Changing the world...

Tempers and passions are flaring very high today. With the Supreme Court decision about abortion, the shootings at V-Tech along with the horrendous media displays and the bombings in Baghdad which killed 183 people it's a wonder that our heads aren't all exploding.

I have much to say about all three issues, as well as many more...but it occurs to me that at this moment, when I'm feeling so much outrage and anger, when I want to throttle the world's leaders and scream at those who would do harm, when I am filled with so much disbelief, horror and sorrow...that there is a better way.

:takes a deep breath:

We, as a people, are not going to survive if we don't stand together. We may have differing opinions, we may not ever be able to agree on certain issues, but if we cannot overcome our blindness to the hurt and pain of our brothers and sisters, if we can't even simply open our minds and listen to one another...we will utimately fall.

I'm not referring to any one post or person, but of the world in general. It dawns on me how many deaths would have been prevented if we had just listened, how many wars would have been stopped before they started if minds had been open, how sometimes words do speak louder than actions and we're just too wrapped up in our own beliefs to hear.

So to you, all of you, let me be the first to say and offer this. I will listen to you, I will hear you, I will try to understand. I'm not always going to agree with you but I will always care for you. If you're hurt you can lean on me, if you need help I will do everything I can. I don't care what race you are, your gender and sexual preferences don't change who you are in my eyes, your religious beliefs do not make you a lesser person than I. I might get angry with you, but I'll get over it. You might hurt my feelings, but I will forgive you. I will not hate you, I will not deliberately hurt you and if I do so unintentionally I'll apologize sincerely.

There are those in this world so filled with rage and hate that they would purposely hurt another human being simply so they won't have to live with their pain alone. Don't let that be you. If you feel alone, if you're afraid, if you're lonely, if you're angry or sad, I have a hand for you. My shoulders are wide, my heart is big, my spirit is strong, don't be ashamed to lean on me.

And maybe someday I won't be ashamed to lean on you.

For those of you rolling your eyes in disbelief, shaking your head and calling me a liar, try me. The worst that can happen is that you'll be back where you started, the best is that I'm true to my word.

In the end we will stand united, noone will walk alone....maybe we really will change the world. Either way we'll see this through together.

We are in this world together, together we can overcome anything.


I am making this an open post. No anonymous comments will be allowed but please don't hesitate to pass this on. Send your friends over, hell send your enemies. Let's take this opportunity to build a bridge and see how strong we can make it.

Sorry for the friends lock but I felt it was something I had to do. If you'd like me to add you please comment here and you'll become a member of my Post Ho-ing f-list.

Peace

Tru

This is your LAST BLOGGING FOR THE CURE!!! entry!!

Today is the final push. Other than final total updates I won't be blogging about the Relay for Life or the American Cancer Society anymore.

So today, I'm asking all of you with all my heart, please if you haven't talked about our cause before do it today. If you've talked about us before, thank you, and please do it again today. If you can, donate. If you can't, please tell your friends. Tell your coworkers. Tell your family. Tell your dog, your cat, your guinea pig. We don't care where the money comes from, it all helps. :smiles:

I know you all are tired of hearing about this and you're probably glad it's over. But, for some of us, the fight will never end. For those of us who've watched our loved ones die, for those of us who've almost died ourselves, for those of us who are afraid for our children, siblings, parents who may yet have the gene that sparks this disease. We're afraid, we're angry, we're hopeful that we can make a change and we want to fight this.

So please, help us fight. For my Dad, for Maria, for Keeghan, for my Grandpa. For anyone you've ever loved. For any of you who've ever been touched by cancer. Talk about us, donate if you can, support. Fight!



