Goodbye, 2015

Wow...is it really almost 2016?

What a year it's been. More of my friends have had grandchildren this year, our youngest son entered his junior year in high school, and a beloved horse passed away, leaving lessons of love and commitment behind. Our oldest son makes Tennessee his home, and yet another makes strides in the business world of Boston.

Time seems more precious, and time with our parents increasingly precious. Nationally, 2015 saw an increase in domestic terrorism, and scenes of chaos from Paris that seemed from a nightmare. Society continues to change, and an election for President will happen this year.

Here's my prediction: Trump vs. Hillary in the general. Did I really just write that? How fun and interesting it has already been to observe  and we're just getting going!

Here at the cusp of a new year, enjoy a more light-hearted piece from LifeZette about baby names. Come on, people  they're just getting weird.


http://www.lifezette.com/momzette/the-baby-name-game/

You're A Mean One, Mrs. Grinch

Many times, if you have traditional values, you are akin to the Grinch. To others - especially those who hold values counter to yours - you seem to always be screaming, "Stop Changing Things!" into the wind, furrowing your brow and wringing your hands like a curmudgeon (great word). You slink around corners and with your long, hairy fingers stealthily snatch all forms of interesting, captivating, modern fun.

You are a stick-in-the-mud, a fuddy-duddy, intractably stubborn and mired in "the old days." You're a mean one, Mrs. Grinch. 

It is not a resistance to change that motivates traditional, or conservative people. It is an energetic and optimistic belief that certain things just work. It is an ability to see down the road and say, at the end of the day, this will bring discord and dissatisfaction and a hollowness to either personal or national character.

An applied, exercised foresight. Change for change's sake, or worse, to fulfill empty whims of children, is not worth our time or effort.

This may seem harsh when applied to the story linked to, below, but honestly, we are doing our girls a disservice if we bend to this latest example of whim-ery.

Work to make things better, girls - don't blow them up when they don't suit you.

Here's the subject of tonight's blog post: http://www.lifezette.com/momzette/no-you-cant-be-a-boy-scout/

To prove that I'm neither curmudgeon or fuddy-duddy, here's a list of modern things I DO like:

1. Texting
2. Chipotle Burrito Bowl (get your act together with the e-coli, Chipotle!)
3. Adele
4. Sweaters on Dogs (as long as they're comfortable)
5. Fancy wine-openers that come in a velvet box
6. The Fitbit - it's on my Christmas list 
7. Budweiser commercials with puppies and Clydesdales