I'm with the activists, the peacemakers, the healers and the hopeful

Like millions, I've struggled with the results of last week's election.  And I've lost "friends" on Facebook over it.  It's not that Trump won, that's not the point.  The point is and what disgusts me (and that's the word that got 'em!) is that when they cast their vote for that guy, they were telling him that they're okay with everything that he is.  The ugly, racist, bigoted, sexual predator, homophobe that he is.  And that I cannot condone.  He is everything that I loathe in a human being.  And I'm not alone.

You can share a life experience with someone, work side by side with someone, even be related to someone and still not be "friends".  I found that out the hard way.  So instead of unfriending some 300 people, I decided to unfriend myself.  I'm taking a little break from Facebook.  I'll enjoy the holidays, read some books, fill my home with more vintage goodness, love on my husband and family.

I read this article that I thought was perfect and I'm going to share it here.

To my ex-friends on Facebook:

I can’t do it anymore.

As much as I love you, as many good and bad times as we’ve been through together, even though I know there’s decency in you somewhere, I just can’t do it anymore. 

I can’t read your Facebook posts, the ones where you laugh about voting for a man who bragged about sexually assaulting women or your gleeful posts about welfare recipients losing their benefits and reconcile that with my own definition of a good person. I can’t accept your casual cruelty. I can’t live with your veiled, dog-whistle racism.

This isn’t because I “didn’t get my way.” It isn’t because I feel “entitled.” That you would invalidate my feelings that way hurts most of all.

See, I have other Facebook friends besides you. Some of them are gay, or Muslim, or Latina, or undocumented. They fear for their lives today. They fear for their children’s safety. They are hurt and they’re grieving.

I have many, many friends who have survived domestic violence and sexual assault, so very many of them, more than you can imagine. Those friends woke up on Wednesday morning to the realization that a man who said his accusers were too ugly to assault was endorsed by nearly half the country as a leader. They woke up to newspapers splashed with pictures of a man who said that he could “grab women by the p*ssy” without their consent because he’s a big, big star. They saw the interviews with his supporters, telling them to “grow a set” and “get over it.” They woke up in a world that dismissed their pain because the world doesn’t get it.

Neither do you.

My friends of color saw a man elected as their president who was willing to hire as his campaign CEO one of the most vile racists that exists. They watched him begin his campaign by calling them, their friends, and their family members who face racial violence every day “rapists” and “drug dealers.” They’ve watched as Donald Trump actively sought out the hatred and paranoia of the most deplorable people in the world. They watched a man become president who called the first black president “evil” and illegitimate. They heard him, who has more than likely never visited one of the actual neighborhoods he says he’s going to fix, tell them they were “living in hell,” accuse them of having been so stupid as to have been duped into voting Democrat for several decades now, and demonize the only movement working toward ending the murders of their sons, mothers, brothers, fathers, and friends at the hands of police.

You helped elect that man.

Call me what you like. Send me ranting Facebook messages telling me that I’m closed-minded, that I’m unwilling to accept you for who you are, and that I’m a hypocrite for asking that all people be accepted for who they are. That’s fine. You may not understand that accepting a person for who they love is not the same as accepting a person for everyone they hate, but that’s okay.

Please don’t tell me you don’t hate them, either. You can’t continue to ignore the human rights abuses that have been perpetrated against them because of the policies you support and tell me you don’t hate.

Thanks to the magic of the “unfriend” button on Facebook, I don’t have to listen to you anymore. I can stop seeing the comment where you laughed when I was upset about Donald Trump tweeting false and racist memes to inflame the racism and violence his supporters inflicted on protesters. I can remove from my everyday experience your refusal to acknowledge your own privilege while you judge and stereotype others. I can refuse to condone by my silence the bigotry that you condoned when you cast your vote.

I can choose to surround myself with kind people, people who don’t selfishly lash out because of their own struggles but use those struggles to extend empathy to others. Right now, I need to be with the activists, the peacemakers, the healers, and the hopeful.

Let me know when you’re ready to join us.

Blessings -- one shoebox at a time

Larry and I had so much fun putting together our Operation Christmas Child shoebox this weekend.  We look forward to doing this every year.  We'll turn it in this week and then wait and see where it ends up!

