Regifting a memory....

Each day after this past Christmas, I am finding myself laughing out loud...... a lot.......it was a good Christmas to say the least.

It's been a tradition for many years now to pass out the presents to everyone, then each one of us take turns and opens a gift, we oooh and awwww over it, then the next person selects a gift and opens theirs and so on down the line......we still tear into the paper, wad it up and throw it....that will never change.

I grew up with my Mother telling me to carefully remove the tape from the end of the package and to NOT tear the paper.  She would reuse the paper the following year.  As an adult I can see her point of saving the paper.  Money was tight and reusing anything and everything was the way of our household.  As a child I wanted so badly to rip and tear in to whatever gem was hidden.  I wanted to see what was inside now, not 10 minutes later..........

Saving wrapping paper in this household was never done.......ripping away was the only way to get inside the package.  I did used a lot of scotch tape and ribbon to tie up the packages, that scissors were necessary to open such treasures that they held............it may have been cruel for the kids, but it sure was fun to see them tackle them.......it also drew out the opening of gifts.  Instead of 10 seconds and we're done opening, we could enjoy the gift opening for 30 minutes...tops!!!

Which leads me to what I was really trying to say............Christmas was fun this year.  I missed our youngest boy not being here and sharing in the festivities, so having 2 out of the 3 kids around was fine..........

As we passed out the gifts, I noticed that several of mine were wrapped "differently" and in odd shapes.  I shook the gifts like a little kid to see if they rattled and sure enough, they did.  Upon opening the first gift of unusual proportion, it happened to be one of the plastic bowls I had sent home with this child that had left over food in it.  Inside was my treasure............licorice!!!  I opened another present when it was my turn and sure enough, there was another bowl with another fine gift nestled inside..........the point being..........I am still laughing at the ingenious way he decided to wrap his gifts and "using" something that was mine already.  It really is a kindness to return something that has had food in it to that person with food right back to them.  This he did......it was hilarious that he would give me back my own things........this is regifting taken to the next level........... our middle child nailed it with packaging this year.  He gets the trophy..........

My only regret is I didn't take any pictures to document it.......my bad....oh, well...........I learned a lesson...........


CotySimon@Twitter.com
Instagram/Howunique310.com

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy

Waking up on Christmas morning when the boys were growing up, it was such a pleasure to see their faces light up when Santa actually nailed the "right" gift.  As they got older, attitudes changed, but it was still fun to see the looks on their faces when they got something that they weren't expecting, or it was a practical joke that made them laugh.

This year Santa nailed it.  I was on pins and needles for the last 3 months hoping that our oldest son would not buy the hottest gift on the Stars Wars market this year.....BB-8.........since September I'd listen to him talk about it and how he "just about" bought it.  Even the weekend before Christmas he came "this close" to buying it........I'm glad he didn't.........

It's been eon's since I've seen the look of surprise on this kids face and the smile that came with it.  Middle son got one, too, so when they both opened the same gift at the same time, I was doubly blessed with grins from ear to ear.........yes, happy, happy, joy, joy.......is all I could feel..........

This leaves son #3 who on Christmas morning was opening presents with his little family in Arizona........

I made up a cookbook for each of the boys this year.  In the recipe book are recipes from me and their two grandmothers......I heard from my baby boy when he opened it, it brought a tear to his eyes.  Sure wish I could have seen that, but I did get to see the surprised look and the "it's about time" look on the two boys I witnessed open the cookbook.............

As we all get older and wiser, shopping for that right gift becomes harder and harder.  Sometimes its not the most expensive gifts that make the heart smile, but the ones that come from the heart that is smiling, is what Christmas is all about.  BB-8 the Stars War toy was indeed a hit, but I think it was the cookbook that brought the most smiles....................

Our three sons who still bring joy to our hearts and a smile to our face......

2015 is almost gone......2016 is on the doorstep.  Resolutions? Nope.....I only break them within hours of the new year.......what I do "resolve" to do, is to always be a better person than I was the day before.  I don't look ahead to the tomorrows.  I have too much to do on my "todays"......I can't be bothered by the yesterdays either.......I live for the "right nows"........nothing more, nothing less, nothing ventured, nothing gained......

Happy New Year.................see you around in 2016.....

