~ A Mouse's place in society ~

So, yesterday I was on my way home and as I was stopped for pedestrian traffic in front of the courthouse, a young girl in the 19-23 age group came walking by wearing the cutest little ruffled peasant off the shoulder dress when I noticed movement around her neck and hairline. A mouse flitted out from under her hair ran across her shoulder and then poked its head back under her hair leaving it's hind quarter and long pink tail dangling and swinging down her shoulder and arm. Ick. Gross. And double Ick. Are mice potty trained?

~ Men Praising God ~

I really like seeing men get happy in church; see them getting happy in the Lord, almost jumping happy, bouncing on the balls of their feet happy; or getting so filled with the feeling that the Holy Spirit is so, just SO that they reach their arms out as if to try to touch the very physical presence of Him as The Spirit soars all around - I don't know if I put that into words as well as I could, but there is just something that touches my heart to see a man get happy in the Lord. My Dad got happy in the Lord, loved to be in the presence of other men and share that happiness with them. I loved that about him. Maybe that is why it touches me to see Gods love shine through other men. I bet it's awesome to be in the midst of a men's Christian conference when they just let loose and really praise the Lord. I've seen glimpses of this in a few of the men in our church. It made me happy.

So, if you ever see me in church with a big goofy smile on my face for no obvious apparent reason, its probably because God has allowed me to glimpse the happiness of Him being showered on someone in my presence. .... Or it could be that I just got my own shower of Love and am still feeling the splashes of It all dance around my feet, who knows.

~ My past weekend ~

Wasn't last weekend an awesome weekend!? It was like a beautiful breath of fresh air for me. My husband and I went riding together, the first time in months and months - for me. We rode through at least 100 mud holes; climbed hills; had a picnic by a bubbling brook (sounds like that came right out of a book .. the bubbling brook part - huh!? probably did, I read alot), but it was a fun fun day! Those are my boots, I was showing off my mud!








What wasn't so fun was this, see that trigger in the photo below? That is my gas button, my right thumb has to push that button to go, for 15 rocky, bumpy, arm jarring miles, my thumb has to push that button with my right thumb. About two hours, of rocky, bumpy, arm jarring miles. I had to sleep with a heating pad on that thumb that night! It throbbed like crazy! But it was a fun day.



Sunday was nap day. In a hammock. In my back yard. The book was just for looks, I didn't read until after a nice 1 1/2 hour nap. In my hammock. In my back yard. Nice. My husband even put a small fire in the fire pit so the bugs wouldn't bother me. And they didn't. I love Sunday afternoon naps.




And, my wisteria is blooming over my swing. isn't it pretty!


Have a great week y'all!

~ For Today ~

FOR TODAY
Outside my window... I am writing this Sunday evening and there is darkness outside my window; but earlier we enjoyed a beautiful sunny Easter Sunday - very nice.

I am thinking... about my day today; enjoyed a good meal, a nice nap and time with my family.

I am thankful for... family, love, Jesus, a wonderful husband, sweet dogs, and good friends, not necessarily in that order - of course!

From the learning rooms... every day is a learning day, something new all the time and sometimes just relearning old lessons.

From the kitchen... I made the best Parmesan chicken - not the kind with red pasta sauce and noodles; but chicken tenders coated in crushed pecans and shredded Parmesan cheese and browned in olive oil. Very very good.

I am wearing... yoga pants; sleeveless top with a hoodie jacket; I decided my husband has seen enough of me in sloppy oversized pjs for my evening loungewear - so I went out and bought alot of "yoga style" clothing for lounging, so at least if someone comes to the house unexpected, I don't have to run to the bedroom to change, plus these clothes are really comfy.

I am creating... nothing. absolutely nothing. okay, now I feel like I need to go work on a painting or my scrapbook projects - guilt ...

I am going... no where tonight. I am in for the night YAY!

I am reading... too many books started, but I did finally finish one of them today - Remember Me by Sophie Kinsella. Cute book - easy read, don't know why I took so long finishing it.

I am hoping... my doc can call me in some different antibiotics as I am currently broke out in a rash from the Bactrin which he prescribed me Thursday.

I am hearing... my dog Maggie snore - she is laying next me.

Around the house... it's almost time for me to go flower and fern shopping ... almost.

One of my favorite things... Sunday afternoon naps.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Monday @ moms, Thursday, I have a hot stone massage scheduled, but I also have an engagement girls outing to go on, one will have to be cancelled.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing... my sister's newest family addition - Pepe' - he was Mom's but she decided he was too much work for her, so now he belongs to Mary. He is a toy poodle. Cute huh! He came to visit today; my boxer Maggie, thought Mary had brought her a snack treat!

~ Is it spring yet ~

Today was beautiful! I'm still not ready to work in my yard, but I did decide to take a look to see if I could see some true signs of spring ...

Here is what I found ....

My yellow bells are blooming and my jasmine is budding and about the burst into bloom.








My hosta has broken through the dirt and dried dead leaves and shining their twisted and furled stems up toward the sun.






