Smell of Rain and Someone's Parallel

We get a lot of e-mail. I have a good friend who can be counted on to send me tons of "Little Johnny" e-mails. I love it, it's funny, and worth having when you could really use it. After all, life sucks at the most inconvenient moment.

This story is very touching. Especially accompanied by pictures. I can't hack into my husband's computer right now, so pictures will have to be inserted later. Read the whole story here. [go ahead, I'll wait]

Then read this parallel letter below.*

Hi C,

Those are very powerful pictures, we really do benefit from them.

I just wanted to mention how important it is that those of us have suffered do gain from other people understanding.

I, for instance, once was late from school, and Mom didn't have dinner on the table (she had left it on the stove 'to keep it warm' - she claimed).

There's a certain camaraderie which those of us who have gone through these types of things gain that other people, like yourself, just can not possibly understand.

For instance, on the matter of pain, I too, once had this band aide that was stuck
to some of my arm hairs, so that when I pulled it off, I had to soak it in water for a few minutes to loosen the glue. When I put my arm under the water, Mom did not warn me that the temperature of the water was still cold (it was Winter). Blasting the hot water open did nothing to take away the moment in time when my arm was cold, 'You can't unring the bell' as they say.

Those of us who are 'Survivors' of trauma like that gain a certain brother and sister-hood.

For instance, yesterday, when I was eating the spaghetti-O's out of the can, I wondered why I was reduced to this state. My wife was changing two of the
children's diapers, and I still don't understand why she didn't do that before I got home. Then, to make matters much worse, perhaps because of the obvious neglect around here, I didn't have an appetite for the food she had set on the table. Next time she should leave me a note or something to let me know that there is food on the table so I won't have to open a can and nearly cut one of my fingers off operating the machine. I honestly wonder what's the matter with her lately.

At any rate, I do feel that it does help to remind those of you who are more fortunate to keep those of us in mind who have had to face 'the horrors' that this world has to offer.

Death

Death for instance, it can strike anyone. While I was driving, I
noticed that they have this cemetery off the side of the road. They really
should move those graves or something, it was a real downer for me to see that
on my way home. I was listening to a really good song on 106.7 and seeing that
group around that freshly dug grave really wasn't very considerate of those of
us who put in hard work and then just want to go home to a warm dinner, be
informed where that dinner is placed, and have ice cold (not 'in was in the
refrigerator' nonsense, it doesn't taste good unless it's ICE cold, that means
32 degrees, not 42!!!!)

So I'm also 'in the same boat'. I think things
like this, if it doesn't do you in, it makes you stronger. We, the 'Survivors',
are stronger for what we have been through.

I just hope others can learn
from us.

- D

*Sometimes, we lost track of the fact how good we have it. It doesn't hurt to take a moment and tally all the good things we have. Don't you think?

Useful remedies*

Not quite sure it's true, but if it is, knock yourself with it!**


1. Budweiser beer conditions the hair

2. Pam cooking spray will dry finger nail polish

3. Cool whip will condition your hair in 15 minutes

4. Mayonnaise will KILL LICE, it will also condition your hair Any oily substance will work, it suffracates them.

5. Elmer's Glue - paint on your face, allow it to dry, peel off and see the dead skin and blackheads [Finally! A beauty product in my price range and one I can share with my kids!]

6. Shiny Hair - use brewed Lipton Tea

7. Sunburn - empty a large jar of Nestea into your bath water. Punch a hole in the end of a vitamine "E" capsule and apply to the burn, 24 hours...no more pain and a beautiful tan.

8. Minor burn - Colgate or Crest toothpaste, vitamine "E" capsule and apply to the burn, 24 hours...no more pain.

9. Burn your tongue? Put sugar On it!

10. Arthritis? WD-40 Spray and rub in, kill insect stings too. Picture above can testify that it worked with removing permanent marker on my keyboard too.

11. Bee stings - meat tenderizer Apply a paste of baking soda and water.

12. Chigger bite - Preparation H Apply fingernail polish, it suffacates them and they die, 24 hours.

13. Puffy eyes - Preparation H

14. Paper cut - crazy glue or chap stick (glue isused instead of sutures at most hospitals) Sutures for paper a cut? Again apply vit. E it's a miracle.

15. Stinky feet - Jell-O! [Eat it?]

16. Athletes feet - cornstarch

17. Fungus on toenails or fingernails - Vicks vapor rub

18. Kool Aid To clean dishwasher pipes. Just put in the detergent section and run a cycle, it will also clean a toilet. (Wow, and we drink this stuff) It's the acid that disolves the grease and soap buildup, white vinegar will work better.