CotySimon@twitter.com
Howunique310/Instagram.com

A fine wine..............

What a year.........it's almost the end of December 2015.  In a few weeks time, 2016 will be here and it will be a clean slate to to fill up with memories.....

I've recovered from a stupid injury that pales in comparison to what my best friend has endured this year.  This definitely has not been a stellar, barn burning, fabulous year for her.  It's been quite the opposite.  Now that it's almost over with....2016 WILL BE a better year for her.........just need to get through radiation.......and be given the "all clear" from her doc.  She has battled breast cancer this year.  

We are a group of 4 ladies who all went to school together (there are 6 of us all together, but 2 are friends we picked up along the way).  We go back as far as grade school.  That's a lot of years to be friends with someone.  We spend most Friday evenings together, take trips together, suffer the bad (divorces...I'm the only one still married!), and celebrate the victories.......we all suffered and dealt with a bad blow to one of us, that of breast cancer.

We are not spring chicks anymore.  We are like a really fine wine.....full of flavor and full bodied.....we are survivors and our friend has showed us just how to do that.........she's not out of the woods yet, but close enough to the exit that we can feel the fresh ocean breeze touching our cheeks and whispering in our ears............ 2016 will be a celebration of life.....living life each and everyday.  Waking up and smelling the coffee.....going outside and smelling the roses blooming.........listening to the sounds of nature waking up on a spring morning......lifting our faces in the sunshine and feel the rays of warmth kissing our face...........yes, 2016 is another year.......another year to help push 2015 aside and live life.........

We're friends for life.................

Happy holidays to everyone.......no that's not right..... Merry Christmas to one and all........

CotySimon@twitter.com

Instagram.com/Howunique310  

I am...........

I am not a religious person.....meaning that I do not attend church on Sundays.......what I am is someone who does believe in a "higher up" and that we are in His eyes, His children......

I have been baptized in a church....a church that I no longer feel comfortable attending.  It's never been a house to worship in.  It's been a house to listen to their interpretation of being the one and only "true" church/religion........horse pucky!!!! If this religion was the one true church, then why do we have so many other religions?  Pretty sure they all speak from the same bible we do.  Pretty sure there isn't anything in there that says their church is the one and only that you should listen to, attend at, participate in................

In recent days, if you are a gay couple, married or not, and have children.....your children cannot be blessed, baptized, or confirmed until they are 18 years old.  In other words, they are not wanted in the church. The parents are not wanted in the church.........the children are being punished for their parents decision......to live in a same sex marriage or relationship......something this church frowns upon.......apparently their teachings of everyone being one of His children are false......

I could careless what these same sex marriages or relationships do.....in my eyes, they are two human beings, loving each other, and loving their children in the same fashion as straight couples....raising them to be good people, loving people..............this religion is, do it my way or it's the highway.......not a true religion to me.  If we are all His children, then they are, too..............

A firestorm has hit and I hope it continues to sweep up the mountain until someone finally figures it out...........It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out, that you need to keep your foot out of your mouth......the harder they try to explain their reasoning behind it, the more the firestorm rears it's ugly flames, and the harder it becomes to pull their foot out.........this pretty much is the icing on the cake for me.  I have lost what little respect that I had for being a Mormon......yes, I am a Mormon, a person of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.........

I don't need to "belong" to a religious denomination.......its what I have in my heart and my soul that matters.......I cannot quote passages out of the bible, but I don't need to........as long as I have faith in my heart that there is good in mankind, that love is all around me, I can tackle the rough days, the mean people..................

There are good "Mormon" people out there, there are good Catholics, Baptists, etc.........everyone has good in them.........we are entitled to our opinions and expressions..........if I have offended anyone because of my religious beliefs........sorry you feel that way, but I'm not sorry I feel this way..............

Being a mother of 3 boys, and in a marriage with someone who is not of the same faith, we left it up to our children to decide which religion if any they wanted to be associated with.........two of our three boys belong to the Mormon faith.......they chose that decision.  We did not.  Deep down inside me, the writing was there....you become a Mormon or you don't play with me........What we did was support their decision.  They were baptized not at the age of 8, but several years later......they made their own decision.........we also supported a child who chose to be his own.....not be associated with any religion.  Is that what good parents do?  Support their children in their lives, in their endeavors?  I think so....we didn't tie them up and demand they become part of something we were not sure of.......they each have their own thought process, their own feelings, and their own opinions.........