It's been years since they told her about it
The darkness her body possessed
And the scars are still there in the mirror
Everyday that she gets herself dressed
Though the pain is miles and miles behind her
And the fear is now a docile beast
If you ask her why she is still running
She'll tell you it makes her complete

[Chorus:]
I run for hope
I run to feel
I run for the truth
For all that is real
I run for your mother, your sister, your wife
I run for you and me, my friend
I run for life

It's a blur since they told me about it
How the darkness had taken its toll
And they cut into my skin and they cut into my body
But they will never get a piece of my soul
And now I'm still learning the lesson
To awake when I hear the call
And if you ask me why I am still running
I'll tell you I run for us all

[Chorus:]
I run for hope
I run to feel
I run for the truth
For all that is real
I run for your mother your sister your wife
I run for you and me my friend
I run for life

And someday if they tell you about it
If the darkness knocks on your door
Remember her remember me
We will be running as we have before
Running for answers
Running for more

I run for hope
I run to feel
I run for the truth
For all that is real
I run for your mother, your sister, your wife
I run for you and me my friend
I run for hope
I run to feel
I run for the truth
For all that is real
I run for your mother your sister, your daughter, your wife
For you and me my friend
I run for life
Ohohohoh

I run for your mother your sister your wife
I run for you and me my friend
I run for life

I want to thank everyone who helped us with this. fidgety, moonstone_fae, clauderainsrm and my own girls lil_red_1 and aisheyrukitsune. Everyone who's donated, everyone who's pimped us out. I love all of you. We're going to win this fight some day.

Relay for Life donation page

~Walt Streightiff

This is your Thursday BLOGGING FOR THE CURE!!! entry.

I post this with permission from skeleigh and I thank her for letting me share her family's story and hope I do it justice.

This one is going to be hard for me. 1:) Because I could only watch helplessly and 2:) Because it involves a child.

A child.

I can't remember now when exactly I added my friend skeleigh to my friends list here on LJ. But I do remember the entry she wrote that drew me to her. It was on May. 3rd, 2007 when she wrote that her son Keeghan had a MRI and that there was no trace of a residual or recurrent brain tumor.

In April of 2006 Keeghan was diagnosed with brain cancer.

After a long and weary battle this brave little boy, with a strength and determination that just floored me as I read his story, pulled through and had a clean MRI. I remember reading that entry with tears of joy. There was so much happiness and relief written there and, as a Mom of four kids myself, I could only imagine the fear and anxiety the family went through waiting for the results. I was ecstatic for them and took the time to go back and read the journey they'd gone through. skeleigh had put together a wonderful website and I walked through their days from the beginning. You can read it here at their website.

On Jul. 12th, 2007 they found a small spot on Keeghan's MRI. The spot continued to grow and Keeghan once more began treatments. The battle had begun again but the family was strong together, Keeghan was brave and fought against it.

After another long, difficult battle, Keeghan left this world on August 31, 2008. He was 12 years old.

I remember reading the entry that must have been the hardest damn thing Shannon ever wrote. I remember feeling like I'd been sucker punched, for a good 15 minutes I could hardly breath and the thought never left my mind, if this is how I feel what in the name of all that's holy is that family going through right now? My heart ached for all of them, it still does.

Keeghan and Shannon and their family have been an inspiration for me and my own. We had been putting together a care package for Keeghan and we didn't get the chance to send it...I remember talking to the kids about what we should do instead to remember him, everything he went through and how brave and strong he and his family are. Mary and I have both begun art works in honor of him. It's going to take us a long time to finish them, we both agreed that it's important to get these exactly right. In the meantime we've researched how our art can benefit Keeghan's Cell by Cell Fund and what more we can do to help fund research and financing for families like Keeghan's.

And that's one more reason we're blogging this week. No family should suffer the way this family has, no child should have to go through this. When I look at my own kids, my own 12 year old daugther....I want to take Shannon in my arms and weep with her. She has to be one of the strongest women I've ever met in my life. Please read the blog if you get the chance, there's so much more to their story, so much more strength and passion than I could possibly convey here as someone who was only able to sit on the sidelines.

Someday I want to meet them in person. I want to take the painting I've been working on and give it to them and share with them how much they've all come to mean to me, how much it has meant to me that they've allowed all of us to be a part of their lives and share something so deep and powerful for the last several years.

