Today Just Isn't That Day...

Hi!



Life is a rollercoaster.


If yours isn't, you're not trying hard enough...



I could give the usual cliches about the ups and downs, the twists and turns, we've all heard them, and, let's face it, cliches become cliches because they carry truth.


I could give those cliches, but you've heard them before, just like I have. Hell, I'm sure I've used them in past ramblings.


Today just isn't that day.


Life brings a lot of real challenges. Physical health complications, permanent injuries, mental health issues, disabilities, death, relationship heartache, jobs disappearing. Real. Actual. Life-changing. Hardships. These are subjects that need respectful attention, individually, thoughtfully, and with the gravitas they so preciously deserve. I believe this with everything I am, but...


Today just isn't that day.


The world is filled with some twisted and evil individuals, doing twisted and evil things to others for no other reason than they can. They feel they have the right. Some of them have power because we gave it to them, some were born into it, some just assume a power that only lives in their heads. If you read these ramblings with any regularity, you know I don't exactly shy away from these asshats, but...


Today just isn't that day.



Today is the day I'm going to tackle some smaller, but, I believe, still important things.


People often try to fit others inside little boxes, boxes that would make them comfortable. Neat, tidy, little boxes.


I write for children, yes, but that doesn't encompass everything I write.

I'm a Mom, yes, but, I was also a stock car driver.

I'm a Grandma, yes, but I also run a DJ/Karaoke business where I get to sing and entertain.

I'm a Wife, yes, but I am also a business partner to my husband, running a successful RV repair shop.


Boxes are containers. Don't allow yourself to be contained.



It's time for "back to school" where I call home.



To parents... please don't be naive. I hate to break it to you, but, yes, your little angel is more than capable of making bad decisions and having a bad day or two, or five. Always give your kid the benefit of the doubt, but have doubt. Remember, a toddler, barely capable of speech, has the ability to lie their butt off to try and stay out of trouble. Self-preservation is a strong instinct. Of course, they are going to use it. Instead of assuming your little one couldn't carry any culpability, help them to take responsibility for their choices, their actions. Help them to understand that a couple of bad decisions doesn't make you a bad person. Let them learn. As they know better, they will do better.

Your children watch and hear more than you give them credit for. They are learning from you, with every comment, every side-eye, every reaction. They learn from how you treat people. All people. They are not born with prejudices, with judgments, with assumptions of others, these are absorbed from you.

Teach kindness.


To kids... be kind, be empathetic, be accepting, be a good friend. Everyone has different interests, different talents, different strengths, none of which are better or more important than another. Everyone has a different personality, unique and special to them Every single person is equally important, equally deserving of respect, and equally deserving to be treated with nothing but kindness. Be kind.



It's time for harvest where I call home.



For those who may be unfamiliar, it's the time of year wherein the farmers collect their crops from the fields, take them home, to later sell their bounty to the masses. In short, they gather the grains that feed a good chunk of the world.

This inevitably means that there will be equipment being moved, everywhere, all the time. Again, for those unfamiliar, by 'equipment' I'm referring to machinery the size of a small apartment complex. They are huge, slow, hold up traffic, and absolutely necessary.

To the farmers. Please be patient. If people honk, or give one-fingered salutes, or otherwise act like jackasses, be patient. They don't really mean it, they're just late for work, scared they're going to be late, they are frustrated.

To everyone else. Please be patient. They aren't moving this equipment around for the sole purpose of being a pain in your ass. These next few days or weeks dictate their income for the entire year. There are no do-overs or extensions. Their livelihood balances on the tip of a rain gauge. Yes, they choose this life, but they do not deserve your finger, a thank you, maybe, but not your finger. Be patient.


It's time for Pumpkin spice everything where I call home.


You know Fall is on the horizon when the Pumpkin Spice army attacks. The lattes, teas, drizzle, ice coffees, doughnuts...

I, personally, love pumpkin. Real, actual, pumpkin. I'm not sure what "Pumpkin spice" is? Is it a combination of the spices you would put in a pumpkin pie? Does 'Pumpkin Spice' actually contain pumpkin? These are not rhetorical questions, I truly want to know.

As I walk this earth, celebrating Fall "Pumpkin Spice" free, don't judge me.



It's time for the limbo walk between Air Conditioning and Furnace where I call home.


This is where I could go on a menopausal rant about hot flashes, and about how wonderful it would be if you could wear an air conditioner like a backpack.


Today just isn't that day...



***********************************************************

May your first days back in school be magical, finding old friends, making new ones.
May the new things you learn light you up, excite your soul, create memories full of fun.

May you show kindness, be a good friend, include all who want to play.
May you be a good sport, even if the games don't always go your way.