My feeling and strong opinion is the children are going to suffer.  They will be outcasts in the neighborhoods because they are not "Mormon"........they will be bullied, not allowed to play with other children because of their "living" arrangement.  They will be left out............the writing is so blatantly on the wall it's hard for me to imagine their lives growing up.........

Wake up people.......the "church" is not going to make it all better.......they can't........but they can "welcome" people of all walks of life into the folds of the church and except them for who they are.......living, breathing, human beings..............put aside the judgements......its not for them to judge anyway........that comes at a later date, and from someone with greater influence high above............

The above is strictly my view on what I have heard and read over the past week.  Instead of letting it brew and build up inside, I chose to write it all out, purge myself..................

It doesn't make me any less of a human being.........I'm still the same person I was a second ago....I am me..............


Twitter @CotySimon
Howunique310 - Instagram.com

Falling Leaf

Like falling leaves on trees, I am letting go of summer.  It was a great summer for sure.  I am learning to let go of summer dangling the last bits of warm sunshine on my face, the smell of rain as it cleans the air, and watch as Mother Nature clears a path for what is ahead.......winter....... 

I had my last hurrah at the lake......never camped this late in the season.  Warm days, cold nights.....we were mostly alone at the lake.  A few trailers, but for the most part, we were alone.......a place that is usually bustling with boat motors, kids playing on the beach, the smells of BBQ in the air, and occasionally a horseshoe as it hits the mark in the pit........it was quiet.....eerily quiet and dark......pitch black dark.....

I have a sadness that has come over me knowing that I will be hibernating soon along with the bears.  I'm not a winter person anymore.......I don't like being cold.  I'll watch from the warmth of the house, the snow falling, covering the bare branches on trees and bushes.........I feel as the leaves drop from the branches and pile high on our side walk and at our back door, it's letting me know of what's to come.  Snow.....it will fall and pile high on the street and sidewalks, too, and it will pile high at the back door............I'll let Mother Nature paint a picture of white.............

Twitter@CotySimon
Instagram - Howunique310

Almost gone.........

Another summer has come and is almost gone, making way for fall.  I wonder on a daily basis where it went.  I blinked my eyes once too many times and summer vanished right before my closed eyes.....dammit.........

The light is getting dimmer each day.  It's not as bright and vibrant it was a month ago.  It's the beginning of dull, drab, and cold.  First we get a glorious bounty of vivid colors of reds, orange, yellows and tropical green color........I love fall.  I hope we have an Indian Summer to help ease our way into the folds of winter.  Warm sunny days, cool crisp air that brings out the bulky sweaters and hats...........

I will miss my days at the lake and I will long for the dread of winter to be over with so I can venture back to it.  I will miss the days of running around with no shoes, just sandals, or naked barefeet.....I will miss shorts, sleeveless shirts, the smell of sun screen.  I will miss the blooming flowers that are nourishing the bees that continually fly about the fragrant blossoms. I will miss my dog outside, on the back lawn, laying in the sun panting, tongue hanging out, cooling herself off.  She's not the brightest pup in the neighborhood.  I do have to tell her that shade is her best friend......It seems by the time summer is over with and the bulk of the hell fire of 100+ degree days, she's figured out that shade is okay after all.......and the cool grass on her belly is quite nice..........

I won't have to miss BBQ in the backyard.  I BBQ all winter long.  There's something about the taste of  grilled food that pleases my palate.  I'd rather stand outside when it's freezing and huddling around the BBQ cooking a good, juicy steak, Brats, or spicey dogs........or chicken, or chops, or, or or.......anything I cook in the oven, I cook outside.........I think BBQ'ing is therapy for me to get through the long, cold winters that seem to drag on forever.  Why can't summer drag on forever????

Blinking Eyes...........

When you blink your eyes, life in a split second passes by.  It's August 2015......where did June and July disappear to?..............

Flaming Gorge, Wyoming

My life as I see it has moved along without stopping to smell any roses or flowers along the way.  I've blinked way too many times and the days and weeks have flown by.......

