"Betta" Days

Anyone that has been blessed with boys knows that taking care of living things are not usually their forte unless it's a tarantula, or a snake, or something else cool and dangerous.

So I wondered what would happen when my son's girlfriend gave him a Siamese Fighting Fish as a gift. To my surprise he happily took on the task of caring for this little fellow. Maybe there was hope? 

But alas, slowly his interest waned and three weeks later I remind him of his responsibility hoping to reignite his desire to take care of this gift. Time passed and the poor Betta's living environment was not getting any better. Once more I mentioned it to my son, this time pointing out the brown stuff growing in the tank. I warned that if he continued to neglect the Betta, it would surely die!

A few days later I noticed even more brown algae forming inside the tank and I had to come to terms with the fact that nothing would get done. The unhappy little Betta hid amongst the white plants which were now also covered in the offensive stuff. Apparently my threat of an untimely death had made no impact whatsoever on my son. A little disappointed with this revelation, I decided that my fish friend should no longer be subject to such ill treatment, and promptly took matters into my own hands!

THAT, my friends, was my big mistake!

With great care I scooped the Betta into a clean glass jar, and put him on the counter, safely out of the way. I carefully moved the tank over to the sink, with the pump still attached to it, the cord dangling. I turned and began to move away from the counter, and then froze as I felt something gripping my ankle....

SPLOOSH!!

I stood aghast as water, gravel, fancy rocks and offensive plants covered my kitchen floor! To my chagrin and unbeknownst to me, the pump cord had skillfully wrapped itself around my leg and as I turned away the fish tank tipped off the counter and onto the floor below. If that wasn't bad enough, the tank now had a big crack in it!

Meanwhile, the Betta sat on the counter in his temporary glass jar calmly observing my catastrophe...

Sigh...

I cleaned up the mess as quickly as I could and drove to the pet store to replace the little aquarium. Twenty minutes later, the Betta swam around happily in his new home, hopefully strong enough to survive the whole ordeal. I know I did, although I've had better days!

If perchance, he doesn't, I have a rain check at the pet store for a new one. They come free with the tanks. Who knew?

I hope this one lives though, we've been through a lot together!

Builders For Eternity

A couple of years ago I made up 8 X 8 scrapbook albums for my Mom and Mother-in-law for Christmas. The albums consisted of two pages of each of their grandchildren (and greats). The first was a baby photo, and the second was a current photo. Each page had pertinent information to each child, such as date of birth, names, meaning of names and when possible, interests or talents of each child. The first page in each album had Psalm 23 written on it, and the last page had the poem below written out:

Isn't it strange that Princes and Kings
and Clowns that caper in sawdust rings,
and common people like you and me,
are builders for eternity?

Each is given a bag of tools,
a shapeless mass, and a book of rules,
and each must be e'er life is flown,
a stumbling block, or a stepping stone.
                                                          By: R.L. Sharpe

Ever since then, I often find myself reciting this poem in my head. Somehow it speaks to me. I don't believe we are destined for death. Our destinies are to live eternally. Death, although very much a part of this physical world, is not the end. 

This existence we call life is more like a learning time, or a building time, if you like. The nice thing is, we are not alone. We were given things to use on our journey through life and into eternity. We are given a shapeless mass I call free-will, and then we are left to exercise it. Isn't free-will kind of shapeless? We decide what we do with it...it has no shape until we shape it, yet how we shape it reflects the type of person we are or will eventually become.

We've also been given a book of rules. This book guides us on our way. It tells us what the truth is and what is right and wrong. It tells us how to shape our free-will and how to make it through this learning time and into eternity. This book is the Bible. Without it, we wander aimlessly.

We are also given tools. I like to think of these as our abilities or giftings. How we use these tools also reflects our accomplishments in this life. Whether for good, or for bad, whether to help or to hurt.

Yes, this poem really makes me think a lot about the life I'm building here on earth and into eternity. I thought it made an appropriate last page for the albums since it suggests that there is something eternal about us. This life is really not the last page of our existence. Our lives are just the beginning, a learning phase leading to the prospect of eternity.

I guess that's really all I have to say today.

I love this poem my son Tony wrote. It spoke to me of his understanding for those that are lost and forgotten. So much raw emotion is felt when reading this short poem. I was amazed at his clarity as he was just a teenager at the time.

True Feelings

She sits in a hall
Staring at the wall
Expressionless.

Her friends all wearing blues and greens,
She is all black, from hair to jeans,
Worthless.

As her friends all talk about,
She's the one who seems to stand out,
Emotionless.

As her friends all laugh and cheer,
Forming on her face, a tear,
Friendless.

Thanks for stopping by and remember to...

Build with purpose!

Language Issues..."We The Peeps"

Is it just me, or are people changing the way we say some words? I think the English language is difficult enough without making changes that confuse us more. For instance, I was listening to the radio yesterday, and some expert on women’s menopause said “eestrogen” in his sentence. Someone tell me, when did "estrogen" become "eestrogen?"

