Last Sarurday Coffee Morning

Sheila, Sylvia, and I (Faye, too, but she's not here this year) prepare coffee for the park every Saturday morning in February and today is our last kick at the cat. We've started getting out the huge urns on Friday night after Bingo so all that's needed to do on Saturday morning is to turn them on at 7:15 A.M. and put out the toasters (for bagels), sugars, creamers, stir sticks, napkins, etc. Sheila and I take turns picking up the donuts. Today is my turn to plug in the coffee urns.

I don't like going over to an empty and dark clubhouse because I'm afraid I'll run into a cockroach. Remember that this is Florida and, even though the clubhouse is sprayed regularly, cockroaches are wily and ever present creatures.

Residents will start filling the clubhouse around 8 A.M. even though the coffee isn't put out till 8:30. It's a nice meeting place to come down and talk with your neighbors. Bagels, jam, butter, and cream cheese is put out slightly early so that people can prepare their bagel their way. We start filling the carafes at 8:30 with both regular and decaf coffee and they're quickly picked up and taken to a table. The noise level of many conversations fill the room along with the wonderful aroma of freshly brewed coffee.

Then we fill huge platters with 8-10 dozen donuts and carry them to the buffet tables at 9 A.M. on the dot. There are "donation" cans set out for both bagels and donuts and most of our residents slip in a dollar each. A few are cheap and take what they want for nothing.

When the activities panel starts giving their announcements, we take the leftover donuts around to the tables to try to get rid of them and don't have any problems. Then it's clean up time and we are a well oiled machine. We wash, clean, and put away in no time at all and then take the dirty dish cloths and towels home to put in our own laundry.

This is our last Saturday coffee morning forever. We've done it for 6 years and decided to pack it in. Sylvia might not be here next year, both Faye and Sheila are not positive they'll be able to come, and I'm not doing it with a new group.

Changes. There's nothing we can do about them. Right now it's light enough outside for me to head over to the clubhouse for my last shift.

Unwanted Changes

As I sat around our games table last night I sadly realized that most, if not all, of the ladies sitting there wouldn't be back to the park next year. For some it's the state of the economy, for some it's health reasons, and some are just ready to try somewhere new. I've come to care very much for these ladies and always look forward to seeing them when I get to Florida. Most live a little too far away from my home in Canada for us to keep in close contact.

One of my best friends here has just listed her trailer for sale and will probably be moving about 50 miles further south. Sylvia has been a treat to know and hang out with and I'm going to miss her terribly. She's a Canadian but lives in Nova Scotia, about 1000 miles or more away from my place in Ontario so we don't see each other in the summer. It's going to be a tearful goodbye when she sells her trailer. I know her new place will only be 50 miles away but sometimes that's all it takes to change the closeness of a friendship. She'll find new friends and so will I but I'll never forget her because she's one of those special people you seldom come across in your life.

I came to this park for the first time in 1998 and have since gathered a group of friends that are great to be around. They're people you can count on to always have a good time with. It's so depressing to know that this year is the last we'll all be together.

I hate change. I like permanence and I want foreverness with my family and friends. It's unrealistic and impossible but that's what I want. I'll just have to tough it out, won't I?

Hate Crimes

I have a problem with a crime being designated a "hate crime" because it involves an attack against a gay or person of color. I also have a problem with the description "person of color" because I am sort of pinky/beige and that's a color as far as I'm concerned.

Is it any less a hate crime if the person battered, raped or murdered is a straight Scandinavian? How about the woman beaten to death by her crazed husband just because she wants to leave him? Did he murder her because he felt love or hate at the time? And what about a straight but homeless man beaten savagely just because he's helpless. I don't see that as anything but a hate crime. Seniors are also chosen victims because of their frailty. Do the attackers feel love or hate when they kill them? I think it must be hate.

We have to be careful about giving preferential treatment to specific victims. If one of my relatives was killed during a robbery I wouldn't want the criminal to receive a second less in jail just because the robbery wasn't motivated by racism or intolerance. All crimes carry an element of hate or there wouldn't be any crimes committed.

Often a person is victimized simply because they're in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's just too easy to say that the victim was chosen because they happen to be gay or a "person of color". Some of the animals who prey on the defenseless will use any excuse to attack.

