When You’re Right, You’re Right

Hi!  Remember me?  I haven’t blogged for a L O N G time.  No idea why, nothing good to say I guess.  Nothing that can’t be a short Facebook post anyway.  🙂

Here’s why I wanted to write to you today…

A few weeks ago we all saw this video go around Facebook:

Most of  us can agree that this is a good representation of what it’s like to be a woman in a world of undisciplined men.  That isn’t the point I want to make.

(Next slide please)

Today, this video is going around Facebook (sorry I cannot embed the video here):

Alex From Target on Ellen

Yesterday my 12-year-old granddaughter was talking about Alex.   We had a moment where we talked about how cute he is, until she realized she didn’t want to have that conversation with her grandma! 🙂 So, today I posted the Ellen interview video on her Facebook wall.  I don’t know if she’s seen it or not, but I deleted it.  And here’s why…

My son was good enough to point out to me tonight that it’s every bit as wrong as the first video of the woman being harassed by men on the street! When you’re right, you’re right.

Ask yourself…why is an audience of grown women “cougaring” a TEENAGE boy OK, but we are disgusted by the way men treated the NYC woman?  The answer?  IT’S NOT OK!  It’s ridiculously wrong.  And a perfect example of sexism, sexual harassment, and double standards.  Just think of the outrage we’d feel if there had been a 16 year-old girl put on display for men like that!

So friends, examine your own actions.  What are you saying, doing and posting online that would be considered a sexist double standard?  What does that teach our young women?  What was I saying to my granddaughter by talking about “Alex” and sharing the video with her?

Shame on me.  Thank you son, for teaching me the error of my ways.

P.S. I’m beginning to see stories now that the whole Alex thing is a publicity hoax.  Maybe it is.  Interesting, since our little town just found out our local Target store will be closing soon.  Guess the publicity won’t help us.

 

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Grandmothers

Hello everyone!

Spring is in full swing in the Midwest, USA.  The daffodils and tulips are gone and the vegetable gardens are beginning to thrive.

Today I want to talk about something that has bothered me for a long time.

GRANDMOTHERS

I became a grandma for the first time when I was only 37 years old!  My oldest daughter was 20.  Please don’t do the math 😉  From the very beginning of the grandmother adventure I noticed that society picture grandmothers the way MY grandmother looked.  See pictures below…

This is an illustration from 1949.
Source: http://www.americanartarchives.com/petersen.htm

This was posted TODAY by a Facebook page for a wonderful new movie called “Mom’s Night Out”.

 

BOTH illustrations show lovely older women.  Short gray hair, pearls, apron, domestic.  I’m here to tell you this is NOT what the grandmas of TODAY look like!  This is what MY grandma looked like! (below)

 

Grandma & Grandpa Smith. Grandma was born in 1904. She would be 110 now if she was alive.

Grandpa Smith doing quality control on the watermelon and corn. Grandma in the background … WORKING of course. Note the softly patterned dress and apron.

 

Again…grandmothers of today just DO NOT look like this.  The World Wide Web needs to get with the times.  It’s 2014, let’s update those grandma memes please!  Something like this would be nice:

 …… Um, well… I can’t FIND ANY young grandmother pictures online without using actual photos of my friends! haha Or cosmetically altered celebrities.  Thus, enforcing my point.  

GRANDMAS OF THE 21st CENTURY UNITE!  Get pictures of yourselves out there so the stereotypical mid-20th century grandma images can be banished!

Thank you for listening…

GARDEN UPDATE

How are your gardens doing?  Ours is really taking off.  Well, most of it.

Just a few of the things we currently have thriving.

 

Have a wonderful first week of June!  Please remember to visit me on FACEBOOK and post pictures of your gardens and YOU with your GRANDCHILDREN!  I’d love to see some smaller container gardens and hear how they’re doing.

 

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I Had a Dream

Hello!

So, I’m a little over eight weeks post knee replacement surgery #2.  I’m back to work full time.  I had my last official physical therapy last Thursday.  I’m still working on getting the knee to straighten well, but bending is good.  First knee replacement was the opposite.  I could straighten well, but not bend much.  That worked out and I have confidence that this will too.

I still have a lot of recovering to do, but it takes time.  Everything post surgery went much better the second time around.  Which is an answer to prayer!  I still get stiff and sore and tired at work by the afternoon.  But that will work out too.  I need to move around more instead of just sitting at my desk.  I need to also do the necessary homework as given by my physical therapist.  That will help a lot.

THE DREAM

A few weeks ago I dreamed that hubby and I were visiting a local market.  This market offers heirloom seeds, veggies, regionally produced homemade products, and it has a great cafe.  We go there often and our garden was grown with mostly heirloom seeds and plants from the market.  In my dream we were browsing around the shop.  Just like normal people.  I had a little red shopping basket on my arm and was strolling leisurely around, looking at all the different displays.  Big deal, right?  However, my brain snuck into my dream and told me…”You can’t do that.  You can’t walk around the shop like that, your knees hurt too much.”  The dream me heard that loud and clear and began to remember she couldn’t do what she was doing. And then I woke up.  Dream over. Sigh… A very vivid and upsetting dream.  It’s been years since I could completely walk around even a small shop like this one.