May you know that everybody has bad days, days they feel all alone.
May you know in your heart that other days will be better, you are never truly on your own.

*************************************************************


Until next time

www.margyreidbooks.com

Check out the digital version of Once Broken on amazon:


https://www.amazon.ca/Once-Broken-Margy-Reid-ebook/dp/B071HTFTX6/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=once+broken&qid=1567200064&s=gateway&sr=8-1

The Sun Sets On Yet Another Precious Life...

Hi.


Those who read these ramblings with any regularity know I come from a big family.


With that comes a lot of joy. New babies, weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, reunions, blue ribbons, scholarships, and a million other joy-filled moments.


Sadly, when you come from a family like this, it also means saying good-bye... a lot.

This week we lost another jewel from the family crown.

Always ready with a smile, a hug, and an ear. A lady, always, but never afraid to say what was on her mind.

Spending time with her meant an inevitable sing-a-long, some laughter, and probably, a bit of mischief.

She had a spark and a sparkle the was inherently her. She's gonna make one hell of an angel.

Auntie Cathy is going to be missed every day by many, most deeply by her favourite few.

When someone is gone we are never left with the feeling that we spent too much time with them, we created too many memories, shared too many stories, too many laughs, too many hugs.


**************************************************************

These good-byes carry with them a reminder to live our lives at full throttle. A reminder to get out of the bleachers. A reminder that life is more than work and sleep. A reminder that although life has its 'have-to's', those 'have-to's' are but a means to the 'want-to's'.

Be spontaneous, participate full-heartedly in shenanigans, try something new, meet new people, hang out with friends, play games, make up games, make a ton of popcorn and settle in for a movie marathon,  have fun,, whatever that is for you.

We honour those who go before us best by never taking for granted the time we have. Relish in it, celebrate it, live it completely.


**************************************************************


May those who will miss you most find a way through this fog of utter heartache.
May the days to come get a little lighter, with unforced smiles, voices with a little less shake.

May thoughts of her bring smiles, even if veiled through tears.
May the best memories flood your cheeks, ones of shared joys, shared fears.

May celebrating her spark, in some small way, make this heartbreak less painful.
May the universe understand that in this jewel it is gaining one hell of an angel.


***************************************************************

Until next time...

www.margyreidbooks.com

Sometimes You Just Need Is A Midnight Walk And A Cookie...

Hi!


There is so much going on, sometimes it's hard to find peace.


The shootings, the greed that keeps them from stopping, the double talk, the lies, and the lack of logic that drives them.

The growing boldness of racism. The seeming confusion of its definition. Just because you aren't actively burning crosses on people's lawns, or lynching them in trees doesn't mean it isn't racist.

I had a friend, a Trump supporter, ask me to cite one instance in which he showed racist language or actions. I listed several, both past and present.

Her defense then turned to the old adage of "every time you disagree with someone of colour, you're labeled a racist."

This is why that is bull. He's a racist.

You don't have to do a lot of research to have that fact become blatantly clear.

His policies- how many blond, blue-eyed people are being detained and stripped from their children.
Do you honestly believe all illegal immigrants are brown?

His history- trying to keep people of color from renting his properties, the whole Obama birther issue, the central park five, and those are just the top three.

His words- "infestation", "invasion", "go back from where you came", "Why are we having all these people from shithole countries coming here? We should have more people from places like Norway." Referred to a Latina Miss Universe as "Miss Housekeeping." "Look at my African-American over here,. Look at him." "These aren't people, these are animals." The list is endless, and makes me sick to my stomach.

Disagreeing with someone of colour doesn't make you a racist. Being a racist makes you a racist.


I'm not asking you to take my word for it. All I'm asking is that you look beyond the burning crosses, and blatant use of the "N" word.  The language is slightly more subtle now, the crosses, cages filled with babies.

Conservatism is being redefined behind your back. It used to be a term defined by a commitment to traditional values and ideas with opposition to change or innovation. Straight-laced, buttoned-up.

What does is truly represent anymore? A blind eye to anything that will inhibit the lining of the pockets of the already rich? A guy who filed bankruptcy multiple times touting himself as some sort of savior for the blue collared folks who have generationally worked hard for everything they have, the same blue-collared people he screwed over in so many of his ventures? He does all of this, praising his supposed business prowess, all while working lawyers overtime on the taxpayers' dollar to keep his income tax returns from coming to light. Don't you find yourself asking why?

Why has he put so much effort into hiding information? Tax returns, refusing to be interviewed by Meuller, doing everything he can to keep others from testifying in front of congress, confiscating notes from an interpreter after a meeting with Putin. This list is also endless and almost as sickening.

