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On June the 7th 1996, I was sitting in my English class in 9th grade. Our assignment was to write a poem about our ideas of “The Ideal World”. Our teacher informed us that we only had 10 minutes to come up with something and that we should probably not attempt to make it rhyme because we had a limited amount of time, and probably wouldn’t be able to come up with anything brilliant during that time (according to her).  I didn’t listen (as I often don’t), and decided to write a poem that rhymed, with however much time I actually had.

As I was packing up things for our upcoming move, I found this poem on a small piece of paper and decided to share it with you.

The Ideal World

The Ideal world is a place where no one is afraid to be,

The grass is green, the sky is blue;

I run through the fields, it’s utterly true,

I can’t think of anything better to do;

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I smell the flowers and see the bees;

and after all, I’m near the seas;

I love the country and see the trees;

Is there anywhere else you’d rather be?

The people are nice, the children are free,

do you agree with me?

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How sweet it is the smell of Summer;

let us all go there or it’ll be a bummer;

To live somewhere where there is no smog;

remembering the city would only be a fog;

So do you see what the ideal world could be?

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Close your eyes and concentrate;

then maybe we can penetrate;

into a world without crime;

where we won’t have to worry about the grime;

Do you see what this ideal world could be?

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Go to that place every time you feel low;

don’t be afraid to let the images flow;

Close your eyes and open up your heart;

don’t worry about falling apart;

the world is at your finger tips;

just say the words on your lips;

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You will drift to a place far, far away;

don’t think about city life, or you might just want to stay.

-

Needless to say, I got a good grade on that paper, and when I read it aloud to the class, they were all shocked with what I was able to come up with in such a short amount of time.  And I  was actually in shock myself. At that point, I realized that writing would become a huge part of my life…

Seems like now-a-days almost everyone has a TV in their homes.  With the invention and distribution of DVRs (digital video recorders), you can now preset what shows you like to watch and it will record it for you.

I was always an avid TV watcher and enjoyed watching when I wanted a break or want to rest my mind from whatever things were occurring in my own life.

But, I’ve been using DVRs for years now, and with it I feel an immense sense of freedom, that I hadn’t previously felt before using this product. I can preset movies to record or shows I like to watch, and sit down and watch whatever show I want, when I want it.  It allowed me the freedom to do whatever chores I had to do, to care for my son, as well as blog on this site, at my own pace, and when I needed a moment of peace, without too much of a hassle, I’d sit down and watch a prerecorded program.

The amount of hours I used to watch TV, versus the amount of hours I currently watch TV has decreased dramatically. Because I’m no longer channel surfing trying to find something that suits me. It’s all waiting for me to click it, in my DVR queue.

I highly recommend getting a DVR if you don’t already have one… Some cable companies and satellite companies offer these systems for free, when you get your system installed.  If you have a friend or family member that already has one, you know exactly what type of freedom I’m talking about.

So, the next time you’re bored, need something to do, aren’t in the mood to talk to a friend, read, or what have you, plop yourself down on your big monster of a couch and just vegetate to the show of your choice.

I have always hated smoking.  Not only the smell of smoke, the leftover smell on the smokers’ clothing and breath, but of coarse the number one reason why I hate it is because of it causing major health problems and sometimes death (with the smoker, the secondhand smoker, and beyond).

I’m always surprised at some of the smoker’s blatant disregard for others, as they smoke and puff their poison into the face of others.

The ultimate justice is that over the years, the price of a pack of cigarettes has increased steadily due to the countless deaths and ongoing lawsuits that plague the tobacco industry.  The high price of cigarette, in recent years has made the smoker’ pocket hurt and caused some of them to quit smoking.  Even though the thoughts of getting cancer or possibly dying from their habit, never stopped them beforehand.

It’s amazing how human nature works! Once it hurts their piggy banks, then then they feel it.

Or can you imagine the horror of seeing a pregnant person smoking to their hearts content? Doesn’t it occur to them that they’re causing irreversible damage to their fetus’s? That their habit may cause their children, life long illnesses?

Either way, smoking is just a disgusting habit that hurts everyone, in the long run. It’s costly, toxic, and in my own personal view, I believe it to be immoral, and on top of that, I believe it should be controlled and viewed as an illegal narcotic.

