I AM THANKFUL:
FOR THE WIFE
WHO SAYS IT'S HOT DOGS TONIGHT,
BECAUSE SHE IS HOME WITH ME,
AND NOT OUT WITH SOMEONE ELSE.
FOR THE HUSBAND
WHO IS ON THE SOFA
BEING A COUCH POTATO,
BECAUSE HE IS HOME WITH ME
AND NOT OUT AT THE BARS.
FOR THE TEENAGER
WHO IS COMPLAINING ABOUT DOING DISHES
BECAUSE IT MEANS SHE IS AT HOME, NOT ON THE STREETS.
FOR THE TAXES I PAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM EMPLOYED .
FOR THE MESS TO CLEAN AFTER A PARTY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN SURROUNDED BY FRIENDS.
FOR THE CLOTHES THAT FIT A LITTLE TOO SNUG
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE ENOUGH TO EAT.
FOR MY SHADOW THAT WATCHES ME WORK
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM OUT IN THE SUNSHINE
FOR A LAWN THAT NEEDS MOWING,
WINDOWS THAT NEED CLEANING,
AND GUTTERS THAT NEED FIXING
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE A HOME .
FOR ALL THE COMPLAINING
I HEAR ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT
BECAUSE IT MEANS WE HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH.
FOR THE PARKING SPOT
I FIND AT THE FAR END OF THE PARKING LOT
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM CAPABLE OF WALKING
AND I HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH TRANSPORTATION .
FOR MY HUGE HEATING BILL
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM WARM.
FOR THE LADY BEHIND ME IN CHURCH WHO SINGS OFF KEY BECAUSE IT MEANS
I CAN HEAR.
FOR THE PILE OF LAUNDRY AND IRONING
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE CLOTHES TO WEAR.
FOR WEARINESS AND ACHING MUSCLES AT THE END OF THE DAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN CAPABLE OF WORKING HARD.
FOR THE ALARM THAT GOES OFF
IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM ALIVE.
AND FINALLY, FOR TOO MANY E-MAILS
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE FRIENDS WHO ARE THINKING OF ME.
SEND THIS TO SOMEONE YOU CARE ABOUT. I JUST DID.
Live well, Laugh often, & Love with all of your heart!
Monday, March 21, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
True Story
This is a true story from a music teacher.
My name is Mildred Hondorf. I am a former elementary school music teacher from Des Moines, Iowa .
I've always supplemented my income by teaching piano lessons-something I've done for over 30 years. Over the years I found that children have many levels of musical ability. I've never had the pleasure of having a prodigy though I have taught some talented students.
However I've also had my share of what I call 'musically challenged' pupils.. One such student was Robby. Robby was 11 years old when his mother (a single Mom) dropped him off for his first piano lesson.
I prefer that students (especially boys!) begin at an earlier age, which I explained to Robby. But Robby said that it had always been his mother's dream to hear him play the piano. So I took him as a student.
Well, Robby began with his piano lessons and from the beginning I thought it was a hopeless endeavor. As much as Robby tried, he lacked the sense of tone and basic rhythm needed to excel. But he dutifully reviewed his scales and some elementary pieces that I require all my students to learn.
Over the months he tried and tried while I listened and cringed and tried to encourage him. At the end of each weekly lesson he'd always say 'My mom's going to hear me play someday.' But it seemed hopeless. He just did not have any inborn ability.
I only knew his mother from a distance as she dropped Robby off or waited in her aged car to pick him up. She always waved and smiled but never stopped in.
Then one day Robby stopped coming to our lessons. I thought about calling him but assumed because of his lack of ability, that he had decided to pursue something else. I also was glad that he stopped coming. He was a bad advertisement for my teaching!
Several weeks later I mailed to the student's homes a flier on the upcoming recital. To my surprise Robby (who received a flier) asked me if he could be in the recital. I told him that the recital was for current pupils and because he had dropped out he really did not qualify. He said that his mother had been sick and unable to take him to piano lessons but he was still practicing. 'Miss Hondorf, I've just got to play!' he insisted.
I don't know what led me to allow him to play in the recital. Maybe it was his persistence or maybe it was something inside of me saying that it would be all right. The night for the recital came. The high school gymnasium was packed with parents, friends and relatives. I put Robby up last in the program before I was to come up and thank all the students and play a finishing piece. I thought that any damage he would do would
come at the end of the program and I could always salvage his poor performance through my 'curtain closer'.