After bathing in conspiracy theories, spraying himself down with the stench of racism, and caressing his delusions in the mirror every morning, he unlocks his phone, fashioning his 280 characters into what he thinks the new brand of conservatism wants to hear, dragging the dignity of his position through his sewer of lies. He feeds you shit and tells you its truffles, and you eat it up, asking for more.

It's comical how he tries to make people think that kneeling for the Anthem is worse than what he does every...single...day.

Conservatism is being redefined behind your back.


There is so much going on, sometimes it's hard to find peace.


Sometimes, you just need a midnight walk and a cookie. Tomorrow is another day.


*****************************************************************



May those who don't see it, come to realize we are all one race, regardless of levels of melanin, or place of birth.
May those who don't see it, come to realize that the thickness of your portfolio has nothing to do with your worth.

May the world become a more peaceful place, a celebration of cultural differences, with less "yours" and "mine", more "ours."
May our elected leaders do what they are elected to do, lead, doing what's best for all, not just the bootlickers of your powers.

**************************************************************

until next time...

www.margyreidbooks.com

Someone Explain It To Me...

Someone explain it to me.



Someone explain to me the attachment the U.S. has to weapons that have the ability to shoot 20+ people in less than a minute.

Someone explain to me how this attachment is more important than young children having their parents slaughtered.

Someone explain to me how the poison spewed from the mouth of the moron in the Whitehouse being repeated by the hand of the one pulling the trigger is some sort of intricate coincidence.

The sole purpose of these types of guns, the entire reason they were designed, developed and produced, was to kill people.

The arguments I'm hearing from people wanting to keep them are nothing short of insane.

They are oh so much fun for shooting targets.

Really?!

So, your right to rapid-fire some pieces of paper with circles drawn upon them for shits and giggles is somehow more important than 20+ people's right to shop at Walmart without getting shot?!

We are just standing up for our second amendment rights.

Really?!

Rapid-fire weapons didn't exist when the second amendment was written. Do you really think the writers of the constitution, in writing this particular amendment, meant that every single citizen has the right to bear arms with no limits, regardless of violent tendencies, no matter the cost to human life?

We are a gun culture.

Really?!

You say it with such pride, like it's a good thing. Take a look around. You are standing alone over innocent bodies with blood-covered hands as the rest of the world weeps in grief and disbelief at the inhumanity.

Someone explain it to me. Make it make sense.

White supremacy is a growing global issue. One that's being fuelled by the moron racist who is the current occupant of the WhiteHouse, and those who blindly follow him. Those who try to portray the issue as a hoax, equate asylum seekers to an invasion, an infestation. Those who love to spout the phrase "go back to where you come from."

Someone explain it to me. Make it make sense.

Bulletproof backpacks are being filled with Hello Kitty pencils and strapped to the backs of your children.

Kids are too afraid to go outside to play.

More shootings than days in the year.

Not willing to give up 'fun' target shooting even on the off chance it might save a life... or twenty.

Someone explain it to me. Make it make sense.


***************************************************************


May humanity heal from this surge of racist evil, this tsunami of hate.
May we find a way to wade through this muck, seal a more peace-filled fate.

May the racist trope that wields the power have his gaslight extinguished, lose his voice.
May those who spew his poisonous lies without conscience, search their souls, make a kinder choice.

***************************************************************

www.margyreidbooks.com

It's Half Time...

And just like that, the summer is half over...



The first of August and the 'back to school' ads have already been running for a week...


Just give us a minute, will ya?!


Summer flies by as it is, there is no need to make us feel prematurely rushed.

Let us take a second to breathe in the smell of s'mores, rainstorms, and fresh-cut grass. Let us take our time building our sandcastles, riding our bikes, and floating on our floaties in the lake. Just let us take a beat, we need it.

Let us just take a second.


The slow. luxurious sunsets, the outdoor concerts, the bonfires, the waves of a warm lake licking your toes. Let us have a bit more of that before you slap us with the reminders of the inevitable.


I don't know about you, but I'm going to squeeze every bit of sunshine out of the rest of this summer, squeeze it, wring it into a glass, add a bit of ice, a shot of tequila, ok, margaritas, I'm going to make margaritas.


Sorry to write and run, but I have a long weekend to get ready for, so do you. Enjoy!



**************************************************************************


May you catch every ray of sunlight, hold it, savor it, capture it, keep it to wrap around you on winter's first cold night.
May you find an endless horizon and a means by which to watch a sunset from beginning to end, witnessing the day melt into the night.

May you avert your eyes, cover your ears, dismiss the ads that want to push you into a season for which you clearly aren't ready.
May you instead, grab every minute of water fights, bubble wars, and holding on to the seat of a first-time biker, still a bit unsteady.

***************************************************************************


Until next time...

www.margyreidbooks.com