Criminals deserve punishment but the punishment should be the same whether the victim was a gay teacher or a straight waitress.

Swedish Weaving Class

I learned how to do Swedish weaving a few years ago and have enjoyed it immensely ever since. I've found it to be the most relaxing, satisfying, and pleasurable craft I've ever taken up and, although it looks difficult, it's so darned easy to do. I've taught quite a few people how to do it and they never believe me when I tell them they only need to do 2 rows of weaving and then they can do anything.

We use monk's cloth (1/2 yard for a table runner or 2 1/2 yards for an afghan). The cheapest place to buy the fabric is at Walmart in the States (about $6 a yard) and then zigzag stitch the ends, leaving a few rows for a fringe. The cotton fabric is then washed in hot water and put in the dryer to shrink before starting the weaving design. 4 ply polyester yarn is used and the colors and combinations are endless.

I usually teach at my trailer but this year started teaching at our craft class in the clubhouse every Wednesday in February. After only 1 class, one of the students had finished her table runner on her own and started her afghan. Everyone learns at a slightly different rate and another student is not too far behind. The craft really is simple to do and addictive because of it's simplicity and beauty.

Today I'll teach #1 student how to do the lattice work which fills up the center of the afghan...the weaving is done on the ends and the center so the lattice work joins the 2 most detailed designs. #2 student will have finished a few rows of her table runner and be thrilled to realize she now knows it all. #3 student is doing fine even though she started out a little shakily on her own. #4 student sort of started on her own and now needs just a bit of touch up help. #5 student will be dubious but willing to learn and learn she will.

What fun!

Honest, With a Fault

I consider myself to be a very honest person. I tell the absolute truth when I describe the things I sell on Ebay. I never accept the wrong change from a small business person or a teller at the bank (big stores like Sears or Walmart are exempt). I never, ever take something that doesn't belong to me.

Yesterday I went to our local internet casino and spent a pleasant afternoon playing on a machine that wasn't working properly. It only malfunctioned on the bonus so I didn't realize it for a while. At one point I won 100 points on the bonus and was shocked to see 2000 points rack up on my winnings. I thought I must have missed something and that I really had won the 2000 points.

Shortly after I won the bonus again and damned if it didn't malfunction again...another 2000 points!! Now, how honest would a person have to be to run up to the casino staff and tell them one of their machines was paying too much?

They'd have to be a lot more honest than I am.

As I said before, I had a lovely afternoon and lost very little money for a change.

Pet Peeve

I do some volunteering here in my Florida park and there's something that's always bugged me. I can't tell you the number of times I've handed people their winnings at Bingo, their dinner or soda at lunch or their coffee at our Saturday morning park coffe time and the person hasn't said a polite "thank you". I thought my generation had been raised to be polite but I'm finding out that way too many people have no respect for the volunteers who make their winter stay a bit nicer.

A few years back a lady (unknown) paid for a hotdog only to discover when she got out to the barbecue that all the hotdogs were gone. She took chicken on a bun instead and angrily came back inside to the cashier and threw another 25 cents at her. We were all so much in shock that no-one said a word but the bitter memory has lingered on.

I've heard complaints about slow service and poor food from many people who have never gotten up off their ass to volunteer for anything. They are the first people up and running out the door after consuming food prepared by volunteers and it's volunteers who will clean up after everyone leaves.

One of the men who has given tons of his time to organize day trips from the park took a nasty blow the other day. The bus departure time of 8 A.M. was listed on the sign up sheet and mentioned often at our Saturday morning coffee time. One couple missed the bus and had to drive their own car. When the husband approached the organizer of the trip and blasted him, he was informed that the 8 A.M. departure time has been on the list since it was first put up and everyone else had made it in time. The man viciously told the trip organizer that he was a "f....n liar!". Where does someone get the idea they have the right to talk to people like that?

There are volunteers here who spend many hours cooking, shopping, cleaning, serving, teaching, and organizing. They don't do it for praise but a simple, "thank you" would go a long way in making them want to continue volunteering.

To the foul mouthed man who missed the bus...stay home!

