The General Lee: The Simple Woman's Daybook

If you would like to join in and post your own Daybook, please head on over to visit Peggy at The Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today:  Sunday, June 28, 2015
 

Outside my window …  A cloudless lazy summer sky.  The Crepe Myrtles are in bloom.  I need to get down to the section of the Ladiga Trail that's lined with them.  I've not seen them in bloom.

I am thinking...   about this stupid thing on social media with people tagging random people in a RayBan add.  What is that about?  I'm also thinking about today's sermon.  It was a simple, direct message on combatting worry.  I can definitely be a worrier.  I'm much better than I used to be, but worrisome thoughts still overrun my mind more often than they should.  Lord, help my mind.

I am thankful...  for my mom.  Her 82nd birthday was this week.  She's still healthy and strong...and puts the fear of God into 3 generations. 

In the kitchen... Yes, I know I need to get back to my A-Z challenge. 

 

From the Workshop...   Here is the post from my sister blog I promised you about the process with my quilt-ghan. 

I've got a bunch of leftover squares from different unfinished projects that I'm trying to find a use for.  I'll let you know how that goes.

 

I am looking forward to...  Starting work.  I got a job this week.

A favorite quote for today... 

"You'll have many opportunities to fail in life; just don't take any." - Jesse Duplantis

One of my favorite things...  Sleep.

A few plans for the rest of the week:   Work.  Celebrating Independence Day weekend.

A peek into my days... Not much going on this week.



And now for something totally different...

By now we are all well aware of the horrible news of the church shooting in South Carolina.  I'm not going to rehash the details of the carnage this young man left. The media is doing a good job of that instead of focusing on the victims and the unexpected peaceful response of the community. My rant is on the Powers that Be and their response to this display of evil.

The pure demonic nature of this criminal act is being overshadowed by the discovery of a picture of the alleged shooter sitting on his car, which sports a confederate (rebel) flag.  So, the call is not to fight the real root of the depravity, but to waste time on a piece of cloth.

First, I was born, raised, and still live in Alabama--"The Heart of Dixie."  I see confederate symbols  and memorials everywhere.  I've fussed about this crap before.  I also understand the concept of intent.  Yes, idiots who take this flag and use it as a symbol of hate should be ashamed of themselves (not to mention pummeled with a few shots with a Louisville Slugger--just to the point of bruising, not death), but I don't think you can include Bo and Luke Duke in that category.  That's right, now companies want to stop selling General Lee toys and to blur the flag on the top of the car in the rebroadcasting of the decades-old syndicated show.  This, dear friends, is what Oral Roberts called "ignorance gone to seed."

Second, do people really think that the kid never would have shot those nine innocent people if he'd never seen the rebel flag?  Are the Powers that Be really that stupid?  Another example of what Jesus said, "Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel" (Matthew 23:24).

Third, quite frankly, I don't give a rat's butt about the confederate flag, but I'm losing patience with stupidity.  Moving on.

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Five Minute Friday: "Dream"

Our Mistress of Ceremonies for the Five Minute Friday is Kate over at Heading Home.  Hope you link up with us and join the fun.

 

 

GO! 

 

Last week, the prompt word was "fear."  How ironic that the very next word is "dream."  Fear is the stuff dreams are obliterated by.

I hate personality assessment tests.  I never score correctly on them.  I didn't know there was no such thing as scoring incorrectly.  I'd always heard that some personality types were better than others.  Better at what?  Everything!  Though I hated every minute of it, I recently took the animal-based one.  I scored highest on Golden Retriever though the scores were pretty even with Otter and Beaver also.  I scored lowest on Lion, of course.  Lions are the "best" type to be, right?  They are the movers and shakers.  They get things done.  They are the ones who actually fulfill their dreams.  Lions are the great leaders that Beavers, Otters, and Golden Retrievers work for, bow down to, and wish they were more like, right?  WRONG!

 

STOP! 

 

Thought I was going to leave you hanging, didn't you?

 

Through processing this assessment I learned that no personality type is wrong or superior.  All the types have their own individual use and beauty.  They can also help each other accomplish great things.  I also received the compliment that because my scores were so even, it proved that I was very balanced.   It made me feel great. 

 

So what does all this have to do with dreams?  Hold on, I'm getting to that part.

 

Finding out that I have a Golden Retriever personality reminded me of something.  Golden Retrievers and Labradors (aren't they the same thing?) make great Guide dogs for the blind.  These dogs, in a sense, not only guide, but maintain the safety of and possibly rescue a person who is visually impaired.  They are the superheroes of the canine world.  Superheroes...