Today, my husband and I went to the market cafe for lunch.  Delicious as always.  But my real motivation for being there was to shop.  I deliberately and leisurely walked through the various displays.  Looked even at ones I’d seen before.  We stopped at the fresh homemade dry pasta and bought some.  As I’d done in my dream.  I even bought a market t-shirt just because.  I began to have a very surreal experience as I slowly moved in and out of the lovely display areas.  When I came to the front window of the shop I stopped and took it all in.  In my dream (of course it was a dream and everything looked different!) I’d paused at this window and looked at a wine display.  In reality, there is a wine display just to the right of the window.  I paused at the window…looked out…took note of the reality that I was doing what I hadn’t done in years…gave a sigh and a little “thanks God”. (Neener neener voice in my head!!)  When we got to the check out I noticed the stack of little red shopping baskets.  Darn, I should have grabbed one! Just to enhance the dream-come-true affect. haha  Also of note is the fact that I did this without a cane.

Ladies and gentlemen… I have achieved a major victory!  Not only a physical victory, but an emotional and psychological one as well. On our way home, hubby asked if I wanted to walk around Walmart with him.  Well, no.  Not yet ready for that, but it’s a little further down the list.

OVERCOMER

This is a song that’s meant a lot to during my surgery and recovery.  Granted, I’ve not faced anything like those in the video. But I’ve fought a battle nonetheless.  Enjoy:

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Autumn is Here

HELLO!! Are you still out there? I’ve been busy, how about you? I have been back to work 1/2 days. But next week I’ll work more.

Last Thursday’s PT session was not good. Just really hurt and I was very emotional. I only have two more sessions left and a ways to go in my progress. I am, however, making progress in other areas. I use my cane only when I really need to. Last night I walked up the stairs at home with one foot in front of the other. TODAY I went into our local grocery store for the first time in years. Sad but true. Granted, I only went to the flower department…but still! It was a big deal to me.

We are over run with tomatoes! They are delicious and we’re enjoying sharing with our kids. But very soon I need to decide if I’m going to can some of these suckers. I’m considering making a big batch of sauce and canning that. Any advice?

Sorry I haven’t bee writing much. I do think about it often. Does that count? Haha

Tomorrow is the first day of autumn and I LOVE this weather. It was a perfect day in the Midwest for outdoor activities. And there were plenty in our area. Can’t wait for the full fall color and a road trip to see it all.

What’s going on in your lives? Visit me on Facebook and let’s get caught up.

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What’s New?

Hello Everyone!

I haven’t written for a while.  But if you “like” my page on Facebook you’ll know I haven’t fallen off the face of the Earth.  I’ve just been either busy or too tired to commit to writing.

Today is the five-week mark following my total knee replacement surgery.  I’m doing pretty well!  I’ve returned to a few normal activities, but have a long way yet to go.

Last Saturday I worked for a few hours.  And plan to stop in the office briefly again tomorrow.  It’s nice to go on Saturdays though because I can get the most work done and am tempted less to chat with friends.

Then on Sunday I actually went to church!  It hadn’t been since before my surgery.  It was so nice to see everyone and just BE at church.  Then we went out to lunch.  Another big deal! On Monday we spent a nice chunk of a beautiful Labor Day afternoon on the deck of our favorite restaurant in town.  It’s right on the Mississippi River.  Perfect weather for a leisurely day.

Physical Therapy is going well.  It’s not fun, but there’s a little more progress every week.  I even ride the stationary bike for a while.  Nice and slow, but it’s a great exercise for the knee.

Today I have all to myself.  Hubby is working.  Daughter who visits a lot is working.  No PT.  I have been able to do some work from home and write to you while sitting on my back porch.  There’s been a sweet little hummingbird buzzing and chirping around.  It ate from both our feeders, sitting briefly at one.  And it ate from both the hanging flower plants bought especially for it.  I think I held my breath the whole time it visited! haha

As the end of summer approaches, I look forward to getting back into an even BETTER than normal life.  “Normal” to me wasn’t all that great.  But now, with both knees replaced, things should get better.  I’m looking forward to our favorite fall activities that include a trip north to view fall foliage.

GARDEN UPDATE

How did your gardens do this summer?  Did you plant in ground, raised beds, or in containers?  Share pictures with us on my Facebook page.  Ours has done very well.  We’re buried in cucumbers right now.  And the tomatoes are amazing!  Hubby replanted some green bean and snap pea seeds several weeks ago in hopes that we would get another harvest before it gets cold.  They are doing very well!  The green beans are stretching skyward with all their might and should be just as good as the early plants.  I am so glad I planted a few sunflower seeds too.  They’ve been beautiful!  And the bees have been constant as they fly in and out of the flowers all covered in the yellow pollen.  We’ve done our part for the local ecosystem.  🙂

Well, have a great end of the week everyone.  I hope you can all get out this weekend and enjoy one of the last weekends of summer.  Be sure and visit me on Facebook for other news and brief updates.  And let me know WHAT’S NEW with you!

(Did I mention that I’m on Facebook? haha)

Our view on Labor Day afternoon. So nice to visit this local favorite again. Perfect weather.

Our Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle tomatoes!

Garden Candy.

I know, you’ve seen them before. But ain’t they beautiful?! 🙂

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