Just A Thought

 When you take a photo of a cat for its’ vacationing owner but then get sucked into playing with a photo app.

 I went back to the store and bought a box of Cracker Jill because Frank totally thought I was joking when I told him that you can now buy Cracker Jill.  No I really wasn’t joking.  Pandemic be damned, I am living large! 😂 #crackerjill Edited to add: I miss seeing Jack.

 Words and intelligence go hand in hand.  Without words intelligent thought could not be fully described and understood.  Human intelligence had to create words and phrases to describe itself. But humans had to have an innate and intuitive ability to understand sounds and intended meanings for this to even be possible. Where did this gift to the minds of human beings come from!?  This gift that only in human beings continued to evolve and evolve as a creative and consciously understood language of intellectual and emotional intelligence or in some cases an understood lack of intelligence.

As human beings we should never be accepting of terrible things happening to others so long as they are not happening to us.  Though we may not personally have any power to change all the bad situations in the world, we should never have an attitude of not caring.  We should always be willing, at least, to be a voice in defense and support of those needing to be understood and treated more ethically.  We are fortunate as Americans to have the freedom to express our thoughts and opinions.  Even just a voice and expressed opinion in support of others can help spread awareness and understanding.

 A person can be cold outside in the midst of South Texas summer heat.  Yes, it is true.  In the early summer evenings when the sun is getting low and it is breezy outside, it actually feels cold to get out of a swimmer pool even when the temperature is still in the 90s.  A person working outside would still be hot and sweating but it is cold for a person stepping out of a pool.  #truestory 

 I like when businesses have a sense of humor on their product labels.  A little bit of non tradition is good. #daretobedifferent #justinshoneypeanutbutter

 Frank is always annoyed with me when I’m reluctant to eat certain foods that have passed their expiration or best by date.   He always wants to argue the case that the food is still perfectly fine.  I don’t mind if some things are a little beyond the expiration date but I don’t like it with things that are more perishable.  So today Frank found something in the refrigerator that he said we needed to eat but he didn’t want to tell me what the best by date was.  He started his usual defense of beyond date food. 😂  Then he said to me, “It’s just like you. You’re not expired yet but you’re past your best by date.  But you’re still okay.”  Ha,ha.  Okay, I can appreciate a good analogy. 😂

  There will always be new questions that people previously never thought to ask.  

  I saw these today at Walmart.  They crack me up.  I love this new girl representation trend. 😄 Go Jill!  You tell them they have ignored you for long enough!  It’s not just, all about Jack. 😂 This makes me think of the Duggar family’s daughter Jill Duggar Dillard.  You go, Jill, for speaking up for yourself and girls and women!  I will definitely read your book. And a thumbs up to Amazon Prime Video’s series Shiny Happy People. 👍 I would also like to say that I was very impressed with cousin Amy.  You are a wise and wonderful person Amy! #crackerjill

 I know that traditionally sentences are not supposed to start with the words and or but.  The thing is I just don’t care when breaking these rules feels like the best way to express myself.  Not too long ago I happened to read an argument somewhere on line that, yes, sentences can start with the word and.  Right on to that!  I agree.  In the online world, people certainly do take informality and lack of grammatical correctness a bit too far, but it has its’ place imho.  I will not completely conform to the lessons of my school days in my own personal writing. 🫢

 Life is a puzzle with a lot of little pieces that all need to be fit together in order to see how the whole picture is interconnected.

 Kate and I have been sometimes taking these aerial yoga classes at the Aerial Arts studio were she is a student and teaches some classes.  This is a bit funny for me because I am seriously coordinationally challenged.  Like I need remedial chicken dance lessons ahead of time if I am to have any hope of following along at someone’s wedding.  Anyway, I struck myself funny with the thought that the aerial yoga instructor may have to concede that I am coordinationally challenged if  I come to class for like the twentieth time and I still can’t remember, or get myself into, a warrior one pose. 😲 I still need a demonstration. 🫢 It’s hard for old dogs to learn new tricks.

 I used to use cheap laundry detergent and had been using it for years.  But then I started noticing more and more that it really wasn’t getting our clothes and towels clean.  (Maybe the company started watering it down even more?)  I would take shirts that had been washed from my closet, and even towels that I had washed in hot water (always), and notice that they had an unclean and smelly odor to them.  This was no bargain.  So I switched to a better detergent (I’m loving Gain) and it made a huge difference.  My washed clothes, towels and sheets now always smell clean and I can leave a load of laundry in the washer overnight and dry it the next day without worrying about it getting stinky.  I believe this is because the better detergent does a great job of actually getting my laundry really clean so it can’t quickly start growing bacteria and smell bad. 💡  OMG.  What does it mean if a person’s actual life starts sounding like a television commercial? 😲 #gainalltheway

 If you grow up in a place where you spend lots of time outdoors exploring a forest, getting poison ivy is a part of your childhood experience.  I remember wrapping my itching fingers with tissues to keep them covered and not rubbing against each other.  Funny how scratching a little itch between one’s fingers can bring back memories.  There was one time I woke up in the morning and couldn’t open my eyes.  That was the time I got a steroid shot.

The twins 👶🏻👶🏻 👼 project is a long story but here are some reflections, from my personal experience, of the process and its’ culmination.  The pregnancy, of course, is its’ own chapter in the story.  I was once asked what I would share with someone contemplating being a surrogate mother.  Mine was a gestational surrogacy which means that I carried but had no genetic connection to the babies.  There are many parts to the experience but here are some brief reflections from the 22 year old experience that seemed really important to me tonight.  This is a short version, spanning many years, of my thoughts.   A pregnancy is supposed to be followed by the significance of being a mother and playing  an  important part in the new life.   When you are a surrogate there is nothing that changes or continues within your own life following the climax of the birth.     So even if you are thrilled to be giving this gift of babies and parenthood to the parents, you are still going to be left with

  I have scores of books to read and more that I was excited to borrow from the library but when I want to do something fun and relaxing, I keep choosing easy crossword puzzles.  #stuckoncrosswords

 Love supersedes logic.  When human beings make assessments about other people’s worthiness of love and understanding based on their own logical or emotional evaluations, they have entered the realm of judgment.  At the same time, no one should feel coerced or obligated to feel empathy and love for someone who has harmed them or others.  No one should, or can be, guilted or coerced into having feelings that they are not ready or willing to feel.  We can disagree and even be upset with others for their behavior and actions, but the important thing is to not nurture any contempt for others in our hearts.  This can be a tough balancing act when people hurt others, but it is to our own benefit as well as that of others.  Logic is important in guiding our appreciation and understanding of what moral and good behavior is, but in the end it is love (in its’ purest form) that will guide our way.

 Sometimes we all need a little correction.  This is not anything to be ashamed or embarrassed about.  It’s just part of being human and still having learning, growing and maturing to do.  Human beings never stop growing and maturing for as long as we are still alive.  The key is to have humility.  There is no shame in acknowledging that our understanding of something was incomplete and that others have knowledge that can help enlighten our own understanding and help us to become better versions of ourselves.  Expanding knowledge and understanding is an asset.

 With hundreds of possible choices of things that a person could potentially do with their time, how do we ever decide what to choose?  I guess we just have to go with whatever seems to matter the most to us at any given time.

 Sometimes I decide to take my glasses off and set them down somewhere but then I realize that the only benefit I have gained is not being able to see clearly. 🤭