Modest is...As Modest Does?

Today's Post is using one of Mama Kat's  prompts...

                   And the winner is ...

                          Prompt #1!

A blog post inspired by the word: Modest

Modest is an adjective. The definition is as follows:

1) unassuming or moderate in the estimation of one's abilities or achievements.

2) relatively moderate, limited, or small

As I sit here thinking about this word I am struck by just how often it is used to describe so many things in life.

When starting out in your career...usually just out of school...your income is described as Modest by your parents when they talk to their friends because....

Well, paltry or measley just makes you sound like a slacker.

And your first home?

Yep, that's a modest row home or bungalow or cape cod...because telling your co-workers you live in a shoe box with windows would be humiliating... or a glorified shed.

And then there are the myriad decorating books that give advice on how to make your modest home, loft or efficiency appear larger, grander, more....everything.

As if your guests won't notice that the couch doubles as your bed or that your kitchen and bathroom  sink are one in the same.

Modest clothing covers those areas of the body that are considered improper to show...

but what exactly the criteria for that determination is seems to depend largely upon the person wearing them.

In Victorian times arms and ankles were not to be shown,...

but cleavage falling out so as to leave nothing to the imagination was okay....as long as you were of the upper classes...the poor people all seem to look  like nuns in comparison...

In the 40's ankles could be seen,.. but do not leave home 

with your head uncovered...even if you were wearing a ghastly rendition of a bird's nest or flower arrangement.

( which btw are neither unassuming nor moderate)

Modest attire in the 1960's and 70's consisted of mini skirts with slight v-necks, long sleeves...

( although being small or limited does seems to be appropriate here)

and bell-bottom skin tight low-cut pant suits often without the proper foundation garments...

and to think...

Those young girls are the Grandmas of today!

The concept of what Modest is has changed over the decades...centuries even.

But one thing remains the same...

Modest does not always mean bad...or good...

because really...

It's all in the eyes...

Or minds...

of the beholder....

or recent grad, or new home owner, or fashionista or...

TheBusyMom who really thinks that those girls at the Homecoming Dance last year ...

the ones that could not bend over without everyone in sight knowing they were wearing a thong and needed a serious Brazilian... 

Yeah...they looked a lot like this only make those black mesh thigh highs and 6 inch hooker heels!
(photo from www.walmart-people.com...yes, these people do walk around in public like this!)

Could benefit from someone teaching them the meaning of the word Modest...

and maybe a dictionary for Christmas so they can look up the definition of the word : Tacky

Note To Self... Pay Attention, Please!

Good Morning World At Large... 
(Great! Now I have Robin Williams' voice stuck in my head!)

Today's post is brought to you by the letter ... er, no, that's not right...

Let me start again...
(I am a little rusty at this blog writing which serves me right for not making time for it like I should..)

Mama Kat's Writers Workshop

Today's post is brought to you by a prompt from the ever popular and oh so wise and wonderful Mama Kat-------->
and her never ending supply of writing prompts...

The one I chose for this week is...
(drum roll please)

Number 4-  
If you could write a note to your younger self, what would you say in just two words.

And the answer is....

BE YOURSELF

So there you have it folks.
The words of wisdom that I impart to my younger and much less self assured (like my current self is all that much better) self.

And yes, they are only 2 words, but when put together and read in the right context...
and with the right accent, like say, Robin Williams as Genie from Disney's Aladdin...




or in the voice of... OMG! once again Robin Williams as Batty Koda ( the science lab experiment escapee bat with one antennae and only one claw)  from Fern Gully ...

BE. YOURSELF. 

And here I stop to say that quite coincidentally, and without any prior forethought, I have hit upon a subtopic to this post....
Yep, You guessed it...

Robin Williams! 

Who knew that a man who has personal knowledge of the trials and tribulations of pantyhose and brassieres with too many hooks for comfort would have left such profound, yet simplistic advice in my sub-conscience?

Better yet, who would have thunk it? That my sub-conscience would actually send this information back up to my cognitive brain for use?

Well.  Wonders Never Cease ....