But more than anything else, I don't want this to happen to another child. Not one more. I want to find a cure.

So when we walk on June 13th we'll have a list of names with us in a pocket close to our hearts. On that list will be my Dad, my Grandpa, Maria...and Keeghan. And there will be more, so many more. It hurts that there are so many....where the hell does that list end?!?

Please, help us if you can. Talk about this, get the word out, donate, support, whatever you can. Help us fight!

Relay for Life donation page

This is your Wednesday morning BLOGGING FOR THE CURE!!! entry.

WE MADE IT TO $460!!!!

:dances::sings::bebops:

YESYESYES!!!!

Our biggest contributor so far came through last night with a whopping $60 donation, which will earn that person a big kiss from me if it turns out to be the biggest of all.

I'm so thrilled, I wasn't sure we could make it. We're still taking donations and we're still blogging every day to see if we can reach $1,000 but we made our first goal and actually surpassed it by $10 and I couldn't be happier.

:dances some more:

And now, for your viewing pleasure, I bring you the AMAZING TIPPY, sheet cat!!!



Thank you to everyone who's still reading, supporting and pimping us out. Thank you to all of you who still plan on donating. Every bit helps, as you can see.

WE DID IT!!!

Relay for Life donation page

lil_red_1 and aisheyrukitsune are so excited and they are still blogging.

Good morning!

Update, we've raised $308!!! I can smell that first goal, I can smell it!!!

Thank you for your continuing support.

And this morning I offer you this. Kisses for Donations. The person who donates the largest amount of money will get a kiss and something special from me. Right now our biggest contribution is $30, which is wonderful, but I know we can do even more.

Today I'll be selling homemade chicken burritos for the cure and at the end of the week I'll be selling candy bars for the cure.

One way or the other we're going to get a cure darnit! :smiles:

So pimp us out, read, contribute if you can. If you're our largest donator you'll get a kiss from these big old Mick Jagger lips



Gee...I wonder if that will stop people from contributing....

Relay for Life donation page

This is your Monday night BLOGGING FOR THE CURE!!! entry.

We are now up to $270!!! I'm very excited, we are slowly but surely reaching our first goal of $450!! I think we can do it! But we need your help. Please keep reading, keep pimping and keep supporting. We won't be able to get there without your help and the people who depend on the American Cancer Society really need the funding.

That being said, let me give you some thoughts.

Sometimes in life we are watchers:



Sometimes we need to be held:



Sometimes we feel like we're part of the game:



Sometimes we're living in Hell:



Sometimes we find ourselves laughing:



Sometimes there are more tears to cry:



But through it all, there is one thing I know:



Life, it's worth every try.

Please donate.

Relay for Life donation page

And check out these journals:lil_red_1 aisheyrukitsune

*All pictures taken by me except the Vick pit bull.

Once again I want to thank everyone for supporting BLOGGING FOR THE CURE!!!

We'll be continuing to post throughout the week and making regular updates. Please keep talking about us and sending people our way. I'm hoping that, with this being the beginning of the week, we'll have a lot more people logged on who will be interested in our fight.

Thank you. Keep reading, keep supporting, keep fighting.

Relay for Life donation page

moonstone_fae, fidgety, lil_red_1 and aisheyrukitsune are also blogging for the cure. Check them out! Oh yeah, some guy name clauderainsrm is doing it too.

This is your midnight post for BLOGGING FOR THE CURE!!!

I want to thank all of your for your support today. Mary, Lacy and I will be blogging each night for the rest of the week. moonstone_fae and clauderainsrm have also stated that they will be blogging this week. The final day to give online donations is June 7th. If you want to send a check or money order please email me at pj5fmly at hotmail dot com.

The final tally tonight? We raised $250.00! I'm very happy that we were able to raise that much in only two days. I'm hoping the rest of this week will bring more.

Please, remember to tell people about our cause this week. That's the best help you can give us. We really need to get the word out if we want to make a difference.