And, I found what I think is a stray tulip which will look really sad all by it's lonesome, but I didn't have the heart to dig it up; if its stubborn enough to find a way to come up out of the dirt where it was, then well, I'll give it at least one season where it lays ... I tried to see if my Lantana was showing any signs of rebirth, not yet, but I have faith, its down under the tangle of dead looking stems, leaves and dirt, not asleep anymore but just rolling around in its cover of dirt and trying to put its pillow over its head, but like an alarm clock, the spring season is coming and its going to have wake up and put on its finery soon, so it may as well quit hitting the snooze button, its time to get up!






Happy Spring y'all, whats blooming or trying to in your yards?

~ Celebrating Dad ~

Today would have been my Dad's 82 birthday and I so badly miss him. When I start getting sad about him not being with us; I have become an expert and pushing the thought from my mind or replacing it with how happy I am that he is with Jesus and not in pain anymore - which I am, but I miss him.

My dad was not a perfect man, he had his faults just like we all do, but he was an awesome Dad to me and someone that I looked up to and respected more than I could even try to put into words. He loved all of us so much and wow did he love my mom. He wasn't a mushy mushy gushy man with his love (although he did have some of that to share with us too), he showed his love in all that he did; he told us too, but he was a man of actions and that is where his love shone for all of us. If he could fix something for us, grow a huge garden to share, or share his knowledge in any way possible - that made him happy. I think that is why getting sick and weak and unable to "do" like he wanted got him down so much. He NEEDED to DO; that was who he was. He gave us a beautiful home to grow up in; but it was his and Mom's love that made it that home, not the brick, wood and mortar; just their love first for God which they showed us in their lives without having to even say it; their love for each other and their love for us kids; that is what made it home for me. I knew no matter where I moved; where my life took me, even when I stumbled in my walk with God and disappointed them; no matter how old I got; and, not even when they moved from the "home" I grew up in to three different houses, home was with them - love was with them. Their door was always open, just like their hearts and arms.

I miss my Dad. I just wanted to share something to honor him today. After all it's his birthday and I want to celebrate with him and since I can't do that, I will just share a little something to celebrate him. Happy Birthday Dad; I love you. I miss you. I know one day we will be sharing another "home" together.

~ Photos ~

Not been blogging lately, don't know why ...

Anyway, I offered to take some photos of our runner that she might could use as grad casual photos - some of them turned out pretty good.

I took more, but here is a sample ... pretty girl!

~ Friendly Neighbor ~

I am getting tired of being off from work.

Now, those words just don't sound right. I guess I wish - if I was off work - I was doing something fun and not recuperating from another airway surgery.

I am very thankful that my surgery has gone well; I am thankful for praying friends and family; I am thankful my surgeon was in town; and the list goes on ... Mostly just thank you Jesus for it all. Oh and I am thankful for insurance too - very thankful - YAY insurance! I have taken it for granted in the past, but never again.

I was laying in my hospital bed - not feeling the best in the world - when my "roommate" came over to be friendly and neighborly - we had the same surgeon and we were sharing a "step down" room - not intensive care, but a nurse stayed in our room 24/7 - She wanted to know what kind of surgery I had and about my symptoms, etc., we were exchanging our "war" stories, so to speak. Anyway, she is probably about 34-38 and she has had 71 surgeries related to her airway. I was stunned - 71 airway surgeries - I am still stunned.

This was her second with my surgeon. She currently has a tracheotomy and has to push a button on her throat to talk. She was such a happy upbeat person and I was glad she shared my room.

That's all I got for now ... until later .....

~ From Start to Finish ~

I took my first portrait class; below are my results, it was a 6 week class and I photographed my progress and the end of each class.



This is my Dad. And after working on it for so many weeks, it looks just like my dad; but my mom and sister say it looks more like one of my uncles ... I could never get him to smile and every time I tried, it just didn't work, so I finally gave up. I decided after the class to put him aside and let him be for now, maybe I will pick it up again, at a later time. I want to take a class on eyes and mouths. Then maybe I'll have a go and fixing what I don't like.

I enjoyed the class and I really want to try more portrait work. Maybe if its someone I don't know I will do better. But I am not unhappy with the results.

~ A Melancholy Day ~

I am having a melancholy start to my day. My breathing is getting bad again. My airway feels more narrow every day. I tried to get an early appointment with my surgeon (my next followup is not until late April), but he is out of town - they told me to go to the emergency room. It just felt so unsympathetic to be turned away like that, not even an attempt to have one of his medical partners see me in his absence. He has a new nurse working with him and I have decided I don't like her very much after that conversation - she was very "cold". So I am going to try to see someone local and see what they say ... enough on that. Although, I think "that" is the root of my feelings today. I dislike having health issues, it depresses me, especially when its the same re-occurring thing.

Today, I would rather be here .... riding a double decker in Rome with one of my dearest friends, not worrying about my health, just excited to be where we were and experiencing an awesome time together.



Or here, watching my husband look for shells, this was a good day, we had a good time.

Or here, watching the sunset with my husband and enjoying a summer vacation.

Thank you Jesus for the memories in my life, that I can recall when I have days like this one.

