Tuesday, December 20, 2011

He is going back to Afghanistan after Christmas

We have not seen our nephew for a while, but he will be home for Christmas, yet in January he will have to go for his second round of Afghanistan. I am proud of him, for doing what he does. And I know how hard it has been on my sister.

You might want to check out 'All I want for Christmas ... HMS Ocean' on Utube, a very awesome treat!

I watched the news this morning and found out how much out taxes will go up next year. Will it help our country, or just hurt us ... because we are just climbing out of that hole of unemployment.

And Sarah Palin is running for president?

Since I can’t fix the world, I guess I will just focus on our own little world. And this Christmas will be good. My sisters kids are all home and so is our son. For the first time in many years we will be able to get them all together. And I am looking forward to that!

We will not exchange gifts, but we will spent good family time together. Lots of good food and our Dutch game, called ‘SJOELEN’. We used to have a blast with that!

I am sure the cousins will pick on each other as always and there will be lots of laughs.

This is how Christmas should be ... MERRY!! And I wish YOU a very Merry Christmas!

Friday, December 9, 2011

When are we too old to fall in Love?




I see people of all ages on this site, looking for that special someone, not just for a roll in the hay.
It makes me happy to see that, it proves to me that the ability to fall in love might be ... forever?
After my divorce it did cross my mind, that I might spend the rest of my life ALONE. I wasn’t that old yet, but it seemed to me that my love-life was over! As it turned out, it had not even started yet. My real love came later, and it came unexpected, out of nowhere. I was not even looking for love, yet it found me!



When I ran across this picture I was moved by the passion, the look on their faces ... I have seen that look on younger faces, a look just like it!

You should NEVER give up hope to find true love, because just when you are not watching, there it is! We can embrace love at any age, count each day, even when they might be numbered, yet the intensity of the love that is felt, will even be deeper. Because it will be truly appreciated.

Please tell me ... you have heard of Demis Roussos, or Aphrodite’s Child?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV7X5tPt6wc









A few nights ago I woke up and clearly heard inside my (crazy) head ‘Goodbye my love, good bye’ .... it was haunting me, because just that day I had found out that a friend of mine had died.
She passed away after her second bout with cancer ... she was an awesome person that was my son’s teacher during his ‘gifted program’ from age 7 till 12. She taught me how to deal with my son. Not many people realize, but gifted children can have a very hard time socializing and are often lonely and difficult.

Somehow the song seemed to have something to do with her, yet I didn’t understand the connection. Wasn’t that a lovesong? When I listened to it and looked up the lyrics I realized this song could have a totally different meaning.

When I was a teenager I remember having a major crush on this handsome man. He was born in Egypt, till his family moved back to Greece. Demis was in a band ‘Aphrodite’s Child and his voice wasn’t discovered till the lead-singer took a break and asked him to sing a few songs.
Demi became an immediate hit in Europe after that. Young girls like myself carried a major crush on his dark, wild look.
His music carries the influence of the Middle East and Greece  combined and his voice is haunting.

So now I am in the USA and NOBODY KNOWS ABOUT HIM?

I went on the internet and found a lot of his music ... the old videos have poor quality, but several seem to have been redone and still make chills come down my spine . So much passion!!

The man is grey now, his voice slightly trembles, but he still sings.
Some of my favorites .....

‘Good-bye my love, good-bye’
‘Forever and ever’
‘My friend the wind’
‘Follow me’

