Gratitude

Today, we watched one of our favorite movies of all time, Lonesome Dove, based on the novel by Larry McMurtry.

Growing up in Montana and Wyoming, we always heard the tales of the west; roundups, cattle drives, gunfights and of course, we grew up around the Native Americans and learning a bit about their history, also.

I am always amazed when I watch a movie like this. I would think that it was fairly accurate, although not absolutely, about the way of life back then.

Can you imagine living out on the plains, in a wagon, if you were lucky, getting by on what food you could hunt? Can you imagine living in the same clothes for month months at a time? Can you imagine walking or if you were lucky, riding a horse all the time? Women were either prostitutes, bargirls or teachers, not much else was acceptable.

Fast food restaurants, washing machines, dishwashers, vehicles, and so many more things were not known of back then. People then were grateful for the food in their mouths, clothes on their back, with maybe a game of cards or a drink to look forward to at the end of the day. Children were considered a means to run the farm so the more children, the better. Education was not a priority, only possible if the children weren't needed to work.

Social gatherings were far and few between, mostly put together by the churches in the communities. Marriages were commonplace between the family up the road because people didn't get much further from their territory. So sisters and brothers would marry into the same families.

I suppose what I am trying to say is the next time you see a movie or read a book about times past, stop and think of where we are today.

Perhaps we really need to think about what we have and be grateful for it.

Thank you.

Ah, the times we live in . . . . .

Well, so far today, I've been warned against an email from my niece that really isn't from my niece. Guess they got hacked and are afraid that someone got their email addresses and is sending people bogus emails.

That is becoming the thing.

I've been warned by USPS that the delivery of an item failed (spoof), didn't even have enough tracking numbers. I received an email from Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook stating that Facebook is partnering with Apple and I can get a free iphone, if I just click on the link. I receive emails from PayPal stating I can win $1000 if I just "click here" and submit my entry.

I get emails from all over, Australia, UK, New Zealand, you name it, all wanting to share their wealth with me. Most go into my spam folder but once in awhile one will slip through and I mark it spam.

My husband sells laptop computers that he works on and does it locally through Craigslist. He likes to put a message in the first line specifically for scammers, such as:

"Scammers are not very intelligent." Then he watches for emails responding to his ad with this as the opening sentence!! The scammers just copy and paste that first sentence and hope you respond so they get your email address!! It's really kind of funny!!

I called my bank a couple of weeks ago and asked them if they sent me an email regarding a new way of banking. They said they did. I told them they were fools for doing so.

It seems that every Tom, Dick and Henry (sorry, guys, just a figure of speech) is into the act, trying to get us to open something so that they can steal our information, hack their way into our accounts, or steal our money.

So, lesson for today?? Don't open ANYTHING from an email!! If you think it might be true, call the company up and ask them if they sent it!! Then demand that they quit exposing their customers to online fraud and theft of information!

Tell them to mail the information to you. After all, USPS appears to need our business!!

The Story of Bat Boy

Bat Boy is a fictional (??) creature who made several appearances in the defunct American supermarket tabloid Weekly World News. The Weekly World News published patently fabricated stories which were purported to be factual. Within the pages of the paper, Bat Boy is described as a creature who is 'half human and half bat'. His pursuers, according to Weekly World News, are scientists and United States government officials; he is frequently captured, then later makes a daring escape. The original scientist who found him was named Dr. Ron Dillon. Matthew Daemon, S.O.S. (Seeker of Obscure Supernaturals) crossed paths with him on several occasions.

Bat Boy was created  (???) by former Weekly World News Editor Dick Kulpa. He debuted as a cover story on June 23, 1992. The original front-page photo of Bat Boy, showing his grotesque screaming face, was the second-best selling issue in the tabloid's history, and he has since evolved into a pop-culture icon. He became the tabloid's de facto mascot of sorts. The story of Bat Boy was turned into an Off-Broadway musical, Bat Boy: The Musical.

Exclusive video of Bat Boy on the NY subway!

Want to know more about the amazing Bat Boy? He's been credited with foiling terrorist attacks, endorsing Presidential candidates, stealing cars, biting children, piloting the Space Shuttle and lots more!! Busy little bat..

You can read all about him in the tell-all book: Going Mutant - The Bat Boy Exposed! - offered at onlineauction.com by curiocache!

Rosacea of the eye . . . .

Rosacea is a chronic condition which is characterized by a facial redness. Pimples can sometimes be part of the definition. Treatments such as topical steroids can aggravate the situation.

Rosacia primarily affects Caucasians but can also affect people of other ethnicities. It affects primarily women although men can suffer from it as well.

Rosacea usually begins as a redness on the central area of the face across the cheeks, nose or forehead but can also affect the neck, chest, ears, scalp and the eyes. There are four types of classified rosacea.

Erythematotelangiectatic rosacea - A permanent redness with a tendency to flush and/or blush easily. It is also common to have small blood vessels visible close to the surface of the skin. There is sometimes a burning or itching sensation.

Papulopustular rosacea - Some permanent redness with red bumps and possibly some postules that can be misidentified as acne. These usually last 1-4 days.

Phymatous rosacea - This type is usually associated with the enlargement of the nose, known as  rhinophyma. This subtype can cause thickening of the skin, irregular surface nodularities and enlargement.

Occular rosacea - Causes red, dry, irritated eyes and eyelids. Other symptoms are itching, feeling of foreign objects being present and burning.

About fourteen years ago, my husband was diagnosed with iritis in his left eye. At first the doctor thought it was pink eye, then they thought it was a foreign object. They finally came to the conclusion that it was iritis. They prescribed a steroid eye drop and about three times a year, he has had to use these to stop the pain, swelling, itching and burning. It usually lasts for about a week, after starting the drops.