Tonight I leave you with a song that I used to sing to Lacy when she was a baby.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LraZEoRnkPc

*Verse 1*
Good night my angel time to close you eyes
And save these questions for another day
I think I know what you've been asking me
I think you know what I've been trying to say

I promised I would never leave you
And you should always know
Where ever you may go
No matter where you are
I never will be far away

*Verse 2*
Good night my angel now it's time to sleep
And still so many things I want to say
Remember all the songs you sang for me
When we went sailing on an emerald bay

And like a boat out on the ocean
I'm rocking you to sleep
The water's dark and deep
Inside this ancient heart
You'll always be a part of me

(Musical Bridge)
Do do do do...

*Verse 3*
Goodnight my angel now it's time to dream
And dream how wondeful your life will be
Someday your child will cry and if you sing this lullaby
Then in your heart there will always be a part of me

Someday we'll all be gone
But lullabies go on and on
They never die that's how you and I will be

Keep reading, keep supporting, keep fighting.

You have my love.

Relay for Life donation page

This is your 11:00 BLOGGING FOR THE CURE!!!

When I was a little girl I had a horrible crush on Buffy St. Marie. Every time I saw her on Sesame Street I wanted to hug her and have her sing to me and take me back to her native people to teach me how to live on the land and play a mouth harp.

She was so spiritual and so amazing.

Of course Sesame Street has changed since the 70's. What used to be a show about loving one another, accepting each other, loving the Earth and imagination has become inundated with Elmo and commercialism.

I miss those days of innocence. I miss Hooper's Store and counting in Spanish and videos of the kids who worked on farms, made fruit salad and got their mail from the delivery man who rode a pack mule through the mountains.

I miss the time before Bert and Ernie became a gay joke just because they were roommates, Kermit still sang his soft, thoughtful songs and Cookie Monster was a cookie monster.

I want to go back to the typewriter guy and Oscar being grouchy but loving, Big Bird being a true kid and Prairie Dawn's plays.

And I want Buffy St. Marie to come back.

Relay for Life donation page

This is your 9:00 and 10:00 BLOGGING FOR THE CURE!!! entry. Sorry I'm late, Lacy ran a little long. I count this as two because it's one of the more sensitive ones. Only two more to go!

I want to introduce you to Maria:



She's second from the left.

Maria is Bill's sister, I've known her since she was 2 years old, longer than I've known my own brother and sister. She used to follow us when we were kids and we swore that, as soon as we made a lot of money and bought a horse farm, we were going to take Maria to live with us. We loved her that much.

When she was 13 years old she was diagnosed with leukemia.

The chemotherapy was intense. She lost all of her hair, she lost weight, her nose was shattered by an overzealous nurse because her bones were brittle, she had to have a chemo stint put in that burned when they gave her the medication, she couldn't eat without vomiting, she couldn't sleep without waking up in pain.

Three times they almost lost her and three times they were able to revive her, just barely in time.

She lost several years of her life as a teenager because of the cancer. Even after the cancer went into remission she spent much of her time trying to catch up and to this day she tells me she doesn't really understand what it was like to be a teen because she went from 13 to adult in a matter of minutes.

The chemo caused her to have a stroke which paralyzed half of her face. Some of the nerve endings did come back to life but you can still see where her mouth turns down and her eye droops just a bit.

There's a chance she can never have children, I think that's the part she agonizes over the most. She always wanted to be a Mother.

And through it all Maria fought. She fought and she won. She graduated high school, with her class, with honors. She went to college and earned her Master's Degree in Sociology and now works with victims of rape and abuse. She has a family who adores her and a social network that's unbelievable. She constantly gets calls from doctors throughout Chicago and IL who want her to speak to a terminal child, she's lost more than a few of those children. I've watched her cry so many times, her heart can barely take it, and yet she continues to talk to them. She feels it's important to give them hope, show them that this battle can be won.

Five years ago we celebrated the doctors pronouncing her cured of cancer.

