My Brain Is Full!

Decades ago I met a lovely, sparkling seven year old with a new pink purse. She let me peek into it. She still blesses my life, unannounced, from wherever, with a message like I might hear from my Father. #jesuslovesme #thebibletellsmeso #loveyourneighbor https://www.instagram.com/p/CpBnq2Muarg/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

And who makes that decision. What if you are not one of them? https://www.instagram.com/p/CnaJxEVvwRC/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Fooling around with my husband @conley.levi at the Heritage of Flight Festival. It was really early...about 8pm, when we arrived, yet a number of the vendors were already closed or in the process. Thankfully, unlike past years, there NO rain! (at Stark Raving Mad House) https://www.instagram.com/p/BorfUl7Agoj/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=kqlucfd36m9d

Class Reunion, #tecumseh 1978. I'm thinking #LetsGetThisPartyStarted and look who shows up! #classreunion #oldfriends #lookma #WeGraduated #OSU (at TJ Chumps) https://www.instagram.com/p/BnyeZb4DFnK/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1s1toz42sb3o

All of my girls are #grown and #married but as a little girl, one of them, either Abbey, @breathelovestaygold or Bekah, made this #sachet for me as a gift. #Mothersday maybe? It's made of #multicolored #scented #flowers and curled wood shavings sandwiched between #delicate lace disks. The layers were pulled taut and secured in a small #embroidery hoop. Finally, ruffled lace was glued around the circumference. It once filled the room with the #sweet scent of a #Spring #Potpourri but that's long since #faded away. What has taken it's place is the #infinitely #sweeter and enduring scent of #nostalgic #memories which only grow sweeter, more #powerful and more #treasured as time fills the #distance between #childhood and now...and the #future Tucked between the lacey layers are precious #memories of my #daughters #playingdressup trying on #makeup #mothering #dolls #avoiding their #littlebrothers and #pretending to be #princesses #dancers #brides #doctors #nurses #cashiers #secretaries #wahm #sahm and #Mommies The potpourri made me smile. This scent does as well. It also causes my eyes to glisten with tears I try to suck back in. How did all those years, 32 of them, slip so quickly through my now arthritic and ravaged fingers? I dare not think on this too long. #ilovemydaughters #fineyoungladies #GodIsGood (at Stark Raving Mad House) https://www.instagram.com/p/BnwYp1ajt01/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1es6ertzotvu2

We almost closed the #pool last weekend. Now it's 84 degrees and sunny. We'll close it next weekend instead. TODAY I hear a pool floatie calling my name! #pool #summer #momlife (at Stark Raving Mad House) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bnt2dkwjCPQ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=15s2xu04bzvyu

I found a #leg in my laundry room. Who'd have guessed. Anyone our there hopping along on one leg? I gotcha covered. #washday #laundryroom #laundry #clean #pants #zipper #boy #bodyparts (at Stark Raving Mad House)

Why is it cooler in the #shade at the park than the shade in my yard? #chilling #minidachshund #mydog #blessed #outdoors #awalkinthepark (at Smith Park)

A favorite from my collection of Old Folks Hardcore @lukeanthonysince1982 #aloveforenemies #hardcore #hardmusic #greenvinyl #Erichbarto #MattAddeo #lukeanthony #DanValentino #DanAmato #Christian #Jesus (at Stark Raving Mad House)

There is nothing more fulfilling than having all my kids together in one place at the same time. Celebrating my son, Judah. #bittersweet #eighteenth #bigfamiliesrock #love #Jesus #blessed #birthday #son #ilovethisboy (at Stark Raving Mad House)

Today we celebrate the passage into adulthood of my seventh child, Judah. #bittersweet #eighteenth #bigfamiliesrock #love #Jesus #blessed #birthday #son #ilovethisboy (at Stark Raving Mad House)

#memories #nooneunderstandsagirllikemom #tointerpretthelanguageofboys #totellaboutherfirstkiss #totellheritsoktoseethingsdifferently #togiveherthecouragetostandupforherself #Jesus #love #daughters (at Stark Raving Mad House)

When I was a little girl, in the sixties, my Mother kept house like she was getting a grade. Being a kid, I didn't appreciate it much. . . except for WAX! When Mom #waxed the #kitchen floor it shown like #glass and was as #slick as wet ice. If I came home from school and saw my #reflection it was time to #ballet #iceskate dance! Grasping my long #kneesocks by the toe I tugged until the top band was just below my ankle. Then taking the sock dangling from my toe, I twisted it and pulled it back over the top of my foot towards my leg and tucked it into the ribbed sock band around my ankle creating the most beautiful ballet slippers/ice skates I'd ever seen. Never one happy with an empty #venue, I'd line up my audience of dolls, stuffed #animals, and my #infant sister. (Babysitting the sibs was my day job.) Facing my #reflection in Mom's highly polished #coppertone brown #refrigerator, #elegantly clad feet in a ballerina's fourth position, I'd take off across the slick, waxed "rink." Twirling, #leaping and #gliding as only a #ballerina on ice could, I was #mesmerized by my reflection to the exclusion of my audience for the next sixty minutes. When finally, #perspiration beading on my forehead, I was too #exhausted to go on, I'd take a #dramatic #running #leap across the kitchen, hit the ice and slide into a full split just millimeters from the base of my infant sister's Punkin Seat. Looking up at her #uproarious #laughter was better than rose petals at my feet. For an hour after school, I was #famous (at Stark Raving Mad House)

