Violet doily

I just love making doilies. I am so proud of this one - it was difficult to do, but I did it. I am giving it to my mother and father for their 50th wedding anniversary (violets are the flower for this particular anniversary).

Things that are deeply troubling me

1) I am worried about our future.  How will anyone be able to afford anything or even be able to get to work with the high gas/food prices?  

2) What if the draft gets re-instituted and my nephews and step-son have to go to war?

3) My dog can't walk and I have been trying to find a wheelchair that he will use, but he hates all of them.  I hate seeing him struggle to get up, and he must be so stressed that he can't do what he wants to do.

4) My sister was laid-off over a year ago and has been struggling to get free-lance work, but it doesn't sound too likely that she will be able to keep her house.

5) Rudeness of people. I am shocked at how rude and thoughtless people can be.  It makes me just want to stay in my house with my animals where it is safe from other people.  Which leads me to my next worry...

6) I worry that someone will violate me, by either breaking into my house or attacking me.  I don't worry about it constantly but it is always in the back of my mind.

and last but not least:

7) I am deeply troubled over how I am not convinced that there is more to this life than the life here on earth.  I just don't see how it is possible to "live on" after death.  I read about people who are absolutely convinced that they will see their dead loved ones someday, and I wish I could be that sure myself.  But I never experience anything that I would consider hard-core proof.  And I hear and read about people (i.e., James Randi) that gleefully state they think people who believe in that stuff are nut jobs.  How could he be that way?  Is he happy that when he dies, there is nothing; he just no longer exists???

Crochet Tree and Squirrel

These crochet pieces are based on the mushroom pattern and ladybug from an earlier post. I had given the mushroom to my niece and she had an idea: why don't I make a tree and have a squirrel that lives in it, in a nest? So this is what I came up with. I didn't like the canopy, but I tried 3 times to make something that would work and I am not going to do it again!

Creepy eHarmony commercial

Every time I see this commercial it really creeps me out. There is a man talking about how he met his wife, Anne Marie. When I first saw him, I thought he looked like a serial killer. He speaks of how she helps keep him calm (or something like that). Then, towards the end of the commercial, he says "as long as I have her...." - as if to say, "if she leaves me, I will kill myself, or kill others or blow up something, etc. etc."

The whole commercial insinuates that you need someone in order to be happy, which I think is dangerous. Sure, it's nice to have a partner, but what about people who are single? Do they need to go on eHarmony because their life is somehow lacking just because they don't have someone?

I have always thought that if you rely on others to make you happy, you will have a hard time in life. The only person that can make you truly happy is YOU.