Saturday, July 18, 2009

A Change of Attitude


I have been keeping this blog now for over five years, and all that time I have been circumspect in my postings when I've really wanted to blow up and yell. Well, times are a changing. Beginning with this post I am changing my position on this. If you have royally pissed me off, chances are you'll know about it. If life is wonderful you'll know about that too. I may not use actual names, to protect the guilty or just for the sake of being nice, but situations will be real. Everyone has now been officially warned.

Dragonfly Trio



I snapped these fellows hanging out in the front yard around the woodpile. Mom told me that they loved being around freshly cut wood. I even saw a green one out in the yard today, but didn't have the camera handy. Maybe before the weekend is out I'll be able to snap one of him.

Work has been fine and dandy. Last week I had couple of good days working with one of the co-workers (who I don't usually spend that much time working with). It was nice getting together the project. This week I've been working with my usual partner in crime at the office putting together a website redo. It's coming together and looking pretty good. Hopefully it will ready to go live sometime next week.

The first of the week I was overcome with a 'grandmother' moment and purchased books for the granddaughter. Now I've not see this precious child in almost 3 years, not by my choice, but wanted to send something to her. I bought the books and proceeded to debate whether to send them or not. The last time that I sent something to her and her mother (things that I brought back from Italy for them) they were hand delivered by Walter. The resulting phone call from my son-in-law, left me in tears for weeks. So here the books sat and waited....I was mulling over just hanging on to them until Walter happened to be heading their way and just letting him give them to them when he saw them. I was happy with just letting it be this way.

Overnight on Tuesday, our mailbox became a victim of a drive-by. We're not really sure how the post ended up being broken off like it was. It was really strange when I went out for work. The mailbox was in the ditch and someone else's Duck's trash can in the ditch on the other side of the driveway. It appeared that the trashcan had flown out of a truck as it rounded the curve in front of the house. A call to Duck's found that the owner of the can was well aware of it's disappearance and had already reported it missing. Later in the day Walter replaced the mailbox, post and street numbers and Duck's came by to get the can. I'm still scratching my head over how it ended up like it did.

I had a wild hair on Wednesday afternoon and ended up taking Sean out to see the new Harry Potter movie. On the way into the theater we stopped by a Christian bookstore to browse around, at his suggestion, and I found the cutest preloaded mp3 player. Now, I had heard that my daughter was looking for one for the granddaughter to use. So when I saw it I immediately thought of her. It was preloaded with memory verses, Sunday School songs, and a few hymns and I thought that it was a safe purchase for the granddaughter. It too was destine to wait with the books for a future delivery.

The Harry Potter movie by the way turned out to be pretty good. Sean and I had a nice time together and I even gave him a bit of a hard time over all the texting he did with his girlfriend. He's a right speedy typist with his thumbs. It would make me crazy trying to type with my thumbs like that all the time.

Thursday morning I decided that instead of waiting to send the books by Walter, I would take a chance and send it to her by Priority Mail. I sent without a note so there would be no chance that what I said could be misconstrued. I didn't want to cause a big stink, just send a gift to my granddaughter. I wasn't expecting any acknowledgement of the package or any comment. It was just the fact that I had sent something to her.

Friday I received an email response to my package. Well, talk about getting your bubble (the little one that it was) burst. The email was very curt and nasty, telling me in no uncertain terms that they:
  • do not need anything from me
  • do not want anything from me
  • do not want me to contact them
  • do not want me to send any packages to them,
  • do not want me reaching out to them.

I guess that was all designed to put me in my place. It threw me, but not really. I just wasn't expecting nasty.

Here's the rub. I don't know what I have done/not done that has caused such animosity. My biggest clue was given to me on New Year's Day, "You gave up your right to be a mother a long time ago." Whatever that is suppose to mean. I am clueless. If I had been some sort of monster, it would be understandable, but....

I did a whole lot of bending over backwards to keep others out of trouble. In return, I've been cut off from my daughter and granddaughter, and all future grandchildren at this point. Some day, perhaps they will decide I am not the demon that I apparently am in their eyes.

Enough of that...

As you may know, I've been enrolled in the Graphic Design Masters Certification program at Sessions.edu since about mid-May. I've already completed Basic PhotoShop and Basic Illustrator. I'm currently taking Basic InDesign and Color Theory.

I received the nicest thank you e-card yesterday from one of the doctors I work with in Ohio. I had burned a DVD for him from a video file that he had. Not a large project at all, but the card was an absolute riot and really made my afternoon. I had to share it with just about everyone in the office. Dancing chimpanzees are something to smile about.

Sean sent me this picture of a mushroom that he took while he was out in Powhatan. How bright and colorful. It reminds me of the cartoon Smurf houses. Not bad for a cellphone picture.

Well, I'm done ranting and raving for now. Time to get back to my classwork. This evening I'm heading out Taella's Bistro in Midlothian to see Flat Elvis perform. One of my classmates from high school, is in the band. Should be a fun evening.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought for the Day: Well-Behaved Women Rarely Make History! -- Lee Milteer

11 PEOPLE ON A ROPE

Eleven people were hanging on a rope, under a helicopter. 10 men and 1 woman.
The rope was not strong enough to carry them all, so they decided that one had to leave, because otherwise they were all going to fall.
They weren't able to choose that person, until the woman gave a very touching speech.
She said that she would voluntarily let go of the rope, because, as a woman, she was used to giving up everything for her husband and kids or for men in general , and was used to always making sacrifices with little in return.

As soon as she finished her speech, all the men started clapping ....... IDIOTS!

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