Seriously?

I promise to go thru my holiday photos soon and post about that (I do have the cutest grandchildren on the planet!) but I couldn't resist this one.

Woman sues gym over pole-dancing injury

I find it amazing the amount of embarrassment and humiliation a person will subject themself to in order to either a) get $$$; or b) achieve their "15 minutes of fame." This lady, who apparently can rule out "exotic dancer" as a career opportunity, is suing because she quite literally fell off the pole. This is a lot like the 60+ granny who sued McD's because the cup of hot coffee she put between her legs so she could grab her McMuffin spilled and burned...well, I don't even want to think where that burn was.

At some point aren't at least some of these individuals willing to keep their ineptness and stupidity to themselves? Must they brag about it in the news, on reality tv and in our courts? I so want to be a judge!

~later, tw

Now THAT'S holiday spirit - Part II

I'm sure you've probably seen the ad for Liberty Mutual: one person witnesses a gesture of kindness and then does something kind for the next person they meet, which is witnessed by someone else, who in turn does a favor for another stranger, and so on until the circle of "favors" returns to the person who started it. It's an amazing commercial - probably my favorite (that doesn't involve Clydesdales anyway).

At a restaurant in Philadelphia this past Saturday, a couple finished their meal and paid - not only their tab but also that of the table next to them. They asked the waitress not to tell the people until after the couple had departed the restaurant...simply say "Merry Christmas!" This simple gesture started an amazing chain reaction ("Mystery Pair at Diner Spark Cascade of Giving," http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34420892/ns/us_news-giving/)

The giving lasted for five hours - one party paying the bill (plus tip) for the next party and though the amount of the bill varied, not one person quibbled about the amount.

A sense of expectation typically accompanies the spirit of Christmas. We expect that we will get gifts. If we've provided others with a "wish list," we expect that we will receive something from that list. And that's not horrible, or greedy, or evil, or even missing the true point of Christmas even.

But it's the unexpected that brightens a day, that makes you smile, that creates in you an atmosphere of true generosity and kindness. And it's as simple a concept as "pay it forward" and it doesn't have to happen just this time of year either...

...but isn't it wonderful when it does?

~later, tw

Now THAT'S holiday spirit - Part I

My husband calls my Christmas Wish List "pathetic." On my list I put the little things I would like...most of them utilitarian trinkets having to do with my time spent in the kitchen, which I really enjoy (this year I'm hoping Santa leaves me a 4-cup pyrex measuring cup under the tree - because I'm already wondering how I've lasted this long without one!)

But everything on my wish list is truly insignifiant compared to those hoping for a gift of time - more time to spend with family and friends, more time to celebrate holidays and milestones, more time to just be.

Thirteen such people got their Christmas wish a little early this year in what I consider to be a true miracle of science and generosity - they each received a kidney in what is (currently) the longest "chain" of kidney transplants: "Massive transplant effort pairs 13 kidneys to 13 patients" (http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/12/14/kidney.transplant/index.html?eref=rss_us&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_us+%28RSS%3A+U.S.%29)

In this paired transplant, someone wants to donate a kidney to a recipient (a husband perhaps to his wife) but find they aren't compatible. No problem! A 2nd party recipient is found and someone donates a kidney on his or her behalf to a 3rd party and so on and so on and so on until (in this case) 13 recipients were matched with 13 donors. The end result is that 13 people were given a second chance at life and the 13 donors each wound up saving not one, but two lives: they gave to save their loved one, enabling them to become a member of the circle, and they gave new life to the recipient.

A pretty wonderful Christmas present if you ask me!

~later, tw

Simone Weiler (1926-2009)

Yesterday we lost Gerry's mom, Simone Weiler. The doctor had rediscovered cancer (after five years of being cancer-free) only two months ago. Gerry and I were able to take Jenny and little Jax to visit her in October and she was doing quite well then but recently her health began to fail her and she passed away quite suddenly (and rather unexpectedly...surprising even her doctor) on Tuesday afternoon.

My thoughts and prayers are with each of her kids and their families...and especially with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Jenny and Sarah were especially close to their grandma and always managed to visit her in Montana. Here are the girls "4 Generation" photos taken just this year.

