Amazing site!

Please check out this website a friend sent me...All kids Must see this!

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thegoldengirlsnextgeneration: thegoldengirlsnextgeneration: Tripping down Memory Lane!

thegoldengirlsnextgeneration:

thegoldengirlsnextgeneration: Tripping down Memory Lane!

thegoldengirlsnextgeneration: Tripping down Memory Lane!

http://us.mc838.mail.yahoo.com/mc/welcome?.partner=sbc&.gx=1&.rand=1opsmg6sepa07#_pg=showMessage&pSize=25&sMid=1&fid=Inbox&sort=date&order=down&startMid=0&filterBy=&.rand=1191251626&midIndex=1&mid=1_184280_AFtVk0UAAPLISh4JwQ7ehwUcGl8&m=1_192621_AFdVk0UAAPYpSh5jng0rXXJ4OMI,1_184280_AFtVk0UAAPLISh4JwQ7ehwUcGl8,1_182355_AENVk0UAAELQSh3qGQF6sFHER3o,1_181694_AF1Vk0UAAF4WSh3pXgh0w3dSrNs,1_180999_AFtVk0UAAO7XSh3nRA8lXX%2BeiSY,1_180217_AF9Vk0UAATltSh3eagQuYxlpm18,1_177360_AElVk0UAANEWSh3CfAi3y3BZcsQ,&hash=9f2aa5bb391688d8e9bc2f35782fad2d&.jsrand=3278765

Memorial Day Weekend

When I was a kid, I used to love this weekend! Somebody ALWAYS had a cookout and the local pools were opened....(my favorite!) It was the beginning of the real summer, even if we had another week of school...although it was always the last Monday in May....Now, depending on where you live in the country, school may have gotten out, or the kids may have almost a whole more month to go, depending on what the winter was like and if snow days were built in to the calendar. After this weekend, most kids have totally zoned out and the teachers would love to one out, too! But whoever is in power at the state or diocesan level, feels a certain number of days must be required...Why? So their district/state/diocese learns more?

I really feel sorry for the kids today...they have too many pressures placed on their shoulders, and no real true relief. A lot of them can't come home and sit and talk with someone, because there is no one to talk to...they don't have a lot of down time because they have so many activities and so much homework piled on them, they can really be YOUNG!...They have to worry about getting into a good college and then a graduate program....

People wonder why there are still so many drugs around, and so much violence in schools....all they have to do is look at themselves...What kind of parent are they really? Push, push, push...Is there no relief for these kids? The kids that are bullies AND are part of the "cool" crowd, usually have stuff going on at home and really are facing some hard things themselves, but don't want anyone to know it, so they have that nasty exterior...they find someone who is basically pretty happy, but won't really fight back....Then those poor kids become so frustrated, they just snap....after they have just been beaten down (figuratively speaking)...

And the teachers aren't always too helpful...they either stop the problem, want to be the "cool" kids friends, or just do not pay attention (not all teachers)....

I used to love school...and I loved summer.....I loved going to the pool, or packing my lunch and going on an all day hike....having sleepovers, reading one book right after another, and getting all of my book reports done within one week...no reading list...just read for the sake of reading...I still love to read...anything and everything...And I hate to be interrupted in the middle of a good novel!

Which...that's what I'm going to do, right now....go read my new novel by John Sanford!

Enjoy the weekend....Would love to hear some comments on kids in school, summer, or anything you'd like to talk about!

Angels and Demons--The Movie

Tonite I saw the much anticipated movie Ron Howard/Tom Hanks combo. (As usual, a great duo!) I really enjoyed it. But I never read the book. (Not that it would have mattered)....I have heard mixed reviews, but most people had read the book...The only really negative thing I heard was that the movie's story-line didn't follow the book in a couple of important areas...which I won't say in the minute chance someone might read this that hasn't seen the movie!

However, I did enjoy the acting and the story-line. I had the result completely wrong...and I'm usually pretty good at figuring out the mysterious ending.

I'd like to hear what other's have to say.....leave a note or a vote!

thegoldengirlsnextgeneration: Elizabeth Edwards

thegoldengirlsnextgeneration: Elizabeth Edwards

http://bennycat.blogspot.com/2009/05/excerpt-from-resilience.html

New Knees

It's been awhile since I have posted to my blog...No wonder no one comments or follows!

I'm finished with my knee surgeries, and both went extremely well...I now have 2 full knee replacements! The recuperative period is technically not over, but I've been back at the gym, and ave started working out again with my trainer....I find that I need a trainer to help do the exercises correctly and to help vary my routine, so I really get a complete workout. Since I am a type 2 diabetic, I have to work out for my health..not just my weight...and unfortunately, my will power is not what it used to be! So, if I pay for it, I use it...sad, but true :-(

However, if anyone out there is thinking of knee surgery, I suggest using a trainer to help get you ready....or at the very least begin working out at least 3 months BEFORE you are scheduled for surgery. Not only do your calves and thighs need to be strong, so do your arms! In the hospital you have to be able to pull yourself around in your bed with the use of this "trapeze type" of contraption. ;m sure there is a correct name for the equipment, but I just don't know what it is!)

