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Paper has so many different uses that are amazing what versatility there is available. In accounting, a paper trail shows how a business is run. It can also tell a family how its finances are holding up. During the holidays, paper is used to decorate homes, packages; and yes, even cars. Picnics would not be the same without paper towels and napkins, for cleaning messy faces and hands. How about businesses that need to communicate between executives? Email is handy; but, hit the wrong button and its gone, erased.

As a kid, give me paper and crayons and I could go nuts. If you added tape and scissors I used to make paper furniture with paper people to use it. Coloring books are made with paper. TV Guide is made with paper. The list goes on with newspapers, magazines, calendars, product boxes, you name it. I’ve heard there are even paper suits that people can wear and then dispose of. When I worked in a print shop I learned that a person can get a P.H.D. in paper alone. Some “paper” types do not have any wood pulp in it. Some has fibers from cotton and other materials. Some papers are actually made with minerals and chemicals. A simple item–paper–can have so many varied and flexible uses.

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Watched Jay Leno. Oh boy, I worry about our country. Jay was asking questions of current high school students. These questions were about things learned in grade school. Simple geography questions that grade school students have to answer during tests from lessons in grade school. Well, lets just say the answers were incredible. Do you know the meaning of the word? Incredible–can’t be believed.

What has happened to our education system? We used to learn ow to recognize the location of our country; and what our country looks like. Even simple things like the Panama Canal and where it’s located, what country it’s in. What ever happened to reading; you know, understanding regular English? What happened to writing and being able to communicate by putting words on paper, even on a computer screen? I’m NOT talking about text messages where every word is broken down and you have to guess what is being said. Arithmetic is also very handy to know how to count change, keep a checking account without going broke or bankrupt.

These things used to be taken for granted. If you can’t count, talk, or think; how do you live in today’s society?

I’m not saying that those high school students were dumb. No way! What I’m asking is, what re kids being taught in school? Has learning been driven out of schools? Are calculators part of math class? What ever happened to people using their brains? How do you communicate when they can’t read, write, or speak? what happened to thinking?

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Have you ever noticed how much Americans talk? Politicians don’t have anything on the ordinary citizen. We the people will talk about anything and everything. If you know how to listen (if you’re in a busy restaurant) you can hear and learn lots of information. I’m not saying the information is needed or wanted, it’s just out there waiting to be caught.

Once sat in a nice restaurant and learned one man’s wife snores at night. Another person was griping about road delays because of construction. Another group was discussing the best way to unstop roof gutters on their house. I won’t mention the septic tank talk however, too much info! I have to admit that I’m just as guilty about talking as the next person.

It’s not always in restaurants that people will talk. Just listen in a grocery store, department store or even a large waiting room, (as long as the waiting room doesn’t have a TV). You will possibly hear discussions on TV programs, tools, bunions, books, the sky is the limit. Of course one of the favorite things that people talk about are other people! Politicians are always fun to pick on for a blabfest. Since they’re on TV, we can hear their opinions, also their bloopers. When we see politicians mess up we have something to talk about. Plus, then we don’t feel so bad about our own messups. All I have to say people is–Keep on Blabbing!

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Ain’t got nuttin’ to write right now. I’m just sitting here feeling kind of floaty. The mail came, just magazines and catalogs. Thank God, no bills come today.

I wanted to watch the different judge shows on TV, but they had NASCAR on instead. Watching the cars go around in circles then hearing the announcers blab back and forth is putting me to sleep. Makes me wonder how the drivers stay awake going in circles all the time. Driving is okay; but, I like the change in scenery.

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You see a car weaving down the road at night. A police car pulls up behind it with the police lights flashing, along with a couple of bursts from the siren.

The drunk driver looks into his mirrors and says drunkenly, “I’ve got to get away.” He speeds up then suddenly pulls over. Reaches out for a mostly empty liquor bottle, slides over into the passenger seat and puts the bottle into the driver’s seat. He says to himself, “Now they can’t arrest me”.

A police officer comes up to the driver’s window and says, “May I see your driver’s license please?” The drunk points to the bottle and says, “I wasn’t driving, he was.”

Flash to the next scene of the drunk being arrested and handcuffed. A voice over says—-Drinking makes you stupid, drinking and driving makes you a criminal.

My husband thought this up earlier in 2007.

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I don’t know what the country’s favorite crafts are, not sure anyone knows. I’ve tried a lot of different types. The slowest for me was knitting. I even got a knitting machine. Well, it was faster but still got bored. Still have the machine, in the hall closet, and one set of knitting needles. Let my husband use one of the needles to scrub the inside of one of his thermos bottles. It worked!

I still crochet. Have a lot of those needles; but, always seem to come back to one particular needle. It is much faster than knitting after all.

I have a nice collection of beads in 6 or 7 different multiple compartment cases. It’s taken me quite a few years to build up this collection. Not quite sure how many different types of beads I have.