We selected things for a little boy, aged 5-9, and this is what we got him!  Toothpaste, Snoopy toothbrushes, a wash cloth, two bars of soap, a comb, a flashlight with batteries, marbles, toy cars, pens, a notebook, candy, a game, a pair of gloves, a little LED light-up bracelet, a stuffed Ty doggie, ChapStick, a little tube of sunscreen, a flip story/coloring book about Jesus' birth and death, crayons and a pack of God Loves You stickers.

 

 

 

I love this time of year!  It's a lot of fun to shop and put these boxes together but what comes out of them is what really counts.  We will pray for the little boy who receives this box and hope that his life is changed forever by accepting Jesus as his savior and sharing the Good News with everyone around him!

Road Trip(s)!

Larry and I have been on the road the past two days!  Yesterday, he spoke, along with a group of Braille folks, to the guys in the Braille program down at Alamo.  Banjo and I went with him, dropped him off and then went to the park and enjoyed a beautiful, sunny, cool morning.  After they were done, we all had lunch at the best little hole-in-the-wall country restaurant, Sharkey's.  We had the lunch buffet, spaghetti with butter beans, fried squash, biscuits, banana pudding and we got some ham for Banjo.  

We left Alamo in search of some thrift or vintage stores.  We had asked and got directions to a good one called the "red barn" in Vidalia so we headed there.  On the way, we ran smack dab into Mount Vernon and Brewton-Parker College.  Larry graduated and got his degree from BP in 1985 so we had to stop!  We walked around their beautiful campus and Larry got himself a shirt and a pennant to hang on the wall in his office.

Here's a picture I took of him under the Brewton-Parker arch.

Back on the road toward Vidalia and once we got there, we never saw a "red barn" vintage store so we stopped and asked.  I have to hand it to Larry.  He is NOT like other men who will just drive and drive aimlessly.  He'll stop and talk to somebody!  Come to find out, it's the Little Red WAGON and it's in Lyons.  So off we went, down the road some more headed to Lyons.  It was so worth the drive!

We saw an estate sale sign on the side of the road so we turned off and went to find it!  We got a cherry quilt rack and a few other things.  I found a couple of very old books, Gregg Shorthand and a book of American poetry.

We found lots of good stuff at the Little Red Wagon!  A lot of vendors sell there and there's tons of vintage and antique but there's lots of good old Southern things, too, and boutique clothes.  I got the cutest tank tunic that I hope to wear with leggings Thanksgiving, IF it's warm enough.  You can't ever tell with fall in Georgia.  It was 32 this morning and freezing, 78 this afternoon.

Here's our pretty quilt rack.  I put my granny square afghan on it and an afghan that belonged to my own granny, Maw. 

 I found this potholder at the estate sale yesterday.  It's right at home here.  :D

We found these adorable little Christmas signs at the Little Red Wagon.  They'll go in our beachy bathroom next month.

I cracked all the way up when I saw this Seven Willows soap!  That's so Southern.  I got a bar of sea salt soap to go in our bathroom, too.  Savannah's Salt soap.  Yummmm.  I used to make my own soap.  It's so much more cost-effective to buy somebody else's now.  And saves time, too!

Who remembers learning shorthand?  I never did but I remember my sweet Aunt Carol using it and writing up a storm when she worked as a legal secretary.

 

Larry found this 1960's Bobo The Clown inflatable punching bag for $3!  Ricky and I had one very similar when we were kids, probably the 70's version.  I love it! 

We wore Banjo OUT yesterday!  But he had his blankey and pillow in the back seat so he didn't mind much.  He was with us, he ran at the park and he got ham!  He was a happy boy.

Today, we hit an estate sale first thing and then drove down to Montezuma and went to one there, too, in a beautiful old 116-year-old house.  We went by the flea market in Oglethorpe and then went and visited with Mama and Daddy for a little while. 

I found this amazing 1967 Syroco atomic starburst clock at the flea market for FIVE DOLLARS!  I've wanted one forever to go over the TV.  I just love it.  One just like it is listed on eBay RIGHT NOW for $150!!  I knew it was special the second I saw it.  It was just stuck on a shelf waaaaaay in the back, covered in dust.  But I knew.  I knew. 

I found this little sweetie at the first estate sale this morning.  A 1960's Enesco praying child head vase.  He's right in front on the shelf with my lady heads, with lots of mamas to look after him.