I sure hope my younger self appreciates the mental acrobatics required by my older self to find these words of wisdom...
And I sure wish my older self had taken the time to listen to my self a long time ago and done just that...

BE. YOUR. SELF.

Okay... technically, put that way it's 3 words but...
You get the message, right?

More Writing Prompted by.... Someone Else? or Not...

Yes.
This is yet another post that was prompted by...


You guessed it... The Writer's Workshop at Mama Kat's Losin It


I have a ton of topics that I want to write about... 
That I thought up on my own, but...


I just can't seem to get motivated...
to do anything...
at. all.


So... here is a little something based on prompt number...3? for this week...
Enjoy!


3.) Tell us something you learned about a grandparent that surprised you.


So, this is the part where you would expect me to say that I was surprised to learn that my grandmother was a flapper in a speakeasy...
But she wasn't.


Or that my grand dad was a fighter pilot in the war... 
But he wasn't.


I cannot recall when I learned this little tidbit about Grams, but I do remember thinking...
Wowsers!


Apparently, Grams and Granpa got married when Grams was very young. I think I always knew this, but I didn't really KNOW it...
Know what I mean?


Just like I knew that growing up in the hills of Ohio in the 1920's was hard... 
no, it was REALLY hard.


But just how hard I didn't understand.


The story goes that Grams met Granpa at a barn dance. 
They liked one another.
They dated? ( or stepped out or courted, whatever they called it back then...)


Grams and Granpa were married on August 23rd. 
It was Granpa's birthday... his 21st to precise.
Grams' birthday was August 16th.
She was a young girl... he was an older man... guy... boy... 
whatever...



But this is where the story gets ...
let's just say odd, or fuzzy.

Grams was one of many children... My mom would be able to say how many and name them in correct order in a hearbeat... I, alas, am not that good... I have to cheat and look at the family genealogy she wrote to get it right.


So, there were a bunch of kids and Grams was one of the younger ones. Her dad was off working somewhere else... like in another state or a different town because, well, that's where the work was. 
Probably a coal mine or steel mill.


Anyway...and here is the fuzzy part....
the kids were farmed out to families in the area... relatives or not it seems...
because there were too many mouths to feed? 


Apparently this was not an uncommon occurrence back in the day...


And then there was a flood.
And some of the little ones got washed away?
And then there was a fire. 
And some of the little ones perished?


And somehow, someway, someone got Grams mixed up with one of her older sisters?


She grew up believing her birth year was 1920... 
so she got married in 1937... when she was 17... right?


Wrong... evidently when she applied for a Social Security number...
as an adult... 
Mom of 3...
because she needed one for a job...


She was informed that she was born on August 16, 1923...


And if you do the math correctly...
and Granpa REALLY was celebrating his 21st birthday the day they got married...
and Grams REALLY was born in 1923... instead of 1920...


Then they got married 7 days after she turned 14...
Yeah... 
The reason, I was told when I questioned that no one knew she was 3 YEARS YOUNGER!!!, 
is this...


She was always big for her age so she easily passed for one of the older kids who had drowned or perished in the fire or whatever...

although how anyone could have mistaken a 3 year old for a 6 year old...
I don't care how big for her age she was...seriously?


It seems that there is yet another twist to this story...
and again it is, we'll say, fuzzy...


She knew her name was Kathryn Nancy... 
I mean you know your name, right?



But she was wrong! 


Yep, her name was REALLY Nancy Kathryn... 


you know, the one born 3 years later...


but they lost the family bible with the kid's names and birth dates in it...
I don't know, in the fire or the flood or ... whatever... so anyone could have been anyone at that point... 


Is it any wonder that tracking down the family tree is so time consuming???
confusing?
convoluted?


And don't even get me started on the side of the family whose family tree is really a wreath!


I know, right?

Writer's Workshop - Meet My Good Friends...

                              Welcome to another round of Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop!

For those of you not familiar with the Writer's Workshop it is basically a way to get new and perhaps even thought provoking blogging topics out there. Bloggers are encouraged to write a post using one of the topics listed for that week and then link it to the posts other bloggers have made using the same list of topics. Not only does this help to get the proverbial creative juices flowing, but it helps the blogging community to get to know another as well...

