Thinking Out Loud Thursday - June 2, 2016

Welcome to Thinking Out Loud Thursday!  So glad you popped in to visit me and Vanessa from X-tremely V!  Hope you link up below and tell all your blogger friends to link up too!

Wow -- it's Thursday already!!  Heck, I'm still shocked that it's June already!  This year is zipping by at lightning speed.  That's what I'm thinking out loud about today -- how quickly life passes us by.  Today I'd like to share a touching poem that my friend Linda wrote about that very subject.  

Life Lessons on Vinyl

“It’s a record player!” I say

As I open the wrapped box.

My daughter corrects me:

It’s a turntable now,

And records have become vinyl.

Dropping the needle takes me back

To my much younger self,

And I’m ready to get lost in the chords and lyrics.

Billy sings, “You can get what you want, or you can get old.”

I sang the words back when the words were young, too,

Their meaning lost as other words quickly replaced them.

You can get what you want.

Or you can get old.

Like vinyl, age creates depth, layers, richness.

There is no fast forward:

We have to listen through the bad songs to get to the good songs.

In such a short time, deafening silence seems to close in,

And I realize the first half is over.

I tell myself, “Don’t worry:

There is always a side B.”

Whether you are in your side A or side B, hope you are making the most of your life.  Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the day-to-day that we forget to look around us and really enjoy life.  Life is happening NOW!  Don't miss it.

Now it's your turn -- link up what you're thinking out loud about today.  Join me and Vanessa at X-tremely V by linking up your favorite post(s) from the week.  We love hearing from you!

Enjoy more Thoughts for Thursday at:

Home of Malones

East Coast Chic

Hodges Podges

Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop

100 Happy Days

The Deliberate Mom

This is How We Roll

Embark on the Journey

Party at My Place
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Thinking Out Loud Thursday - Word Weapons

Welcome to Thinking Out Loud Thursday!  Thanks for joining me and Vanessa at X-tremely V for this week's linkup.  

Has everyone recovered from losing an hour on Sunday?  Amazing what taking that one hour out of our lives can do to your schedule.  I feel like I've been trying to catch up all week.

I'm excited to share my post with you today.  My best friend, Linda, is a instructional coach and teaches middle school in the Kansas City area.  Someday we're going to write a book together (she's going to do all most of the writing and I'm going to offer moral support) -- but that a post for another day.  

Today I want to share a poem she wrote to her students.  She did a poetry unit in her class, and at the end of the unit, every student reads a poem they wrote.  At their poetry reading, bullying and painful experiences many of the students had faced in middle school were the topics of many poems.  Linda wrote this in response to their willingness to share their experiences with each other, and she wanted them to know that there is power in putting your experiences into words, especially if you share them with others.  

Linda's poem is a finalist in her school district's poetry contest.  She'll be reading it at a poetry reading mid-April where she'll find out how it places.  If I were a judge, it would definitely get first place!  Hope you enjoy it and share it with your children.

Without further ado, 

Word Weapons

A Message to My Students

For the students who wrote poems about the actions of bullies,

             the stealthy vipers lurking in spaces no adults venture;

For putting your pain into the spaces between the letters of your edited words;

For braving the smiling mouths which will later hurl sniggering weapons against you;

For sending out tendrils of empathy,

 hoping to cross the social chasm to reach a fellow soul;

Know that your words provide

            Power to the isolated,

            Solace to the desolate,

Hope to the lost,

            Encouragement to the despondent,

And nothing can destroy your words.

by Linda Brock

Enjoy more Thoughts for Thursday at

Home of Malones

East Coast Chic

A Handful of Everything
Hodges Podges
Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop
All Life's Little Adventures
The Deliberate Mom

Thoughts for Thursday - Erma Bombeck Style

I love Erma Bombeck.  In case you've never heard of her, she was an American humorist who was quite the hit for her newspaper column that spoke to suburban home life from the mid-1960s until the late 1990s.  The column was like her own little blog before computers.

Erma Bombeck

My top goal this year was to start living my life more intentionally.  I don't want days (or weeks) to slip by and not be able to even remember anything I had gotten accomplished.  It sounds so cliche -- but the time we have here on this earth really is short and we should all try to make the most of it.

So, I want to share this little poem by Erma Bombeck.  I try to get it out at least once a year and dust it off.  Even if you do just one thing on her list for one day, I believe it will make your life a little bit better.  Enjoy!

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER - by Erma Bombeck

(written after she found out she was dying from cancer).

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained, or the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have sat on the lawn with my grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while watching life.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now go get washed up for dinner." There would have been more "I love you's" More "I'm sorry's."

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute...look at it and really see it ... live it and never give it back.STOP SWEATING THE SMALL STUFF!!!

Don't worry about who doesn't like you, who has more, or who's doing what

Instead, let's cherish the relationships we have with those who do love us.

Enjoy more Thoughts for Thursday at

Home of Malones

East Coast Chic

A Handful of Everything
Hodges Podges