Since he has changed over to the VA for medical care, he learned from the eye doctor that he has rosacia. Treatment will consist of warm compresses, for at least two minutes, a prescription for artificial tears to help wash out the eye, and at last resort, another prescription for a steroid eye drop.

I was amazed that they were able to find the reason for his continuous eye problem.

My mother had chronic iritis so badly that she almost lost her eyesight in her right eye. I remember the shades being pulled that summer, to stop the sun from coming into the house as her eye wouldn't dilate properly. The eye doctors back then didn't know why she got chronic iritis or really how to treat it. Mother got better but her eye never did heal to the point of being able to dilate and she had several laser surgeries, years later, to stop bleeding because of the trauma.

My niece, at the age of 18, was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in her eye. The size of a pin head, it looked like a freckle and the eye doctor decided he'd better have it checked further. She successfully had it removed.

The whole point of this is, we take our eyes for granted. We don't think that things can happen to the eye. It isn't talked about or discussed. But our eyesight is really pretty fragile. Our eyes can be affected just as any part of our bodies can, by disease or injury.

So take care of your eyes. They are the only ones you will have in this lifetime. You may need to wear glasses, like I do, and gripe about it, but think of how you would feel not seeing anything!

Your eyes are a precious gift. Remember that, please.

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

Have you ever been to Wales? It is a small but beautiful country. ...

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch ( listen)) is a large village and community on the island of Anglesey in Wales, situated on the Menai Strait next to the Britannia Bridge and across the strait from Bangor. This village has the longest place name in Europe and one of the longest place names in the world. The short form of the village's name is Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, also spelled Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll. It is commonly known as Llanfair PG or Llanfairpwll.According to the 2001 census, the population of the community is 3,040, 76% of whom speak Welsh fluently; the highest percentage of speakers is in the 10–14 age group, where 97.1% are able to speak Welsh. It is the fifth largest settlement on the island by population.

Visitors stop at the railway station to be photographed next to the station sign, visit the nearby Visitors' Centre, or have 'passports' stamped at a local shop. Another tourist attraction is the nearby Marquess of Anglesey's Column, which at a height of 27 metres (89 ft) offers views over Anglesey and the Menai Strait. Designed by Thomas Harrison, the monument celebrates the heroism of Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey at the Battle of Waterloo.

The long form of the name is the longest officially recognised place name in the United Kingdom and one of the longest in the world, being 58 letters in length (51 letters in the Welsh alphabet, where "ch", "ng" and "ll" count as single letters).

The name means: [St.] Mary's Church (Llanfair) [in] the hollow (pwll) of the white hazel (gwyngyll) near (goger) the rapid whirlpool (y chwyrndrobwll) [and] the church of [St.] Tysilio (llantysilio) with a red cave ([a]g ogo goch).

This village was originally known as Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll (and is sometimes still referred to as Llanfairpwllgwyngyll) and was given its long name in the 19th century in an attempt to develop the village as a commercial and tourist centre (see Significance of the name below). Today the village is still signposted as Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, marked on Ordnance Survey maps as Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll and is known to locals as Llanfairpwll or simply Llanfair.The name is also seen shortened to Llanfair PG, which is sufficient to distinguish it from the many other Welsh villages with Llanfair in their names. Other variant forms use the full name but with tysilio mutated to dysilio, and/or with a hyphen between drobwll and llan. In Welsh, the initial Ll may be mutated to a single L in some contexts.

The village's long name cannot be considered an authentic Welsh-language toponym. It was artificially contrived in the 1860s to bestow upon the station the honour of having the longest name of any railway station in Britain; an early example of a publicity stunt. The village's own web site credits the name to a cobbler from the local village of Menai Bridge. According to Sir John Morris-Jones the name was created by a local tailor, whose name he did not confide, letting the secret die with him.

The eponymous St. Mary's Church.The village was originally known as 'Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll' "St Mary's church in the hollow of the white hazel." 'Pwllgwyngyll' was the name of the original medieval township where the village stands today.

The village is split into two smaller villages, Llanfairpwllgwyngyll-uchaf (Upper Llanfairpwllgwyngyll) the original part of the village and Llanfairpwllgwyngyll-isaf (Lower Llanfairpwllgwyngyll) the newer area nearer the railway station. These are occasionally referred to as Pentre Uchaf and Pentre Isaf (Upper Village and Lower Village) respectively.

Christmas came today . . . . .

Ok, so it's a LITTLE late!!

The story is . . . . my sister and I were both in Montana for Daddy's 96th birthday in November. She left to get home to Denver to finish up her Christmas gifts and get ready. My hubby and I stayed until the end of the week and then came back to Iowa.

A week later, Daddy was admitted to the hospital and by the time everything was said and done, he spent a month in the hospital and rehab.

Well, Susie and Roy took off back to Montana to take care of his dog while he was laid up and get everything else taken care of which delayed their Christmas until now.

So, today, I get a wonderful package from my sister, bless her heart!! Full of goodies!!

Now, I get to go open them all but will wait for the grandkids to get home, first. She always tucks in something for them!

Today is a wonderful surprise!! You've heard of Christmas in July? Well, today it's Christmas in February!!

Tell someone you love them today!!

Thank you!

Smile . . . . .

Bring someone a smile today.

“There are hundreds of languages in the world, but a smile speaks them all.” ~ Anonymous

"The earth laughs in flowers." ~ E E. Cummings

"A good laugh is sunshine in a house." ~ William Makepeace Thackeray

"Let a series of happy thoughts run through your mind. They will show on your face." ~ Unknown

Share a smile with someone today. ChateyCathey had a post on smiling and I couldn't resist passing it on!!

Thank you.