Pretend Baby

A while back I saw a program on T.V. that was about grown (some even middle aged) women who purchase extremely lifelike baby dolls and pamper them like real life babies. A lady brought one of those dolls to the clubhouse today and I'm still amazed at how creepily lifelike it really was. I have never seen anything like it in my life. The doll, wrapped in a baby blanket, looked so real you almost expected it to breathe.

The dolls are terribly expensive and not aimed at the child market but at adult women. Some of these women actually have baby showers for each other to show off their new acquisitions. Pardon me but I think this is bizarre.

I can understand women purchasing these exquisite dolls as an investment but, on the T.V. show I saw, some of the ladies take their dolls out for walks hoping an unsuspecting admirer will stop to coo at it. Then they're disappointed if no-one does.

There's no question that whoever makes the dolls is an artist of the first order. I just wonder about the mental health of the women who buy them and then treat them like they're alive.

It's a Boy!!!

My precious first born grandson and his wife are going to have a baby boy. I am so thrilled for them and for our families that I can hardly express myself. I spoke to Nick tonight and told him that he and Natasha have no real idea of how the love you feel for your very own child is so all-consuming. There is nothing comparable.

This is the first grandchild on both sides of their families and it's my first great grandchild. It sort of makes me feel old but, at the same time, I can't wait to see this little treasure who carries some of my DNA.

I told Nick that I'm going shopping for baby boy stuff tomorrow. I've held off buying much for the baby because I wanted to know the sex first. Now I can do some major league shopping!

Already I've worried about how I'll be able to leave this little guy when I return to Florida in October and he's 3 months old and becoming really interesting. I'll miss those glorious months of 4-9. I'll miss his first words, his sitting up by himself, his ability to crawl and maybe even stand alone. Sigh!

One thing I do know and that is that this tiny creature is being born into the most loving family in the world. He's one lucky little boy and I love him already.

Friends

A friend dropped by for coffee this morning and we discussed a few problem people in our lives. It turns out that some people have such unacceptable behaviour that they can never be close friends but that doesn't mean they can't be casual acquaintances.

The way I see it is that we meet someone new and consciously assess them as immediately unacceptable or as someone we'd like to know better. We base our judgement on whether or not the person has visible faults we can or can not live with.

As time goes on, we discover flaws in that person and the assessment goes on to either accept or decide to keep our distance. Since none of us are perfect there will be flaws but most will be a "so what!".

Lifelong friendships fascinate me because you can look at such a friend and see all the imperfections but love them anyway. Over time you have learned to weigh the good with the bad and as long as the bad isn't really horrible you can still be great friends.

The people I'm most comfortable with are those who are very open and not one thing on the outside and completely different on the inside. I know we all have an inner personality that we don't always show but it's usually just a slightly shadier version of what we present to the world.

My closest friends have probably seen me at my worst and still think I'm okay, just as I have them. We don't argue about it but just accept the differences as normal. Friendship can only become strong if we can accept those imperfections and not try to change them.

The same theory applies to family members. Some we want to be around all the time and a few we'd rather not run into but, if we do, we can be polite and have a good time. There will probably never be a person in your life that you dislike enough to not speak to unless you happen to be 6 years old.

I guess I got caught up on this tangent because of my early morning discussion but human behaviour is always interesting and it's fun to figure out why we do what we do. It tickles me that so many of us ladies in the park can chum around together constantly (more often even than friends back home) and never have an argument. We are all vastly different but seem to blend well when together and that's the key. Consideration!

You just have to be considerate of the feelings of your friends and relatives and sometimes that means going the extra mile. There's an old saying, "What goes around, comes around", and I believe that to be true.

Good family, good friends, good health, good food=good life.

Another Dumb Decision

I can't see to drive in the dark because I see haloes around oncoming headlights. This is a basic truth about me. Another truth about me is that I hate to leave the slot machine when I still have money to lose.

It was kind of cool out today (just the wind, really) and I had a whole day ahead of me after 11 A.M. when I could get a few things taken care of...like a pedicure, fill the car with gas, get the car washed and waxed, and then go to the local internet casino. I got there about 1 P.M. and didn't leave until 7 P.M. I still had some money left but I know that Sheila (who was playing Pokeno and must have seen my car gone when she went past my trailer at 6 P.M.) would have a fit if she didn't see my car when she left Pokeno around 8 P.M. She knows I don't go out at night and she also knows I can't see to drive in the dark.

