Highly-Recommended Fun

     Some friends invited me this past week to Paint the Town, a place in Wichita where groups can go and paint a picture, no painting talent needed. Since I have no painting talent (or so I thought), this was perfect for me.
     It was a blast. My friends and I brought snacks and wine and beer for the pre-painting gathering time. Then Mary, our painting instructor extraordinaire and extremely patient person, led us through the steps to create our flower painting. You can choose from many different pictures and all the canvas, paints, brushes, etc. are all laid out ready to go. It's a two-hour process.

                          

The photo on the right is my painting. I'm no Monet, but at least you can tell they are flowers. It was a super-fun learning experience. Even though everyone is painting the same thing, the pictures all turned out quite different. It was great to see and experience how a painting really goes together--all I ever see is the finished product. It was interesting and creative and fun, totally worth the $25 fee. Best of all, it turned a whole lot of "I can't" into "look what I did!" I'm sure this opportunity is not unique to Wichita, google it. Go do it, you'll love it!          Leta

Two Suggestions for Huge Improvement

This is what I am posting this morning at obama.org, the Obama Foundation, in reply to Mr. & Mrs. Obama's request for suggestions for projects for the Foundation:
      I live in Kansas, where it is often said that the majority would vote for Satan if they put an "R" behind his name. In my opinion, this "joke" was proven 100% true in the 2016 presidential election. These same voters keep electing the same people to Congress. The only hope for change in our congressional delegation is if someone resigns (extremely unlikely) or dies.
      This situation, along with the Electoral College, are extreme disincentives to vote. This disincentive is a tragedy, in my opinion. I am dedicated to our Constitution and exercise my voting rights. However, in the November 2016 election, aside from one state issue, my vote was completely meaningless. No wonder folks say "why bother?" on voting.
      I've heard the suggestion that I can move if I don't like how Kansas is, but we all know moving is no solution.
      My suggestions for projects for the Obama Foundation are two: 1) Eliminate the Electoral College, so that the President is truly chosen by the actual popular vote count; and 2) establish term limits for both houses of Congress, the shorter the better.
      Thank you for asking for input!
           Leta Miller
           Wichita, Kansas

Huh?!?!

Mark Twain: The more you explain it, the more I don’t understand it.

     What words of wisdom! Just this week I returned to my 3-month intensive job doing tax preparation. I walked in the door and immediately said to the accountant and my co-worker, “I forgot everything from last year!” My co-worker laughed and agreed. The accountant, however, just started explaining new tax stuff to me. I truly experienced Twain’s quote above in my first year’s tax work last year, and I can feel round two coming up. Fortunately we all have a good sense of humor about it all, and we have a great system of checks and balances to make sure everything comes out right in the end.

     This morning my co-worker and I were reacquainting ourselves with the new electronic phone system. We were using our personal cell phones to call the office phone and practice transferring calls and so on. Being in the same room doing all that makes for great silliness. To our credit, after a multitude of assorted trials, we finally figured out that one function was not working on our office phones. The person taking the fake calls to help us was very patient, but alas, it all deteriorated into more explaining and less understanding. Oh, and lots of laughter.

     I can think of multiple situations in which Twain’s quote is so very applicable, especially in parenting. Ponder his thought for a while and see where it leads you.

     Done explaining,

          Leta

Be Kind

"Be the reason someone believes in the goodness of people." Karen Salmansohn

     I do believe strongly in the goodness of people, but trust me, that belief is tested frequently. I waver constantly between "love is the only solution" and, for example, despising every person who is responsible for electing Trump.
     Realizing I can't do much now about the election, my choice is to practice kindness. Kindness toward myself for ugly thoughts. Smiling and being friendly. Knowing that we are really all doing our best, no matter how I may evaluate that. Knowing that I don't know another's story, so who am I to judge? Doing the next right thing with love. Live and let live. Bless all those whose path I cross.
     Kindness feels a lot better.
            Blessings!
                     Leta