Then the other day my friend and I were looking over some photos, and she commented that she liked the "seepia" one better. "Seepia?" When did "sepia" become "seepia?" This is hard for a word Nazi (though I tend to hide that aspect about myself). 

I wonder how they’d like it if I changed the language?  It’ll no longer be "people" folks! Nope, it’s "pepple," or maybe even "peeps" as Greg suggested in the comments!

Isn’t it enough for you that most of our language laws don’t work already? For example; I before E except after C or when sounding like A as in neighbour and weigh. So then what do I do with conscience or foreign, and what about leisure, either or neither? It’s verbal craziness!

Okay, so I’m just being silly here. But seriously peeps, I have a hard enough time with things like “eye candy” and “arm candy.” Now you’re going to confuse me more by changing the way normal words sound? 

This time I have to draw a line! No eestrogen for me, thanks! 😂


Have a good day!

PS: Check out my post on eye candy at the link above. 

Armed Candy

One annoying thing about growing up in a different country is that I can never get metaphors right. We immigrated when I was six years old, so I don’t know why, but apparently my brain reverts to Dutch thinking and my metaphors almost always come out wrong. Here is an example of that. 

At the breakfast table this morning, my husband mentioned how his hair appeared to be less brown and more grey these days. I then chirped in to say how I wanted to go grey since dyeing is such a pain in the butt and hey, it may look good! I then remembered the last time I mentioned that thought to one of my good friends. She said, “No Carmen, you want to know how you’ll look?…you’ll look OLD!!…don’t do it” she warned.

My husband now confirmed that sentiment by suggesting that perhaps I could walk behind him a few feet if I decided to let my hair go natural. Unfazed, I commented, “well, it’s not like I’m arm candy at my age anyway” (50-ish). At that point my mother, in her heavy dutch accent, entered the conversation with “yes, yes you are, you’re still ‘armed’ candy!" This was met with great enthusiasm by my loving husband. “Yep, she’s armed candy alright, gotta watch that one!

Well, after all the laughter died down, I wondered if he’d sleep with one eye open that night, because you know he probably should! ;)

This was about where I ended the original post.

Then, my son read this post and said, "you know Mom, the funniest thing about this post is, it's "EYE" candy, not arm candy.

Sigh. Yup, those metaphors get me every time.

Have a great day!

A Little Morning Static

A friend of mine routinely gets up at 6 a.m. every morning to take his dog for a walk around the block. One chilly morning he got up, grabbed a pair of jogging pants from the laundry room, got dressed and put on a warm jacket. He quickly leashed his dog and left the house. His usual route takes him down the street, across a field, past the neighborhood pub and over the road to the Gas Station, which is kitty corner from his house.

While he walked the dog that day, he noticed the neighbors he ran into displayed quizzical looks followed by smirks as they returned his morning greeting. People can be different...

In the meantime, back at home his wife got up, made coffee, then peeked out the window awaiting his return. As she watched him walk the short distance from the Station to their home, she noticed something unusual. Behind him something was catching on various jagged spots and random rocks along the roadway. She looked closer .... firmly attached to the back of his jogging pants was one leg and trunk of a freshly laundered pair of her pantyhose while the other leg lagged behind.

Happy tears....Lol!

Apparently he wasn’t too fazed…he likes being the center of attention! After all, he put a day-long smile on people’s faces that morning!

What better way to start the day than to spread a little happiness?

Happy Thoughts

Who we are is usually an expression of what we believe and how we behave. But what if we don’t know who we are? What if we’re not sure where we’re going in this life? Then we have a dilemma.

A wise man once said, “As a man thinks, so is he.” This suggests that we are “what” we think.

Do we ever stop to listen to what we think? Our minds are filled with conflicting thoughts, e.g. reassurance, correction, encouragement, as well as discouraging thoughts like; "you’re too fat, ugly, stupid.”  We all experience negative thoughts. The important thing is…which thoughts will we believe and live by? 

Stuff happens, you know? It’s how we react to the stuff in our lives that determines our level of happiness. There is a time and place for everything and it all has a purpose. If even to build character, it’s a worthwhile end. Many refer to the unwanted events in our lives as stepping stones or stumbling blocks. Hopefully we learn to keep walking.

Everything in our being wants to react. We want to lash out, put people in their place, stop what’s happening or make sure it’s going to happen our way, but there’s only so much we control in this life. It’s better to act than react. Regardless of how we think or feel about the situation. It’s better to try to do the right thing; to support, encourage and help. You only have one chance at a response, let's make it a good one.

We have to change our mindsets and act effectively to bring about the right result. It helps to remember that everyone has down days, but it does not mean we’re stupid, thoughtless or whatever else we dish up to ourselves. We have a responsibility towards ourselves and each other to think responsibly and truthfully. We all need to be loved and accepted, and so we need to love and accept others.

We reap what we sow…so plant good thoughts in your mind, and reap a happier healthier mind!