leg muscles you wouldn't believe. I have actually built up a little in my legs and lost most of the inches around my abdomen and arms. Anyway, I took today as a diet holiday. Ate some dark chocolate...mmmmmm... my favorite and am ready to get back on the band wagon. My holiday lasted all of a couple hours, but I feel better for it and feel like I can continue the struggle now. No, I didn't eat chocolate for two hours!

Anyway, I am rambling now, but I wanted to share the good news and post the bad so I can have it in the open and get on with losing again. I am sure I will have better news to report next week. Thanks for reading!

Posted 1:06 PM by Bonnie

This is fun: Click on this link and enter your birthday in the pop up window and watch what happens. It's pretty interesting.

You said your birthday is 2 / 5 / 1948
which means you are 56 years old and about:
31 years 3 months younger than Walter Cronkite, age 87
27 years 9 months younger than Pope John Paul II, age 83
23 years 8 months younger than George Herbert Bush, age 79
16 years 4 months younger than Barbara Walters, age 72
14 years 3 months younger than Larry King, age 70
8 years 0 months younger than Ted Koppel, age 64
4 years 7 months younger than Geraldo Rivera, age 60
1 year 7 months younger than George W. Bush, age 57
3 years 5 months older than Jesse Ventura, age 52
7 years 9 months older than Bill Gates, age 48
12 years 7 months older than Cal Ripken Jr., age 43
18 years 5 months older than Mike Tyson, age 37
22 years 6 months older than Jennifer Lopez, age 33
27 years 11 months older than Tiger Woods, age 28
34 years 5 months older than Prince William, age 21



and that you were:
53 years old at the time of the 9-11 attack on America
51 years old on the first day of Y2K
49 years old when Princess Diana was killed in a car crash
47 years old at the time of Oklahoma City bombing
46 years old when O. J. Simpson was charged with murder
45 years old at the time of the 93 bombing of the World Trade Center
42 years old when Operation Desert Storm began
41 years old during the fall of the Berlin Wall
37 years old when the space shuttle Challenger exploded
35 years old when Apple introduced the Macintosh
35 years old during Sally Ride's travel in space
33 years old when Pres. Reagan was shot by John Hinckley, Jr.
31 years old at the time the Iran hostage crisis began
28 years old on the U.S.'s bicentennial Fourth of July
26 years old when President Nixon left office
24 years old when Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace was shot
21 years old at the time the first man stepped on the moon
20 years old when Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated
17 years old during the Watts riot
15 years old at the time President Kennedy was assassinated
11 years old when Hawaii was admitted as 50th of the United States
9 years old when the Soviet satellite Sputnik 1 was launched
5 years old at the end of the Korean War

Posted 9:20 AM by Bonnie

Round Robin Book Writers: Hey, there's no stopping me now. I have learned how to edit my own template and have now added a link to a round robin book writers group I am trying to get going. The idea behind it is we will, in turn write between 500 and 1000 words each time it comes around to each and then the next person takes over. It's fun to watch as the story changes, morphs, and grows with each different style of writing. The rules are you must go with the flow and not complain if the story doesn't stick to the plot you had in mind. You don't even have to be a writer to do this because it is just for fun and no one is critiquing, criticizing or anything else. So, come on! Let's have some fun and see what we can create.

Posted 11:02 PM by Bonnie

Well, I threw my hat over the fence. That's a term I learned in a business course. When there is something you need to do and want to make sure you do it, you throw your hat over the fence, because then you have to go over that fence to get your hat back. For example, my goal is to get the bin cleaned out by the end of this month. But, I know me, and I could have let it go for another momth while I methodically arranged things here. So, I stopped by the rental office and told them I would have it empty by March 31. It is written! So it must be done. It's amazing how much room we are finding here now that we are discarding things we no longer need or use... like boxes for printers long gone, those old huge floppy disks that don't fit anything anymore and are totally useless, manuals for courses long past that are no longer relevent and so on and so forth and scooby dooby doo! Now, once I sell all the stuff, the TOPS group no longer wanted, on Ebay our paypal acct. will be looking pretty good too. Even with all the stuff I have been taking to the Salvation Army there is still plenty to put up for sale. But, fo now, it is late and I am off to bed

Posted 5:00 PM by Bonnie

About Karma: Someone, whom I made do the right thing after he did a terrible wrong towards me, told me this would come back in my Karma. He didn’t agree he should have to do the right thing by me and didn’t mean that statement in a positive way. So, I thought I would write about how this has affected my Karma.

Since this happened, and also, since in another event I refused to listen to terrible stories about someone in my family and kicked the person, trying to scream the stories at me, out of my car, the following things have happened.

My Ebay business picked up and I have sold practically every item I posted for auction. Keith needs a crown on his tooth and called today, the first day of spring break, and gets to go in tomorrow! Normally these things get scheduled during class time. His car needed to go into the garage and they took it in today! The timing could not have been better. He needs to have cataract surgery, in April, and we managed to get a great doctor in Columbia to do it. Keith had a corneal transplant years back and the cataract is over the transplant. This doctor just happens to specialize in both areas and the ophthalmologist we use here had no problem getting Keith in with this other doctor. The doctor in Columbia had a practice here in Sumter and Keith had been going to him at that time.