Manila, Utah

I have a fondness for wide open spaces.  It's in these places that you can hear your thoughts rumbling in your head.  You can hear the birds singing, bees humming, frogs croaking..........you can hear the grasses swaying in the breeze.  You can hear everything but chattering voices, machinery, cars........there is no noise pollution to mar your hearing of absolutely nothing but nature itself...........

It's in these spaces that I wonder who passed here before me?  Pioneers crossing the plains heading west?  How many heads of cattle, sheep, buffalo roamed these pastures?  How many Indians rode in these valleys?..................I daydream a lot...........

I'm reminding myself that stopping more frequently, and not from time to time, to smell the roses along the way, is what I need and should do.......there is no better time like the present.  I am living in the moment.................

As the sun sets over the mountain, the rays reach out to signal all is well.............goodnight, sleep well, dream big..................


Twitter@CotySimon
Instagram/Howunique310

Inner Eyes

Spring time gives relief from an itchiness that I suffer from during the cold months.......it's called Winter....  I don't like being cooped up.  When the human is cooped up, I'm cooped up right along with her. It was a long and hard winter.  I didn't like being held prisoner while my human recouped from injuries that kept her down for most of the winter.  I'm anxious to head up to the lake..........it's spring and even though the temps are not optimal, the lake beckons me to come and see for myself that all is well....................

No one is here right now.  We are the soul inhabitants of our favorite place to camp.  No one is down at the beach.  No kids are playing in the sand building sand castles.  No one is tying down their canopies so they don't blow away.  No one is sitting in beach chairs.  No boats out on the water.  No water skiers for that matter, too.....No one is here.  Absolutely no one except for three of us, and our 4-legged barkers..................

Quiet and peaceful...........perfect place to bury your winter cobwebs, dust off the gray matter and start the sparks of building new memories...........yep.......there is nothing like sucking in and filling your lungs with clean, crisp mountain air.  Or opening ones eyes to gaze out over a gorgeous lake and seeing vast amounts of blue water, mountains that still have just a touch of snow on the peaks, clouds white and fluffy that remind me of cotton candy.

I enjoy being the inner child of a human.  I do keep this woman young or younger feeling now.  The term over the hill is not part of her vocabulary.  It is rougher and tougher to get around these days, but she doesn't care.  She can still walk, although a little slower.  She can still move her hands to type and snap pictures that I see through my eyes, the eyes of an inner child..................for now, that is enough.

Get out and move around.  Look up and see.  See what you've missed or are missing.  There is no place like home, but there's no time like right now to start your adventure........................find the inner child inside you that is begging to come out and play.  I dare you......I double dog dare you...........


Twitter@CotySimon
Instagram/Howunique310

I wish......

Oh, I wish I was back in the good old days of reaching for the telephone to call for a repairman and actually talk to one "live"...........

I spent the better part of a nice, sunny afternoon trying to establish a connection with a technical advisor to come back and finish up an installation, and a customer service rep to cancel a service that was no longer needed............

I found myself pressing so many numbers followed by the # sign that I'm sure that my brain was mixing up the (#) pound sign for a (#) hashtag sign or a (#) number sign.........hashtag, number, or pound.....#WTF.....press "1" followed by # for English and then pray.............

I was frustrated for having to waste my time via a "live" chat on line with a customer service rep on my computer as I wasn't getting anywhere via the telephone.   My mind decided that I was trying to tweet and put in hashtags on my phone #pressoneforenglish, #presstwototalkwithacustomerservicerep.  I was having to press a zillion numbers followed by # to get to speak to a human on the phone, and then be transferred to another customer service rep only to get disconnected.................ARGH!!!  And then..............having to start the whole friggin process all over again.  There was no easy fix to either of my problems. But.............I prevailed and after 2 hours (I'm not lying) I got results and within 24 hours, the installation was finished, and the service no longer needed...........

I can rant and rave all I want but it won't get me anywhere any faster or solve a problem in a timely fashion either.   A light bulb went off recently when I put one of those nifty vinyl quotes up on a wall in my living room:

The BEST things in life  

are the PEOPLE you love,

the PLACES you've been, and the

MEMORIES you've made along the way.

I've taken life way too seriously lately and it's time to loosen up, live it up, and get a move on.............