Anyway, I left the casino at 7 P.M. and started my approximately 20 minute drive home...first on a major highway and then on 2 small ones. I couldn't see at all well and I was kicking myself for being so foolish. It was a scary ride home and I only hope I've learned my lesson.

Getting older doesn't necessarily mean getting wiser. That's another sad truth.

Yard Salers Beware

Veteran yard salers have usually seen it all in their travels. I've seen little children screeching while they tried to hold on to a suddenly treasured toy that their parents decided should go out in the yard sale. I've seen a shoplifter at a yard sale. I've had things snatched out of my hands and I've raved too much about a certain item before paying for it and accidently persuaded the seller to keep it. I've also nearly walked up to a house that I thought was having a yard sale but it was just a messy house.

Yesterday one of the ladies here came over to the pool to tell us about an interesting yard sale that she'd been to and it was also going to be held on Sunday. The entire contents of the house were being sold and everything was inside. A few of us ladies in the pool were very interested and asked directions to this great sale. One of us didn't listen carefully.

Ginnie and Al headed out for the yard sale today mainly following the directions but sort of lapsed in their judgement once they arrived on the street where it was held. They saw a man in front of a rather full garage and assumed this was the garage sale. They looked around the garage and found nothing to their liking so they went inside the house where they'd been told were rooms full of antiques and glassware.

Finding nothing but a messy house, they continued on to the bedroom which they'd also been told was filled with lovely items for sale. Inside the bedroom was a lady sleeping in her bed. About this time Ginnie began to think they might be in the wrong house...and they were. I don't know how they made their exit because I was laughing too hard when she told us the story.

The moral of this story is to listen carefully for directions, follow signs, and don't enter anyone's house without asking first if it's okay.

I wonder what the man of the house thought as these strangers walked into his house...and why didn't he stop them? And did the woman awaken and see the two strangers staring at her as she lay in her bed? I need to hear more of this story when I can control my giggling.

Postscript: It turns out there was a yard sale sign at this house but it was only for the things in the garage. When Ginnie and Al made their hasty, and embarrassed, retreat from the man's house, he only said goodbye to them so we have no idea what he was thinking.

Senior Talent

Last night we enjoyed the "Komedy Kutups", a comedy group who entertained us at the clubhouse after pizza. I'm not sure but I think there were about 8 of them and they were darned funny, despite the hokey name. One lady sang a few songs and she was wonderful, almost operatic and out of place with a comedy team, but we don't stand on ceremony. I congratulated her after the show and she said, "Isn't it wonderful what we can do at this age?". It got me thinking that there doesn't have to be a cutting off point for talent. This lady hit only a few weak (not sour) notes but, for the most part, her voice was clear and strong. She said she'd been married for 58 years and then sang a love song to her husband. How wonderful!

I'm 68 years old and, unless I look in the mirror, forget my age. It's actually a shock sometimes to see myself in the mirror because I momentarily wonder who that old lady is. I often say I now look like my mother on her worst day (my Mom was cute). Pain and depression are what makes you feel old but continuing to live a busy and fruitful life truly does make you forget your age.

I love to see the loving old couples in the park. They walk hand in hand and seem to dance together as if they were one person. They've continued to connect as a couple despite, or maybe because of, their years. The other night at Bingo, one of our ladies mentioned that she felt a chill but that was all she said. Her husband disappeared and returned a while later with her sweater. All without her asking for it! They were a connected couple and he didn't want his beloved to be cold. That touched me so deeply because of it's simplicity and I wondered why all marriages can't turn out like that.

I guess I've gotten off the subject of senior talent but so be it. Anyway, those talented seniors in last night's show made a whole lot of people very happy.

Out of Work

These are tough and scary days with so many people out of work and jobs are scarce. Don't ever think that this affects only the young, working population because it doesn't. Our economy is based on new blood entering the job market and contributing to the pensions of retired workers. As the jobless rate increases, there is a real danger to the security of those of us who are retired and dependant on pension cheques.

My husband was out of work for approximately 15 minutes back in the 60's and that was terrifying. His workplace had a fire which shut it down for a few weeks but he was hired immediately to work as a watchman over the ruins. In those days we were living from paycheck to paycheck so any disruption in income would have been devastating to us.

