One moment I am cruising along in life and the next moment my peaceful existence is shattered - just like a car crash. It caught me off guard, just like a car wreck that would catch you off guard and violently shake you, leaving you disoriented, angry, hurt and asking questions like why me?? Why was I chosen to be laid off.
I will have nowhere to go now each day and that seems strange after 27 years. I thought I would be OK with that at this stage in my life, but I realize I am not ready to retire yet ... AND since I will not longer have a paycheck, or health insurance, my life will surly change.
I think I am still reeling in a state of shock, kinda feeling numb and just trying to make it through today.
I would not sign any papers today, and they want me to continue to work another 90 days. Now I have to follow the rules and be a good girl for 90 days to get a severance check.
Right now my life is feeling very traumatic.
Lord know I have been through the worst day of my life when my daughter died, and I have learned to grieve and give myself time, so today, as Day 1, I guess I will need start working on my grieving process once again, to mourn the loss of my job.
I know that setbacks and disappointments are just a part of life, and one needs to move on to bigger and better challenges, but come on ... cut me a break!
Here is what was just posted in our local Paper:
Lockheed Martin issues memo on copter project:
Lockheed Martin said it remains unable to provide more details concerning its 225- employee job-cut plan and other possible work-force reductions at its plant in response to cuts in the proposed federal defense budget for fiscal 2010.
In an internal memo issued to employees Friday and obtained by the Press & Sun-Bulletin, President Marillyn Hewson said company officials are "carefully working through our final critical skills assessment ... and are nearing notification of affected employees."
Lockheed in Owego employs about 4,000 people, including roughly 800 who work on the presidential helicopter program. The Pentagon issued a stop-work order on that program Friday.
THEN I found this and it made me laugh ........ at least for now!!
http://www.oddtodd.com/index2.html
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Portsmouth, N.H. Area
Well I was suppose to post some pictures from my New Hampshire trip but never did soooooo folks here we go!!
We arrived to find some great waves and good surfers ...
Can you beleive I did this in 1965!!!!
I found my grandfather's name on a memorial!
I found my GG-Grandfathers barn in Stratham, NH ... the house burned down a little after 1910, but the barn still stands, they entered the US from Nova Scotia in about 1893 and settle in Stratham.
The Portsmouth Lighthouse ... was a stop at Fort Constitution .. sure my dad was here at some time during WWII.
BUT then this is what we were there for ... I am meeting 42 cousins I never knew I had!! Here is a picture of all my Mom's first cousins!
Now look at all the second cousins I have ...
And Yet the next generation!
Soooooooo it was not all about lobster .... but meeting 42 cousins I never knew I had!!!!!!
THANKS PATSY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOVE YOU GUYS!
We arrived to find some great waves and good surfers ...
Can you beleive I did this in 1965!!!!
I found my grandfather's name on a memorial!
I found my GG-Grandfathers barn in Stratham, NH ... the house burned down a little after 1910, but the barn still stands, they entered the US from Nova Scotia in about 1893 and settle in Stratham.
The Portsmouth Lighthouse ... was a stop at Fort Constitution .. sure my dad was here at some time during WWII.
BUT then this is what we were there for ... I am meeting 42 cousins I never knew I had!! Here is a picture of all my Mom's first cousins!
Now look at all the second cousins I have ...
And Yet the next generation!
Soooooooo it was not all about lobster .... but meeting 42 cousins I never knew I had!!!!!!
THANKS PATSY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOVE YOU GUYS!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
My Grandson!
Alright I may be bias but isn't this the cutest little boy!!
He is just growing toooo fast!!
and the latest ......
I think the caption should read ....
"Hey mom, do you think the chicks will like me with a white goatee?"
He is just growing toooo fast!!
and the latest ......
I think the caption should read ....
"Hey mom, do you think the chicks will like me with a white goatee?"
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Mother's Day
Each Mother's Day greets me with “Bitter-Sweet” memories. I am so lucky to have been given the chance to have three wonderful, talented, poised, young women in my life, that I call my daughters. The bitterness comes from the death of one of them.