~later, tw

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just a quick note (between bites :0) to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving. What a great day dedicated solely to remembering what we have to be thankful for! Life seems to be a continual ride on the waves full of highs and lows. Here's hoping that in your life the highs are more frequent and far more memorable than the lows.

Don't eat too much (gotta save some for leftovers!)

~later, tw

The official start...

... or kick-off to the holiday season began this weekend. Gerry and I raced over to Spokane to celebrate my brother-in-law's (or is it brother's-in-law...I've nailed the plural but now the possessive is apparently going to give me grief!) birthday. Like so many of our friends and siblings, Lyle has reached the milestone of having survived 50 years on this planet and he did so with the grace and (especially) humor that we've come to expect from him.

The party may have been small but what it lacked in numbers it more than made up for with love and laughter and general best wishes for him on the occasion. Margo (his wife and my sister) had put together a casual event and though their was another family situation that arose during the week, she somehow managed to maintain the "surprise" factor! We arrived in the afternoon, our impending arrival unbeknownst to Lyle, in time for a wonderful luncheon and party.

While I provided Lyle with my traditional gift of pumpkin-chocolate chip muffins (twice the number now!), Gerry filled Lyle's reading shelf with two series of books. His daughter gifted him with a new coffee-maker and a super-size mug she made herself while his brother and sister-in-law gave a basket of assorted coffees (I think there was some collusion on that gift!) My nephew and his buddy (who has really been unofficially adopted by Lyle and Margo and is now a true member of the family) gave Lyle a certificate good for one full day (as to be determined by Lye) of "slave" holiday labor. The boys offered to provide decorating services for the holiday and nobody knows how to decorate like Lyle does! Although this really is an amazing gift, I think Lyle should have held out for put up AND take down service!

But the most fabulous gift was from my sister Margo. She made for him an amazing photo quilt sure to physically provide warmth but also remembrances of past times sure to warm his heart. It was an incredible stroll down memory lane.

It makes me sad when I think of my friends and family who would rather forget that they're having a birthday at all...as I often say, "consider the alternative" to having a birthday. I'm a pretty sentimental gal - I love looking at the photos, remembering and reviewing the past good times, but would I want to be 30 again? While I might want to have the energy I seemed to possess then, at 30 I was chasing a toddler, pre-schooler and starting Sarah off to school. I was volunteering at PTA carnivals and Brownies and while it was "fun while it lasted" I don't want to go back. I'm quite content being 51 years old (at least I'm pretty sure that's how old I am - I'm not that great at calculating it since I was born in a year ending in 8 and those of you who know me know what a challenge it is for me to work with the number "8"!)

We've celebrated many 50th birthdays in the past couple of years and there are certainly more to come. I hope everyone enjoys reaching this milestone as Gerry did, as I did, as Lyle did.

~later, tw

Interesting "Lesson Plan"

Before my focus completely shifts to "holiday mode," I couldn't resist the chance to comment on this story out of North Carolina:

"N.C. school selling test scores to raise funds" (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33854822/ns/us_news-weird_news/)

It seems that the chocolate sale was a dismal flop, so the Rosewood Middle School of Goldsboro, North Carolina decided to try something really different.

Now having dreaded, participated and basically survived 15 years of elementary and secondary school fundraising, I'm all for innovative ideas that "tap" into the checkbooks and wallets of our parents and communities. I hated the labor-intensive carnivals, the not-so-environmentally-friendly (yet ever so successful) gift wrap sales, tracked literally hundreds of thousands of cookies for the Girl Scouts and popcorn for the Boy Scouts, and attempted to sell rather expensive tickets to a "no dinner" dinner. But this one beats all!

For a mere $20, your child can purchase twenty test points towards his or her grade (in 10 point increments they can use these points to elevate two of their test scores). Wow! There's a lesson that I'm not convinced we need to teach our kids: money really DOES buy everything!

I've heard in the past months about programs where schools might actually PAY children to attend classes, as if getting an education was their JOB. The problem with this scenario is that it tends to reinforce a child's concept of "what's in it for me?" Hard work, an education, and the opportunies that comes with that knowledge is of no value to this generation.

If these kids attempt this exact same approach to their college education, they will be dismissed. I would imagine that would be grounds for some soft of lawsuit against the administrators of Rosewood Middle School. I hope the kids can find someone who actually earned their law degree (rather than buying it).

~later, tw