Things haven't changed much today. Young couples still seem to live from paycheck to paycheck so the economical downturn has hit them very hard. It isn't just a matter of giving up luxuries because their regular living expenses are already set. They have mortgages, car payments, etc., that they took on when times were good and income regular.

My message to them is that they will get through this. It is in the best interests of the people who run our world to get people back to work and the economy bustling. It isn't the end of the world.

The lucky ones will have family and friends to help them through the tough periods but even those without such resources will recover in time. Maybe they'll have to set their sights a little lower but that's not the worst thing that could happen in life, is it?

Life goes on and we have to develop the ability to adjust throughout it.

Conversation Around the Games Table

We have a nice, friendly group of ladies (once in a while a man will join us) who gather together most evenings to play card or board games. Lately we've played an awful lot of Rummoli but that's okay.

We don't play to win. We play to add a little diversion to the friendly conversation that sweeps around the table all evening. We add laugh lines to our elderly faces because the chatter is usually funny and we sure laugh often. Not too far from our table is the poker table and you seldom hear laughter from that area because they take their game seriously. That's not for me or the ladies at my table. We're constantly confused about whose turn it is and what card was played last but we never get upset, just laugh at our mistakes. In my estimation, this is the way games should be played.

Rummoli is played with pennies and just about the easiest game anyone can learn to play but we manage to screw it up a lot. Maybe it's the fact that we're playing with pennies and not big bucks. We do smile when we win and squawk when we lose but it's all in fun. At the end of every single phase of the game all the losers moan and groan about how many pennies they have to pay and how they were stuck with a pay card they couldn't get out. The winners don't give a damn but just collect their meagre winnings as though it was gold. Remember, the fun isn't in the money but in the comradeship.

Rummoli is a Canadian board game much like the American Michigan Rummy but Rummoli uses all the card suits for pay cards. Because we're playing in the States we play with American pennies and one of our U.S. ladies is always zeroing in on an offending Canadian penny as though it sullied the pack. Again, this makes us all laugh and I call her "Eagle Eyes". She's my yard saleing friend and she also has an eagle eye for gems in the trash. I just sold a ring set on Ebay for her ($50) that she found in a $5 boxlot of jewellery at a yard sale.

I guess this blog is about the bonding of friends around a friendly game of cards. Each one will offer small droplets of their life story as we're playing and that's how we get to know each other. There has never been an argument among us and I don't expect there ever will be.

I believe we play our games the way games were meant to be played...with friendship and laughter instead of the zest to win. We have fun.

14 Kids

There is a woman who has had invitro fertilization 3 times...once producing twins, the second time producing quads, and the third time producing octuplets. This would sound insane if the woman was married and financially stable but she isn't even that. She's on welfare and living in her parent's house, apparently a tiny 2 bedroom house.

The woman is obviously mentally incompetent and unable to care for all of these children herself so why did a supposedly licenced doctor in a supposedly licenced fertility clinic repeatedly perform invitro fertilization on her? And who paid for the procedures which I've heard can cost $20,00 and up per shot?

The doctor and clinic should both lose their licences and be forced to pay for the upkeep of these children, some of whom are physically handicapped (this is one of the dangers in multiple births). This won't happen, of course, because civil rights groups will rush out screaming that a mentally challenged woman on welfare should be allowed to have 100 children if she so chooses, all supported by our tax dollars.

This world is getting crazier and crazier.

Caylee's Memorial Service

What draws total strangers to a memorial service for a poor little murdered child? We all want the murderer to face severe punishment for the crime but what does the memorial service hold for people who never knew her?

Are they hoping to catch a glimpse of Caylee's grandparents, people suspected of having some complicity in the murder or coverup? Are they hoping to see some drama in the service? Are they hoping to be caught in front of the cameras?

Heaven forbid, but are some of them getting a morbid thrill from the circumstances revolving around this little girl's death?

I had thought the memorial service would have been a private, family affair and that's what it should have been but either the family or the church officials decided to let the public in. It will be a public spectacle and one more blot against humanity.