19. Kool Aid can be used as a dye in paint also Kool Aid in Dannon Plain yogurt as a finger paint, your kids will love it and it won't hurt them if they eat it!

20. Peanut butter - will get scratches out of CD's! Wipe off with a coffee filter paper

21. Sticking bicycle chain - Pam no-stick cooking spray [Why not WD-40?]

22. Pam Will also remove paint, and grease from your hands! Keep a can in your garage for your hubby Laundry soap rubbed on the grease then rinse off works perfect. To remove water based paint use rubbing alcohol.

23. Peanut butter will remove ink from the face of dolls

24. When the doll clothes are hard to put on,sprinkle with corn starch and watch them slide on

25. Heavy dandruff - pour on the vinegar!

26. Body paint - Crisco Mixed with food coloring.Heat the Crisco in the microwave, pour in to an empty film container and mix with the food color of your choice!

27. Tie Dye T-shirt - mix a solution of Kool Aid in a container, tie a rubber band around a section of the T-shirt and soak

28. Preserving a newspaper clipping - large bottle of club soda and cup of milk of magnesia, Soak for 20 min. and let dry, will last for many years! The acid in all paper is neutralized by the magnesium.

29. A Slinky Will hold toast and CD's!

30. To keep goggles and glasses from fogging, coat with Colgate toothpaste

31. Wine stains, pour on the Morton salt And watch it absorb into the salt.

32. To remove wax - Take a paper towel and iron it over the wax stain, it will absorb into the towel. [Even dried up wax, really?]

33. Remove labels off glassware etc. rub with Peanut butter!

34. Baked on food - fill container with water, get a Bounce paper softener and the static from the Bounce Towel will cause the baked on food to adhere to it. Soak overnight. Also; you can use 2 Efferdent tablets, Soak overnight! Also do this if you have brown spots in the bottom your toilet bowl.

35. Crayon on the wall - Colgate toothpaste and brush it! [I am going to try this out. In fact, I am buying a tub of colgate tomorrow and a box of brushes. After I train my arms at the gym for a week, I'll handle my walls. I kid you not. To scrub my walls, my arms needed to weight-train.]

36. Dirty grout - Listerine

37. Stains on clothes - Colgate

38. Grass stains - Karo Syrup, this also works with a mildly constipated child. make sure to use the dark syrup.

39. Grease Stains - Coca Cola, It will also remove grease stains from the driveway overnight. We know it will take corrosion from car batteries!

40. Fleas in your carpet? 20 Mule Team Borax-Sprinkle and let stand for 24 hours. Maybe this will work if you get them back again.

41. To keep FRESH FLOWERS longer Add a little Clorox, or 2 Bayer aspirin, Or just use 7-up instead of water.

42. When you go to buy bread in the grocery store, have you ever wondered which is the freshest, so you "squeeze" for freshness or softness? Did you know that bread is delivered fresh to the stores five days a week? Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Each day has a different color twist tie. They are:
Monday = Blue,
Tuesday = Green,
Thursday = Red,
Friday = White
Saturday = Yellow.
So if today was Thursday, you would want red twist tie; not white which is Fridays (almost a week old)! The colors go alphabetically by color Blue- Green - Red - White - Yellow, Monday through Saturday. Very easy to remember. I thought this was interesting. I looked in the grocery store and the bread wrappers DO have different twist ties, and even the ones with the plastic clips have different colors. You learn something new everyday! Enjoy fresh bread when you buy bread with the right color on the day you are shopping. [I am not sure this color code is true...can anyone tell me?]



*from an e-mail
**I might actually mean "knock yourself out" but I got confuse which way to go on that one. Ha ha ha. That's my brother she's talking about. Lil Bro...so I can make fun of him! Ha ha ha.

Hodge-podge

Accomplishment and success are often the result of commitment
and perseverance rather than skill or talent
--George Van Valkenburg

Talent can be developed, gift is God-given. But artists have both. -Carroll O'Connor

When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than any talent for abstract, positive thinking. -Albert Einstein

People ask for criticism, but they only want praise.

Being beaten is often a temporary condition, giving up is what makes it permanent.

The philosophy of the rich versus the poor is this:
The rich invest their money and spend what is left;
the poor spend their money and invest what's left.