Well, the recital went off without a hitch. The students had been practicing and it showed. Then Robby came up on stage. His clothes were wrinkled and his hair looked like he'd run an eggbeater through it.
'Why didn't he dress up like the other students?' I thought. 'Why didn't his mother at least make him comb his hair for this special night?'
After six and a half minutes he ended in a grand crescendo and everyone was on their feet in wild applause!
Overcome and in tears I ran up on stage and put my arms around Robby in joy. 'I've never heard you play like that Robby! How'd you do it?'
Through the microphone Robby explained: 'well Miss Hondorf . . Remember I told you my Mom was sick? Well, actually she had cancer and passed away this morning. And well . . She was born deaf so tonight was the first time she ever heard me play. I wanted to make it special.'
There wasn't a dry eye in the house that evening. As the people from Social Services led Robby from the stage to be placed into foster care, noticed that even their eyes were red and puffy and I thought to myself how much richer my life had been for taking Robby as my pupil.
No, I've never had a prodigy but that night I became a prodigy, of Robby's. He was the teacher and I was the pupil for it is he that taught
me the meaning of perseverance and love and believing in yourself and maybe even taking a chance in someone and you don't know why.
Robby was killed in the senseless bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in April of 1995.
And now, a footnote to the story.
If you are thinking about forwarding this message, you are probably thinking about which people on your address list aren't the 'appropriate' ones to receive this type of message. The person who sent this to you believes that we can all make a difference. So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice: Do we act with compassion or do we pass up that opportunity and
leave the world a bit colder in the process?
You have two choices now:
1. Ignore this.
2. Forward it to the people you care about. You know the choice I made.
Thank you for reading this.
May God bless you today, tomorrow and always!
*********
If God didn't have a purpose for us, we wouldn't be here.
My name is Mildred Hondorf. I am a former elementary school music teacher from Des Moines, Iowa .
I've always supplemented my income by teaching piano lessons-something I've done for over 30 years. Over the years I found that children have many levels of musical ability. I've never had the pleasure of having a prodigy though I have taught some talented students.
However I've also had my share of what I call 'musically challenged' pupils.. One such student was Robby. Robby was 11 years old when his mother (a single Mom) dropped him off for his first piano lesson.
I prefer that students (especially boys!) begin at an earlier age, which I explained to Robby. But Robby said that it had always been his mother's dream to hear him play the piano. So I took him as a student.
Well, Robby began with his piano lessons and from the beginning I thought it was a hopeless endeavor. As much as Robby tried, he lacked the sense of tone and basic rhythm needed to excel. But he dutifully reviewed his scales and some elementary pieces that I require all my students to learn.
Over the months he tried and tried while I listened and cringed and tried to encourage him. At the end of each weekly lesson he'd always say 'My mom's going to hear me play someday.' But it seemed hopeless. He just did not have any inborn ability.
I only knew his mother from a distance as she dropped Robby off or waited in her aged car to pick him up. She always waved and smiled but never stopped in.
Then one day Robby stopped coming to our lessons. I thought about calling him but assumed because of his lack of ability, that he had decided to pursue something else. I also was glad that he stopped coming. He was a bad advertisement for my teaching!
Several weeks later I mailed to the student's homes a flier on the upcoming recital. To my surprise Robby (who received a flier) asked me if he could be in the recital. I told him that the recital was for current pupils and because he had dropped out he really did not qualify. He said that his mother had been sick and unable to take him to piano lessons but he was still practicing. 'Miss Hondorf, I've just got to play!' he insisted.
I don't know what led me to allow him to play in the recital. Maybe it was his persistence or maybe it was something inside of me saying that it would be all right. The night for the recital came. The high school gymnasium was packed with parents, friends and relatives. I put Robby up last in the program before I was to come up and thank all the students and play a finishing piece. I thought that any damage he would do would
come at the end of the program and I could always salvage his poor performance through my 'curtain closer'.
Well, the recital went off without a hitch. The students had been practicing and it showed. Then Robby came up on stage. His clothes were wrinkled and his hair looked like he'd run an eggbeater through it.
'Why didn't he dress up like the other students?' I thought. 'Why didn't his mother at least make him comb his hair for this special night?'
