Mama Always ~ L.A. Brown, Author

Melancholy: Suggestive or expressive of sadness or depression of mind or spirit. Causing or tending to cause sadness or depression of mind or spirit. Depressed in spirits; dejected; sad. Yup, that pretty much defines my mood today. I woke up with the weepies, along with being very sore and stiff and all it took was a neighbor dog to send me into a tail-spin. I know that sometimes the "downs" will hit with the fibromyalgia, but this hit just a bit beyond that. It felt for all it was worth that I was grieving for Draco, my Australian Shepherd and Kona, my lab puppy all over again...like it happened yesterday. Shaking it, no matter how I have tried is an exercise in futility. I reached out to God through prayer and my spirit is now calmed, but I still feel the grief and I feel it hard. At the end of next month I will be able to have a puppy in the house again. For those of you who do not know, Kona, my lab puppy had parvovirus and we were under quarantine for six month

Ecclesiastes 3 says this: 1. To everything there is a season,     A time for every purpose under heaven: 2.  A time to be born,      And a time to die;      A time to plant,      And a time to pluck what is planted; 3.   A time to kill,       And a time to heal;       A time to break down,       And a time to build up; 4.  A time to weep,      And a time to laugh;      A time to mourn,      And a time to dance; 5.   A time to cast away stones,      And a time to gather stones;      A time to embrace,       And a time to refrain from embracing; 6.    A time to gain,       And a time to lose;      A time to keep,       And a time to throw away; 7.   A time to tear,      And a time to sew;     A time to keep silence,       And a time to speak; 8.  A time to love,       And a time to hate;       A time of war,       And a time of peace. Or, if you're a Byrds fan, just add "turn, turn, turn...." We are coming to such a time in less than

Let's see a show of hands here...how many of you consider yourselves stubborn? I'm not talking procrastination, I'm talking mule-headed, stand-your-ground, I'm not going to do it no matter what until I decide its a good idea stubborn? I have to say that there are a few of us that will admit it and a number of us who will not admit to it. I am pretty much there. I always thought that my dad, grandmother, and father-in-law were stubborn people. I understand that the Polish are a stubborn breed in and of themselves and New Englanders are pretty stubborn, too, so I was destined to be such whether by design or by association. I did not, however, realize the extent of my stubbornness until last night. I have had a tremendous earache for the last three days. That actually was when the swelling and pain set in, I guess you could say that it has actually been the better part of a week because I could feel it backing up before that. Anyway, last night was the icing on the cak

**Author's note: I am rerunning a previous blog about the nursery rhyme The Elephant. What I had done was to take its entirety and compare it to our political system. I encourage you to read it in light of the upcoming Elections. Have a wonderful and blessed weekend! The Elephant Rhyme It was six men of Indostan; To learning much inclined, Who went to see the Elephant; (Though all of them were blind), That each by observation; Might satisfy his mind.  The First approached the Elephant, And happening to fall Against his broad and sturdy side, At once began to bawl: “God bless me! but the Elephant Is very like a wall!” The Second, feeling of the tusk, Cried, “Ho! what have we here So very round and smooth and sharp? To me ’tis mighty clear This wonder of an Elephant Is very like a spear!” The Third approached the animal, And happening to take The squirming trunk within his hands, Thus boldly up and spake: “I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant Is very like a snake!” The Fourth

I've heard that saying, or variations of that saying most all of my life. I think that I heard it most in the seventies when my ability to shop on my own came into being. As a kid, I remember that my dad always did the grocery shopping. I don't remember much, but he was and still is, to some extent, into value shopping....i.e., the biggest bang for your buck. Nowadays, this is not so much the case as he is really trying to buy more Made in U.S.A. products than not, so now I suppose he comparison shops when it comes to where stuff comes from and then the value after that. I guess we can all benefit from "comparison shopping" not only in our grocery shopping trips but also in our daily decisions in life. Think about this for a minute, folks. Say you're going to be upgrading your t.v. to a flat screen because (mama says) you need more room (of course, you need to admit it guys, this idea really floats your boat because now you can watch football, baseball, NASCAR