Good Times!!

Good Times!!
Featuring The Robbins

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Cruisin....

I grew up in a town where cruising was the social network of the day. Every weekend that is where you hooked up with your friends and met a whole lot of new ones. There were all these smaller farm towns that were all around this main city. Those teens would drive to Enid to cruise VanBuren, we called it VB. There were different stops you would risk hanging out at until the cops would shoo you along for loitering. If you had a cool car with a revved up motor you would have to show it off and peel out. I am sure there was the occasional fight or under age drinking, but for the most part it was good clean fun. Where you could blare your favorite song as you drove down the street..and honked at ones you knew or wanted to know as they passed ...you could have watergun fights...grab a cherry vanilla coke at Sonic...or just park behind McDonald's and hang out. Those were the days!
I started a group page the other day on Facebook called, "VanBuren Cruisers of Enid" and in just four days there were already 200 people signed up as members or cruisers..lol. That tells me that Facebook is where a lot of those cruisers have gone. We all want the social interaction with each other. It is what encourages and inspires us. This group of people that we shared our youth with has this special connection or bond. By reaching out and sharing our memories of those times helps us to enjoy them all over again. Thank you Facebook for making a virtual time machine for us to reach back into our glory days and relive them.
It is sad to think that our children do not have that same luxury of "safe" carefree independence that we had growing up. They need more outlets like that that are not tainted by the fear of gangs and abductors. I guess our children will have to cruise the virtual drag called Facebook..in safe quarters to have that social network. Somehow it doesn't have the same appeal that we had behind the wheel. If we get to have a reunion and catch up with our old friends on VanBuren you might want to bring your kids along just so they have a little taste of how it was when we were young.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Calling on God!!! Please be there...

I received a very troubling call last night. My mother was at the other end and she was distraught. Through her tears she told me that my dad had been told he has ocular cancer.. He was given the choice to have his eye removed or have radiation therapy. He has decided to have his eye removed.
His eye had been bothering him so he went to the eye doctor and they said he had a cataract that needed to be removed. Then at his next appointment they said that his retina had detached from the eye. So he was sent to see an eye specialist yesterday and they told him he had ocular cancer. This is so unreal. Who knows how long he has had this.
At first I was troubled about the news, but the longer it has set with me I feel so confused and lost with this. If anyone know my dad they know that he is one of the most caring souls on this earth. For me to think that he would have to suffer really hurts me. My dad sounded optimistic on the phone because he has such great faith. That is one thing about him, he can lose his hair, his teeth, gallbladder and eye, but nothing can take away his faith. He was also being strong for my mom, cause she has had her bouts with cancer before. When she was 29 she had cervical cancer and then years later on different occasions she has been inflicted with Paget's disease a skin cancer and had to have skin grafts. Needless to say she has been through it and doesn't want my dad to have to go through what she did.
I just hope that it is all going to be ok. I trust that God will not put us through more than we can bare. I ask that you all will pray for my dad. Pray he will get through this with minimal suffering. I love him so much and I can't stand that he has been given this lot to carry. My dad is a preacher and he is the most selfless human I know. God, please take care of my dad. Be gentle, he is so good. He would never hurt anyone. He so doesn't deserve this I just want to hear that they made a mistake and this is just a bad dream.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Reminiscing

Last night I started a trip down memory lane on youtube. I was listening to my favs, like Tiffany and Debbie Gibson. I even remembered most of the lyrics to their songs, cause of course I still have their albums on cassette. Before I knew it, all of my kids came over to sit and watch with me all these older videos. This past year I took my older daughter to see Miley Cyrus, which was a big deal to her. She really put on a pretty entertaining concert. I noticed while we were watching Debbie Gibson's videos at her concerts that her and Miley shared a lot of similarities. She and Miley were about the same age and they wore some of the same style of outfits. Their stage performance was similar too. So pretty much what comes around goes around. Things change, like technology allows for more impressive concerts, but styles of clothes and music repeat themselves a lot. I would say that our family really appreciates music. My husband plays the guitar and he has played in a band. And I was always involved with Choir, whether it was at school or at church. We love sharing music with our children. Thanks to youtube, they generally find songs of our past that we have forgotten about. They are taken by "Axel F" and "Video Killed the Radio Star". It is funny to see their reactions when they think they have discovered something new and my husband and/or I recognize it. My son loves the Eagles and he got to see them in concert a few years back on their reunion tour. He will never forget that. I have to drag my husband to see Kenny Chesney with me every time he comes to town. He doesn't mind he really likes going too. I go with him to his David Allen Coe concerts. It is nice to have something we can all enjoy together. It is finding those gold nuggets in life that helps us keep common ground with our families. I added a video box to this page to share some of my favorite songs over the years. I hope you can enjoy listening to some of them too.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

FREE.....