I also have: string, yarn, leather stripping (or lacing), cloth, coat hangers, copper wire, sequins, wooden plaques, cords, jewelry findings, feathers, embroidery rings, embroidery floss, spools of thread, material, sewing machine, coloring pencils, markers, pens, paper. The list goes on.

I’ve engraved on mirrors, burned images on wood, done macrame, decoupage, make wire trees. I guess there are as many types of crafts as there are crafters. I usually have at least 5 projects going at once. Not that I’m fast. One quilt I made took me 4 years to finish because I kept putting it down, and doing other things. At least I don’t get bored. I have to admit that crocheting is fun; because, sometimes the cats will play along while I’m making something. The only drawback is—-Where do I put all the stuff?

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Just talked to my sister about some of the damage done by the Arkansas tornadoes of Feb. 5th. She told how some of the debris from Highland, Arkansas has shown up 60 miles away up in Missouri. Some of the menus from Atkins, Ark., restaurants have shown up 30 miles away in another town. It makes me wonder what happens to the roofs that are torn off of buildings. Where do they land; and, are they in one piece or are they shredded?

I grew up in a town that is located in tornado alley which goes across several states. I saw, once, one two story building that had been hit. Upstairs was an apartment; while, downstairs was a dry cleaners. After the tornado, one wall was gone–totally. There wasn’t any rubbish left on the sidewalk. Looking at the dry cleaners; the clothes were still hanging on the rail in the plastic bags, upstairs the easy chair was still backed up to the wall with a lamp on a nearby table. However, the wall was gone, It looked as if a giant buzz saw had neatly removed the wall without damaging anything else. I could even see into the floor joists that were between the upper and lower floor. Freaky! Meanwhile, across the street, caddy-corner, the two story furniture store looked as if a giant fist had punched in the building dead center like a baker would punch down a bowl of rising dough.

In the Texas town I live in now, there had been a furniture factory that burned–fiercely. The pillar of smoke from the; wood, glue, laminating products, etc. went clear across this county into the one next door. There ended up being debris floating down out of the smoke that fell all over the place. My husband and I saw pieces of ash as big as dinner plates come floating out of the sky! We are approximately 3 to 4 miles from where the fire was. I had a garden hose that I used to soak down the dried lawn and the roof of our apartment, to avoid further fires from sparks in the debris. As I stated earlier—Freaky Things!

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Many candidates running for office make promises in their speeches. How many actually carry through with their promises?

One candidate talks about improving health care…..and yet opportunities to do that before have been bypassed. This candidate’s home state has people who get extremely ill—for lack of doctors. After all the doctors want their money up front or else NO SERVICE. Where’s the health care there? It ain’t.

Another candidate pushes change; but, what change–where are the details? This candidate talks big, but what has been done so far.

Another candidate spent over $80 million to run, yet has been proven to be a bully when people don’t do what he wants. He has practiced deceptively to control others in other states that have never met him, or even done business with him.

Have the people ever kept track of all the promises made, but never kept? I understand that officials will sometimes block the effort of those who are elected. What I wonder about are all the promises that were never even acted upon.

Talk is cheap. All it costs is a lot of hot air.

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When I was skinnier I had received this wonderful present. My sister (adopted and not let of since) had, and still has a great sense of humor. Let’s face it–she, too, is a smart alec like me. She went to a local T-shirt shop and had a special T-shirt made up for me. When she gave it to me I was so cheered up that I had to wear it to work. I worked in a print shop at the time doing paperwork. The shirt was florescent yellow and had the words WIDE LOAD on it in black. Just like the signs you might see on the backs and fronts of trucks hauling construction equipment or mobile homes down the highway. Wide load was on the front and on the back of the shirt.

I am not skinny; Right now, even less so. When I walked in to work that morning, I was greeted by smiles, chuckles and laughter. I loved that shirt. Unfortunately I out grew it. My husband took it over and started wearing it. He, too, was greeted with cheerfulness. Gradually the florescent yellow faded to a washed out off white; the letters faded to grey. I miss that shirt and the smiles that it brought. Of course, if I could ever get another one; it should now read WIDER LOAD!

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My cat is in love with my hairbrush. Since felines clean themselves so much, they get buildups of hair in their systems. These balls of hair cause trouble in their digestive systems.

There are many types of medications available to help cats, rabbits, and dogs get the hairballs out or pass them through. Unfortunately, some cats don’t like those medications, so other ways need to be found to deal with the hair problem.

What I started to do is brush our cats with a regular hairbrush to remove excess hair. It works nicely. Sometimes it’s hard to brush down our cats when they want to see what is being done. It comes down to brushing as fast as I can, while the cat dances around craning her head to see. Our black cat with long silking hair dances. Our white cat has found another way to handle the brushing. She will lay on my lap and purr nicely. Then, when she knows I least expect it, she swipes at the brush, grabs it out of my hands and proceeds to purr louder and rub her face and chin all over the brush while she holds it.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d think she was in love with my brush. Can’t get the brush back either until she’s done with it.

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