And with Aphrodite’s Child ...’ Rain and tears’

~~~~~~~~~

And here are the lyrics to the song ‘Follow me’


Follow me to a land across the shining sea
Waiting beyond the world that we have known
Beyond a world we dreamed could be
And the joy we have tasted

Follow me along the road where only love can see
Rising above the fully of the night
Into the light beyond the tears
And all the years we have wasted

Follow me to a distant land as mountain high
Where all the music that we always kept inside will fill the sky
Singing in the silence where the heart's real
While the world goes on turning, turning
Turning, follow me

Follow me to a land across the shining sea
Rising above the fully of the night
Into the light beyond the tears
And all the years we have wasted

Follow me to a distant land as mountain high
Where all the music that we always kept inside will fill the sky
Singing in the silence where the heart's real
While the world goes on turning, turning
Turning, follow me

Take my hand
And we'll find the land
Beyond the shining sea
Follow me

Monday, December 5, 2011

Thank God, the BUSH is back!


So they took away my furry snacks and my giant litter box. 

They expect me to aim all my shit into this 1' X 11/2' stinky shit-hole. 

My sunbathing days are over!!!   And even if I am lucky enough to find some weak rays that come through these ‘special windows’, I have to knock off all this crap to find a place to curl up.

But hey ... I will quit bitching for now ... 

Thank God .... the yearly bush is back!

I would ring my Christmas bells for you ... but they cut them off (it had something to do with that stinky shit-hole I kept missing). But how am I supposed to know that those rainy stalls they shower in ....  and those flower-pots are not for ME to use?

I know, I know ... I said I would stop bitching ... for now 

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Red Shoes




Some days I share details from my work with you, today is one of those days.
Tomorrow we will go back to perving!


In case you are new to my blog, this is a follow-up on a previous blog.


One of the children in my preschool/daycare is four years old and functions at the level of a two-year-old. Except, the two-year-old's are starting to pass him by. His mother had ignored my ‘hints’ that we might have a problem. As a qualified Montessori teacher I do know that the little ones develop at their own speed, but in this case the child is having many problems.


1. Low self-esteem, I keep hearing ‘I can’t’
2. He doesn’t really play
3. He still doesn't recognize any symbols (alphabet and numbers), even though we work on them daily. My two-year-olds are remembering some of them.
4. Concepts of ‘same and different’ and ‘bigger and smaller’ ... he can’t see it, not even in concrete form.


A few weeks ago I had a serious talk with Mom and she agreed that something needs to be done.


She tearfully hugged me before she left and thanked me. The next day she asked me NOT to talk about this problem with her husband, since he always overreacts. So I have not mentioned it to him.


Today I brought up the subject once more with Mom. Nothing seemed to be happening and he is not doing well.


She was very defensive this time, brought up some ‘clever’ things that the boy had said and done. Funny thing was, these were things I had just read to him in a book. 


I noticed he has no imaginary world, so I am ‘playing with him’ doing make-believe. The mother didn’t believe that he had no imaginary world, because the other day he saw a red light in the sky and mentioned it was Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer. I explained to her that we just read that book and I TOLD THE KIDS to watch for that red light.


To make an already long story short, she explained to me that testing him would put a label on him. She also told me, she shared this with ONE person, a lady she works with and this person told her, her son was probably fine, not to worry about it. 


That was all she needed to back out? She is more worried about ‘labels’ than helping her child?
Also, they still don’t have time to READ to him yet he loves books. I have hundreds of books and I read a few every day.
I told her she could borrow my books any time.


I am frustrated with this..... 
The rest of my young crew is brilliant. We sing songs in English, German, French and Dutch. We do lots of special projects for the Holidays.


My three-year-olds are recognizing some words! My two-year-old's have rap-sessions while going potty. Potty-training two kids at the time is fun! I have no idea how the rapping got started, and they only do this while going on their little potties. 


So yes, my place is still a happy place, and the ‘troubled child’ is not troubled, yet I am! I wish I could help him better.


Okay, now you are still wondering ... but what about the ‘RED SHOES’ this blog is supposed to be about?


The little guy I am worried about has worn the same pair of shoes last winter ... all summer and is still wearing them every day.  Three of his cousins wore these shoes before him. The sole is worn off the heel and the toe and the shoes are getting tight.(they are not rich, but he does own a DSI)


When the kids talk about Santa and the gifts they are hoping to receive this boy tells them (and me)that he is getting ‘red shoes’! He started talking about this way before Christmas.


And I WANT HIM TO HAVE THOSE RED SHOES!


I give my little ones a small gift, they find it under my chimney. There is always a note from Santa, that tells them to OPEN the gifts at home. This prevents WANTING the gift someone else received!


But giving a child shoes? A bit different ... I admit!


Today I discussed this with his mother ... she said ... SURE! 
She was not aware of her son’s wish.


So Santa will give this little boy RED SHOES for Christmas!