At times I think I want to by pass this holiday, but how can you with the bombardment of ads on the radio, newspapers and TV, which seem to start about a month before. Suggestions of flowers, cards, dinner reservation, etc. Mother’s Day is the only holiday that specifically uses the word mother, so there is no real way of avoiding this day.
But for those who have lost a child Mother’s Day seems to once again open a wound in our hearts for the child no longer here. The absence of one of my children is a void I try to fill with memories – or a handmade card from long ago, a special photograph from happy times, but the memories can never replace the presence Jodi.
So I plan to do something that is right for me this day. In honor of Mother’s Day I will visit my daughter’s grave and plant some flowers, then take a quiet walk. Tonight I will talk with my two other daughters, who both live far from home, then await the day to end, until I have to do it all over again next year.
I know Mother’s Day is only one day, and with each passing new day, month, year, my heart is once again filled with the good memories of all three of my beautiful daughters! And my handsome grandson.
P.S.
Mom, I miss you too this Mother’s Day and hope what ever plane you roam on that your day will be filled with lots of yellow roses!!
I send warm Mother’s Day greetings to all of you this day. Here are a few favorite Mother’s Day quotes:
"Youth fades; love droops, the leaves of friendship fall; A mother's secret hope outlives them all." -Oliver Wendell Holmes
"Making the decision to have a child-it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." -Elizabeth Stone
"I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life." -Abraham Lincoln
At times I think I want to by pass this holiday, but how can you with the bombardment of ads on the radio, newspapers and TV, which seem to start about a month before. Suggestions of flowers, cards, dinner reservation, etc. Mother’s Day is the only holiday that specifically uses the word mother, so there is no real way of avoiding this day.
But for those who have lost a child Mother’s Day seems to once again open a wound in our hearts for the child no longer here. The absence of one of my children is a void I try to fill with memories – or a handmade card from long ago, a special photograph from happy times, but the memories can never replace the presence Jodi.
So I plan to do something that is right for me this day. In honor of Mother’s Day I will visit my daughter’s grave and plant some flowers, then take a quiet walk. Tonight I will talk with my two other daughters, who both live far from home, then await the day to end, until I have to do it all over again next year.
I know Mother’s Day is only one day, and with each passing new day, month, year, my heart is once again filled with the good memories of all three of my beautiful daughters! And my handsome grandson.
P.S.
Mom, I miss you too this Mother’s Day and hope what ever plane you roam on that your day will be filled with lots of yellow roses!!
I send warm Mother’s Day greetings to all of you this day. Here are a few favorite Mother’s Day quotes:
"Youth fades; love droops, the leaves of friendship fall; A mother's secret hope outlives them all." -Oliver Wendell Holmes
"Making the decision to have a child-it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." -Elizabeth Stone
"I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life." -Abraham Lincoln
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Cinco de Mayo
Cinco de Mayo” means “fifth of May” in Spanish. On May 5th each year, Mexicans as well as many people in the United States, celebrate a holiday to remember an important battle for independence in Mexico. The battle, known as the Battle of Puebla, took place on May 5, 1862. At the time, French troops occupied Mexico. They had been sent there by Napoleon five months earlier, supposedly to collect money that Mexico owed to France. However, it seemed that the real reason France had invaded Mexico was to take over the territory.
Many people mistakenly believe that Cinco de Mayo is Mexican Independence Day. However, that is not the case. Independence Day is celebrated on September 16 to commemorate Mexican Independence from Spain. Mexico became independent decades before the Battle of Puebla. By Cinco de Mayo, 1862, Mexico was already an independent country, now facing occupation by another enemy.
This modern holiday began when a group of California State University students decided to hold the first Cinco de Mayo commemoration in the United States. This was around 1967. The students felt that there was no Chicano holidays and needed to do something about it. They wanted something to recapture their history and identity and decided that the Battle of Puebla was symbolic and they could connect it to their struggle for the formation of a Chicano Studies program at the university.
