Too little sleep last night. Drat. It’s my own fault, I got riled up about something and then I couldn’t relax enough to let sleep take over. Lesson learned. Again! Maybe I’ll tell you about it later it in the post.

Since I’m not using my vintage Shiny Brites this year, I thought I wouldn’t see any. But look what’s happening in the dollhouse! Apparently the tree is still being decorated. With Shiny Brites.

I found these in a wonderful Etsy shop. Actually, I saw them last year, didn’t get them, and regretted it. Aren’t they adorable?

I added a few things to the order.

The owner is reading my favorite book – To Kill a Mockingbird.

And a volume of another favorite – Anne of Green Gables – is on a table in the living room.

What to put on the walls? I started with this botanical chart:

Here’s a view of the living room:

Oh, that new camera! She’s proving herself more than adept at getting shots of the dollhouse. Her big challenge will be the dollhouse kitchen, which is rather like a dark tunnel.

By the way, the books, Shiny Brites and chart came from L. Delaney’s Etsy Shop. It’s chock full of goodies and, boy, did she ship things quickly! Thanks, Lauren!

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I’m currently troubled by something, sparked by some dialogue on a favorite blog. It’s always bothered me. We all have had occasion to feel unhappy with someone we love, right? If you have children, I’m sure that there were times you said something to them like, “I love you always, but I don’t always like your actions.” You express that the love is constant but, nevertheless, there are times that you are unhappy or ashamed by something that child has done. This happens in all relationships, whether with friends, or a spouse, or even yourself. By expressing that unhappiness, you hope that in the future, a change will be made. Two different things: the constancy of love (never questioned) yet, an unhappiness with an action taken. Right? We’ve all been there.

So why is it that when someone expresses an unhappiness with something in our country, whether it is a policy or lack of a policy, a perceived reprehensible action, or any one of a number of things, that certain people cry “Unpatriotic!”? Or “How dare you say anything against America!” I don’t get it. I never have. Why is there this knee-jerk reaction to that?

This is, and always has been, a country of protesters. It was founded by protesters. Thank goodness. That’s how we grow. Just like we have to take a good look at ourselves and our children as responsible humans, we have to look at our country the same way and work to change those things that don’t work. We have to be willing to take a stand and fight for what is right. And sometimes that involves feeling unhappiness or shame over our country’s actions. If we hadn’t  felt passionately that what was happening in Vietnam was wrong, that our policies were wrong, that war would still be going on. If we hadn’t felt shame that someone like Joseph McCarthy could, in this country of ours, gain the power to blacklist a whole group of people and ruin their lives, it would never have been stopped. And if we hadn’t felt shame over something that was legal in our country, slavery would never have been abolished. Women and African Americans would never have gained the right to vote.

As citizens of this country, we are supposed to question and, if necessary, work for change. We are supposed to be active and hold those in office accountable. We are not supposed to sit back and blindly wave the flag no matter what. That doesn’t mean that we don’t love our country. In fact, I’d go so far as to say it means we love our country so much that we are willing to fight to make it better. To fight for our fellow citizens. To fight for what is right.

I certainly love myself but have, at times, been deeply ashamed of something I’ve done. Why is that any different than expressing unhappiness about, for example, the proliferation of assault weapons in this country and the fact that the issue has been ignored by our elected officials until now? I don’t see that as unpatriotic. I see it as the best of patriotic. I see it as exactly what our forefathers would have done. And did. They weren’t afraid to speak out. And they certainly weren’t afraid to criticize when it was appropriate. They knew it was their right. They knew it was their duty. If you love your country, then it is imperative to do everything you can to help it grow. And that means speaking out and, sometimes, being ashamed. The love remains constant. But work needs to be done.

Just my thoughts about something that kept me awake last night.

Happy Thursday.