KEEPING THE DOGS HAPPY

Spoiled dogs waiting for bones

Saturday morning I was coming back from a "shopping trip" at a local medical cannabis  dispensary (VidaCann) when I took a short cut across town because I wanted to stop at a certain grocery store to buy my spoiled dogs some bones. Publix is the only store here in Pensacola where the butcher packages the discarded bones and puts them in the freezer section. I cut across Michigan Avenue to get to Publix and before I knew it I was right by where I used to live with my ex-husband.

Keep in mind it's been a very long time since I've been married. When I say a very long time, I mean a VERY long time. I've been divorced since 1997. I'm not against marriage. I don't hate my ex-husband. I'm not bitter. I don't hate men. I think holding grudges and harboring resentment only hurts the person who holds that negative stuff inside them. I had to let that stuff go and forgive...not for their sake but for mine. And as for marriage... I found that being alone was better than being with the wrong person. I'm not saying there isn't a right person out there for me. All I'm saying is that to date, I haven't found that person. I'm not actively looking so chances of me finding that person is slim to nil...

Anyway, getting back to my little story. When I drove past where I used to live I had the strangest reaction. I got a knot in the pit of my stomach.  I'm not what I would call a high strung, anxious person, but seeing my old home sure brought out some anxiety or something in me.  All of sudden it was hard to breathe. I felt hot all over. I had a knot in the pit of my stomach and then I felt nauseous. It all passed rather quickly. Almost as quickly as it started. But I kept having a strange feeling like I almost expected to run into my ex-husband at the grocery store or some place else. I didn't and I'm glad I didn't. It just was weird and it rattled me for a moment or two and I usually don't get rattled. By the time I got home I was okay and my dogs were glad to see momma had brought them a special treat.

Great Expectations

I'm going to keep this short and sweet and fill this with as little drama as possible. I'm sure the people who read this blog and/or comment here have noticed there's a troll who has attempted to hijack the comment section on a few posts. I just changed my blog settings from allowing anyone to comment on my blog posts to allowing only people who have a Google account. Hopefully, this at least will prevent said troll from lurking in anonymity and quite frankly, bugging the hell out of me by rambling on about some British chick he'd like to bang.  If this troll chooses to stick around and to continue to dazzle everyone with his comedic genius then he'll have to do so with his actual Google account.  

Just so everyone is clear about my expectations... If you come here to read, then read. If you come here to read and comment, then read and comment, BUT please stay on topic.  If you need to contact me or ask me a question that doesn't pertain to the topic then do so at one of these email addresses : red_kitten1@yahoo.com or red.kitten1@gmail.com BUT Mr. Troll that isn't an invitation for you to flood my inboxes with email.

Now, carry on and do all those disgustingly fun Monday night things all Mildred Misfits do, but don't forget to take pictures!!!

HRH Mildred Ratched

Really Priceless!

My Surprise

Several years ago my daughter assembled a book of poetry from various poems my mother had written. Just about every subject was covered except one. She had never written a poem about me, her one and only daughter! When I brought this to her attention, she did what she always does. She started to argue with me about it, but I proved her wrong. The fact of the matter was that she had never written a poem about me. I have to admit it hurt my feelings that my existence didn't inspire her to write something...anything about her ugly duckling daughter. I didn't expect something to rival William Shakespeare. A little Mother Goose would be nice!

Like many elderly people, my mother has a daily routine. She likes to spend her afternoons in her art studio. I call it her cave. One afternoon several months ago upon returning from her cave she placed this piece of paper in my hand:

At 91, I have to admit that she's going strong! Yes, she went through that period I called her "empty pod" or "alien abduction" period and I really doubted she was going to come out of it, but she did. It took a lot of work on my part and it almost put me in a rubber room in the process, but she's back and doing better than ever. Her health is great and her mind is sharp (sharper than mine I have to admit). Maybe what we both need is some medical marijuana and a smile! Now, that's a strange trip I don't know if I'm ready for...smoking dope with my mother just seems a little too weird even for Mildred.