So, on to this week's topics of choice... for me, at least!

5.) Name a celebrity you would like to be your "in real life" friend. What makes him or her a perfect match for you?

The crazy thing about this subject is that I really and truly was discussing this just the other day with BratChild and HeMan Hubby... 

and not at the same time, but on 2 separate occasions within the same week..

So, this must really be the topic of which I must blog...

So just who is it that I would like to be my real life friend... celebrity-wise that is?

Well, I already know some real celebrities, but we're not close, at least not any more...

Ask any of my family members who my celeb friends would be and they will tell you straight away without having to take a breath ...

Paula Deen and Rachel Ray, of course! 

Every time I see Paula on TV or in a store display I say, 

"oh, look! It's my good friend Paula Deen!"

Because seriously, you all, if I lived in the Savannah area Paula and I would be friends...

There's just something about her sense of humor and sense of self...

that I admire and somehow make me feel like I could be myself around her and she would still be my friend...

But then, she is a charismatic woman who has made her fortune by making people feel good ... 

albeit with food...

so good in fact that they readily shell out great sums of money for the privilege of eating food prepared by Paula Deen...

I would stop by her house and whip up a batch of cookies or a butter rum cake...

we would discuss the merits of champagne vs. sparkling wine in a Mimosa...

and whether or not there is such a thing as too much rum in / on a rum cake, really?

Now that is a lady that I think I could be great friends with.

Rachel Ray, if I lived in New York, would be my good friend.

I can see she and I sitting on a sofa, in jeans and a raggedy sweat shirt from a university neither of us actually attended, sans socks...

drinking some Yellowtail Merlot or Shiraz from the totally wrong kind of goblet...

while eating popcorn and raisinets...

watching Steel Magnolias or It's a Wonderful Life on an all-day marathon.

We would just hang out and talk about nothing...

and everything...

marriage...

work...

and recipes...

What kind of sauce with calamari?

Remoulade or marinara?

Tempura batter or panko breading on that calamari or catfish bites?

 I think the reason that both of these lovely ladies appeals to me, 

draws me in and makes me feel like they could be my Very Good Friend...

Is that they seem to be exactly what they portray themselves to be...

regular people with regular lives...

who are famous...

who just happen to have found a way to make a living doing something that they love...

just like me...

aside from the famous part...

and minus the making a living doing something that I love part...

Other than that...

My Very Good Friends, Paula Deen and Rachel Ray, and I have a lot in common...

Or at least I think we will...

if we ever actually lived near one another...

and had the chance to hang out together...

and actually had something in common...

Yeah...

THEN we would be the very best of friends! 

Writer's Workshop... 5 Things

Yes, I am at it again... or at least trying to be.
Here is this week's offering to Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop.

Of the 5 topic choices I picked this one because... well because it was the only one that seemed to apply.  Enjoy! 

2) Five Things. 
List 5 things we don't know about you,5 things you're knowledgeable about, 5 things you know nothing about, and 5 things you believe. (inspired by LouLou’s Views)


5 things we don't know about you:
1- I hate asparagus
2- I get tired of being nice all the time
3- I am lonely most of the time
4- I never went to college even though I got a scholarship
5- I never planned to have any kids... funny how that one worked out, huh?


5 things you're knowledgeable about:
1- Kids
2- birds
3- health care and medicine
4- fundraising
5- crafting and decorating


5 things you know nothing about:
1- computer programming
2- computer networking
3- HeMan Hubby's computer networking engineering administrating job 
4- being in jail
5- jet engines


5 things you believe:
1- I believe that what goes around comes around so you better watch out 
2- I believe that what you do is more important than what you say
3- I believe that no one should ever go hungry or be homeless in the US... 
4- I believe that more people need to recycle
5- I believe that raising your children to be good, honest, productive adults is the only job that really counts...


So, now you know all my deepest, darkest secrets... 
Okay, not really....