Sometimes I ask her, in one of our many philosophical conversations, if she has any regrets about her life. If there's one thing she could change about the things she's been through. I always expect her to say that she wished she'd never had cancer, but she doesn't. She says she's glad she went through it and lived, she feels it made her stronger. We both nod with understanding as we drink our iced tea and get lost in thought. And eventually she says to me what she always says to me:

"No, it's not having the cancer that I regret. It's watching other people die from it that I regret."

Relay for Life donation page

This is your 8:00 BLOGGING FOR THE CURE!!! entry. Four more entries to go after this one. We're almost done for the day.


When I was at the zoo with the kids last summer I saw an eagle. Not an eagle one of those "made to feel like the natural environment" kind of of habitats, an eagle in the children's petting zoo.

He was in a cage that was barely bigger than he was and as soon as he saw me we seemed to connect...on a much deeper level. He leaned forward and looked sternly into my eyes as if he were telling me to see him, see him and remember that there are still injustices in this world. That he was born to fly, to soar and yet here he resided, in a cage where he couldn't even spread his wings.

He looked at me from behind the bars...and demanded that I appreciate my own freedom.

With tears in my eyes I took his picture and apologized to him for the stupidity of my own species. His eyes reflected the life he'd had before his captivity. Catching the wind and floating in the blue and white for hours and hour. Swooping at just the right moment and catching dinner, only leaving the skies when it was absolutely necessary. The pleasure of the flight, even living as high as possible to be nearer the altitude.



That night I dreamed I was an eagle. I was on a mountain top and with one leap I flew into the sun, stretching my wings as I soared.

Sometimes I look at his picture and I realize how tenuous freedom really is.

Relay for Life donation page

lil_red_1 and aisheyrukitsune are still blogging too.

This is your 7:00 BLOGGING FOR THE CURE!!! entry. Only five more hours to go today.

This time I thought I'd share with you some of the photos I've taken over the last couple of years. I still love to paint and draw more than anything but I'm finding that I have a real passion for photography.

This is different viewpoint of the towers in Martinton. I loved the way the sky looked behind them and the slight blue tinge at the top:



This is a picture I took of Mary blowing out the candles on her 17th birthday cake just this year:


This is a picture I took last summer at sunset:


This is the Kankakee River State Park right before Fall:


This is a picture of two sea horses that I managed to snap at the Brookfield Zoo:


This is Melody and her little goat friend last summer:


This is Natural Bridge in Alabama. I took this while on my spirit journey two years ago:


I love picture taking. My memory is very sketchy and photographs are like taking a little piece of my memory and capturing it for ever. And the thrill of the perfect picture is intoxicating and addicting.

...and then I scrapbook....

Relay for Life donation page

Keep reading, keep pimping, keep donating, keep supporting moonstone_fae, lil_red_1 and aisheyrukitsune

This is your 6:00 post for BLOGGING FOR THE CURE!!!

I live in a very small town in comparison to most. Our town is less than 9000 people and, although we are expanding, has not yet the modern convenience of a chain grocery store (we have a Mom and Pop store...and I'm here to tell you that Mom and Pop are sadomasochistic when it comes to prices).

That being said, there are towns all over IL. that are much smaller than mine, towns in which I've lived.

And what does it take to really make them a "town" rather than a bunch of farmers who really like each other?

Well, let me give you an example.

I give you, the town of Martinton, IL.:

Yup, you read that right, a whopping 400 people. And yet, they have all the necessities to be considered a true "small town".

A church:


and just in case you are strictly country instead of western (if you guys don't get the reference I'll send you The Blues Brothers dvd myself), a second church:


A very old car for sale by owner:

A Post Office:

A bar:

And because the town is over 398 people, a second bar (because one bar is simply not enough alcohol for those other two):

A car dealership with very old cars (I believe they missed the point of for sale by owner, 400 people and 45 minutes from anywhere):

Big towers that are either silos, gas tanks or an abandoned factory:

A haunted house:

A school with an extra large ball field, because 300 of the 400 people are children and they all play ball of some kind:

A dog and a motorcycle:

And a token pagan (which is my role in my own small town...but now that we're over 1000 there are at least 10 of us, one for every thousand farmers):


Typically I would say a small town also needs a bank but apparently Martinton forewent the bank in favor of another church. Money being less important than the saving of souls...or playing ball...or buying a car manufactured anytime later than the 80's.....

