mortality...

[chris]

alright kids...this is not spanktrovision...keep it clean, this is a family site.

not that i would know what that is...ahem

[mervap]

All I said was a little innocent example of love and support and.....can't take you kids anywhere!

[2 of 3]

OK, now I'm depressed.

[mr h atom]

cautionary tale : i'm one of those people who "lived like i was dyin'"....

tho, i never jumped out of an airplane ( not yet)...and the only rapids i've shot are teeny tiny ones ((and, i've never had the wish to climb the highest mountain (look...if i can't breathe normally...forget it))and...swim...with SHARKS...!)

but...sometimes that can bite you in the posterior in ways you never know....

i put off visitng my mom for years...not 'cause we didn't get along: far from it...'cause i was too busy running around, trying new things: i kept her fully informed: but, the day she died...it'd been ten years since i'd seen her....ten years

don't do that (sorry) stuff, people...trust me

when i got he call, she was already gone

nowadays, with a wife i love and four great kids...my risks are smaller...'cause, like chris, i don't know what's on the other side: but i damn well know what is here.

i'll take my risks on a roller coaster that is bigger/faster/taller WITH my kids at my side (the sky jumping can wait until they graduate from HS...just in case my ticker untocks, or something)..or maybe...the salmon mousse..instead of the well done steak ! now THAT is daring !!

i talked once of a bit o' pop philosophy i gleaned as a young tyke from...ahem...battle for the planet of the apes... ...and in it , to greatly paraphrase, the speaker mused that life is like a great big highway...it doesn't matter which road you take, as long as you get to the same place...
and i can't help but do my best Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy and remind each and every one of us that in all the galaxies and all the stars..there is still only one, unique each of you...don't destroy the one named "(put your name here, sucka !)"

all in all..if the constant turf battles in iraq could teach us anything, it's that none of really have the answer (each and every one of them surely thinks they do): except, of course, for the one right before your eyes.

believe in what you see: not what others tell you to
believe in what you know: if you're unsure of what you know...get off your lazy butt and seek more answers/better definitions. you're only held back by your own self-built box: think and live outside it.
don't try to tell others how to live, what to believe: let them figure it out on their own. give them the proper tools, and the right amount (and the right kind) of support , and they will make the right decisions: i've got 2 in college, and each are far better people than i could have every hoped and prayed for.

as for what may be 'on the other side' or..beyond this place: i can honestly say i do knot have the foggiest notion: nor, do i really dwell on it: the here and now is far too interesting for me to worry about it (other than...i don't have any wish to find out anytime soon !)

i actually often think people who dwell on it too much must really be bored with their lives (no offense...think about it...)..that, or really worried they may leave too soon...(hey..in heaven...can i come back, like in 'ghost whisperer' and tell 'em i didn't mean to leave...i didn't mean it when i took the last oreo, even thought i knew they really wanted it ?!?)

back in sept, i spent almost a week trying to get my 2 yr old neice to think i WAS NOT the boogie man...i was, largely, unsuccesful...for that reason alone...i can't be going anywhere until she realizes her uncle is one cool, if slightly balding, dude !
chicks..get your mammograms and other things checked on...guys...turn and cough and like it: it may save yer stinkin' hide.
go to the DR if it really does not clear up after a few days : i knew a 19/20 yr old kid: he did NOT get the problem checked out...he never made 21...

and...for jiminy sake...go back and re-listen to McCartney II - it is one darned fine spiffy little record...