 

When I was a little kid, my dream was to be a superhero.  I'd strap a towel around my neck and get on my bike or roller skates and pretend to be Batgirl, Aggie from G-Force, or Wonder Woman. I had visions of jumping my bike over the back of a car in Bo and Luke Duke fashion (yes, I considered them superheroes as a kid).  I felt powerful and happy.  Unfortunately, like many children, that innocent joy got lost (or stolen).  I grew up and was made to feel childish if I tried to go back to having wild dreams and longing for more adventure than loafing through the grocery store looking for peanut butter.  Well, by getting into an environment where thriving was expected, rather than squelched, I've decided to dust off a few of my old dreams and goals.  I need to put those Golden Retriever characteristics of guiding and rescuing to use in helping others.  Stuff like what I posted here and here don't need to be thrown away.  No matter how hard it gets, I need to have something new to look forward to every day.  These dreams need to be part of my motivation.

 

"People often say motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing--that's why we recommend it daily." - Zig Ziglar

“If you can dream it, then you can achieve it. You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.” – Zig Ziglar

Hot Pink: The Weekly Hodgepodge

Want to join the party?  Go on over to From This Side of the Pond  for the Hodgepodge link-up!

June 23rd is National Pink Day. What's your favorite something pink?

Flowers. 

What did you enjoy most about gym class when you were in school? How about the least?

Being the biggest girl in class made enjoying PE difficult.  I wish I could have found the fun in exercise as I do now.  Oh well, water under a very old bridge.

What memory is brought to mind by the smell of roses?

The smell of roses brings the beauty of Spring to mind.  Spring...that beautiful season when everything is new, fresh and beautiful.  I wish the new year started on March 21st instead of January 1st.  I'm not thinking of starting new in the dead of winter; I'm thinking of staying bundled up in bed.

Do you prefer to read or write?

I love both, so I can't choose between the two.  Reading the thoughts of others inspires my own creativity with words.

Sam Keen is quoted as saying, 'Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability.' Would you agree? Is laziness ever respectable? How will you be lazy this summer?

I don't think laziness is the proper word for what Keen was referring to.  To be lazy means to be "averse or disinclined to work, activity, or exertion."  What I see happening during the summer is people working even harder on vacation/staycation instead of relaxing.  Then, they are tired and irritable when they go back to work and/or normal life and spend their time posting on social media how they hate their job/life and wish they were back at Location X.  Rather sad, really.

I know it sounds odd for me to say, but I need to find ways to include relaxation into my life.  I don't know how to just relax.  I know how to sleep, but we all know that sleep doesn't always equal relaxation.  My life seems at a constant level of intense where I have to always be doing something.  Can't let anyone think I'm sitting around doing nothing all day.

At Ft. Walton in 1990

The Florida Keys, Disney World, or a resort somewhere on the Gulf Coast...which Florida destination would you choose (and why) if the trip were today?

Although I do eventually want to visit Disney Word, if the trip was today, I'd go to Fort Walton Beach, Florida.  I went there 25 years ago with the Marching Southerners to perform at a band competition.  That was the first time I'd ever been to the beach.  It was such a whirlwind trip that I didn't really get to enjoy relaxing on the beach like I wanted to, so I really want to go back.

What question do you hate to answer?

Two come to mind:  So what do you do? and What kind of a job are you looking for?  People think that because I don't yet have a conventional job, that I don't DO anything.  That couldn't be further from the truth.  Even if I list what I do during the week, people took at me like a lava lamp.  If I got paid for what I actually do, I'd be a gozillionaire.   People just don't get it.  Just because I'm not yet paid for what I do doesn't make it worthless and "not real work."

Another dreaded question is when people ask me what kind of job I'm looking for.  First, why do you want to know?  Most people who ask me don't have any leads or prospects to any jobs; they're being nosy or just don't have anything better to ask.  Is saying "how are you?" and actually caring about the answer too hard?  Second, if I really told people what kind of job I really wanted, they'd crap their pants.  There's nothing wrong with what I want, but I also know better than to draw the ire and disbelief that I would dare want something better for myself and employment that I enjoy.  So, I'm very vague, or I redirect the question to something else. 

Insert your own random thought here.

I've been home from the Journey Training for a week, and it feels like a year.  I'm going through withdrawal.  I miss Tulsa.  I miss my new forever friends who love me unconditionally.  I miss them being in my face with encouragement.  I've had to go back into the land of "who cares."  The difference is that I'm working to cope in more constructive ways.  Monday, I was feeling really down (a combo of circumstances and the dark cloud of depression that comes from nowhere).  I wanted to eat it away so badly.  Instead, I went for a walk/run.  Yesterday was more of the same, but less of it, so I coped the same way.  I refuse to let all these wonderful changes go to waste.