Shopping by sunlight

I am just burning up right now, sitting here in my window, basking in the sun. Already I have "chatted" with two friends on Facebook, one actually being my sister in WI and the other a young lady with whom I used to work and was close friends with back in my "old folks home" days. Annette now lives in Las Vegas and was getting ready to go to work, very early in the morning there. She is expecting 92 degrees above zero there today and I am expecting only a few degrees less than that. The way I feel right now, I could just dive right in (cannonball!!!!!) but I am sure the water is not quite warm enough yet for diving.

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While chatting and updating Facebook, I also did some shopping on-line at NPH, getting some more books to add to my stack. If only someone would come and read them to me and then explain it all. As I look into my river room, the sun is catching on a cobweb which has grown between the table and a chair. This is particularly troubling since Justin was here only Wednesday and had moved all the chairs from the table to vacuum, which I rarely do, but also because it means no one has sat in the chairs since Wednesday! What is up with that? It has been quiet around here. I hate it that school started again because all my teacher friends have been swept away to the classroom, leaving me fewer peeps with whom to play!

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Recently I have been communicating with someone from my WI congregation and cannot help but notice the unusual way she uses capitalization and punctuation. If she was not the age she is, I would guess part of it would come from using some hand-held communication device (sounds rather like Star Trek!) but she is not quite savvy electronics-wise. I have noticed in others' writings that punctuation has somewhat gone by the wayside, as in contractions, which are run together. While the short cuts might be suitable when using text messaging on the phone or instant messaging on the computer, it has found its way into every day "language" or usage. Linda H., at dinner the other night, declared that she never ever uses abbreviations when she writes or texts to her kids or grandkids, she always uses full words. The ladies were saying a recent study showed how few kids were being taught cursive-style writing in school any more nor were they really being taught proper grammar. The more adept people become at using these electronic tools, the "dumber" people can become. It is like a swapping of knowledge.

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On occasion I will read the obituaries on-line from our local paper where folks can post a message to the family in a Guest Book. Some of the messages are simply unintelligible and one cannot help but wonder if those leaving the message, while certainly heartfelt, did not take the time to review what they tried to write??? All capital letters, no space between what appear to be sentences, no periods or commas or apostrophes....Then there are the abbreviations and use of a single letter to say a word---UGH! Many moons ago I wrote about what my friend, Jami, was doing in the prison with the men she counseled. She was trying to teach them to read, and used the sentence in her blog, teaching them "the importance of vowels....". This phrase just caught my eye and mind because, for many of these cons, so much in their lives could have been changed or affected if they had known how to read beyond even a certain level. The things we take for granted...Yes, I am ordering these books and I swear, I will read them cover to cover!

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Just so that no one takes the liberty of pointing out flaws in my writing, please spare me, I am yet in development! I am a huge fan of the trailing thought tool of ....