My Song... A Writer's Workshop Endeavor

Every week Mama Kat sends out 5 writing prompts. The idea is that bloggers can choose one of the prompts to write about and then link it to the Writer's Workshop on Mama Kat's site.
This week I am not crazy about any of the prompts but I'm going with #2:
---Tell us about your song--- 


The only problem with this is...
I don't really have A song.
Sure, I have songs that I really like. 
Songs that I sing along with on the radio.
Songs that make me cringe or smile or wonder what the heck the censors were doing the day that one was released.
But a song that I consider My Song... Nope, nada, can't think of anything.


Unless you count the songs that have meant something to me at various times throughout my life.


Queen's We Will Rock You / We are the Champions...
 that was my football team's song back when I was in grade school and a cheerleader for the community football league... the team that won the county championship every single year for 6 years running.


Then there was Slow Dancin' by Johnny Rivers 

That is the song that I had my very first kiss to... I was 12 and he took my face in his hands and slowly leaned in and gave me a lingering, heart felt kiss... it was Labor Day weekend and the summer of swimming and holding hands while we took long walks in the woods by the river was at an end...

Then there was Sweet's Love is like Oxygen and The Bee Gee's Too Much Heaven...

 Or any BeeGees song for that matter.
My first True Love and I loved the BeeGees. We would sit in his room and we would put on a 45 and drop the needle randomly on the record then would guess the song... in as few notes as possible. The BeeGees, Queen, Alabama, Lee Greenwood, Styx, Air Supply... I know, it was the 70's and let's face it, music was going through some serious transitioning back then. These songs take me back to when things between us were really good and we were really in love and planned to spend the rest of our lives together... before we grew up and got married and had kids and it all went so very wrong...

The 1980's were my high school years. My trying to find myself years and the music that was being put out there was perfect for me... Soft Cell and Adam Ant ...
And Blondie and Madonna and Pat Benetar and Joan Jett and Loverboy...

Disco and Pop and the beginning of Rap and Techno all being played on the same radio stations... it was totally awesome!

Blasphempous Rumors by Depeche Mode and Corey Hart's Never Surrender....


they are the songs that take me to that day in July when my brother was killed in a car accident. Corey Hart's song came in the radio for the first time as I was driving home from identifying his car and personal effects... and it said everything about my brother that was worth remembering...

Bryan Adams and Garth Brooks and Faith Hill and Green Day and Fire House brought me into the 90's and into a new marriage and more kids and more stress and strife and... the chance to be myself for the first time since I was... well in a very long time. I could wear what I wanted, color or cut my hair, have my own friends... and always have the support of my husband in everything I wanted to do.

Butterfly Kisses... that is the song that is my husband and my youngest daughter's song... the song that I heard for the first time when I was driving home from the hospital to take a shower, get fresh clothes... she was 6 days old and had been in a coma for 3 days and the doctor said she may not make it... that her daddy might never get to play soccer in the yard with her, see her off on her first date, walk her down the aisle...
But miracles do happen and she pulled through and she has grown into the beautiful, spoiled, intelligent and caring BratChild...

Linkin Park, Killers, Good Charlotte, Bruno Mars, PINK, Katy Perry... I love them all but I think that the song that best describes me, the me the way I see me?
Well then it would have to be..a song that is a little off, a little strange but in a good way... it would have to be Mr.Big's Green Tinted Sixties Mind...

Me, Myself and ... BusyMom

This was a writing prompt back in December that I have been holding onto and thinking about.... and finally decided to use.... Check out : Mama Kats Losin It

Describe myself in five words... 

1-  busy

2-  disrepected

3-  loving

4-  forgiving

5- exhausted

Okay I'm not sure if these describe me or describe my state of mental being... is there a difference?

I mean, I do refer to myself as BusyMom of the BusyFamily.
Working outside the home, working from home, volunteering with the kid's youth groups and sports teams and schools...helping friends who are ill, who are trying to keep a business afloat, who just need a shoulder now and again... Yes. I. Am. Busy.

Disrespected... yeah, by my kids mainly. They talk back. They ignore me. They make fun of the way I dress.
Okay, they're kids but seriously? They need to cut me some slack.

Loving... yeah I love my family and my friends and I am not going to apologize for that... ever.