After six and a half minutes he ended in a grand crescendo and everyone was on their feet in wild applause!
Overcome and in tears I ran up on stage and put my arms around Robby in joy. 'I've never heard you play like that Robby! How'd you do it?'
Through the microphone Robby explained: 'well Miss Hondorf . . Remember I told you my Mom was sick? Well, actually she had cancer and passed away this morning. And well . . She was born deaf so tonight was the first time she ever heard me play. I wanted to make it special.'
There wasn't a dry eye in the house that evening. As the people from Social Services led Robby from the stage to be placed into foster care, noticed that even their eyes were red and puffy and I thought to myself how much richer my life had been for taking Robby as my pupil.
No, I've never had a prodigy but that night I became a prodigy, of Robby's. He was the teacher and I was the pupil for it is he that taught
me the meaning of perseverance and love and believing in yourself and maybe even taking a chance in someone and you don't know why.
Robby was killed in the senseless bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in April of 1995.
And now, a footnote to the story.
If you are thinking about forwarding this message, you are probably thinking about which people on your address list aren't the 'appropriate' ones to receive this type of message. The person who sent this to you believes that we can all make a difference. So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice: Do we act with compassion or do we pass up that opportunity and
leave the world a bit colder in the process?
You have two choices now:
1. Ignore this.
2. Forward it to the people you care about. You know the choice I made.
Thank you for reading this.
May God bless you today, tomorrow and always!
*********
If God didn't have a purpose for us, we wouldn't be here.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Gee, Governor Walker, Walk YOU!
Maybe I'm being too harsh on the governor. I don't think so. This "Budget Repair Bill" is a total disaster. It really is. We all realize that over spending is always a problem. And each party thinks what is good or bad about what is being spent on. But lets face it. Yanking money from the state's poorest isn't going to help the situation, because those w/o health coverage will utilize ER's more often, driving UP the health care costs. So it's actually less expensive to use the medicaid program, to allow people to make appointments with primary physicians for preventative medicine vs. visiting the ER to get a pound of cure. Our education system is already in sad shape. Half of the developing world is equal to passing US up educationally. Yet education will get a severe cut also, putting a higher burden on local tax payers, and we're already broke as it is, here in S.E. Wisconsin. We don't have enough jobs, people are losing their homes, and now this.
Anyway, because now the Governor wants to just shove through the bill, without any discussions, compromise, nothing. We have 14 Senators who protested by leaving so quorum won't be met. So, now the Senate is defunct, and the Governor is barking out orders like a dictator. Why can't both sides just work together for all people of Wisconsin? I don't know...
Here is the part that makes me angry though, is because right now, the legislature isn't moving anything. So, while the governor is playing a power game with the senators and won't budge, April's Law Wisconsin, which is two years in the making, is at a stalemate because of this whole mess. While it may go to the assembly, the likelihood of it making the state senate looks really slim right now. It's sad, because we have a draft. So it boils down to money, an inanimate object, is more important than protecting children from sex predators on and offline.
We can fix the situation. Rectify it. Really. Governor Walker needs to work on bipartisan issues, and when it comes to a split, make a compromise. I am asking everyone to write to Governor Walker, to please go ahead and either start negotiating or drop the "Budget Repair Bill" until next year. Lets unite for the children instead. Aren't our precious resource worth it? Children = future. Lets keep them safe. Here is Governor Walker's contact information:
Email
govgeneral@wisconsin.gov
Mail
Office of Governor Scott Walker
115 East Capitol
Madison WI 53702
Phone
(608) 266-1212
Please also write to Senator Wangaard regarding April's Law Wisconsin - http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/aprils-law-wisconsin/ - sign the petition while you're there, please.
sen.wanggaard@legis.wisconsin.gov
Please let them know that the power struggle games need to stop, and we need to come together as a state, and leader in the nation to protect our children. Don't let Walker undo the health care reform that Tommy Thompson put in place. After all, former president Bush was so impressed with the Thompson plan of W2, it should be good enough for Scot Walker.
April's Law is in jeopardy of being put on the back burner, because of the power struggle on the budget bill. We need Governor Walker to negotiate and Senator Wangaard to sponsor it in the senate. We are citizens and voters, who believe we need to be heard and represented to protect the children, or we're allowing the child sex offenders off the hook. Thank you in advance for your help, I can't do it alone, and you can help make this happen.