The second estate sale, down in Montezuma, was fabulous!!  That kitchen...swooooon.  It was HUGE, with an island in the middle AND a little sitting area off to the side.  The whole thing was decorated in roosters and chickens.  Baskets and pots hung all over and five (yes, FIVE!) pie safes held beautiful baking dishes and chicken figurines.  I coulda stayed in there all day.  Until I saw the dressing room!  They had turned a small bedroom (the whole house had been renovated and was just gorgeous!) into an area for the lady of the house to dress and do her makeup.  There were full-length mirrors and bureaus and chifferobes and the best lighting I've ever seen.  I walked in and my mouth fell open.  Then I went and found Larry to show him!  I found bags of Clinique stuff in a bureau drawer.  I got all this for $8!  Squeeeeeee!!!

We found quite a few treasures there and got a little Christmas shopping done, too!

I got these cute little bottles for the kitchen windowsill (that I'm constantly changing!).

And this pretty vase that I found on a window shelf in that beautiful rooster-y kitchen.

We stopped by a cotton field on the way home and took a few pictures.  

Georgia snow.  :)

I'm pouting because the wind was blowing my hair.  I hate the wind blowing my hair.  :)

We've had a great couple of days on the road!  We stayin' our hinies HOME the rest of the weekend! 

Our October

It's hard to believe this month is gone already!  We've been staying busy getting ready for our neighborhood yard sale next weekend, Larry repainted our deck a couple of weeks ago while I pulled up the last of my sunflowers and weeded flower beds, we went to the fair and I changed jobs, again.  Hopefully, things will settle down for me at work now and I can stay put!

A week or so ago, during a very windy day, we lost our glass top patio table.  I got home from work first and found it like this:

Glass was everywhere!  I'm still getting pieces stuck in my feet.  Our patio set was one of the very first things we'd found when we started estate saleing a couple of years ago.  Oh well.  Larry had an idea to replace the top with wood and that's what he did today!  We wanted it to look rustic and I really love how it turned out.  

I threw a couple of burlap Mexican coffee sacks over it and added a pumpkin.  :)

Twenty-five or so years ago, Larry's brother, Steve, visited Israel and brought us back this mezuzah and Larry hung it on our door today to honor the Jewish side of his family. 

 

And now we are ready for all the little zombies and princesses who will be here tomorrow night!

They're here...finally

I'll be your friend, I'll be your lover
Until the end, there'll be no other
'Cause my heart has only room for one
Yes, I'll always love you, and I'll always be here for you
And I'll stand by you through our rockin' years

(Floyd Parton)

Fall is in the air...somewhere

It's been in the 90's this weekend but I still put some fall stuff out anyway.  Maybe we can hurry it along??  It is the 25th of September, after all.  By the way, on this day, 28 years ago, I met my Larry.  So there's that, too.  Never could we have dreamed all those years ago what our life would be like now and what we would have to overcome and endure to get here.  God has blessed us beyond our wildest, craziest dreams and sometimes I still pinch myself and my eyes get all teary when I think of how blessed we really are.

So.  This is what I did around the homestead, trying to get this fall ball a'rollin'.

Yesterday, we went to an estate sale in Macon and got some cute stuff!  

This is so adorable to me!  It's a little Mexican guy, complete with sombrero and poncho!

But underneath all that colorful crochet is a bottle of hot sauce!  I thought it was the cutest thing.  Larry found it.  He always finds the coolest stuff.
 

I just fell in love with this pretty Maltese cross necklace.  I don't even wear necklaces much but I couldn't leave this one behind.

This little beaded candle holder was my favorite find of the day!  It looks right at home next to my vintage big-eyed girl litho print. 

Super weird 1972 Miller Studio Sun Boy chalkware.  He's right at home in our kitchen.  :)

I told Larry I was gonna add a red apostrophe to "chicks" 'cause I'm OCD about such things.  
 

 
My butterfly flowers are finally blooming and I've seen a few butterflies flitting around out there.  Hopefully we still have time for a butterfly oasis before it gets too cold.

Road trip to Orlando!