Now, as for the story telling person. She accused me of being unorganized or I would have more time for her. What I found is in a way she was right. Once I stopped spending any free time with her, trying to keep her from getting bored and helping out my relative, I have caught up on all the projects I put off during that time.

My husband and I spent the weekend cleaning out the closet in his office and we also had the old broken washer and dryer hauled away. A neighbor did it for practically nothing. We now have so much storage space I am emptying the storage unit we have been paying $45 a month for. And! The TOPS group had been storing stuff there from our last garage sale, so I told anyone who wanted anything back to come and get it. Only two showed up and told me to either take the rest to the Salvation Army or sell what I can on Ebay and make some money off it. All right!

Yep, I guess that person was right. It did come back in my Karma. Life is good.

Posted 7:22 PM by Bonnie

Dream Poem: I've been writing a lot about my dreams lately and have been talking with my sister, Victoria, about dreams. She told me she had written a poem about dreams she had. I told her I used to dream about trying to rescue children from burning buildings, earthquakes, floods, etc but was never successful and that the dreams stopped when a daughter I had given up for adoption contacted me. Victoria said her poem was about disasters with her children. It was so uncanny we would have such similar dreams I asked her permission to post the poem.

SUMMER VACATION
by Victoria Rivas

I drive to DFW Airport. My children
fly without me, escorted by a stewardess, to
spend the summer in Pennsylvania with their father.
Led up the ramp, hands clasped together, unsmiling, they

fly without me, escorted by a stewardess, to
adventures. But the image of them plays in my mind,
led up the ramp, hands clasped together, unsmiling. They
will enjoy themselves, I chant, and plan to make my own

adventures. But the image of them plays in my mind.
Days stop, overwhelmed by their smell on sheets, pillows. They
will enjoy themselves, I chant and plan to make my own
vacation. Summer would be over far too soon if

days stop, overwhelmed by their smell on sheets, pillows. They
are fine. Their voices across telephone lines confirm.
Vacation, summer would be over far too soon. If
motherhood will leave me alone, I can have fun. Things

are fine. Their voices across telephone lines confirm
once more. I go to a movie not made by Disney.
Motherhood will leave me alone. I can have fun. Things
get quiet. I see plays, spend evenings with a book.

Once more I go to a movie not made by Disney,
The children would have disrupted concerts where I now
get quiet. I see plays, spend evenings with a book,
a new routine. Sometimes I forget I have children.

The children would have disrupted concerts, where I now
can go without thinking that each time. I fall into
a new routine. Sometimes I forget I have children -
frightens me upon remembering. Far away, they

can go. Without thinking that each time, I fall into
the first nightmare where I am running away, always
frightens me upon remembering. Far away, they
chase me. One child clings to each hand. I must buy tickets.

The first nightmare where I am running away, always
looking down to make sure both children are safe. People
chase me. One child clings to each hand. I must buy tickets.
I let go of Mackenzie's hand, hand over money,

looking down to make sure both children are safe. People
scream outside. Mackenzie is not beside me. Why do
I let go of Mackenzie's hand, hand over money?
Why did I not protect her? She lies dead in traffic.

Scream. Outside. Mackenzie. Is not. Beside me. Why do
dreams come like that? The second one comes as I wonder
why did I not protect her. She lies dead in traffic.
Nuclear war has been declared. Bombs are falling as

dreams come. Like that, the second one comes. As I wonder
what will happen to Ian, playing at a friend's house.
Nuclear war has been declared. Bombs are falling as
Ian's friend says he has gone to another friend's house.

What will happen to Ian? Playing at a friend's house
as sirens scream loudly. Phone lines are dead. I run to
Ian's friend. Says he has gone to another friend's house.
Repeat the same scenes. The same two rerun dreams each night

as sirens scream loudly. Phone lines are dead. I run to
save my children, never successful. Next year they will
repeat the same scenes. The same two rerun dreams each night.
Time closes on their August return. I cannot wait.

Save my children. Never successful. Next year they will
spend the summer in Pennsylvania with their father.
Time closes on their August return. I cannot wait.
I drive to DFW Airport, my children.

Posted 9:38 AM by Bonnie

The Catholic Church/Abortion vs Stillborn: Someone I know had a stillborn baby and wanted the priest from her parish to baptize the baby before it was buried. The priest refused on the grounds that the baby had never breathed outside the womb and therefor was not considered a life. Wait a minute here! Doesn't the Catholic Church oppose abortion because life begins at conception? Does this seem wrong to anyone else or is it just me?

Posted 12:34 PM by Bonnie

Last nights best dream award goes to: I always have a lot of dreams, but every once in awhile one stays with me when I awaken and last nights was this one. Over and over the same dream kept running... I was running away from a man and had to get home and in bed so he couldn't catch me. I made it each time, but the funny part is I didn't have real doors I had those old saloon swinging doors. But I never opened them, I would just vault myself over the doors and make it to safety before he could reach me. Why he couldn't just jump over the doors also I don't know, but I spent a good part of the night doing that over and over and over... I was quite exhausted when I got up this morning!

Posted 3:18 PM by Bonnie

Dream: Okay, now this one is really strange! I dreamt my mother was married to Jack Klugman and we were all having dinner. The strange part is his clothes were jigsaw puzzle pieces and pieces kept falling off and I kept putting his clothes back together. That was the entire dream. I told you it was strange.