A huge thank you to Rep. Cory Mason for drafting April's Law Wisconsin. He is truly an asset to the cause for the children. See below to view the current draft, we may be adding something for kidnapping, and possibly a clause to exclude high school sweethearts, with a 4-5 year exemption, since in that case, peer rape is a crime on it's own, and consent in this instance is not an issue. We're talking about predators preying on our children. Thanks again!
Please forward to all your friends, especially those who live in Wisconsin. We need your help. Please continue to sign April's Law Wisconsin Petition - http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/aprils-law-wisconsin/
http://i344.photobucket.com/albums/p349/LobbyistLika/Cause/AL-WI1.jpg
http://i344.photobucket.com/albums/p349/LobbyistLika/Cause/AL-WI2.jpg
http://i344.photobucket.com/albums/p349/LobbyistLika/Cause/AL-WI3.jpg
http://i344.photobucket.com/albums/p349/LobbyistLika/Cause/AL-WI4.jpg
http://i344.photobucket.com/albums/p349/LobbyistLika/Cause/AL-WI5.jpg
Anyway, because now the Governor wants to just shove through the bill, without any discussions, compromise, nothing. We have 14 Senators who protested by leaving so quorum won't be met. So, now the Senate is defunct, and the Governor is barking out orders like a dictator. Why can't both sides just work together for all people of Wisconsin? I don't know...
Here is the part that makes me angry though, is because right now, the legislature isn't moving anything. So, while the governor is playing a power game with the senators and won't budge, April's Law Wisconsin, which is two years in the making, is at a stalemate because of this whole mess. While it may go to the assembly, the likelihood of it making the state senate looks really slim right now. It's sad, because we have a draft. So it boils down to money, an inanimate object, is more important than protecting children from sex predators on and offline.
We can fix the situation. Rectify it. Really. Governor Walker needs to work on bipartisan issues, and when it comes to a split, make a compromise. I am asking everyone to write to Governor Walker, to please go ahead and either start negotiating or drop the "Budget Repair Bill" until next year. Lets unite for the children instead. Aren't our precious resource worth it? Children = future. Lets keep them safe. Here is Governor Walker's contact information:
govgeneral@wisconsin.gov
Office of Governor Scott Walker
115 East Capitol
Madison WI 53702
Phone
(608) 266-1212
Please also write to Senator Wangaard regarding April's Law Wisconsin - http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/aprils-law-wisconsin/ - sign the petition while you're there, please.
sen.wanggaard@legis.wisconsin.gov
Please let them know that the power struggle games need to stop, and we need to come together as a state, and leader in the nation to protect our children. Don't let Walker undo the health care reform that Tommy Thompson put in place. After all, former president Bush was so impressed with the Thompson plan of W2, it should be good enough for Scot Walker.
April's Law is in jeopardy of being put on the back burner, because of the power struggle on the budget bill. We need Governor Walker to negotiate and Senator Wangaard to sponsor it in the senate. We are citizens and voters, who believe we need to be heard and represented to protect the children, or we're allowing the child sex offenders off the hook. Thank you in advance for your help, I can't do it alone, and you can help make this happen.
A huge thank you to Rep. Cory Mason for drafting April's Law Wisconsin. He is truly an asset to the cause for the children. See below to view the current draft, we may be adding something for kidnapping, and possibly a clause to exclude high school sweethearts, with a 4-5 year exemption, since in that case, peer rape is a crime on it's own, and consent in this instance is not an issue. We're talking about predators preying on our children. Thanks again!
Please forward to all your friends, especially those who live in Wisconsin. We need your help. Please continue to sign April's Law Wisconsin Petition - http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/aprils-law-wisconsin/
http://i344.photobucket.com/albums/p349/LobbyistLika/Cause/AL-WI1.jpg
http://i344.photobucket.com/albums/p349/LobbyistLika/Cause/AL-WI2.jpg
http://i344.photobucket.com/albums/p349/LobbyistLika/Cause/AL-WI3.jpg
http://i344.photobucket.com/albums/p349/LobbyistLika/Cause/AL-WI4.jpg
http://i344.photobucket.com/albums/p349/LobbyistLika/Cause/AL-WI5.jpg
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