What a wonderful week we had!!  I was one of two VPP Steering Committee members chosen to attend the VPP Safety and Health Conference down in Orlando and Larry took the week off and we made a vacation out of it!  My fellow Steering Committee member and friend, Kathy, went down with us on Sunday and while Kathy and I were at the conference every day, Larry went sightseeing and enjoyed the hotel pool.  It was cloudy most of the week, with rain toward the end, thanks to Hurricane Hermine, but we still had a wonderful, unforgettable time and I am grateful to have been allowed this experience.  We learned so much!  Elizabeth Smart was our closing keynote speaker on Thursday and I sat there on the edge of my seat through her entire speech.  What an inspiration that girl is!  She has not allowed what happened to her control her life.  She's happy, she's married, she's a mother.  And she's an activist for child safety.  She has gotten the best revenge she could have on her captors.  She didn't let them destroy her.  I am so proud of her!!

The conference was held at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Conference Center and I joked on Facebook that I have GOT to get out more because that place was like nothing I have ever seen before.  It's a TWO MILLION square foot, $400 million resort and convention center with four and a half acres of air-conditioned, glass-covered atriums that have the most beautiful gardens, plants and fish ponds.  I was walking around that place with my mouth hanging open.  No lie.  And let me tell y'all.  They "put on the dog" for us and took such good care of us that I was starting to smell a little spoiled by Wednesday.  

We registered on Monday and were given nice, insulated bags filled with goodies; Little Debbie cakes, bottles of sea salt rubs, miscellaneous VPP items.  We made our own convention badges.  This was mine:

   
And here's me and Kathy on Day One!

We spent the week attending workshops and talking with vendors and collecting freebies to take back to our folks at work.  And eating.  Lord, did we eat!  They served us lunch every day.  Steak, chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, veggies, penne pasta, raspberry mousse tortes, key lime pies, salads and yesterday, on our last day, they sent us home with box lunches.  Italian with provolone on hoagies, turkey wraps and roast beef on focaccia bread.  Sandwiches, pasta salad, an apple, a brownie and a bag of chips.  We ate good.  TOO good.  Ha!

Larry found out about a park in Kissimmee called Lakefront Park that was a nest for Pokemon!  We went one night and just racked up!  There were probably a hundred people out there, walking around hitting Pokestops and catching Pokemon.  Larry caught six new ones!  I caught one that I didn't already have but since there was a Pokestop right there at our hotel, I ended up catching 183 Magikarps while we were there.  I'm that much closer to evolving my Gyarados!

Larry and I squeezed in a quick trip to Magic Kingdom.  We only had time to see one park this time and we both wanted to see Mickey and Minnie and all the gang so we went to Magic Kingdom.  It rained off and on but we still had a wonderful time!!  Larry had gotten us matching "He's mine" and "She's mine" t-shirts and of course we had to take selfies at Cinderella's castle.
  

I went to Disney World as a child with Mama and Daddy and Ricky and then Larry's mama and I went in 1997.  That's it.  I've only been twice.  And it's been nearly 20 years since the last time.  Everything came right back though!  There were a few things I wanted to do again and with Larry.  It's A Small World was one of them but it was closed for maintenance.  We did ride The Haunted Mansion ride, though, and that was as fun as I remembered.  We rode the Mad Tea Party tea cups, sat in on a Monsters, Inc. comedy show and the Hall of Presidents show, saw the Country Bears Jamboree and explored Tom Sawyer's Island.  I don't do roller coasters or anything HIGH (fast is okay!) so Larry rode Space Mountain and Splash Mountain by himself.  We saw the parade, the fireworks, Mickey, Minnie, Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and Piglet, Cinderella, Prince Charming, the Fairy Godmother (who told us she LOVED our shirts!), Goofy, Donald, Daisy, Aladdin, Woody and Jessie from Toy Story and Pluto.  

No trip to Disney World is complete without that iconic Nestle Mickey Mouse Ice Cream Bar and by the time I was ready to get one, all of the carts had closed up!  I couldn't leave without one!!  So we walked and asked and walked and asked (I'm guessing seven miles from the Pokemon eggs that hatched) and it started raining pretty heavily.  I was soaked to the bone!  Finally, FINALLY, Larry sees a sign that has the ice cream on it!!  We walk up and start telling the girls in the shop our story and I said, "LOOK at me!"  :)  I handed one of them a $10 bill and she took pity on me and just GAVE me an ice cream.  There's that Disney hospitality!!  

The most pure form of happiness.

We had the best week ever!  We got out of there before the hurricane hit and brought so many wonderful memories home with us.  

There really is magic in Orlando.