And let me tell you...what a great icebreaker! People see your scars and have a million questions because they need the surgery and are scared or interested OR they are part of that "club", too! It's great! (Not that having to HAVE the surgery is great, but there is an upside to it.)

The downside is: NO EXCUSE for lack of exercise! Oh, well!

If you have any questions that I can answer from a layman's point of view, please ask!

Elizabeth Edwards

I have recently read the newest book by Elizabeth Edwards, Resilience, and loved every page. But if you are looking for a tell-all gossip book about John Edwards, I think you better forget about it and go buy te "enquirer" or "Star" at your grocery store. Below is my feelings about her books, which I had written previously on Benny's World, another blog I follow.

I have read "Resilience" and am currently reading, "Saving Graces." Both books are about Elizabeth Edwards' life, experiences, feelings, etc. They are NOT renditions of those ridiculous "supermarket tell-all" magazines. While reading the books, I felt as if I had known Elizabeth Edwards my whole; life---I felt like instead of reading, I was sitting at the kitchen table having coffee with her and talking, like good friends. I cried while reading her chapters about Wade, which are heart wrenching and proud; and laughed at some of the antics of her family during her "formative years." She is a woman who is fiercely protective and very proud of her family and what they have all accomplished as well as WHO they are as individuals. The books she has written, are truly what she wants her family to always know and remember HER as: strong, remarkable, bright, loving, gifted, and someone who has been thru more than any one human being should go thru in a lifetime, yet has weathered the storm (or as she says in her book, "adjusted her sails")! I truly admire and respect this woman, and wish I could one day meet her face-to-face!...Elizabeth Edwards really stands up for what she believes in...she is not just a "preacher", she is a "dooer"-- a true activist in every sense of the word! (As my husband would say, "not an empty suit") I wish she had run for president...she would have had my vote in a second...and I'm a republican

Light a doodle for diabetes research! Thanx!

Tripping down Memory Lane!

I was driving to the gym yesterday, and I was listening to the radio and a song from the '60's was playing.  The day before at the gym I was on the bike and they had a video w/Smokey Robinson and the Miracles.  So I have been thinking of the times I had w/friends growing up in the 60's and my favorite things to do.  I grew up (Until 8t grade) outside of Baltimore during some turbulent times, and it was scary, but I never was worried.  Our schools were already segregated, and had been since I started school in 1960.  I wasn't sure why all of the news were showing riots in the cities, and we (as in adults, too) had curfews.  I guess I was really naive....Everyone road the bus together, and all got along really well!  I understood that everyone deserved a right to the same type of education....and I thought the Governor of Alabama was an evil man.  

Then we moved into the Vietnam era with riots and sit-ins in the colleges.  I understood students were against a war that we really weren't supposed to be involved in...we were only sending in troops for training until President Johnson sent tons of young men.  I had 2 cousins that went into Vietnam; one as an Officer out of West Point and one as a private....I wrote to my cousin, Mike, the private, pretty often, and he wrote back about a lot of things I hope I never see or experience.  I guess what I didn't get was that although so many were against the war, they took it out on the soldiers, who were over there trying to protect us from Communism and the domino effect.  I guess no matter how you feel about the war, you have to support those soldiers, who are giving their time and some their lives for us! 

I guess we have come full circle on that front, too...since Iraq and Afghanistan seem to have the same effect on Americans...the  difference is...we had to retaliate...they attacked us on American soil!

Well, enough for today.....off to the gym...(One would think I'd be thin by now!!!!!)

The Beginning

Well, here I am....it's February of 2009, I'm in between knee surgeries and watching a funny, mindless movie, "Weekend at Bernies."

I really hate being an empty nester, but part of that is because I am trying to get these knee surgeries out of the way, and don't want to start anything major until after the 2nd surgery.  The other thing is that my son is away at college and is very unhappy.  He probably will transfer.  I guess he's too far away, and too dependent on us...our fault.  But he also has a roommate that is very inconsiderate.  He always has his girlfriend sleeping over every nite, because she doesn't like her roommate.  He tried to talk to his roommate about the situation, and the kid was a jerk about it...the roommate said it was his room too, but did he forget, it's not his girlfriend's room?  So, my son is looking into switching rooms!  I guess that my son is learning a lot of lessons this year.

Well, enough of this.....onto other things....I guess I'd better get ready to go to the gym....got to have my legs strong for surgery next month!