I am not sure I agree with this one:
“Talent is commonly developed at the expense of character.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

The crocheted blanket is mine. Each square takes about 40 minutes, and there's 70 squares. My Lil Sis is the proud owner. Last I heard, she locked it up, afraid to wear it coz it's beautiful and takes a lot of time to make. I have been telling her to enjoy it now and come what may. I don't know if she believed me.

I think I could, I tink I could

Knitting. I'm pretty new to this activity. There might be only two stitches on this craft - knit and purl, but there are certainly many ways to do it to produce all kinds of pretty pattern.

I joined a Dishcloth swap group in which I have to make three dishcloth and send it to someone. I am also getting the same from another someone. So I decided to make this chevron pattern below.

I love the pattern, I did it in blue cotton, but stopped halfway through because it was zig-zagging instead of being square. I tried again in this red yarn above, and guess what, it's doing the same thing. You can see it on the left side of the pattern, it's starting to do it. Ack! Abandone the darn thing already!

So, I made a dishcloth doily instead. The instruction said four needles. Huh? I can barely muddle through two needles, now this thing needs four? I went to a craft store and bought a pair anyway and started casting 8 stitches even onto three needles. Sounds simple? Let's say that it was after I had started and restarted seventeen times! I had to cut the yarn it was worn away from too much handling.

The hardest part of knitting with four needles is the beginning. It's almost like going to the gym to work-out after you've been avoiding it for five years. It's like running uphill when all you've ever done was do a brisk walk, it's like riding your bike up Mount Everest....ok, ok, I am sure you got the picture.

I was never more relieved when I was binding off stitches towards the end. Big, giant sigh of relief. The last row of instructions have something like this,

inc. 1 st in the next st knitway

Since I cannot fathom exactly what that means, I just keep adding one stitch and be done with it. Is that "knit together?" I have no clue. What does it mean anyway? I was used to being told to "yarn over" not to "yarn forward". Do they even mean the same thing?

Anyway, this is my finished dishcloth doily.

I wanted to do this flying geese pattern. However, I just cannot concentrate enough these last few days to counting properly. Counting in knitting is almost as important as breathing. If you can't count worth a shit, then you might as well resign yourself to "tink" instead of knit. Tink is also called frogging. Cute terms, but frustrating as heck. It does keep my mind occupied enough to stop hyperventillating. For some reason, I felt like I've just been bitten by a snake I fed on my table. But I digress. We're talking about knitting here. So here's another pattern I made.

These Art of Mine

My children love to draw. They draw just about anywhere. When I say anywhere, I really meant anywhere.

When we first moved in to this house, a green butterfly appeared on the dining room wall. I asked who wrote on my wall, no one would admit it. I had an idea whose artwork that was. So I said, "who put a picture of a bug on my wall?"

My daughter was rather indignant when she corrected me that it was a butterfly. Ah, caught! That's over four years ago.

The crayon drawings above is done by my first son. He also can play the piano very well. When I want to relax, I ask him to play a piece. Lately, he serenades me with "Love me Tender by Elvis Presley." It never fails to make me feel good. My second son does chords on the piano. He's almost five, and he has the most graceful finger on keyboards. Maybe someday, he'll play the piano as well as his big brother. My third son loves music too. According to my children's piano teacher, both younger sons of mine has ears for music. My fourth son is just a baby, but even he kicks in the rhythm of what's being played on keyboard.

My children is the most important part of my life. They are my life.

If anyone threaten your life, would you dismiss it as nothing? What if they only held the gun to your head because they want to help? What if they push you off a tall building because they care about your life? What if someone tossed a knife at you for fun, because they want to make you smile? What if someone only threaten to take your extra leg because they love you? Would you just let them and laughed about it later because, after all, they really care about you? I wonder what would you do if any such things were done to you in the name of "caring" and "loving"? Remember, it's your life they're talking about. It's your life they've decide to play god about.

Blogs I read too*

1. Airah


2. AsianPixie


3. Bisaya of The day-a dialect from the Philippines


4. Bugs Butt


5. Cathy's knitting


6. Dish cloth swap


7. Finding Baby G


8. He Wrote, She Wrote


9. Jenny Crusie


10. Katt's Knitting


11. Mystery Girl


12. Simple American travelling blog


13. Squawk Radio


14. Witty Vixens


15. Writing Tools


16. Yakdust
    

*I was quite upset about something, and forgot to save my links of blogs I read. So, if you could post again, I'd really like to find the links of my favorite blogs.

Update

We have difficulties with our family.

This is supposed to be what I should write.

So there.

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