This 5th of May, join in the celebration with a fiesta of your own or join in on one in your local community!
Friday, May 1, 2009
Celtic May Day Celebration - Beltane Fires
No doubt they rose up early, to observe
The rite of May; and hearing our intent,
Came here in grace of our solemnity.
--MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM.
Beltane is a festival that is referred to as a Gaelic ceremony, it has been celebrated for thousands of years throughout the United Kingdom and Europe. In fact in Ireland, it supposedly marks the arrival of the Gaels on to Irish shores. It is exactly halfway to the celebration held on November 1st (or Oct 31st eve) called the Samhain.
In Irish mythology, the beginning the new season for the Tuatha Dé Danann and the Milesians started at Bealtaine. It marked the beginning of the pastoral summer season when the herds of livestock were driven out to the summer pastures and mountain grazing lands, hillsides were lit with great bonfires; where people could burn their winter bedding and floor coverings, ready to be replaced afresh.
Great bonfires would mark a time of purification and transition, heralding in the season in the hope of a good harvest later in the year and were accompanied with ritual acts to protect the people from any harm by other worldly spirits, such as the Aos Sí. People would also pass between the smoke from the fires to purify themselves. Like the festival of Samhain, opposite Beltane on October 31 Beltane was also a time when the other world was seen as particularly close at hand.
Later accounts of Beltane festivities refer to a Beltane Cake, baked with eggs and barley. A special piece of this cake is referred to as the Beltane Carline, this spelt symbolic doom to whoever was unlucky enough to receive it. Once identified, the person with the Beltane Carline would be set upon by some of the others who would attempt to throw them on the fire. This would be prevented by the rest of the festival goers. The unlucky person would then be considered a symbolic sacrifice and referred as being dead for the rest of the evening (great party huh??).
Yes! the Summer is returning,
Warmer, brighter beams are burning
Golden mornings, purple evenings,
Come to glad the world once more.
Nature from her long sojourning
In the Winter-House of Mourning,
With the light of hope outpeeping,
From those eyes that late were weeping,
Cometh dancing o'er the waters
To our distant shore.
On the boughs the birds are singing,
Never idle,
For the bridal
Goes the frolic breeze a-ringing
All the green bells on the branches,
Which the soul of man doth hear;
Music-shaken,
It doth waken,
Half in hope, and half in fear,
And dons its festal garments for the Bridal of the Year!
By Denis MacCarthy
The rite of May; and hearing our intent,
Came here in grace of our solemnity.
--MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM.
Beltane is a festival that is referred to as a Gaelic ceremony, it has been celebrated for thousands of years throughout the United Kingdom and Europe. In fact in Ireland, it supposedly marks the arrival of the Gaels on to Irish shores. It is exactly halfway to the celebration held on November 1st (or Oct 31st eve) called the Samhain.
In Irish mythology, the beginning the new season for the Tuatha Dé Danann and the Milesians started at Bealtaine. It marked the beginning of the pastoral summer season when the herds of livestock were driven out to the summer pastures and mountain grazing lands, hillsides were lit with great bonfires; where people could burn their winter bedding and floor coverings, ready to be replaced afresh.
Great bonfires would mark a time of purification and transition, heralding in the season in the hope of a good harvest later in the year and were accompanied with ritual acts to protect the people from any harm by other worldly spirits, such as the Aos Sí. People would also pass between the smoke from the fires to purify themselves. Like the festival of Samhain, opposite Beltane on October 31 Beltane was also a time when the other world was seen as particularly close at hand.
Later accounts of Beltane festivities refer to a Beltane Cake, baked with eggs and barley. A special piece of this cake is referred to as the Beltane Carline, this spelt symbolic doom to whoever was unlucky enough to receive it. Once identified, the person with the Beltane Carline would be set upon by some of the others who would attempt to throw them on the fire. This would be prevented by the rest of the festival goers. The unlucky person would then be considered a symbolic sacrifice and referred as being dead for the rest of the evening (great party huh??).
