What would Judi do?

This Good News Friday is going to be a little different.  I had a revelation this week.  All this thinking positive, being nice is starting to pay off.  This post is going to be a bit discombobulated.  Patience, please. About two weeks ago,I came across this video on facebook.  (click on "post" here and open from there:   Post by Bardakas .)  This struck a chord with me.  I showed it to one of my kids.  The look on her face said a lot.  I do a lot of things I probably shouldn't do.  Maybe now is the time to change. I told A that I wasn't going to yell at cars any more.  No more calling them stupid, douchebags or anything else.  I will wish them well and hope they don't kill anyone.  Nearly two weeks in, I'm doing well. I don't want my girls to learn to be mean from me. The funny thing is, when the girls are in the car with me and they see someone driving like an asshole, they just look at me now. Aren't you g...

I was emailing with my brother recently and he told me about Good News Fridays.  I have been having a particularly stressful month between my tween angst girls, mom, work, etc.  I've been bitching and feeling sorry for myself and sharing those feelings with my brother and his wife. Then a few good things happened.  So to balance out the bitchiness I've been sharing, I sent a "Good News!" email.  He told me the story of what it was like to work in a travel destination business in the months following 9/11 when no one was traveling.  He and one of his managers, looking for any bit of good news. would have Good News Fridays to review the positive things that were happening.  I think that's what I need to do.  So at least sporadically, you'll see Good News Fridays (GNF) posts.  Feel free to share your good news here as well.  The more, the merrier. So what was my good news?  Well, I won't share it all.  But I'll share enough to tell...

This is one of those things that goes around facebook.  I like it and it got me to thinking about name, which I didn't really like growing up.  I never met another child named Judi/Judy.  There were adults - but they were old.   In the townhouse complex I lived in for most of my life in Lansdale, there were six houses in our row.  In houses 2, 4 and 6, there were Judys.  I was one. I started out Judy.  I changed it in 5th grade.  JudY didn't make sense.  Where did that Y come from? My full name is Judith - there's no Y in there.  So I got rid of it.  Then I became known as " Judi-with-an-I ".  When I spell my name out people still say that.  It's weird. Let's discuss what these folks say about my name.  "Praise to the Lord".  I first read that as "Praise to the Lord Judi" which I really liked.  Take that name out and the meaning changes a bit.  I'd be even more impressed if it said "Prais...

I learned long ago that written words carry power.  I was probably around 7 or 8 years old when Channel 48 in Philly took Shirley Temple Theater off the air.  That wasn't okay in my world and I told them so.  The reward?  They put it back on the air and thanked me (by name!) publicly for it.  Not a bad lesson to learn at a young age. I'm an equal opportunity writer.  That means, I write when I'm pissy with something and I write when I'm happy with something.  I had great service a few years ago at a clothing store and wrote to the district manager to tell them of my experience.  Reading the very pleasant response, it was easy to tell they were quite surprised that someone had taken the time to write to them for a positive reason.  It was worth the 10 minutes of my time. I inherited this tendency to put my feelings in writing honestly.  I remember my mother telling me a story of getting mad when she bought a package of hotdogs from th...

Anyone who knows me knows I like things.  Things hold an importance in my life.  Strange things -things that provoke memories.  I love those long squished pennies you get at tourist places.  I like stuff like that.  I kept a cracker (in an airtight box) that Alan M. gave me at the skating rink when I was in 8th grade.  Oh, I liked that boy so much.  I have boxes (not too many) of that kind of memorabilia of my life. After living in this house for about 15 years, it's full of things.  The time has come to let it go.  Not all of it, certainly.  But a lot of it.  I don't need my grandmother's hope chest when I have one of my own.  I don't need my mother's piano when I don't really enjoy playing.  I loved my victrola - past tense.  It's time for it to go to a new home. My boyfriend has been great about this.  He nudges me along without pushing me.  He handles my tears as I say goodbye to the things that once...