Utah has some pretty spectacular sunsets.  I'm partial to them as I live in Utah.  I can walk out on to the front porch and snap a living color piece of sky artwork.  I love sunsets and I love sunrises and I adore clouds.   I live from sun to sun as it is anyway.  I'm finding lately that I shouldn't, and I am trying real hard, to not take life so seriously, I have a human who does that for me.  I have to keep reminding myself that I am the inner child that is full of pee, vinegar, and more trouble than I know what to do with.   I've lived a good life, a long life and with good health, some luck, and a prayer or two thrown in from my human, I will live a good while longer.  

Life does and will continue to throw a sour grape or lemon out there.  Learn to dodge them as best as you can.   If you get a little sour mash on you, its a lesson learned.................brush it off and move on.....or do as I would do.....put it in a good glass of fine spirits and drink hardy!!!......................

CotySimon@twitter.com

Instagram/Howunique310

Eyeing the wild side......

Winter here in Utah hasn't taken the walk on the wild side like it has done for the people in the midwest  to the east coast.  It's been rather meek and mild......I know Mother Nature is going to sock it to us sooner rather than later and we will be paying for it........The only walk on the wild side I have done lately is take Charlie the dog on a stroll in the neighborhood......that's about as wild as I can get right now.........

I'm aching to get out and venture to places once again.  Soon I keep telling myself, soon.  Since taking off and going somewhere is not on my agenda, I've had to find my own visual entertainment.................

Walking along the streets of the neighborhood with Charlie the dog, I am seeing things pop up before my eyes that I know have been there, but I haven't really seen.....I haven't paid much attention to it.  Charlie the dog has to stop every 10 feet to smell, walk around, smell some more which leaves me ample time to look up and around................

There isn't much life in the plant world at the moment.  The trees and bushes are still sleeping through winter.  The twisted vines of a grapes threading itself in and out of a fence tells me it's grabbing a hold and not letting go.

The valleys of an old telephone pole that has been worn and carved out by snow, rain, and wind, I still can see the beauty it has to offer.  Colors of worn wood that gives a fly time to warm it's wings before he flies away........

I would love to see at least one, good showing of the white fluff falling from the sky.........as long as I don't have to be in it and it's not in the middle of May....................


Twitter@CotySimon
Instragram.com/Howunique310

Baby Jack...

I'm sitting here at my computer typing & looking out the window in my office.  It's January and the temperature today will be in the high 40's.  There is no snow on the lawn, the quail dance their way up the grass by 4's, then another group, to feast on the bird seed that drops down from a feeder by the patio.

I see my garden, all bare and naked waiting for something to be planted into the earth. I'm thinking what am I going to plant this year.  Without any snow out there, it's easy to visualize the bounty of vegetables coming out of the garden.

Pumpkins are always a given for my little garden.  Pumpkin plants were late arriving at the nursery last year.  When they did arrive, each plant container had 2 to 3 plants growing from it.  When they were all planted, tucked in for the summer in the garden bed, I had 12 pumpkin plants.  Too many?  At the time of planting I didn't think so.

I watered, fertilized them, nurtured and carried on lovely conversations with them.   "Oh, you're growing so fast" or "don't crowd, there's room for everyone to have space of their own".........

I swear overnight the magic happened......I had a baby pumpkin growing that I know was not on the vine the day before.   I welcomed to our garden of delight.......Baby Jack.............Baby Jack O'Lantern...

Baby Jack grew and soon he had a sibling growing right beside him.  The garden welcomed Baby Bro......not too long after that, Baby Sis came along.  The pumpkin patch came alive with pumpkin after pumpkin growing and fighting for their little space of dirt.  All in all, a nice family of 26 O'Lanterns came from those plants.   I gave most away, but kept  Baby Jack and his sibs, several Aunts and Uncles, too.

Now I sit here and let my brain ponder on what to plant in the garden.  More tomato plants this year?  I'm just about out of salsa. That's a big Y.E.S........ Less pumpkin plants....maybe 3 instead of 12.  A cucumber plant again.  For some reason this plant does not want to grow nice in my garden.  Might try my hand at onions.  Never done them before.   Jalapenos, green peppers, red and yellow ones, too.  It's time to do some research........Let's go Google.......show me what to plant for my area..............

Twitter@CotySimon
Instagram/Howunique310