Good evening, my darlings. Here we are once again coming up on the end of another week. Just one more day to go. This morning, we had a french toast breakfast at work. One of our drainage plancheckers came around on Tuesday asking for a dollar from everyone and this was the result. It was so nice. Well, come on in and let's us have a nice visit, shall we? I have refreshments as always, so what'll it be? My brother posted a picture on FB of my niece and nephew. (I warned you, I like to write about them.) The picture was just precious. It captured quite clearly, my niece's adoration and love for her big brother. It was so sweet is just about broke my heart. I'm so looking forward to them coming for a visit in May. We shall have a fine time. Something else I am looking forward to is a reunion with two very dear friends. I haven't seen them since the 10th (sophomore) grade. They were my life line that year. I went to church school from 6th grade forward. Our local church school only went to the 9th grade. My mom didn't think I could handle boarding school yet, so I packed up and went to live with friends of our family in Napa, CA. That is where I met these two dear souls. I don't quite remember how it is we came to be such good friends, I just know that we were. About half way through the year, the people I lived with (who were like second parents to me), went through a divorce. When I heard what was happening, I felt like I had been blindsided. They were the couple least likely to, ya know? These two friends may not realize this, but they kept me going during this time. I was rarely ever "home" after that. I (and the couple's daughter) stayed with friends and people in the church. It was a very crazy time. They kept me sane with our every day, teen-age insanity. They made me laugh when I was crying inside. Their friendship held me together and I am grateful for it. This July, I will be traveling up north to spend some time with these two great friends and I am so excited. I just want to laugh and reminisce...and reminisce and laugh. I have been blessed with great friends from my past and I have been blessed with great friends in the here and now. Make new friends But keep the old One is silver And the other gold. I hope you are as blessed as I am. Ok. I'm done. Sweet dreams to all... Viscountess Babbles On

Divine Lunacy Gets Riled...

Good evening, my darlings. Did we all survive Monday? I still have a job and I am thankful for that. Well,come on in and lets us visit a spell. I'll make some hot tea to take the chill off. That old wind has kicked up it's heels and drop kicked the temp down a notch or two. A nice cuppa will just do the trick. Care for a short bread cookie or two with the cup? Now, sit down and make yourself to home. I was on my way home this evening, when I noticed something for the first time. At one of the intersections there is a closed down car dealership. I knew that the dealership had closed, but what I hadn't noticed was that the flag was still flying on the flagpole. They cleared out in a big hurry, I guess. As I sat at the light watching Old Glory wave in the wind, I noticed that she was tattered and dirty. That dealership has been closed for some time and we have had all kinds of weather: rain, snow, wind, dust storms. Yet she was flying proudly despite her condition. And I thought: This is America. Businesses are closing left and right; even big corporations are feeling the pinch (Disney, Starbucks, Macy's, to name a few) and are closing some of their stores, too. We are tattered and dirty. We are in a depression. But despite being left out in all kinds of weather, we, too, are standing proudly (maybe even defiantly) in the face of this national disaster. We are saying: We are Americans and we don't give up that easy. The liberals are trying to convince all of us that we should be middle of the road, don't rock the boat, everyone deserves a piece of the pie "citizens". Screw that. I AM A RED-BLOODED, POLITICALLY INCORRECT, STAND BY MY MORALS AND BELIEFS, KEEP MY HARD EARNED MONEY, THINK FOR MYSELF, MADE IN THE USA, AMERICAN. If you don't like it--TOUGH!!! Old Glory and me will be here when this depression is over. There are a lot of people that think we need a change and I agree. I just don't agree with the way they want to change things. Maybe with this depression, people will learn to stand on their own two feet again. We are depending on our government to bail us all out and that is fatal. A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take it all away. (I'm quoting Barry Goldwater) That is what socialism is. I didn't sign up for socialism. If that is what I wanted, I would have defected to a socialist country. I was priviledged enough to be born in a country where I could speak (blog) my mind and not be arrested for it. Socialism is just a "gentler" form of Communism and we all have seen how well that works. To quote an older movie: I want you to get up right now, sit up, go to your windows, open them and stick your head out and yell - 'I'M AS MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!' Things have got to change. But first, you've gotta get mad!... You've got to say, 'I'M AS MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!' Then we'll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis. But first get up out of your chairs, open the window, stick your head out, and yell, and say it: "I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!" Are you? I am. Viva le revolution! I'm done. I'm putting my soap box away. Off to my own bed tonight (not housesitting anymore), so I hope to sleep better. Good night, my pets. Sweet revolutionary dreams Viscountess Babbles On

DIVINE LUNACY WANTS TO KNOW...