Relay for Life donation page


Check out the other posters, moonstone_fae, lil_red_1 and aisheyrukitsune.

This is a BLOGGING FOR THE CURE!!! update!

So far we've raised $200!

Now that's awesome, but we still have a long, long way to go to reach $1000, even to reach our smaller beginning goal of $450.

I've seen a lot more people pimping which we all really appreciate, anyone who hasn't talked us up yet we'd be grateful if you could. The American Cancer Society is an absolutely worthy cause and with your help I think we can really make a difference.

I'll be continuing to do this throughout the week with my girls. We're going to entertain your socks off I hope. I believe some of my team members are going to post sporadically as well. You can make donations online until June 7th (next Sunday). If you'd like to send a check or money order please email me at pj5fmly at hotmail dot com for an address.

I know we can do this. Read, pimp, donate. Help us fight!

Thanks much.

Team Relay for Life includes:
fidgety
moonstone_fae
clauderainsrm
lil_red_1 (also known as my daughter Lacy)
and aisheyrukitsune (also known as my daughter Mary)

Relay for Life donation page

The pictures have been sized down!!! Sorry for the too large thing.

This is your 4:00 and 5:00 post for BLOGGING FOR THE CURE!!! Your hostess has to take a small break between four and six so she may go and get sustenance for her family who just informed her that there's "...no dang food in the house Mom!".

So I'll make this a good long one.

Yesterday, as many of you know, my family and I went to the Blues/Jazz/BBQ fest in Watseka, IL. The festival was supposed to surround the old Watseka Theatre , which I happen to love, and I imagined a day of dancing, eating and merriment.

It wasn't quite what I expected.

The bands, who were supposed to perform outside, wussed out and stayed in the theatre itself where you have to sit in cramped movie theatre seats and there's no room to dance. There were a few local art vendors (one of which I posted about earlier) and three or four local food vendors selling hot dogs, bbq chicken and ribs and lemon ice for $5.00 a piece.

Apparently the only place in IL to have a decent Blue/Jazz festival is in Chicago.

The entry to the theatre was also $5.00 a piece and the kids balked at the idea of sitting in movie seats listening to music that isn't the kind they favor rather than being out in the sun and beautiful blue sky.

I agreed.

We were all starving and, after Melody's adventure with the spray paint artist, we decided to go to the most popular diner in town. VIPS. We have a VIPS in our area that was started by the same proprietor but was eventually overtaken by a local Greek family. So the two menus are VERY different. The original VIPS being more down home southern style home made food and the VIPS in our area leaning more towards a Grecian fare, still good but very different.



While we were there I happened to notice a mural on the wall that I thought was lovely and asked our waitress about it. She told me it was done by another local artist (Watseka seems to ooze art) and I snapped a picture of it:



Afterwords we debated about going back to the theatre and catching at least some of the show but it was such a nice day out that even I balked. I decided we were going to go for a drive and save the Blues/Jazz for later on that night when I would blast it on my speakers.

On the way home we passed a horse ranch. Now, we've passed this horse ranch several times on the way to and from Watseka and, although the horses are beautiful and I wanted very much each time to stop, I felt uncomfortable trespassing on anyone's property. Lacy, who's usually pretty quite, picked that moment to chime in. "Mom, please can we stop? Plese, please, PLEASE!!??!! You can take some pictures of the ranch! I'm sure they won't mind, pleeeeeeeease?". Of course, what was I going to say? The kid hardly asks me for anything. So we stopped and Bill and I took a walk inside to see if the owner would mind us taking a few pictures.