Forgiving... been working on that one. Trying to let the past go means forgiving but it doesn't mean I forget. I just means I don't let the past hold me back ...

Exhausted... enough said.

Writer's Workshop... Valentine's Day is Coming... or something like that

MAMA KAT's Losin It

This week's writing prompt for Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop is:

5.) Valentine's Day is coming...share a favorite Valentine's tradition

Or something that I think is close to it... I guess we'll find out! 

Yes.

 Valentine's Day is fast approaching and yes, many couples have special little things they do, traditions they observe, unwritten rules they follow, to commemorate their love on this special day of the year, on Valentine's Day.

HeMan Hubby and I have been married almost 15 years now. 

We lived together for a year or so before we got married, and had spent all of our savings on the down payment for the house we had built and just moved into when we discovered that the flu the family had come down with the weekend we moved into the new house was indeed, not the flu in my case, but rather would turn out to be TeenBoy, our now 15 year old son, who was born in December, 8 months after we moved in.

I was working nights and HeMan Hubby was working days so we only saw each other in our sleep, or so it seemed.  

That first Valentine's Day in the house, which was also TeenBoy's first Valentine's Day ever, the older kids were with their dad so I planned a romantic dinner just for the 2 of us, to be eaten after TeenBoy was put to bed for the evening but before I had to take a nap for work that night.

Lasagna, a salad and chocolate mousse with a lovely blush wine were on the menu for the evening... the stage was set. 

Candles were lit, china and stem ware glistened in the flickering glow, the aroma from the oven was delicious and the wine was perfectly chilled and ready to be enjoyed.

Everything went as planned.

HeMan Hubby came home from work and I sent him to the shower to freshen up. TeenBoy nursed and went to sleep on schedule, he was good that way back then, unlike now when he ignores all schedules and rules... but I digress...

And so we enjoyed what I was sure would be the first of many romantic Valentine's dinners to come... perfect food, perfect company, perfect wine... and then...

A perfect case of hives.

Yes, I had become allergic to the wine somewhere along the last 11 months. What with the pregnancy and then breast feeding it had been awhile since I'd had a glass of wine but the thought that I would become allergic to my favorite wine never occurred to me.

The rest of the evening was a blur of benedryl and calling off work for that night, HeMan Hubby sitting at my side watching me breathe and applying cool compresses to the hives over my face and chest while I dozed off and on waiting for the numbness and swelling in my lips and neck to go away.

Yes, it was a romantic evening that started a tradition... okay it was neither romantic, nor the start of any Valentine's Day tradition.

The following year I was pregnant with BratChild and still working nights so... 

and the year after that we spent the day at my ex-mother-in-law's funeral after her very sudden and unexpected death which left me devastated... 

followed by dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant on the waterfront and then home to a house without children. 

The 3 oldest were with their dad for the funeral and wake and the 2 little ones were with their grandmother for the night so...

8 and a half months later SIX was born.

Since that Valentine's Day in 1998 we have been too busy or too poor to do anything as a couple. We do not exchange gifts. We do not have a special dinner. We do not do anything different from any other day of the year.

Perhaps this year, now that the kids are older and we are not as poor as we once were, perhaps this year we can do something special. Something romantic. Something just for grown-ups.

Dinner and dancing? An over-night stay at a local B&B? A romantic mid-night supper by candle light in front of the fire after the kids have gone to bed?

I don't know, but perhaps this is the year we will start a tradition... perhaps.

Writer's Workshop: Like Ace of base.... I Saw the Sign

Welcome to another offering from the writing prompts at Mama Kat's


Todays prompt is : 


5.) Describe a moment when you saw someone hit their breaking     
      point.





She seemed calm, normal actually, at first,  as I watched from across the room.


Then, an eerie light began to glimmer, just beyond her pupils, as if from some other place behind her eyes, an almost manic look.


Her mouth turned down with sadness, her brow furrowed with anger and then her coloring got, well, blotchy.
Her face, her chest and down her arms grew cold, then hot,  then prickled with goosebumps as she balled up her fists.


It was then, right then, as she slowly slid to the floor, that she surrendered to her anger, the sense of inadequacy, and cried...