Yes! the Summer is returning,
Warmer, brighter beams are burning
Golden mornings, purple evenings,
Come to glad the world once more.
Nature from her long sojourning
In the Winter-House of Mourning,
With the light of hope outpeeping,
From those eyes that late were weeping,
Cometh dancing o'er the waters
To our distant shore.
On the boughs the birds are singing,
Never idle,
For the bridal
Goes the frolic breeze a-ringing
All the green bells on the branches,
Which the soul of man doth hear;
Music-shaken,
It doth waken,
Half in hope, and half in fear,
And dons its festal garments for the Bridal of the Year!
By Denis MacCarthy
Thursday, April 30, 2009
New Babies Born!
I received an link from a friend that directed me to one of those "Nature Cams" ... some are pretty neat, but most are really boring. So I decided to take a look and just see what this has to offer. Guess what, I am HOOKED!
To "backtrack" a bit ... while in British Columbia last year we went to Vicotira, then drove up to Sidney and caught a ferry over to Vancouver. While we were staying on the San Juan Islands off the coast I saw my first majestic eagle! I was in total awe!
So back to this "Nature Cam" ... it is located in Sidney, British Columbia in the nest of a pair of eagles who have had three eaglettes! I have been watching their growth, their award stumbles, their first sneeze (that's what it looked like to me), and watching mom and dad both bring, fish and other small creatures back to the nest to feed their young ... totally amazing. You can hear the chicks talking to their parents and the parents making clucking noises back and also to each other. I worry if they get to far out of their "nest bowl" that they will fall out!
Lette 1 is the stronger by far and takes most of the food, he gets around pretty good, Lette 2 is fair is size and also moves around a fair amount, Lette 3 has a bit of the "ugly duckly" look ... or should I say ugly Lette Look!! I worry about Lette 3like a mother bird! I come home from work and have to go check my cam, I watch TV with the cam on in the back ground so I can check on them, in the morning I try to see them before I leave for work, but the sun is not always up yet on the west coast ... call me addicted! :-)
So here are some cam shots of the family ... I have attached a link below also to the nest. Be sure to keep and eye on my baby Lettes while I am at work!! I need a life! hahahahaha
OK Here are Mom and Dad
Here is mom with Lette 1 and Lette 2
Mom looking after her babies
Here are the kids!!
I hope you can open this link ... I am not sure if I am doing this right! But if you can ... enjoy the these majestic animals!!
To "backtrack" a bit ... while in British Columbia last year we went to Vicotira, then drove up to Sidney and caught a ferry over to Vancouver. While we were staying on the San Juan Islands off the coast I saw my first majestic eagle! I was in total awe!
So back to this "Nature Cam" ... it is located in Sidney, British Columbia in the nest of a pair of eagles who have had three eaglettes! I have been watching their growth, their award stumbles, their first sneeze (that's what it looked like to me), and watching mom and dad both bring, fish and other small creatures back to the nest to feed their young ... totally amazing. You can hear the chicks talking to their parents and the parents making clucking noises back and also to each other. I worry if they get to far out of their "nest bowl" that they will fall out!
Lette 1 is the stronger by far and takes most of the food, he gets around pretty good, Lette 2 is fair is size and also moves around a fair amount, Lette 3 has a bit of the "ugly duckly" look ... or should I say ugly Lette Look!! I worry about Lette 3like a mother bird! I come home from work and have to go check my cam, I watch TV with the cam on in the back ground so I can check on them, in the morning I try to see them before I leave for work, but the sun is not always up yet on the west coast ... call me addicted! :-)
So here are some cam shots of the family ... I have attached a link below also to the nest. Be sure to keep and eye on my baby Lettes while I am at work!! I need a life! hahahahaha
OK Here are Mom and Dad
Here is mom with Lette 1 and Lette 2
Mom looking after her babies
Here are the kids!!
I hope you can open this link ... I am not sure if I am doing this right! But if you can ... enjoy the these majestic animals!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)