The good things in life are even better when they are free.  Generosity is the willingness to give.  Helping one another out when we can is very admirable.  I was at the store the other day looking at shoes, shoes on sale that is.  I have four children and we generally pass clothes and shoes down when we can.  Anyways I was looking for shoes for my four year old and didn't find any marked down in her size.  I started to leave the aisle when another mother trying shoes on her daughter asked me what size my daughter wore.  The lady had purchased a pair too big for her daughter at another store and was at this store purchasing some to replace those.  I ended up with a new free pair of nice tennis shoes for my daughter.  I offered to pay her for them, but she refused.  I walked away and prayed that God would bless her in an area of her life where she may have a need.  It is nice to know that human kindness still exists.

On Your Mark Get Set...Go!!

My children just returned back to school after an extended holiday break due to the weather. I love them, but I was ready for them to go back to school. I rushed one off to middle school and the others off to grade school. You can almost hear the "Mission Impossible" theme song playing. I jumped right into gear and got busy on cleaning the house in detail, which even included getting dirty fingerprints off the walls and sweeping along every base board. I finally reached the end of the afternoon to retrieve them all back home again. I was feeling a sense of accomplishment and it felt good. I even got an "ooh ahh" from my 11yr old, which really goes along way. I still have all of my stacked up boxes to get to, but that is an accomplishment for another day. My plan is to get through at least one a day. Getting and keeping the house maintainable is the ultimate goal. And with that goal in sight I plan on conquering it. My family will be the winners cause they will have won the prize, a harmonious home.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Life Happens...

Time blazes by us without warning.  You have to make the most of every moment you can. I was looking at photos over the holidays and saw pictures of some relatives that have passed away. One died as young as 5 years old and one a new dad in his mid 20's. Each day should not be taken for granted. I am going to find purpose for each one.  My goal is to accomplish something everyday, even if it is as simple as cleaning house or telling my family how much I love them.
My baby is four and she is anxious to do what her older siblings are able to do.I am constantly telling my 11yr old daughter to stop wanting to grow up so fast. Our youth is gone in a blink of an eye. Hold on ...slow down. Life happens, just take it in stride and savor every drop.  Making the most of it and not having regrets is what I want to get across here.  Have fun, laugh, find joy and find it again even after the tears you have to shed from time to time.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Waste Not Want Not

I have heard that expression at least a hundred times in my life. Although I think I interpreted it different in the past.  I am what you would call a "pack rat". I always put stuff away in boxes and say I might need that someday.  Needless to say I have about 10 or more containers next to my bed that are full of " I might need those some days".  I decided for this new year that I am going to make a drastic change in that area. I am going to totally downsize all of this frivolous nonsense I have held onto.  I think we tend to be gluttons over many things in life. Whether it be food, toys, clothes, shoes..etc..  I am ready to have just the bare essentials and simplify my home. My new year diet is going to consist of not only shedding pounds, but of the clutter in my closet, cabinets, toy boxes and wherever else it tends to collect. 


I tend to usually have a long list of wants and let them supersede the needs. I realize that if I would allow the needs to be met in my life that I would be more content and therefore wouldn't have so many wants.  My children have fallen victim already to this unhealthy way of living. I do believe that it is never too late to change bad habits, though. I need to pull in the reigns now and spend less at McDonald's and have more home cooked meals. Less time spent watching TV and on the computer and more time spent playing games together and reading stories. Waste not my time, my space and my money on things that will destroy and devalue the good things in life. Once harmony is made at home then it can be felt in other realms of our lives.

   

Purpose for this blog..

I know you are thinking what a cornball name for my blog. I had to candy coat the word organization and this is what I came up with. This is not just a lesson on how to get organized, but to see how someone whose life seems pretty chaotic is going to be transformed while on this journey. Maybe you can learn something from my trials and errors along the way. It is not only about cleaning out the closets or maintaining the floors, but the clutter that ends up in our diet and routines and even our way of life. Whatever comes our way I am going to try my best to make our home a harmonious place to live.