Not only did the owner, one Leslie Bertrand, tell us it was o.k. to take pictures, he insisted that we bring the kids to see the animals. ALL of the animals:, the horses, the ponies, the colts, the sheep, the rams, the goats, the bunnies, the multitudes of cowdogs, the cattle...ALLLLLL of the animals. He gave them feed for the goats, who almost trampled each other to death trying to get to the feed (and spent quite a bit of time baaa'ing and butting each other, much to my children's amusement).

We spent a good 45 minutes enjoying the hell out of ourselves and talking it up with Mr. Bertrand when I got a good look at the time and realized we'd really been taking advantage of this man's hospitality. We thanked him for his kindness and he invited us back, not only to several of the events he has coming up but also just in general. He enjoyed my girls and told them they were welcome to come "take pictures" any time they'd like. :D We also discussed a Boy Scout jamboree for my son's troop which I'm going to run by the leaders team (I'm the activities director) at our next meeting. It was a joy meeting him and the pictures we got....well, see for yourself:






( Very picture intensive, just a warning )

After taking so many pictures the picture bug was on me and I started snapping the rain and Lacy got the sky:






Later we stopped by the small town of Martinton...but that's a story for another post. :D

More to come. The girls will still be blogging in my absence so please keep supporting, pimping and reading lil_red_1 and aisheyrukitsune

Relay for Life donation page

This is your 2:00 BLOGGING FOR THE CURE!!! entry.



It's called Never Again and it was painted by the famous...err...infamous Penny Wild. :points at self: The camera didn't do it justice but I think you get the gist anyway.

I did it a few years after I escaped the marriage that almost killed me. Life is a cycle, I lived it, I broke it.

I'm posting this painting for two reasons:

1:) Because today am I inspired just by being alive and being given the opportunity to share my life, my dreams, my thought and my love with other.

2:) Because with each life lesson learned and survived you are that much stronger, that much wiser, that much further on your path.

Life is a cycle, a virtue, a beast, a beauty. It should be revered with awe and celebrated every moment.

Relay for Life donation page

There are some really great things going on in the journals of clauderainsrm, moonstone_fae, lil_red_1 and aisheyrukitsune. In fact, if you look around, you may find some guinea pigs have taken up the cause.

This is your 1:00 BLOGGING FOR
THE CURE!!! entry.

Have any of you ever heard a dog laugh or seen the beginnings of one?





I've had dogs all my life but I've only been able to catch the beginning of that laugh a few times, and never on my camera...

...until yesterday.

Yesterday we stopped at a horse ranch on our way home from Watseka and I was fortunate enough to catch a shot of a small bulldog right before she started cracking up.



I wish I'd had my video camera set because within the next minute she rolled on her back and started laughing it up.

I love the unadulterated joy with which animals live their lives. I guess that's why we've adopted so many fur friends, there's something about them that enrich your life. And without them there's an unexplainable emptiness.

And it's a pleasure to hear them laugh.

Relay for Life donation page


Please head over to moonstone_fae, lil_red_1 and aisheyrukitsune's journals for more.

This is your 12:00 BLOGGING FOR
THE CURE!!! entry.

Does anyone here remember when the theme song for all of the Barbie commercials was "Georgie Girl" by the Seekers? I do. In fact, that's the song that inspired a lifetime of collecting.

I freely admit that I am a Barbie loving addict. It started with my 70's Sunshine Family (anyone here remember those guys? I think they encouraged my hippie lifestyle.) and is still going strong to this day.

There's something about that little teen model turned president/veterinarian/paleontologist/doctor/pediatrician/bride/ice skater/Nascar driver/ballerina/Chinese Empress/Pilgrim/nurse/policewoman/spacewoman/cowgirl/rodeo star/troll collector/date/rockstar/surfer/sultry singer/Queen/bather/swimmer/Olympic gold medalist/toy store clerk/babysitter/fire chief/camper/girl scout leader/sister/best friend/gymnast/work out video pro/dentist/cheerleader/teacher/flight attendant/Mary Kay consultant and the other 100 or so jobs she's had...that has just made me love her more and more.

