The King of Pop is Dead

But the King of Kings is NOT!! I'm Michael Jackson'd out folks. Yes, he was a good singer, some of his record sale records may never be topped. No one else may make a 15 plus minute music video to ever top Thriller. But, four solid days of this is enough. We should not be worshipping this person.

We forget who we're supposed to worship and adore...Jesus Christ the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I know that's not always too popular. People don't like to hear other people shout it out so loudly. The shouters are accused of being Jesus freaks and Bible Thumpers. We'd prefer to go about in quiet Christianity, not making any waves. We think it's enough that we're "good people".

Rest in peace Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon, and now Billy "Oxy Clean" Mays. Now could someone re-program my television so I don't have to see any more of this?

Happy Father's Day

My Daddy is a giant of a man. Not necessarily his height, he's only 6'2" but to me he is a giant. I can't say my daddy ever did anything that will be mentioned in the history books, although he will be someone I never forget. He never made a fortune, but we always had what we needed. So why is my Daddy a giant? Because of his faith in God. He taught me that faith. I am so very blessed to have a Daddy who is a Christian, who loves God with all his heart.

My Daddy has always worked hard. We grew all our vegetables and after Daddy would come home from working 8 or 10 hours, out to the garden he'd go: tilling the ground, hoeing the weeds, watering. He'd do whatever needed to be done. At 78 you will still find him on the tractor, hoeing the garden, fixing something....always busy. I can recall as a child, telling my mother (when my Chatty Cathy doll was broken), "When Daddy gets home, he'll fix it. He can fix anything!" He fixed her. She had a screw in her hip for the rest of her life, but he didn't let me down.

Daddy is a gentle man, but you always knew his word was law. I can only remember Daddy giving me two spankings in my lifetime. Those two were enough.

Today is the day we stop and remember our fathers, we bless our fathers, we say thank you to our fathers. Thank you, Daddy, for being the World's BEST Father! I love you very much.

Summer Reality Show Tune-Out

Summertime...and the living is easy. Catfish jumpin' and the cotton is high.

I love that song, but it reminds me that summer is here and all my favorite television shows are on hiatus for the summer months. What's on? Some pretty idiotic reality shows. Here's some examples: Wipeout...grown adults humiliate themselves by bouncing off giant rubber balls, falling into the mud, and other stunts. Blah. Housewives of New Jersey (and other places) a group of rude, self-contered, out of control women parade their lives for all to see. I'm a Celebrity, Get me out of here!, a group of D list wannabes are stranded in the jungle...where are the celebrities? It's more interesting watching the birds at our bird feeder.

Do people really watch this stuff? I suppose they do, but I can't see wasting my time. How about digging out the reruns of Touched by an Angel or Promised Land?

Telephone Etiquette

I guess I'm on the "Whatever happened to" theme these days. It's starting to make me feel old, and I'm not sure I like that feeling! However, I wonder what happened to good manners, especially telephone manners. I get very tired of people calling and when I answer the phone it's silence. You know someone is there because there's no dial tone and after a few seconds they simply hang up. Now, I understand people dial incorrectly, I do it often myself, but I don't allow someone to answer the phone and then hang up on them. I politely apologize with "I'm sorry, I dialed incorrectly."

This morning the phone rang and caller ID said, "New York, NY. We own a business so we often receive calls from numbers I don't immediately recognize. I answer, cheerily, and dead air for fifteen seconds and then "click." In the words of Stephanie Tanner, "How rude."

Since we run the business from our home I always answer "Good Morning" and the name of the business during business hours. Sometimes it stuns people, especially if it's someone calling for me personally, or to order Avon from me...but don't simply hang up. I want to receive your call. I want to talk to you. If it's a wrong number I won't be upset, but will politely wish you a pleasant day. As Julie Andrews' character says in The Princess Diaries, "Manners matter."

When did we stop teaching our children manners for polite society. Yes ma'am and No sir? Telephone manners" Common courtesy? I think we should revive those things once again.