For the boys

This year has started off fantastically for four of my friends.  NN the 3rd, Stud Muffin, Bicycle Boy and San Fran Rebel!

Congratulations on landing those great jobs.  I have always wanted to say "I knew them when..." which now translates to don't even think about ignoring the Princess as you go down these Director/Vice President paths... I know your secrets and I know where the bodies are buried!

Now about those Christian Louboutins....

Haiti

The devastation is Haiti is unfathomable.  My heart aches at the pictures of the children and I feel so incredible helpless.

So many people have donated financially, $2 million so far through text via cell phones.  Countries have pledged millions and help is pouring in from across the world, but here is my dilemma and I am hoping that my friends can help me with it.

There is a football player from our college team, who is from Haiti, and he is collecting donations, monetary, hygiene products and clothing.  I will be in Oregon next week and was going to take what was needed to the drop off point and this is when my dilemma started.

I thought about the homeless shelter in our new town that has been desperate for donations throughout the year.  I thought about the help that they did receive and which is now being diverted to Haiti.  So amongst our own, the suffering becomes greater.

What are your thoughts?  Have you donated to Haiti or are you keeping it within your community?  I would love to hear from you.

Innocence

When T was in First Grade we were driving home from school.  He was sitting, all buckled up, in the back seat and the following conversation took place:

T - "Mommy, how did I get into your tummy?"

Frantically thinking back to the last parenting book - don't go into detail, keep it simple.

Me - "Well T remember how at school you planted a seed and the Radish plant grew?"

T - "Yes"

Me - "Well your Daddy planted a seed inside Mommy's tummy and you grew"

Silence for a few minutes and then:

T - "Mommy, did Daddy use a shovel?"



 

Tolerance

Yesterday my sister and I had a conversation about different races, cultures and faiths.  We spoke about our upbringing in South Africa and how much we learned from our parents with regards to educating ourselves on different cultures.

My family is Portuguese and in South Africa the majority of the Portuguese people own Fish and Chip shops or Cafes (like the American 7-11's).  The jokes are abundant and growing up we were treated differently, but that did not stop us in who we associated with.  We grew up during the Apartheid era where the Africans had to have a Pass Book in order to work.  In the evening we would hear a siren go off and my sister remembers asking my mother what that was and was told that that was the curfew siren for the Coloreds and Africans to be in their homes.  My father's employees were majority Colored and African and we would play with their children at our home.  We were raised not to see color and honestly we didn't.

If you got a group of South Africans together, everyone would have a different story to tell.  I have many stories, but don't want to turn this blog into a thesis, suffice to stay I lived it.  You are probably asking yourself as to why I am on a mini rant today, well it involves a few emails that I have received.  The first one was a picture of President Obama shining Sarah Palins shoes and the other was about a plane that test pilot Arabs crashed with the caption that they should stick to riding camels. 

This really had me thinking.  Would it be because that many in America did not live the life I did and therefore not develop an understanding for different cultures or is it a fear that has been created by the extreme fundamentalist groups out there?  Do people not see that what those emails represent is racism?  Am I way off base here?

I am by no means perfect and in my frustration have slammed a certain religion because of the hypocrisy I have seen.  What I really needed to do was focus on the people who are from that same faith that are the kindest, compassionate people I know.  I, like many others, have looked at the few radicals and lumped everyone into the same category - shame on me (excuse me while I give myself a well deserved bitch slap).  

I think when we recognize our faults and make steps to correct them, we truly can begin to live in harmony, just like the Coke ad depicted many years ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfU17niXOG8&feature=related

2010

I took this picture at Yaquina Beach, Oregon in 2006.  What you don't see is that this is the edge of a cliff and it drops straight down into the ocean.   The two phrases that came to my mind were "never give up" and "bloom where you are planted". 

The dictionary defines resolution as a 'firm decision to do or not do something'.  Pretty deep! (how do you type a sentence dripping with sarcasm?)  I don't make resolutions, I have never been one to set the bar high.  What if this is my current potential and I have already reached the top?  Who decided that I should reach for more? 

Everything I have done in my life has been a success.  My philosophy, if you learned a lesson from it, it was a success.  Now if you go and do the same dumb ass mistake, well call me, I will be there with the deserving bitch slap.  And yes, you may also give me the slap I may need, occasionally.

I am done second guessing people, but not done giggling at a few.  Many years ago I read an article about the path/destiny we choose.  The short version was we set ourselves up in life for our own disappointments, no one ever promised us the house with the white picket fence, but yet we expected it. 

So here is the list of things I have let go over the years.

• I no longer get upset when someone does not send me a thank you card, through the mail, for the gift I gave them.
• I no longer get upset when someone sends me an email that I find highly offensive and racist, your ignorance is showing, not mine.
• I no longer get upset that when I am on the phone with you, talking and you suddenly start having a conversation with someone that is in the room with you.
• I no longer hate call waiting, if you feel you must take that call, go ahead, call me when you have time for me.
• I no longer get upset when people make a comment about my child and his long hair, as a friend said, if that is the worst that he is doing, you're doing just fine!!
• I no longer get upset when a friend says, I will call you back in 5-10-20 minutes and they don't.
• I no longer get upset when you tell me that my Beef Stroganoff (FROM SCRATCH) tastes just like Hamburger Helper or that you prefer Jello pudding snacks to my chocolate mousse where the egg whites were hand beaten in a copper bowl.
  

These are the challenges I have for 2010:

• Drag the son kicking and screaming through the next few months towards his Senior graduation
• Find homes for YumYum and Bafana (our beloved cats - they can't move with us)
  
• Sell the house that doesn't have enough bedrooms for the growing population in Utah
• Move to Oregon and find a somewhat affordable home to rent.

And the most important thing for 2010 - turn up my "bullshit" detector just a notch... gut is telling me that there is something out there and it smells awfully fishy!