Gotta Love This...

Brain Test

Brain Lateralization Test Results

Right Brain (20%) The right hemisphere is the visual, figurative, artistic, and intuitive side of the brain. Left Brain (74%) The left hemisphere is the logical, articulate, assertive, and practical side of the brain

Are You Right or Left Brained?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Another fun Sunday

This is the time of year when my hubs and I spend Sundays doing fun things. No football games, no baseball games, no 90 degree heat with 100% humidity. It's perfect weather for getting out there and enjoying all the local treats South Florida has to offer.

This morning early (7:30 am!!).. we headed down to South Beach for the bi monthly Lincoln Road Antique and Collectible Market. It's a super fun market with lots of cool things to see and buy. We actually bought some paintings for our shop.

In addition to the wonderful goods available it's also a great place to spot interesting folks and celebs... as a matter of fact, I spotted some blog all-stars this very day.

Check out Cabo's South Florida relation lounging just outside of Beverly's booth. He looked swell in his pink jacket. That frog knows where to be on Sunday morning. (probably stayed out all night dancin' in the clubs with all the models and stars..)

Not to be outdone by the frog the paparazzi spotted the one and only PUG..posing for the cams..you're lookin' good Puggy..

All in all it was a fun morning...and you my friends are never far from my thoughts. Thanks for sharing my day.

rANdOmNEsS

I realized this morning that I really like to be called Doll and Shug...my husband calls me Babes....I like that too...I don't think it degrades me at all. I don't particularly like to be called Ma'am, but that seems to happen more and more.

I'm no "writer" but I like to write. I have more thoughts swirling in my head though than writings or time to write. I always (usually) feel that I can't adequately express myself on paper or blogger. My thoughts have more nuances than the actual essay seems to portray. Could be I don't do it often enough..which is true..I don't get a lot of "quiet" time with no interruptions. and it seems I need that sort of time to put my thoughts in order. I journaled my whole life...seems I've just said it all already as far as my personal life goes.

I'd rather talk to anyone face to face then write it out..I enjoy people. I like to look into their eyes when we are speaking to one another. I like to look deeply...there is a hell of a lot of information in eyes and body language in general. I like to feel the energy coming off someone.

I'm not always sunshiny and happy (but I prefer to be)...sometimes I feel quite dark...don't we all, I just don't see the point of putting it out there for the world..I will talk about dark thoughts with my husband. I used to confide in close friends, but...that doesn't work for me any longer. I would just assume keep that stuff to myself...not stuffed down inside me, just keep it personal (unless asked)...I deal with everything that comes my way..I am a great "dealer" . Just for me though, I don't have the need to put it out there for the world.

Perhaps some readers wouldn't take me seriously because I don't post a lot of "serious" stuff. Oh well... :-) I blog for my own selfish reasons.. Daily life in this world is serious enough isn't it. I'd rather share a laugh, a giggle, a smile.
But I can hold my own on any topic of the day, I'd just rather sit and talk with you than write about it.

I've had many lemons handed to me in this life, but lately more apples seem to be coming my way. I don't let the lemons rule me any longer...it's all about Karma and what we attract to our lives from the universe.

It's beautiful here today..I'm going for my walk...HAVE A NICE DAY!!

Simply The Best

To all the bloggers who write such fun, amusing and well written posts. I laugh out loud a number of times each day...I look forward to some of you and where you will take me with your blogs. Also...some of the comments that people leave and the replies are ..just...so....good...
I find myself checking some repeatedly throughout the day...just to see if anything has been added..

At odd times during my day...something someone wrote will just pop into my head and a big smile breaks out..people think I have little secrets...when they see me smiling at the computer (or they suspect insanity).

Thank you ...

.

Wow...Monday again!

BUSY weekend for leelee.

Yesterday hubs and I went to see some of the most beautiful art and antiques in the nation if not the world. We attended the renowned Palm Beach Art & Antique Show.

We viewed some of the most beautiful paintings, it was as if we were in one of the premier museums of the world and all for sale. I just didn't happen to have hundreds of thousands to spend...someday perhaps. Until then, I'll just enjoy being able to put my nose right up to them and experience them as closely as I can get without owning one.