Good evening, my darlings. I hope your weekend was enjoyable. My old classmate and friend works for NASCAR. Apparently, his team did quite well at Talledaga. I believe he said they won. Well, what shall we chat about tonight. I know. Misunderstandings. Why do guys always asume that when a woman is flirting with him, she wants a relationship? Then they get all freaked out and stop communicating altogether. One of my old classmate's (not the same aforementioned classmate) that is on FB was sending me huge amounts of plants for MyFarm. I thought it was rather funny (and a little annoying; they were mostly coconut trees). It seemed that every Saturday or Sunday night, I would sign in and there would be all these coconut trees and a couple of animals thrown in for good measure. I decided to "get even" if you will. Not in a malicious way, but just some good old fashioned teasing. I looked on his profile to see where I could take my "revenge", and I noticed that he had a flair board with nothing posted on it. So I went to pieces of flair (one of my personal faves) and began to send him some funny and definately innocuous flairs. Nothing that could be misconstrued as a romantic gesture (I was very careful about that). Well, long story short...no coconut trees, no peach trees, and not a chicken in sight. He no longer sends me any thing. Then again, maybe I am the one jumping to conclusions. Maybe he isn't freaked out and just thinks I don't want him to send my anymore trees or animals. Which isn't true. (Of course, I could have assumed he was making advances to me. In some cultures giving farm animals and produce constitutes a courtship.) Bottom line is, I kind of miss signing in and seeing all the MyFarm requests. Oh well. I will just tend my little Tara, as I call my farm, without the aid of any Yankees. Well, my cherubs, it is time (past time) to go to bed. I'm trying to get to bed before 11pm and I would actually like to get to bed no latter than 9:30pm. So it's off to slumber, perchance to dream...sweet dreams... Viscountess Babbles On

Hello, my darlings. We are well into the witching hour and I am sorely vexed. As you may have noticed, this country is in a financial pickle. Oh, dear. Where are my manners. I forgot to invite you all in. Well, come on in before the neighbors get an eyeful. How about some tea on this blustry April night? Are we all settled? Ok then, here it goes. Today I heard that it is official. We are not in a recession. This is a bona fide depression! And I can believe that whole heartedly. I have a local government job. We just had this big meeting with the powers that be in our department and division, with HR, the union, and an assistant grand muckie-muck. It was to be an update to a meeting about a month ago. The bottom line is: there will be lay-offs. Quite a lot, unless people can transfer to other positions within this entity. Of course, it goes by seniority, so when the money on the general fund gets tight, who will be the first to go? The ones that just transfered in from our division because they will have the least seniority where they are at. I do feel bad for my boss and for the big boss, though. This can't be any fun for them. I'm sure a lot of people are angry with them personally, but this slow down isn't their fault. It is what it is. What has me so vexed is that these people (and possibly yours truly) have worked hard and been loyal employees. These hard-working, loyal employees are about to be unceremoniously dumped out into the "real world". I imagine for some it will be a bit like being a former inmate that was serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole. They get paroled and don't know how to make it on the outside. I hope not, but you never know. It's just a great big ugly catch-22. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. There is no satisfactory way to resolve this situation. Well, I think I've finally run out of steam. Gotta put the clothes in the dryer and then off to the wood pile to cut my nightly quota. Good night, my cherubs. I know there will be a light at the end of this tunnel, too. I just hope it's not a freight train. Oh, well. Sweet depression-less dreams. Viscount Babbles On