The death of this child is a tragedy. The behaviour of her family before and after her little body was discovered has been horrific. And now, even her memorial service will be used as a platform to benefit others...family, lawyers, reporters. They'll take center stage and the true purpose of the memorial service, grief for the murdered child, will take second place. How very sad.

My Apologies

My apologies to the family members I scared with my cryptic blog. We've just had a patch of bad luck but no-one is sick or hurt.

For me, blogging is a way to vent frustrations, anger, sadness, happiness, and just plain old self interests. I rarely use even first names but never last names so that the characters in my blog are usually not identifiable.

Anyway, we all have these trials and tribulations in our lives and I'm just thankful that we can and will overcome these particular ones.

The World Crashing Down

Every once in a while there is a tragedy or problem in the family that causes the world to crash down around us. This is happening in our family today. But it isn't the end of the world and good will come of it all in the end. I know.

Bad things are always happening to good people who just don't deserve it but that's life. We have to gather our strengths (family and friends) and carry on because to sit and drown in our sorrows won't get us out of the mess we're in.

The wagons are already forming a circle of protection and support. Another day will dawn and keep on returning until this day will be only a bitter memory. It's hard to believe that there will be better days when you're struck down but there really will be.

Take heart, rev up your engines, and move forward.

Disappointed

It looks as though my long lost sister is still long lost. The new lady in the park dropped in today and I had a chance to throw some questions at her about her aunt. It turns out that her aunt is the same age as me but I'm 2 years older than the lost sister so that finishes that.

I am disappointed, even though I haven't put much effort into finding this woman. It's very unlikely I'd ever find her because I don't know the names of the people who adopted her and my mother and grandmother have long ago passed away so I can't quiz them. It will just remain another mystery in my life.

To those women out there who bear children without knowing who fathered them...the effects are lifelong. To those women who illegally give their child up for adoption...the effects are also lifelong. There will be people who wonder all their lives what their ancestry is and who their ancestors are. It makes you feel incomplete.

I don't blame my mother too much for the choices she made. This happened in 1942/1943 when women were horribly ostracized for having children out of wedlock. In those day, the baby was referred to as a "bastard". We've come a long way, baby! Society despised the woman and forgave the man in the past but we've become more enlightened over the years. Today most unions are acceptable as long as both parents support the child. It's a more humane attitude.

In my case, I'm still looking for my sister, born in the winter of 1942/1943 and left to a couple in Ingersol, Ontario. I hope she has had a good life and I also hope to meet her some day.

Thank Heavens!

My new greatgrandbaby will not be named Achmed if he's a boy.

There is a comedian who does a puppet skit called "Achmed the Dead Terrorist" which we all think is hilarious. In the skit, Achmed is indeed dead and skeletal. My grandson, the father-to-be, has a weird sense of humor and thought the ultrasound picture of his developing baby looked like "Achmed the Dead Terrorist" and that's why he joked about naming the baby "Achmed". No one bothered to tell poor old, worried me that it was a joke!

I think I'll nickname the little sweetie "Meddy". That will teach his dumb daddy to mess with an old lady.

Changes

Life is full of changes and twists and turns. Some of the changes come as a welcome surprise but others are dreaded because we hate to lose the comfort of certainty.

One of the strange twists of fate I've run into is the faint possibility that I've found a long lost sister. She was adopted out at birth when I was just a couple of years old. A few years ago I was shown a picture of a lady who looked very much like me and who lived not far from my home in Canada. This lady had been a resident of my Florida park just before I came here and she appeared to be a few years younger than me.

I've thought about her a lot, wondering if she was my sister, but felt I couldn't approach the people here who knew her for information. Since we have a yearly park reunion in the summer I'd hoped she might attend some time but that hasn't happened.

This year a new lady came into the park and we've just started becoming friendly. The other day I asked her what brought her to this particular park and she said that her aunt recommended it. Lo, and behold, the aunt is the lady I think could be my sister! I wasn't able to ask questions at the time because other people were there but I plan to find out a few pertinent things before I ask the big one...could she be my sister? Because of the circumstances, my lost sister might not even know she was adopted so this will be a touchy subject to discuss.

I've been moaning and groaning about the fact that some of the people I really like in the park might not make it back next year and now I have the exciting prospect of a new friend who might be related to a lost relative. Yes, life is full of changes but sometimes miracles happen and the change brings great happiness.