" I give up. That's. It.  I'm. Done"


She sighed, her body going limp, her eyes filling with tears, her head drooping as she leaned against the mirror, slowly breathing in, then out... as I realized that I was the only one in the room.

Writers Workshop: Helen Keller Inspires me... sometimes my kids make me wish I couldn't hear them OR see them.... sometimes

Today's Post brought to you by:   

Mama Kat's Losin' It

Prompt#5:

"Keep your face to the sunshine and you can not see the shadow" - Helen Keller

In what ways are you able to stay positive about something that sometimes brings you down?

At first, I thought this prompt was really hard. 

Then I realized

It's Not! 

What do I do to help with things that bring me down?

This! 

This is what I do.

I write. 

And sometimes, instead of feeling like a failure or that my life is miserable or unbearable...

I actually, really and truly, like my life and the trials and tribulations it brings.

What do I have in my life that sometimes brings me down?

Hmmm, good question.

I have TeenBoy and BratChild and SIX...

And then I have a mortgage company from HELL

And 2 grown children  I still support...

But the biggest elephant in the room is my health.

I have lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia... 

or a combination thereof...

or none of the above.

Depends on which doc you ask on which day of the week.

I have written about my life , my kids,  my mortgager and  Living with Lupus.

I have no idea whether anyone actually reads these posts, but they help me to let off steam or use sarcasm and witty repartee to deal with the bumps along my life's path.

How do I stay positive?

Not sure that I do, but I am sure that I don't let the suicidal thoughts,  or homicidal ones for that matter, have any real space in my head... 

And that's about as positive as I can be... 

Writer's Workshop: About Me... do you really want to know?

Another Writer's Workshop post from...





About Me


I don't have an About Me page because, well, I have no idea what to write about myself.
That was sort of the whole reason for the blog in the first place.


My name is Dawn. I started blogging in an attempt to figure out where I'm headed, and how to get there from here.



Why this Blog name?


Dawn means 'a new day' in most dictionaries.
My middle name means 'reborn'.
So my name means 'A new day reborn', which is essentially what a Dawning is.
Every new day is a chance to start over and do it right...


I know.
Sometimes I think too much.


My Family?


I am married.
With children.
Six of them to be exact.

Some are grown.
Some are grown and still live at home.
Some just think they are grown...
and they have to live at home because, well, they're not grown.
(yes this is not a current picture of the kids... but they are still this cute)
















Personal Info... at least the public kind of personal


I enjoy movies and sunsets and walks on the beach...
Tequila and kettle corn and frogmore stew...
Time with my family and friends...
A warm summer day spent on the deck by the pool with a good book...


I HATE Winter and the cold and Snobby people...


I LOVE my husband and children and grand child and Summer weather...
And cheese pretzel Combos and Twix.


My HOBBIES include, but are not limited to:


Crocheting and designing my own patterns to crochet and knit


Painting... the Donna Dewberry Tole painting kind, not the 'this room needs a new color' kind, although I have been known to do that, on a whim, on occasion.


Making jewelry... gemstones and sterling silver all sparkly and girly?
I just can't resist!


Textile crafts - making purses and bags and embellished clothes, like in the fancy magazines, that I can't afford but love... that I always gift away.


Paper crafts... cards, stationary, book marks and don't tell anyone but, scrapbooking- on a very small scale...


What?
My sister is a Stampin'Up demonstrator... gotta support your family, right?




I USED to breed and raise several small parrot species like Peach Faced Lovebirds, Cockatiels and Parrotlets... you can see my aviary website HERE




Yes, I am a bit of a Geek... I mean, Genetics was my hobby!


I have been a nurse for 26 years. Not because I am that old, but because I started when I was so very young...


And I Write.
Stories for my children...
Poems...
Short stories...
My Blog...
And perhaps a novel... if I ever find the time and courage to finish it.


These are just some of the things that I do and like.


They are not Who I Am, but perhaps, in some small way, give my readers a better picture of the person behind the words and wit and sarcasm.


Without having to give away any state secrets or divulge my darkest desires that is.