Good evening, my darlings...we made it through hump day. And it was a warm one. Got home from work and I had to turn my A/C on...whew. Well, come on in and have a sit down. I have some ice cold lemonade with strawberries and some lovely vanilla wafers. Let's us have a little visit, shall we? Now, how many of you are into Facebook? I'm so into it, I'm looking for a 12-step program! Anywho...one of my FB friends is going through her second bout with cancer. She is a survivor of a previous cancer and now it's back. Is she forlorn or wringing her hands and saying "Alas and Alack."? Is she crying out to the four winds, "Why me?" How about "D": None of the above. She is sharing her experience with all of her FB friends, but the sharing isn't about the cancer. It is about what God is doing in her life. She has the most amazing faith of anyone I have ever known. I am humbled by it, in awe of it, and amazed by it. She is truly leaning on the everlasting arms. I think of all the times that I have let little things discourage me. When I didn't have enough money to buy that cute top for a party, where that cute guy was that I wanted to impress. When I felt it was unfair that others were finding love and I was left out in the cold. God has blessed me in so many ways, yet I am complaining about an aching knee, rather than praising Him because, even though it aches, I can still walk with out the aid of a cane or a walker. I forget to praise Him because I can feel the ache when there are others who would shout with joy to feel anything below the waist. I am the ungrateful daughter of a Heavenly Father that wants nothing more than to spoil me, but I get in the way with my gripes and complaints. I need to get out the way and let Him do for me what He wants to do. I need to lift my hand and my voice in praise for everything: good, bad, or indifferent. I am learning some great things through this beautiful, brave, and faithful woman. And I am praying that God will take note of her faith (He will) and say to her what His Son said to the woman who touched the hem of his garment: "Daughter, thy faith has made thee well. Go in peace." And on that note, I bid you goodnight, my darlings. Sweet peace-filled dreams. Viscountess Babbles On

Good evening, my darlings. It is late. I just got home from my folks' house. My brother and his family decided to pay a surprise visit. Just for the evening. They will be leaving to go back home in the morning. I was able to spend some time with my niece and nephew and it was grand! (This is another topic I love to blog about!) My nephew is very into computers. At 5, he likes to fancy himself quite the expert at playing computer games. You'll never guess where he picked up that little habit from. Anyway, we played some of my games and we played some of his. Meanwhile, my niece is trying to sit in my lap and then changing positions, first this knee, then the other...she didn't sit still. And although I am beat, it was glorious to spend time with them both. As I was leaving, my nephew said: "Remember these two words. I love you very much and God is always on you." It was beautiful to hear him say both "words". I am so blessed. My niece and nephew are always excited to see me and they like when I spend time with just them. Actually, I prefer their company to most adults. Well, stick a fork in me...I am done. I have got some work to do at the wood pile, so I bid you good night. Remember these two words: God loves you very much and He is always with you. Sweet dreams, my cherubs. Viscountess Babbles On

Divine Lunacy Raves Again

Hello, darlings...welcome, welcome. Come on in. The weather is warming up and I just made a batch of sweet tea. Let's us have a big ice cold glass and just visit a while, shall we. I have been derelict in my writing of late and I apologize to anyone finding this blog that was following it on MySpace. I rarely ever go on that site anymore. In fact, I am thinking of deleting myself from that site. Not because I don't like it, but because I have become a Facebook addict. I like Facebook in that it has helped me to connect with some old friends. And I have even made some new old friends. Quite frankly, it is much better than ClassMates dot com and it's free! Not only that, you don't get a lot of those guys (or gals) that e-spam you saying how beautiful (or handsome) you are and that you are the woman (or man) they have been searching for as a wife (or husband) and soul mate, not to mention a mother (or father) to their child. (Have you noticed these people are always widowed?) I'm all a tingle wondering what wonderous adventures await me on both Facebook and this lovely blog site. I hope I will make lots of friends here, too. I think this site will be good for me. Writing always gets my creative juices flowing and then I don't feel as though I'm stagnating. Now, just to let you know, I do tend to go off on a tangent every now and then. I get a bee in my bonnet, I just gotta shoo it out! Best way to do that? BLOG!!! I also love to go on about God and what He has done for me. So if you are in any way offended by a forthright and spiritual woman, this is not the blog for you. You have been warned. Well, this day is getting away from me and I have a few errands to run before it is over. So have a great afternoon and come again. I always have some refreshments and a few words for my guests... All y'all come back and see me soon, y'hear? Viscountess Babbles On