Set aside the unrealistic boobs and waist and you have a girl champion. In a world dominated by "only men can do that"'s or "men do it better so we'll pay them more"'s Barbie set a goal for girls by telling them that's not so. We can bring home the bacon...and we don't have to fry it up in the pan because we can hire somebody else to do that for us! Unless we want to, only if we want to fry it up in a pan.

This is only a small share of my collection, but you can see how much I love the girl. I admire her beauty and her aptitude to change. They've changed her body style and her face several times since I had my first doll but the premise remains the same. She's beautiful, intelligent, independent and versatile.

Who wouldn't want to be that woman?

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I have a feeling there's about to be some funny sh...tuff...coming up over there.

This is your 11:00 BLOGGING FOR THE CURE!!! entry.

After that last entry I decided to lighten the mood a little bit and share some Penny trivia with you.

I am a HUGE fan of Weird Al Yankovich. I love the guy! Since I heard "Eat it." in the 80's I've been a huge fan.

But believe it or not it was Mary that introduced me to one of my favorite songs. One that gets stuck in my head on a fairly regular basis *glares at Mary*.



And just for your lyrics stuck in my head pleasure, here are the lyrics! Cuz I know you'd want to sing along:
""Your Horoscope For Today"

Aquarius
There's travel in your future when your tongue freezes to the back of a speeding bus
Fill that void in your pathetic life by playing Whack-A-Mole seventeen hours a day

Pisces
Try to avoid any Virgos or Leos with the Ebola virus
You are the true Lord of the Dance, no matter what those idiots at work say

Aries
The look on your face will be priceless when you find that forty pound watermelon in your colon
Trade toothbrushes with an albino dwarf, then give a hickey to Meryl Streep

Taurus
You will never find true happiness - what you gonna do, cry about it?
The stars predict tomorrow you'll wake up, do a bunch of stuff, and then go back to sleep

That's your horoscope for today (that's your horoscope for today)
That's your horoscope for today
That's your horoscope for today (that's your horoscope for today)
That's your horoscope for today

Gemini
Your birthday party will be ruined once again by your explosive flatulence
Your love life will run into trouble when your fiance hurls a javelin through your chest

Cancer
The position of Jupiter says you should spend the rest of the week face down in the mud
Try not to shove a roll of duct tape up your nose while taking your driver's test

Leo
Now is not a good time to photocopy your butt and staple it to your boss's face, oh no
Eat a bucket of tuna-flavored pudding, then wash it down with a gallon of strawberry Quik

Virgo
All Virgos are extremely friendly and intelligent - except for you
Expect a big surprise today when you wind up with your head impaled upon a stick

That's your horoscope for today (that's your horoscope for today)
That's your horoscope for today
That's your horoscope for today (that's your horoscope for today)
That's your horoscope for today

Now you may find it inconceivable or at the very least a bit unlikely
that the relative position of the planets and the stars could have
a special deep significance or meaning that exclusively applies to only you,
but let me give you my assurance that these forecasts and predictions
are all based on solid, scientific, documented evidence, so you would have
to be some kind of moron not to realize that every single one of the is absolutely true.

Where was I?

Libra
A big promotion is just around the corner for someone much more talented that you
Laughter is the very best medicine, remember that when your appendix bursts next week

Scorpio
Get ready for an unexpected trip when you fall screaming from an open window
Work a little harder on improving your low self-esteem, you stupid freak

Sagittarius
All your friends are laughing behind your back (kill them)
Take down all those naked pictures of Ernest Borgnine you've got hanging in your den

Capricorn
The stars say that you're an exciting and wonderful person, but you know they're lying
If I were you, I'd lock my doors and windows and never never never never never leave my house again

That's your horoscope for today (that's your horoscope for today)
That's your horoscope for today
That's your horoscope for today (that's your horoscope for today)
That's your horoscope for today

That's your horoscope for today (that's your horoscope for today)
That's your horoscope for today
That's your horoscope for today (yay yay yay yay yay)
That's your horoscope for today"

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