Country Time Acres Blog

The new years gives us the opportunity to focus on new beginnings.

Two weeks have already passed into the new year. My, how time flies. Last year had it’s ups and downs but, I survived yet another year. One of the highlites was the arrival of my grandson, Kaidyn. I now have two gradsons who both are the light of  my life. I was very successful n reaching my fitness goal of losing 10 pounds. With lots of exercise and some drastic diet changes I lost 20 pounds and am the same size I was when I was first married some 30 years ago.  Terry took a job as a manager of a fitness center which lead to my new career as an instructor and salesperson for the same center. Over the past six months I have acheived certification in group fitness, step, core strength and kick boxing. Which leads to this years goals.  Physically, I feel more fit than I have in years but, I can’t honestly say the same for my mental health. Over the years I feel that I have been getting so involved in the goals and dreams of others that I no longer know what I want out of life. All of my time has been spent going to work and doing housework. My life was becoming to boreing!! I wrote a list of all the things I loved to do that I no longer had time for. What an eye opener. Such things as playing the piano, sewing, cake decorating, scrapbooking and the list went on. The worst thing was no time for my horses. They are my passion, my dream. When I am performing with them I am happy. I could not let this go on. While the weather is cold I have made it my mission to get my house in order and when the weather permits, to hell with the house work. It’s time to play! George Bernard Shaw says ” We don’t stop playing because we get old, we get old because we stop playing.

Kids can never have to many books!

My grandson, Makhi recently started a new chapter in his young life, kindergarten. I love books and I love  reading to children.  Makhi only likes “horsey books” so I have aquired a whole new collection of books because of him. Now that he is in school his homework is to be read to 20 minutes a day. My daughter, Tracy mentioned that she was tired of reading the same books and needed to purchase some. This was a perfect time for me to go in the attic and bring down my boxes of children’s books.  I knew we had quite a few but, there were 5 boxes of them!  That’s enough to start your own private library. As I opened the boxes I recalled the many titles I use to read to my girls, Old Bear, Rabbit’s New Rug, Snow Lion and Who Put the Pepper in the Pot, just to name a few. When we invest in books and reading to our children, and now grandchildren we open their world to discovery and imagination. I am so glad I invested my money into these books. Forget the Gameboys and all those other computer games, read, read, read! You will be so glad you did!  Did you visit?  Leave a comment!

Makhi enjoys being a big brother.

Grandparents are important people in a child’s life.

I always wanted a big family with lots of kids. My daughter’s, Jenna and Tracy are my world. Terry and I didn’t really have grandparents that were a part  of our life. We had hoped our parents would be different but, it didn’t turn out quite the way we invisioned. Oh, our parents were there but, they didn’t really spend much quality time with the girls. Tracy’s boyfriend, Leon has a son, Makhi and he is  our unofficial grandson. It was hard to get close to him for fear some judge would yank him from our lives. It’s a complicated situation. I am sure it’s hard for a woman to be a mother to a child she really has no say over. Now that Tracy is a mother I hope that she and her family can settle down into a somewhat normal routine. Once a week I get Makhi and we spend the afternoon playing games, doing puzzles, cooking and grooming horses. He will start school next week and I will miss this special time. I want to be a positive influence on his life, someone he can depend on and someone he has many happy memories of. Now we will share that time with his brother, Kaidyn. It doesn’t matter how many grandchildren there are, each will be special in some way and I will have that something special we like to do together. Some people don’t like being grandparents because it makes them feel old.  I feel the opposite, children keep us young. We don’t stop playing because we get old, we grow old because we stop playing. “George Bernard Shaw”.  Did you visit?  Leave a comment!!!

Sometimes it is very difficult to be a nice person. We are all surrounded by evil and pressured by work, family and society to do things that really aren’t in our character just to fit in or survive.  Sometimes I stop to take a good look at the situation and myself and ask “Is this the person I really want to be? Or is this the way people really see me and if it’s so, what am I going to do to change it?”  Recently I did an event at the elementary school  my children attended and where I served as a P.T.A. President. I told my husband, Terry that I saw some of the teachers who were there when I was there and that not one of them spoke to me, said hello or even thanked me for coming to the event. He said ” Well no wonder, those teachers hated you!”  So, I thought about it.  When I took the office as President no one else wanted it. I knew that not everyone would like the job I did but, I put my a full effort into the job. And it was a job. Why shouldn’t they have  hated me?  After all, I worked 40 hours a week as a volunteer, in the classroom, helping in the library, planning events, raising thousands of dollars and teaching dance classes. When I look in the mirror what do I see? That after 15 years nothing has changed. Those few teachers are still as mean and snotty as ever and here I am, at their school as a volunteer, helping to make thier event a success and servicing their students.  What I discovered is that even though those people made every effort to make my life miserable, I didn’t let that change me. I am only human and I certainly wasn’t perfect but, I can live with that. I am a good person!

When the world says, “Give up, Hope whispers, ‘try it one more time.” ” Unknown”.   I believe that kindness and patience and faith are more powerful than negativity. “Buck Brannaman”.  Thank you for visiting.