When Serenity Shatters

Growing up as a child of the 1960's something scared me more than the boogeyman, more than a werewolf, more than Frankenstein, more than Count Dracula and more than invading aliens from outer space all rolled into one huge, very real threat.  The Cold War between United States and Russia had escalated to a fever pitch. I remember having air raid drills during school hours in case of a nuclear attack.  Since Bangor was home to Dow Air Force base we, residents of Bangor, Maine were very aware that our small community would be just one of the many ground zero targets. 

Even as a small child I knew there was no bomb shelter secure enough that could save me and those people I loved. I had seen the films of nuclear bomb explosions. I watched the news! I heard what was said! Everything in the path of a bomb blast would violently evaporate in flames in just a split second. What I saw in the faces of the adults around me was that we really were on the eve of destruction and our fate rested in the hands of our elected leaders. The whole world held its breath while the nuclear scenario played itself out. 

Needless to say, many years later I'm able to look back and shake my head as I remember those turbulent days and now I wonder how today's children feel as they have "active shooter" drills in their schools.  My generation was able to move forward and graduate and become adults, yet today's youth feel the very real threat of gun violence everywhere around them. Where can they go today that hasn't been desecrated by guns? Is there any truly safe place these days? Do you feel like you're living in a country that's becoming more divisive and hate-filled every day? To what do you attribute the rise of gun violence and what can we do to change its trajectory? 

Like before I'm holding my breath and hoping for a favorable outcome, but to date our elected officials seem to be deaf and blind to what's happening to this country. I wonder just when will enough be enough. Who will be the last person killed before our elected officials do something to keep all people safer?

BACK IN THE DAY...

I found a newspaper article awhile ago and honestly didn't know how I felt about it. Parents are children's first teachers and role models so if parents want their children to cuss like drunken sailors then I'm all for teaching children how to spell "fuck" right along with teaching them how to spell "cat" and "dog" correctly.  So if we want our young females to look and act like hoochie mommas/cum dumpsters then we (mothers) must set that example at home and other places. Why not have our young daughters wear make up, skin tight daisy dukes and low cut crop tops to school or better yet to church? Or how about let's teach our children that school is a place to get an education? A place that will only better their life in the future if they put in some time and effort into it and treat it with the respect it deserves. OMG! When did I drink the Kool-Aid? lol! Mildred is that really you?

Back in April, a school in Houston, Texas set a dress code for parents...yes, you read that right! I wrote "P-A-R-E-N-T-S". Please read the letter that was sent home to the parents and tell me what you think. Should schools have a dress code for both students and parents? Do the schools have a right to dictate what a parent can wear on school property? Or are dress codes a violation of a parent's 1st Amendment Right? What do you think? I know! People should know better! Parents should set a good example! Blah! Blah! Blah! But take a look around...do they really know better? You tell me????

A mother in Texas claims she wasn’t allowed to enroll her daughter in school because of the outfit she was wearing. KPRC reported that Joselyn Lewis was asked to leave Madison High School after wearing a T-shirt dress of Marilyn Monroe and a head scarf. Lewis said she recently pulled her daughter out of another school due to bullying and wanted to enroll her at Madison High.
“I wanted to see proof of where it says parents can come dressed a certain way, but it wouldn’t show me that. I wouldn’t leave, so they called the police department. They called them on me and I guess he was coming to tell me to leave, but I was already on the phone with the school board,” Lewis said.

(I don't mean to throw Ms. Lewis under the proverbial bus because I've seen mothers dressed much worse, but this is the photo that came with the article.)

I think back to a time when my mother wouldn't leave the house unless she was all decked out. When she moved to Florida, it took her a long time to get used to casual dressing and wearing shorts out in public. Now, whenever I go to Walmart I see people in pajamas and worse. They look like they rolled out of bed and I'm beginning to wonder if there's such a thing as "sleep driving" (similar to sleep walking) because they all seem to end up at Walmart. Follow your dreams to Walmart, but don't forget to bring your wallet!