Bartering

Maybe I am hormonal but I hadn't seen this one and it was so sweet. Even if it is a total work of fiction, it is nice to think in this day and age of so much ugliness, there is the possibility that people like this exist.


Bartering
I was at the corner grocery store buying some early potatoes. I noticed a small boy, delicate of bone and feature, ragged but clean, hungrily apprising a basket of freshly picked green peas. I paid for my potatoes, but was also drawn to the display of fresh green peas.I am a pushover for creamed peas and new potatoes. Pondering the peas, I couldn't help overhearing the conversation between Mr. Miller (the store owner) and the ragged boy next to me.
"Hello Barry, how are you today?"
"H'lo, Mr. Miller. Fine, thank ya. Jus' admirin' them peas. They sure look good."
"They are good, Barry. How's your Ma?"
"Fine. Gittin' stronger alla' time."
"Good. Anything I can help you with?"
"No, Sir. Jus' admirin' them peas."
"Would you like take some home?" asked Mr. Miller.
"No, Sir. Got nuthin' to pay for 'em with."
"Well, what have you to trade me for some of those peas?"
"All I got's my prize marble here."
"Is that right? Let me see it" said Miller.
"Here 'tis. She's a dandy."
"I can see that. Hmmmmm, only thing is this one is blue and I sort of go for red. Do you have a red one like this at home?" the store owner asked.
"Not zackley but almost."
"Tell you what. Take this sack of peas home with you and next trip this way let me look at that red marble", Mr. Miller told the boy.
"Sure will. Thanks Mr. Miller.."
Mrs. Miller, who had been standing nearby, came over to help me. With a smile said, "There are two other boys like him in our community, all three are in very poor circumstances.Jim just loves to bargain with them for peas, apples, tomatoes, or whatever. When they come back with their red marbles, and they always do, he decides he doesn't like red after all and he sends them home with a bag of produce for a green marble or an orange one, when they come on their next trip to the store." I left the store smiling to myself, impressed with this man. A short time later I moved to Colorado , but I never forgot the story of this man, the boys, and their bartering for marbles. Several years went by, each more rapid than the previous one. Just recently I had occasion to visit some old friends in that Idaho community and while I was there learned that Mr. Miller had died. They were having his visitation that evening and knowing my friends wanted to go, I agreed to accompany them. Upon arrival at the mortuary we fell into line to meet the relatives of the deceased and to offer whatever words of comfort we could . Ahead of us in line were three young men. One was in an army uniform and the other two wore nice haircuts, dark suits and white shirts...all very professional looking. They approached Mrs. Miller, standing composed and smiling by her husband's casket. Each of the young men hugged her, kissed her on the cheek, spoke briefly with her and moved on to the casket. Her misty light blue eyes followed them as, one by one, each young man stopped briefly and placed his own warm hand over the cold pale hand in the casket. Each left the mortuary awkwardly, wiping his eyes. Our turn came to meet Mrs. Miller. I told her who I was and reminded her of the story from those many years ago and what she had told me about her husband's bartering for marbles. With her eyes glistening, she took my hand and led me to the casket. "Those three young men who just left were the boys I told you about. They just told me how they appreciated the things Jim "traded" them.Now, at last, when Jim could not change his mind about color or size....they came to pay their debt.."
"We've never had a great deal of the wealth of this world," she confided, "but right now, Jim would consider himself the richest man in Idaho " With loving gentleness she lifted the lifeless fingers of her deceased husband. Resting underneath were three exquisitely shined red marbles.

The Moral : We will not be remembered by our words, but by our kind deeds. Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath.