What a treat...

Have a great Monday. HUGS!!

Magic Mushroom

Found this little guy growing in my pot of Gold Lantana outside the door of my shop. Isn't it cute? I find it hard to believe it's winter in the rest of the country...

Happy Valentine's Day Honey!!

for nothing?

I was reading a cheery post over at Mayden's Voyage about Valentines Day. I was struck by the words of an anonymous commenter who wrote: I have to fork out a hundred bucks for nothing day.



I felt kind of sorry for that commenter and his Valentine too. I wonder why you would bother to (even pretend to) celebrate a holiday like Valentines' Day if it didn't mean anything to you. It made me sad that his intended Valentine would possibly receive a gift for no other reason then the giver "had to". It just struck me as sad.



You can call Valentine's Day a hyped up over commercialised consumer driven holiday..and I suppose you could be right..you can detest the notion that you are SUPPOSED to give your love a gift, just because you are supposed to..or this year, you could look at the day as an opportunity to tell or show (however you feel it would be appropriate) your love how you feel about them.

Mayden replied that for her, it wasn't about the money or the gift..and I quite agree. Folks seem to get caught up in that aspect of it.. why not just enjoy the day as a celebration of love instead of a job.

A Life That Matters

I read this on a message board where I am an active member. I thought it worthy to share here.

Live A Life That Matters

• Ready or not, someday it will all come to an end. There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, no hours or days.
• All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else. Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.
• It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.
• Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies will finally disappear.So, too, your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will expire.
• The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
• It won't matter where you came from, or on what side of the tracks you lived, at the end.
• It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant. Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.
• So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?
• What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built; not what you got, but what you gave.
• What will matter is not your success, but your significance.
• What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.
• What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.
• What will matter is not your competence, but your character.
• What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone.
• What will matter is not your memories, but the memories that live in those who loved you.
• What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.
• Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident. It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice.
• Choose to live a life that matters.

Author - Michael Josephson

Thank You

I heard this song this morning on my walk..coming from my ipod. I thought it conveyed my feelings about having an outlet like my blog to.... well....just be myself..warts and all...so I want to

thank you
falettinme
Be mice elf
agin

Parenting the world

I had a thought today while I was in the shower..sometimes I do my best thinking there..

I was thinking about the correlation between the US role in taking care of or "parenting" the world and my own experience in parenting my child.

I thought this was a worthy analogy so take a read and let me know what you think.

The US seems to be mired in the Iraq conflict...there is great debate on whether or not we should send in more troops to assist the Iraqi govt in quelling the violence and thereby having them become a viable and strong unity government. There doesn't appear to be any definitive solution at this time.

In theory I feel that they THOUGHT the war in Iraq would be a good and needed intervention..HOWEVER what I have seen lately is, no matter how much money or support we give them, they (The Iraqis) don't seem to be stepping up to the plate in creating a peaceful and democratic Iraq. Not to say it can't or won't happen, it just doesn't seem to be gaining much momentum and our troops are caught up in the middle.

My husband and I have been parenting our daughter for 18 years..when she became a teenager, she was considered a "troubled teen" Failing in school, major bad attitude, anger issues and drug use. We worked with her school, we worked with psychologists, we worked with our family..we felt we were doing as much as we could and still she spiraled downward..in Jan of 2004 the situation came to a head and we were forced into a making a decision about her safety and well being..in crisis, I enrolled her in a special program school for troubled teens out of state. I had escorts come into my home at 3 am to wake her from her bed and take her away to this school. It was a radical decision, it was heartbreaking, but we knew in our hearts that if we didn't do something immediately she could perhaps soon make a life altering choice that would change her life forever and not in a good way. We as parents had to make a tough choice for the well being of our child.

Lets look at President Bush making the decision to take us into the war in the spring of 2003. The administration made a case that of we didn't do something about the threat of Saddam Hussein then we might possibly be looking at major consequences including mushroom clouds, weapons of mass destruction and surely death and destruction to us all. Now lets just say he really believed that..perhaps he did..perhaps he didn't, that is another debate. But lets just for now say he did believe it. He like me..made a choice..a radical choice..