[chris]

mr h...sorry to hear about the mom thing.

i suppose we would all change a thing or two if we had a chance.

i absolutely will not sky dive...its unnatural. its not that i have a fear of flying...more like a fear of crashing into a side of a mountain.

but i do spend my time doing what i think is important. and that is spending quality time with my kids. its funny...i don't recall my folks being 1/10th involved in my life as i am with my kids. and yet...i feel my childhood was a good one. (who knows, could be a case of selective memory)

i tell my kids every day that i love them (again, don't remember my parents saying that to me as a kid...but i knew they did just the same.) now even my youngest has to look around and make sure his freinds aren't watching before he lets me give him a kiss. i know they will outgrow me. but i will remind them every day that i'm here for them regardless.

no one knows the future...we cannot know what should have been done, until maybe its too late to do it. regrets...there's been a few...

live your life...there are so many days to do so...

and heed good advice along the way (even if its from monkey movies) because good advice is hard to come by.

[mommasturn]

believe in what you see: not what others tell you to
believe in what you know: if you're unsure of what you know...get off your lazy butt and seek more answers/better definitions. you're only held back by your own self-built box: think and live outside it.
don't try to tell others how to live, what to believe: let them figure it out on their own. give them the proper tools, and the right amount (and the right kind) of support , and they will make the right decisions: i've got 2 in college, and each are far better people than i could have every hoped and prayed for.

Nicely put. One positive side effect of getting off the lazy butt is slimming that butt down a few sizes. Get out and walk or jog. It kicks you the first few trips around the block but before you know it, it is so easy and it is almost a craving to get out and move.

And don't forget to eat some fruits and veggies, it's only mom and dads job to tell us what to eat for a few years, after that, we most force ourselves to eat the yucky green beans and peaches to stay healthy.

I hope everyone re-reads the part about going to the doc to get checked. We are not invincible, medicine can not fix things everytime. Early detection is key. And make sure if you take supplements they are high quality and don't interact with prescription meds. Better to be pro active than reactive.

[mr h atom]

kind and wise words by all...once again...we show we may actually know something: which, in turn, means we've learned something FROM our folks: in some ways, we've stayed the same; some have improved to the good...
in some cases, maybe we've taken a sad song and made it better...
and that's a pretty good thing, too...

[mi]

i actually often think people who dwell on it too much must really be bored with their lives (no offense...think about it...)..that, or really worried they may leave too soon...(hey..in heaven...can i come back, like in 'ghost whisperer' and tell 'em i didn't mean to leave...i didn't mean it when i took the last oreo, even thought i knew they really wanted it ?!?)

I don't know, I thought the same about Stephan King when I watched his horrid "Pet Semetary", with all these people coming back from the dead as monsters and all that...but I think an intersting partner for this debate would be J.K Rowling - I don't know how many of you are as much into "Harry Potter" as I am, but I suppose most of you are at least familiar with the general idea - a war between the "good" and the "evil" forces... the so-called "dark lord", or "He Who Must Not Be Named" has one ambition in life, and that is - to conquer death. He believes becoming immortal will give him endless power. He's willing to pay any price - no matter how horrible, for that, but does not realize that all his attempts only make him weaker and weaker. He despises the concepts of love and friendship and courage and is not able to accept that these can be stronger than death. I'm not going to tell you how it ends, for those of you who haven't read the last book yet...
Personally I don't go around thinking about these issues, but every once in a while you must stop and appreciate what you've got...unfortunately, like my mother, I am the kind of person who tends to get over critical about every little think and get down really hard on people when they annoy me, especially with my husband...but then I watch the evening news and hear about young men who died in battles on were killed in car crashes, and left girlfriends and (sometimes pergnant!) wives behind...I just think of myself in their place, going "I don't care about all his faults anymore, I just want him back..." and decide to think before I say something next time we get into an argument... doesn't always work, you know - those of you who are hot tempered...for instance, how do you think John Lennon would have felt if (GOD FORBIDS!!) something had happened to Paul back in the early 70's, knowing that the last words he heard from him were "How Do You Sleep"...

[2 of 3]

Hey mi, how's the bump?

[mi]

Hey mi, how's the bump?

If you mean what I think you mean... well, fine, more or less, I'm just getting so big it's getting more and more difficult to carry myself around. And still two more months to go...it's amazing how time seems to pass slower and slower as the end draws nearer...