sooooo

wow another week is gone. What a busy one it was. Our friend Zach came for the Thanksgiving holiday and had a great time with Mikey. I got up with Michelle Thursday and went and stood in line at 6 am to try to get a Wii. Yeah good luck with that, they are like phantoms this year. You have to be in the right spot at the right time I guess. Friday I got up and picked up Dianne and Michelle to go shopping at 3 am. That right there should tell you what a nut case I am. We dropped Chelle off at Walmart to wait in line while Dianne and I went to Best Buy's line. It paid off though because we got what we wanted and were in and out of the store in under 10 minutes when it opened. It was a long day but I got Chick and Mr almost all done. I had a lot of fun. Saturday Mike was sicker then a dog most of the day so he had to miss out on hunting. I know her was bummed, he had been looking forward to it for months. Chelle and her family and Dianne and her family came over to have turkey and noodles and play cards. That was a lot of fun till Bubba started having an allergic reaction. To what we don't know. He complained of a tummy ache and turned flaming red from top to toes and itched all over. So to the ER we went. Sunday Zach left to go home and we left to go get a tree. It is a long standing argument; I love real real trees and Mike wants fake. We got a fake one this year and got it half decorated when Blondie started having an anxiety attack. I took her down to the ER and we got home about midnight. Monday I had the flu, I couldn't move with fearing a mess. All day I felt like I had to get better to die. I must interject here that my 13 year old, the one that is giving me gray hairs from her attitude, the one that we have to tell to tune down the Nazi in her, took wonderful care of me. She kept the other kids from bugging me and got me all the ice water I could ask for. Then in the afternoon Blondie started saying her chest hurt again. So as soon as Mikey got home he had to take her to the urgent care clinic. They found she has pneumonia in one lung and bronchitis. Then this morning Chick felt ill. Just not fun around here.

WTF??

Here is a link that should make your blood boil. http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/11/19/saudi.rape.victim/index.html

Let me sum it up for you, a Saudi woman was kidnapped and gang raped by seven men. She had the audacity to want these men punished and talked to the government controlled newspapers about her ordeal. The courts sentenced HER to 90 lashes. Her lawyer thought this was wrong and appealed it so they not only INCREASED her punishment to 200 lashes, they threw in some jail time for her and revoked her lawyers license. And people have to ask why Americans think middle eastern countries are barbaric? I totally get that they have a different culture but I can not begin to understand humans treating other humans like that. This is the same country that condoned stoning a woman to death if she so much as talked to a man she wasn't married to. This isn't totally new though, there have been horrific examples all through time : the crusades, the holocaust, mass graves, genocide etc. It just it soooo sad that in 2007 a woman is at fault for being raped.

on another note, still getting ready for the big turkey day. I am down to cleaning my room and getting Mikey to put away his clothes. Wish me luck with that!!

Time is awasting

Wow, the week really flew by. I have been busy dealing with the drama of having two teens in my home, cleaning, a four year old that acts like an elf on speed, and various other day to day annoyances. I was reminiscing yesterday (alternating with cursing Mikey for not being home) and it amazes me how utterly average I am, what a depressing thought. Then I started thinking about where I started in life and realized that while other kids were wishing to be astronauts/firefighters/president/ballerinas/teachers/doctors/lawyers, I was wishing to be left alone by the various grown men in my moms life. While other kids were going to amusement parks with their parents, I was moving for the millionth time. While some kids were complaining that their parents were all up in their business, I was running wild all over Colorado Springs. My aspirations were to grow up to have a stable, safe, honest, alcoholic free (mostly), drug free, non scary home. I am content in accomplishing that. I have long felt guilt to a degree for not finishing college. That wasn't what I wanted, that was what my sister wanted for me. I understand that, I want my kids to be better then me. Smarter, funnier, more compassionate, kinder, more generous, more ambitious, more polite, more assertive; better. I sometimes think I am screwing them up but you know what? It could be so much worse. At least I am not using my children as begging tools. I don't take my kids shopping so I can spend their gift cards on myself they just got for their birthday. I don't lie to them and deny having said it. I don't let them eat hot dogs or not at all six days a week because my alcohol and cigarettes are more important. I don't beat them (even when I understand the urge). I don't drop them off without them knowing that I am coming back for sure. To my way of thinking, average or 'normal' is a good starting place for my kids and it is an accomplishment for me.

Another weekend gone.

Friday night I went up to the nursing home my Grandmother is in with my mom to have Thanksgiving dinner with her. It was one of the most uncomfortable, depressing things I have ever done. She didn't have a clue who we were. The only time she showed any interest in anything was when the singer started singing carols. I didn't see even a glimpse of the ornery, vibrant woman I knew as my grandmother. This is my mom, my g'ma, and me.