Ok...so now my daughter is in this facility, it's not a boot camp, it's not a rehab center, it was not ordered by the courts, she did not break any laws and was not an addict (yet). It is a facility that uses group therapy, one on one therapy, tough no nonsense rules, a program of good behavior equals rewards and academics. the other major factor with this program is she had to (by her positive actions) rise up through a level system, the higher up she rises the more rewards she gets. She needed to rise to level 3 before we could speak with her on the phone. Letters and packages were encouraged, but no phone or visiting privileges were awarded until she got to Level 3. This took 8 months. That's right I didn't speak to my daughter for 8 months! It wasn't easy..it was heartbreaking, but we felt in our heart of hearts that this was the right thing to do. We wanted the program to be able to work with her, while we worked on our stuff separately.

Back to Iraq....we send troops, weapons, we do a shock and awe invasion, we bring down Saddam, we proclaim Mission accomplished, but we lose some soldiers along the way, after all it is war...and that is sadly what happens. It was hard, it was heart breaking, but we all felt it was worth the sacrifice to bring down this evil regime. That was 3 months after we went to war...3 months...MISSION ACCOMPLISHED..right?

After my daughter was in the program for 10 months, her and OUR hard work had only just begun we were now given the opportunity to meet with her and to start repairing our relationship...we were all in a learning mode. We were taught tools to use to communicate, tools to use to look at all of our lives from a slightly different perspective. a perspective from our daughters POV and her a perspective from our POV..we worked hard during phone calls and letters..and 12 months into the program we were able to finally have a visit with her. We spent 3 days enjoying each others company and working on our issues..after our visit we felt that the were coming back together as a family ad were seeing the light at the end of this part of our parenting journey. We knew she was going to come back home again..we wanted her home..we wanted to be a whole and healthy family again.

As the months drag on in Iraq and more soldiers are killed and maimed..Iraq puts together a Unity govt..people actually vote for the first time in many years...they are happy to be working towards being a whole and healthy democratic and free country. We wanted this for them...they wanted it for themselves... But somewhere along the way..the brewings of a civil war were taking place...the country started to divide up..each group wanting more power..

We brought our daughter home after 13 months in the program..we were armed with all the new tools we had gained..we were optimistic about our future..the rules were in place....the communication lines were open..and happily we continued on our journey..but 3 months into the newest leg of our journey...our daughter wanted to regain her power...her autonomy...her craving for independence..we saw ourselves slipping back into our old roles...and we didn't want to go back to the way things were, so we set up some guidelines...a parameter if you will..with the stipulation...that she could either work within he parameters of this family or she could a. go back to a program b.or leave...
we were no longer going to be held hostage by her behavior...well she left for a day (went to her sisters, thank god) she called and said she wanted to come home...I said...you are welcome to come home as long as you live within our parameters..here are the rules...tell me know on the phone if you will agree to them....she said she had to get back to me...ha ha..a day later she called and said...I agree.....

She came home...we continued working together as a family, but now we did something we never did before..we started to step back...she knew the rules...we wanted to see what she would do with a little independence in decision making..and as long as she followed the rules...we allowed her to create a life for herself...we told her she must go to school while living in our home..either full time or get a GED and work full time while contributing to the household...she decided on her own to go back to her high school...she wanted to be a "normal" kid, she wanted to go to her prom, football games and be a senior and all that goes with that....next we told her if she wanted things..she had to work for them..we were not going to pay for cell phones, CD's, whatever..so...she found a job....next, she got her drivers license and she is now in college..away from home...we provide financial support (as long as she keeps her end of the bargain) emotional support (she calls often to vent and get some advice) and unconditional love...she's our daughter and good or bad we love her. But we will NOT give, give give, without her working towards creating a life for herself.. and she's doing it now...because SHE WANTS IT..she WANTS to succeed, she's not doing it for us...she's doing it for herself. We told her...it's your life honey, we'll assist you if you need or want assistance, but you have to want it for yourself. She's 18 now..she can do what she wants basically, but we will not support poor choices...or lack of effort.

