Patti Katter

Dear Diary,

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a button you could push that would set up your Christmas decorations? Or, what about pushing a button like George Jetson – you would be taken from your bed to the shower… and then Rosie would hand you your coffee.  Away you’d go to work in your programmable car.  Everything right at your finger tips, with little work.

Sounds good at first, doesn’t it? I have a feeling people would take those things for granted over a little while though.  Just like kids who have pretty much everything they need.  Christmas rolls around, kids play with their new toys for a day or two and then the toys lay on the floor.

I’ve been thinking.  People expect too much.  I think our society is beginning to expect that they should be offered free health care, free food, free cell phones and other freebies from the government.  The thing is, these things are not REALLY free.  My dad always told me, nothing is really free.

What are your thoughts? Do you think the government gives out too many hand outs, or do you think the freebies are worth your tax dollars?

Waiting to hear back,

PK

Dear Diary,

Here are a couple military quotes I made up today:

“Everyone has the ability to reach out to our military veterans and their family members by doing a kind deed for them or offering a simple thank you…”

“Many of our combat veterans struggle on a daily basis, trying to readjust to civilian life.  Please help make their adjustment a little easier by educating yourself on PTSD and other invisible wounds of war.  Education and understanding will help you help your friend or loved one who has been to combat.”

“War does not only effect our veterans, it effects their family members who are on the home-front trying to hold it all together.”

“You can reach out to our military veterans you come into contact by helping with simple things.  If you live near a disabled veteran who cannot shovel their drive way in the winter, take a few minutes out of your time to shovel their driveway.. or maybe you know someone who served in war, a simple thank you goes a long way.  Not everyone has it in them to sign up for the military, but we need to remember to be thankful to those who do.”

“People take small things for granted.  When you go to McDonalds and they give you the wrong order, you might get upset.  This happens while our soldiers are sleeping in the cold mountains of Afghanistan and who have had little to eat during life threatening missions.”

“Veterans coming home from war have sleepless nights and often feel alone.  Adopt a veteran today, take them out to lunch… tell them you care and you are there for them.”

Dear Diary,

I love getting new pictures of Marcos.  I love seeing how much he’s grown – and how he does in school.  If you’d like to sponsor a child in Guatemala – visit http://www.mayanfamilies.org – they do a terrific job, updating you on your students progress/needs and they even send photos of your child receiving donated goods.

I can’t wait til someday when our whole family can go visit Marcos, Oscar and their families.  It’s been almost four years already since we met! I’m so proud of Marcos and Oscar.  I always wonder if they know someone in America really loves them and thinks of them every single day!

Love,

Patti K

Snow covers the ground.  I woke up this morning, not wanting to get out of bed, but should be thankful I did wake up to another day.  I took my son to school and now here I sit, at my favorite coffee shop – sipping a hot chi tea on a winter day.

The coffee shop workers are singing to “Somewhere over the Sea.”  They actually sound really good.  Its a young man, I bet he’s not yet 20 and a young woman… around the same age.  A nice surprise at 0736.

I’m getting ready to write an article for Voice of Warriors.  I think I know what I’m going to write about.  I watched a documentary last night.  It was about two young Michigan National Guard Unit soldiers 2 years before they joined the military, eventually deployed to war and the aftermath of their lives after deployment.  The name of the documentary is Where Soldiers Come From.  The documentary followed two young men on their deployment.  It touched my heart.

Follow Where Soldiers Come from on Facebook or Twitter.

Check it out, and spread the word.

Dear Diary,

This year, Thanksgiving was nice.  My husband and I went to my grandmas – where it was low key.  Just grandma and my Aunt were there.  It was good to be able to spend time with Gram without lots of commotion going on.  Don’t get me wrong – I love my family, and I love it when we get together… but it was nice to spend time with JUST her.

To Grandmas House We Go…

I only have one Grandma left.  I’m thankful for her.  She taught me about giving, and helping others.  She said something once a few years ago that sticks in my head.  ”A parent/grandparent always wants to see their child (and grandchildren) grow up to be able to take care of themselves.  As a parent of teenagers, I totally get it.

My grandmas house is cozy.  It’s not fancy, its a little dusty – but – its where I feel most at home.  My parents have moved a few times over the course of my adult life… so, I can’t go back to the home I was raised in as a kid. Therefore, I feel most at home at grandmas.  I feel like I am far away from all the stresses of the world when I’m at her house.  I forget the war, I forget that mean people live in the world and I forget the past 6 years that has effected my life… and the life of my family.  The time before Thanksgiving when I was at grandmas, I took a few pictures and I even went for a swing on the old swing set that’s still standing tall and Grams.

My youngest daughter and my niece played down the creek bank on Troll Island…

and I walked around outside in the crisp fall air, reminiscing…

This is the rock where I made “stone” soup growing up.  See the little dip in the rock? When it would rain, it would fill up with “broth,” I would throw dirt, leaves and anything else I could find in the “soup!”

Aren’t these chairs so cool? I think they are *so* retro.

Well, enough reminiscing for now….

~PK

Dear Diary,

Today, its snowing… sort of.  It’s cold.  You can see snow spitting from the sky… but the snow is so tiny – I can’t capture it in a photo, or I’d show you.

I’m bored today.  I want to go home to my cozy house and bake.  I am trying not to pout, I’m sure you don’t want to listen to me pout.  No one likes a pouter.  LOL

So, nothing exciting to report… I guess I’ll sign off.

~PK

I finally found a coffee shop I can hang out at that has internet.  I love it.  It reminds me of one I used to go to in North Carolina, except even better.  Yeah, can you believe I said that? For those of you who know me – you know how much I loved my NC coffee shop.

It’s been chilly and rainy here.  A nice day for a cup of coffee in my favorite coffee shop.  My favorite coffee shop has art work hanging on the walls.  The art work is beautiful. I always thought it would be magnificent if I could paint.  But, I can’t. LOL

I can’t even draw stick figures.

I can drink coffee and enjoy paintings with my youngest daughter today… so, that’s what I’m doing.

Love,
PK

Dear Diary,

Today was a doozy.  Stress has reached its limit.  Normally, I can act like everything is okay – or will be okay.  But, this morning – I started to doubt that.  I started to let confusion set in.  Some days, I just want a life  re-do… until I remember how wonderful my family really is.

I’m taking a few days off of work to regroup.

Love,

PK

Dear Diary,

Today started out as a chilly day.  My son started the car to heat it up.  I have to get my automatic car starter fixed before winter.  I decided to wear sweatpants and a sweatshirt to work today.  I’m comfy, perched in my store window – peeking out at construction workers to see if they’ve made any progress.  It’s noisy out there, but its just one construction rig making all of the noise.  The leaves are pretty much off of the trees.  There’s a beat up car sitting across the street.  Two lanes of the road are still blocked off because of the construction.  Tuesdays are normally really slow here.  I’ve even thought about not working on Tuesdays.

Yellow ribbons dress the trees up and down the block, I make sure the ribbons are there.  No one has tried to steel them, amazingly enough – I guess because they are not lined with crack cocaine.

I hear the renters upstairs walking around.  I think they are just getting ready to go to bed.  They work at night, sleep during the day – like vampires.  If they are vampires – at least they are nice… and – no – they have not tried to bite me and I’ve never seen their mouths dripping with blood.  Thank goodness.  If that happened, you’d hear me screaming right through your computer screen.

I’m munching on pumpkin seeds, and I’m about to work on the Voice of Warriors website.  So, I suppose I better sign off.  Happy Fall!

~Patti