So, the next time someone is puffing away, and you’re close enough to smell the smoke, give them a piece of your mind, just tell them “Smoker Keep Away, I value my health and the health of others!”

I realize now that when I originally decided to start up this site, I wanted to integrate useful information about various subjects, advice, tips as well as a good dose of blogging, into my daily articles.

Somewhere along the way, I lost my way.  But, I really want to do my utmost to include more blogging in my entries.  I don’t want to focus on doing them daily, since I don’t believe my life is so important that you’d want to read about what I do every second of every day, and I would also like to keep some measure of privacy for myself and my family, but I just want to give an occasional blog entry and see where it goes from there.

Yesterday was spent as a marathon of days. I spent most of the day making phone calls, cooking, cleaning, and packing things.  As some of you may already know, we are in the process of packing up and moving out of state.

My husband was also extremely busy trying to do a lot of things as well, and did accomplish a lot, might I add.

Moving out of state was a mutual decision really, I suppose that both my husband and I get somewhat itchy when we’re in one place for too long. Especially if we feel that the place we are living in, is not offering what we need anymore. We’ve been from city to city, state to state, and each time we moved it was for a very good reason. This time is no different.

We want to have our son grow up in a family atmosphere. We want him to have aunts and uncles and grandparents and all these things. For now, only my Mom lives in this state and she sees us about 5-6 times a year for a few days at a time, here and there. It surely isn’t enough to keep us in this state. She could always fly over to us, in the future, for a longer period of time, and spend just the same amount of time with us.

So, back to what I was saying earlier.  We’ve been packing, and getting rid of extras, so last week I e-mailed everyone I knew in our area to get our furniture, if they needed it, and we are still waiting for people to pick things up.

It is quite frustrating, because although Iwant to benefit those friends around me, part of me is still frustrated that I’m endlessly waiting for those people who want things, but haven’t come to get it yet.

At some point, the salvation army or goodwill will be called, to come and pick up the big items. At that point, I believe that a lot of stress will fly out the door because I’m very interested in getting rid of all the large items, then I think the small little personal items, will be easier to deal with.  For some reason, I think that will give me a lot of relief and I won’t be as stressed.

But, here I am.  I woke up after only 4-5 hours of sleep and made enough noise (while getting up) to wake my son, so I had to bring him to our big green monster of a futon, and he’s currently asleep beside me.

So, for now, I’ll finish this post and see if I can get a bite to eat before thinking about possibly falling back into bed. It’s still super early here, around 7 am.

So,  I guess the packing will have to wait until later…

It’s inevitable that every person will have to move at some point during their lifetimes. But, it doesn’t make it any easier to know this fact.

Most people absolutely loathe moving and the packing, trashing, and donating of items, that starts prior to that. I am one of those people.  I don’t mind up and moving, in fact I am somewhat of a nomad moving from region to region without much qualms about it. Last time we calculated how many times I’ve moved in my lifetime, it came in somewhere between 20-25 times.  We lost count, somewhere in there. But, when it comes to packing, I absolutely hate it.

The un-packing, on the other hand, is joyful, fun, and a good ending to something you’ve started.  But, packing is usually done with some measure of anxiety.

The packing itself may not be causing the anxiety, but the things that go along with it, usually are. The fact that most people are on a deadline and must leave by a certain date, the fact that you must keep well documented lists of things that need to be done before the move, and wrack your brain constantly to be certain that you’re doing everything you were supposed to do, before leaving, as well as scrubbing and cleaning the place you are leaving once you are done with all the other details.

I guess the best part of packing in the moving process, is reaching the final destination.  For that reason, and only that reason, packing is somewhat tolerable.

But, I have found that if you’re packing while alone it’s much harder to stay on task, but when you have someone else to speak with and work with, it becomes much more enjoyable and you sort of forget what it is that you are doing.

Another good tip is to pack one room at a time. If you’re all over the apartment, house, or what have you, the whole house is turned upside down in order to pack things. But, if you start in one room, get rid of extras, then pack up what you need, and keep those things in the same room, then shut the door once that room is completed, that’s one less thing on your mind. Continue to do the same from room to room until all your packing is complete and you’re done.

Once all that is complete, and you’ve finished all there is to do, treat yourself to something that you love, in order to reward yourself for a good job on completeing this task that was a huge pain to do, but well worth the effort.