Months ago @dallen59 took a pic of this beautiful bracelet at The Rustic Wheel. She shared it on Facebook and tagged me, saying it reminded her of me. I loved it! I didn't know that SHE BOUGHT IT and has been waiting for our paths to cross between first and second Sunday service at church so she could give it to me! I'm thrilled to overflowing that my #sister #loves me so much! #gypsysoul #Jesus #restorationparkchurch (at Restoration Park Church)

Anybody recognize my lovely curly locked little princess posing for her third grade school picture? #ilovemydaughter #bigfamilies #kids #kidsfashion #smile (at Stark Raving Mad House)

I’m vehemently opposed to drug testing the poor who need food stamps, Medicaid, or temporary cash assistance to get day to day. Were it required to take a pre-employment drug test for any and ALL potential employment, testing when applying for unemployment benefits, testing for employer sponsored disability, random testing while on the job, etc, then, yeah, drug test the poor when applying for food stamps, Medicaid, or cash assistance. But it’s not. From where I stand, It seems the outcry to require drug testing as a requirement for public benefits is the very uninformed, angry voice of those who have motivated by a sense of vengeance. This serves only to single out and further shame the poor. Consider a family I just made up comprised of mother, Maureen, who has been raising her two children alone since her husband, Jack, fled the scene two months ago. He’s not been heard from since and is not paying child support. Maureen has a high school diploma and was home full time caring for their children and home until Jack split. She and her two children now qualify for $474 cash assistance monthly while Maureen takes free office skills classes at a local pro-woman, pro-life organization. The family has every possible subsidy for non-food items and each month pays rent of $275, electric is $89, heating fuel is $74, water is $45, trash is $12 for a total of $495. Hmmm. How long will that work? Even if one isn’t the brightest crayon in the box, the Ohio cash assistance program’s math is simple. $473 income doesn’t cover $495 due out each month. The car. Did I mention their only car was Jack’s and he took it when he split? So Maureen bought a car for $1000 with an interest rate of 24.4% APR at a Buy Here/Pay Here lot. What’s she going to pay for it with? The lot didn’t ask. She’s praying she gets a check before they come after the car. The family also qualifies for the maximum $511 in food benefits. The total benefit in cash and food is $985. In order to receive those benefits she must participate in what’s been aptly labeled “Workfare” for 30 hours per week. The 8 hours weekly she’s in office skills class count towards that leaving just 22 more hours weekly to do busy work for the county to “earn” her family’s benefits. She may be shredding paper, picking up litter, applying for jobs on welfare computers, learning interview skills, babysitting for the children of other mothers who receive benefits, etc. That works out to $7.63 per hour to collect welfare. Less than minimum wage for those who aren’t up on these things. In addition, she must come up with money for gas, car payment, childcare co-pay, and nice clothes suitable for interviewing which she really hopes give her the edge. Several family members have offered small, short term loans should the need arise. Maureen is offered a full time job beginning as soon as her classes end. Even though she will only make minimum wage, she will still gross $1,401.00 per month. That’s a cash gain of $927 so she’ll be able to pay off the car, put gas in it, and buy basic clothing for her family and herself. Unfortunately she will also lose some of the subsidies she received once she starts bringing in more money. Thankfully they will still receive $510 in food benefits because her income is so pitifully low. She’ll also be newly eligible for Title XX day care. Ironically, the amount the state will pay for two caregivers at two separate locations to care for Maureen’s children while she works is more money than Maureen will make working. With it being a known fact that parents (with rare exceptions) are the best people to parent their own children, one would think for the sake of the kids, if not the public funds saved, Maureen could be paid Title XX funds to stay home and care for her own children. I’ll ride that pony another day. Time flies and Maureen is doing great in her classes and looking forward to starting her new job. There are still “Workfare” activities to complete. The first week she reports she’s assigned ditch litter pickup. For her duties she’s handed a large litter bag, a claw on a stick, safety gloves and a translucent cup with a lid. The supervisor points toward the porta John and tells Maureen to pee in a cup and wait for the results before beginning work. WHAT? It’s a requirement. If she wants to receive benefits to house and feed her children and pick up litter out of the ditches along the highway she must pass a drug test. ARE YOU SH!TTING ME?

Happy Jesus'Birthday! #jesusisthereasonfortheseason (at Tipp City, Ohio)