OK...my proposal for Iraq is simple...based on the parenting techniques I have learned...lets pull back some..I'm not saying lets cut off funding..or run out of there leaving a big mess in our created wake... Let's just step aside a bit...create a space for them to either rise to their excellence...or not rise to it..Lets allow the Iraqi people create a viable state...a stable Iraq...a democratic Iraq..a better Iraq...it may take 20 years...or it make never take at all..we don't know..just like a child..all we can do is guide them..we can offer some financial support...some Military support (on the periphery) some advice and assistance when asked and needed...lets give them the chance to CREATE...to be the best Iraq they can be..we cannot do it for them...we are NOT THEM...they are not America...they are NOT Iran...they are Iraq..and deserve to be Iraq....good or bad...

leelee rants..yes even leelee...

I used to rant more often...I used to rant to friends who didn't expect me to go off on a tirade...I've learned to tamp down my reactionary ways and mostly just rant to my husband now..who has to listen because..well he is my husband and it's part of the deal...but sometimes....just sometimes, I feel the urge to speak out...

Last night my husband and I watched the classic movie Network. It is indeed a powerful film and we were struck by how little things have changed in 30 years. But more surprising is how we seem to have not learned too many lessons along the way either.

The central character Howard Beal, an anchor on a failing TV newshow, is going to be fired for poor ratings and has a nervous breakdown. He goes on the show to announce his "retirement" and segues into a rant, but what he rants is surprisingly dead on. The people that tune in can understand where he is coming from...they watch and react to his rantings. The show's viewer share skyrockets. Why? because he is the voice of the common man, he is saying what everyone is feeling.

Howard Beale: I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's work, banks are going bust, shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter. Punks are running wild in the street and there's nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there's no end to it. We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat, and we sit watching our TV's while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that's the way it's supposed to be. We know things are bad - worse than bad. They're crazy. It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't go out anymore. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we are living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, 'Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone.' Well, I'm not gonna leave you alone. I want you to get mad! I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot - I don't want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street. All I know is that first you've got to get mad. Howard Beale: [shouting] You've got to say, 'I'm a HUMAN BEING, Goddamnit! My life has VALUE!' So I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell, [shouting] Howard Beale: 'I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!' I want you to get up right now, sit up, go to your windows, open them and stick your head out and yell - 'I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Things have got to change. But first, you've gotta get mad!... You've got to say, 'I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Then we'll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis. But first get up out of your chairs, open the window, stick your head out, and yell, and say it: Howard Beale: [screaming at the top of his lungs] "I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"


I was watching the news this morning....top stories...helicopter shot down in Iraq..7 more dead. 334 people dead since October. Scooter Libby lying, lying lying...Cheney lying, sneaking, lying...the Pres dumb, dumber and dumbest. Nancy Pelosi asking for a bigger plane so she doesn't have to stop coming to and from California. Congress stalled on any kind of forward Iraq resolution. Dems asking for a non-binding res (what's the point) and the repubs not giving in (IT'S NON BINDING YOU IDIOTS). Why are they continuing to be loyal to Bush, who by the way IS NOT HARRY TRUMAN!! How long are we going to go round and round with this. How many kids are going to die before we figure out the right way to combat these people. In case anyone is looking what were doing doesn't seem to be working..bottom line, the evidence shows we went there based on lies in the first place. Astronauts flipping out...global warming...celebs gone wild....kids stabbing one another in the middle school hallways...pedophiles praying on our kids....Evangelical Reverends getting caught with drugs and male prostitutes, then announcing after 3 weeks of counseling that he is COMPLETELY HETEROSEXUAL..rehabs for everyone..and magic cures after 30 days.....AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

It's a ball of confusion ....that's what the world is today...hey hey..

That felt better...Just felt good to do it this morning..sometimes we just have to open the steam valve a little..

Have a nice day...I will.... NOW

You're WEIRD....

I'm weird, were all a little weird...

And now we have a place to visit...that chronicles the weirdness.

Please support my old pal from High School, Mark and his friend Mark..as they take us on journeys only us weirdos can appreciate:

WEIRD USA