It was a momentous change in my life when we took the chance to buy our Florida trailer and that has brought some of the happiest moments I've ever known. It was a gargantuan change in my life when my husband passed away but I learned from it how much more capable I am than I'd known. It goes without saying that having children and grandchildren are among the biggest changes in your life you'll ever experience but they are also gut wrenchingly joyful changes.

This summer there will be a huge change in my world because my eldest grandson and his wife are expecting their first baby...Kim's first grandchild and my first great grandchild. We are all ecstatic! I only hope that someone is pulling my chain by saying, if it's a boy, the name will be "Achmed". But, if it's true, I'll call the little darlin' "Meddy". See, making the best of a tough situation.

Like everything in life, change is what you make of it. Take the good with the bad and make the most of the good.

Good People

Have I mentioned before that this park is filled to the rafters with darned good people? I know I have but here I go again.

This afternoon Leona dropped by to ask if I wanted to go to Sam's Club with her and her husband. I had to say no because I needed to go shopping for new earrings and get my hair cut. I did both.

Sheila dropped by around 6 to make sure I was going over to play games tonight. I am.

Candy dropped by shortly after to make sure I was going over to play games tonight. I still am.

One of our friends dropped over just now with some pictures he took of us ladies on the cruise. One of Mary and I meets my standards of acceptibility...I don't look too bad in it.

Now I'm expecting Sylvia to come to the door any moment to walk over to the clubhouse with me so I'd better get off the computer.

Life is good!

First Lesson

This was the day I'd be teaching my first lesson in Swedish weaving but it started out busy, too. I'd barely gotten my stuff together when Sheila came to the door asking if I was going to the Activities Board meeting so off I went with her. It was an interesting meeting where quite a few activities were cancelled due to no takers to head them. The few people who have been conned into heading way too many activities have finally dug in their heels and refused to do it all. Good for them!

At the end of the meeting, one of our disgruntled residents (who had a real gripe but chose the wrong venue to air it) spoke up and the meeting took an ugly turn. I was glad when it was over.

I barely had time to eat lunch when the lady who is helping me teach the class arrived and we took all our gear (sewing machine, etc.) over to the clubhouse. We had no idea how many people would show up for the class but 3 did and there were another 3 who hung around, interested but not ready.

I rediscovered that I'm not the right personality to teach a sort of scattered class. If I'm drawn away from one student to explain something different to another one I become frazzled because I'm forced to quickly change my train of thought. We managed and I'll finish the month's lessons but won't do it next year. I've always taught one or two people right here at the trailer and that's what works best for me.

After the class ended at 3 P.M., a few of the ladies who had been doing the quilting class at another table came over and sat with us to chat. I got home at 4:30, swallowed a quick supper and went back to the clubhouse at 5:45 to work Bingo. I was pretty tired when I got home and went to bed early.

There wasn't much in the way of physical labor today but it was stressful in it's own way. Oh yes, I also had to cover all my plants with old sheets because we're having nightime temperatures way below freezing for a couple of days. It makes life interesting to have so much going on each day and great people to converse with but sometimes I need "alone" time. That will come soon.

Canadian National Anthem Cancelled in New Brunswick School

All of my life I've been aware that Canadians are not as patriotic as the Americans and here is a good example of why that is true.

One of the schools in New Brunswick no longer starts it's day with the singing of O Canada. Why?? Because the parents of some of the students have convinced the fat headed principal that if it somehow offends their beliefs then none of the students should sing it. Who are these parents? What is their nationality? Why are they living in Canada and partaking of the benefits provided by Canadian taxpayers?

Too many times the act of being "politically correct" and trying to please small groups of people becomes a form of highway robbery to the majority. The principal of this school has made the choice to make a few parents (obviously not good Canadians) happy at the expense of the majority. The principal should be fired.

Patriotism can be a positive thing. Everyone should be encouraged to love their country and work to make it better. I remember singing the national anthem at the start of my school day and I still remember the feeling of pride for my country that gave me.

This will sound strong but it's how I feel...if you don't love Canada then move somewhere else.

To the principal and anyone else who gives in to tiny factions in the mistaken opinion that it's the right thing to do...wake the hell up and realize you're giving your country away!