Saturday Mike and I were sitting around the house and he said he wanted hot wings. I told him that a poker party would go really well with them. So we called the local party spot (aka Chelle's) and asked if she wanted to have a cheap poker party. She said sure but only if Mike made wings. I took my camera, I swear I did, but did I manage to get even one shot? Hell to the no. Then Sunday, while we were having a lazy day, Uncle Wein called and told us to come out, there was a deer we needed to see. Apparently the neighbors had been raising this lil guy since he needed a bottle and he comes and goes and is extremely tame. It was an experience the kids loved!!

These are the days......

Despite popular belief , I do not enjoy being the bitch. I am having one of those days, I try to be a good parent and that results in my being called a bitch. I know that I can't always be the cool one and most of the time I am ok with being the bad guy. This morning I asked one of my teens to wear her coat. Since it is 25 degrees outside, I didn't see this as an unreasonable request. You would have thought I asked her to wear a moo moo. Keep in mind, this is a coat that she picked out herself last week. It is so stupid and trivial and I really shouldn't let it get to me. BUT the way I see it, I am unreasonable and bitchy about enough stuff, I shouldn't get this treatment when it's not warranted. Oh wait, in a teens eye, it is always warranted. Why is it that teens think you are the enemy? I lived through my teen years, I should have remembered them better before I decided to have kids. I need to find a parenting class on teens. Or some good happy pills. ;)

I love the internet

This summer 411 saw these cool things, Aquadots. they are basically little plastic beads you put together and then spray with water to fuse. She wanted them then and every time she sees them she asks for them, they are the first thing on her Christmas list. As a matter of fact, they are in the "top 12 toys" for this Christmas season. Imagine my surprise when I saw this...

http://www.ketv.com/family/14536526/detail.html

I am so scratching that from her list. And thanks to Whimpy, I am learning to research a little before I buy. There was a really cool Mac toy that looked like it would be a neat gift for Mr. Till WHimp looked up reviews and called to tell me that it didn't live up to expectations. I looked it up too and couldn't find a rave anywhere. The Leap pad Clickstart, however is SO going on Mr.'s Santa list. Not sure if I mentioned this before but www.bfads.net lets you look at the black friday ads before they are publicly released. This has been a wonderful tool for me as I always miss the ads when they do come out. I have to have a game plan, shopping this time of year without one would make me insane.

Sunday morning giggle

This is the conversation this morning after I asked my 7 &9 year olds to pick up their blankets from sleeping in the living room.
411: Mom, Bubba slept with me last night
Bubba: You sicko! You don't even know what that means.
411: uh-huh, it means being primitive!
It made me laugh, maybe it is the lack of sleep. Mikey and I got to go out last night to a chili cook off and hay rack ride. Mom came down and watched the kids. On the hay rack ride, they started passing around a bottle of Carmel vodka, it was really nummy. Then I had a couple of beers. I don't know why, I usually can't stand beer, but damn it was fun. I called mom and asked her to stay the night because Mikey and I were probably not going to be driving home. It has been a long time since we have gotten to be kid free grown ups having a good time. Poor Mikey isn't enjoying it as well this morning, a little peaked he is he is.

Bragging moment

I know that Michelle thinks blogs are all about bragging, so Chelle, don't read this one! I am going to brag on Chick, lil miss A HONOR ROLL!!! I am rather proud of her and really wanted everyone to know!

Speaking of Chick, here she is with the rest of the teens. She came up with her costume all by herself and wasn't going to go along with being a prom queen like the rest.













And here is JJ, I only wish I had gotten one of him walking in his skeleton suit, it was soooooo cute!!














411's goth look really didn't come through but it was an interesting look for her.














Mr Ghost, he had a ball with it. I was impressed, that is all he ever wanted to be for Halloween.














Bubba as a cowboy. He told me 2 days before his boots didn't fit so he had to wear his tennis shoes. He didn't care as long as he had spurs!!











I had a good time with Whimpy, Ribbit, Boo, Mikey and Christopher. The teens had a lot of drama but I liked where we were. Mr has become so animated, he makes us laugh most everyday. When we aren't trying to not kill him that is. Last night he was singing his Christmas song. I WISH I coulda gotten a sound byte of it. It went something like, 'Santa, bring me a radio i won't ask for more....rock and roll. bring me a big car and I won't ask for more.....rock and roll. bring me a lot of cars and i won't ask for more.....rock and roll.' I swear he was channelling axl rose at one point, had the dancing and singing into the broom down.