~ Snow Day ~

Have you ever spent a whole weekend cleaning house and it still not be done come Monday? That's me. I cleaned all day Saturday and most of the day Sunday and come Monday morning, I still have clothes in washer, clothes in dryer, 2 rooms to vacuum and one bed that needs clean bed sheets ... but I swear I was cleaning house, honest. It just don't seem like it now! Next time, maybe I should turn the TV off ... Hallmark Movie Channel was playing some sweet romantic movies all weekend .... it was Valentines Day after all.

... oh yeah and it snowed, thus the title ... :)

- Stuff Be Gone -

I was cleaning my kitchen Friday night and was becoming frustrated at how much "stuff" I have on my counters ... so, I picked up something and threw it in the trash. It was a gift from a dear friend at least 5 or more years ago - rarely used but I loved it and had wanted it sooooo bad when she surprised me with it - only to quickly realize how un-needed and unuseful it really was, but out of loyalty of our friendship, I have kept it, moved here, moved it there, used it rarely, got little pleasure from it unfortunately; but Friday night, I got absolutely ecstatic with it, when I savored the pleasure it gave me to throw it into my trash can. I got giddy. I started looking for something else to throw away because I didn't want to lose this feeling - happiness, satisfaction, and a little bit of freedom from STUFF!

I managed not to completely fill my trashcan though.

But, I am still on the prowl.

And, I am sure my friend would have been very happy to see how much pleasure I got in throwing her gift in the trash, I did keep it for 5 or more years after all. :)

~ 25 Cent Book Sale ~

Attn: All Book Lovers and avid readers .... I got this email today from the "Friends of the Library" thought I would pass it along in case any of you are interested in a book sale.

The Friends Of the Main Library will be having their semi-annual 25-cent
book sale Saturday, February 6th. The sale is located in the Jane Roberts Auditorium
in the main library, Monroe St. downtown Huntsville, and will start at 9:00 Saturday morning,
February 6th and will end at 3:30 p.m. This sale will include all types of books, fiction
and non-fiction, paperbacks and hard backs. There will be several thousand
books on sale including history, psychology, religion, foreign language,
children's education, plus several tables of fiction. All books in the
auditorium will be 25 cents each.

This sale is open to the public so invite all your friends to come down and
browse through the thousands of books we will have on display.

Important:
This sale applies only to the books in the auditorium! The FOL Bookstore
will be open, but their prices will be as marked in each book.

* Teenage sitting/house sitting *

So, my boss and his wife had the opportunity to go on a last minute trip out of the country and they asked for my help with their two teenage children, and with lots of financial incentive, I readily agreed :)

They are such busy children! Golf, basketball, basketball practice, baseball practice, guitar lessons, chemistry tudors sessions, and friends friends friends, plus squeezing in some homework and meal time - wow! It is has been a while since my kids were teens (they are now 27 and 29) and I have decided no one should have to raise teens more than once in a lifetime! They can be exhausting just trying to keep up with them! Especially since these two are so very social and involved in so much.

But, they have been great - of course the week isn't over - but so far, so good. Missing my husband and dogs though; and even though they have an absolutely fabulous mind blowing house, it still isn't home to me and as the saying goes, there is simply "no place like home."

That's all I've got!

~ Snow Days ~

What is about a sprinkling of white cold stuff that can make us act like kids again!





Gary wanted to hook the 4 wheeler up to the knee board and for me to pull him around on it! But being that he is 50+ and me 49 ... He opted for the little hill in our back yard instead to have his fun on. I decided just to be the photographer ... much safer, less ER visits ...

The dogs all enjoyed the Snow too, really though, I think they were just happy to see us doing something other than being couch potatoes! It was fun to get out and play, we should do it more often and probably would if it hadn't rained so much so far this fall. It was nice to walk on our yard without it being mushy to walk on, frozen ground felt pretty good after months and squishy dirt and grass.

I had to work both days of snow, but it was still fun. Hope everyone else got to enjoy the Alabama blizzard!

And on another subject ... wasn't the Bama game just awesome. I'm not a big football freak and rarely watch a whole game, but of course, this was THE GAME all faithful Alabamians had to watch and swell with pride over - Gracie Lucie you are forgiven because you are actually not from here even though we do claim you as one of us now your disloyalty was completely understandable and will be therefore be overlooked THIS TIME :) .... in case my tone doesn't come across right, this was all said in a perfect ladies southern drawl ... :-) back to the game, it was great, I was getting so upset at times, I had to leave the room because I was getting to anxious about it all, of course in the room I walked into I immediately turned that TV on to the game ... so kind of defeated the purpose. It was surprising to me at how into the game I got, I just don't do that, but wow was it a good game. Would have been fun to watch with a group ... maybe next year!

Y'all take care now, and as Trace Adkins says in his new song I heard on the radio yesterday .... Ala freaking bama *Roll Tide*

Later,

Gary Sledding

this was supposed to be a video slide in fast motion to see G's slide ... didn't work, oh well.

~ Handbook 2010 ~

HANDBOOK 2010

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants..
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5. Make time to pray.
6. Play more games
7. Read more books than you did in 2009.
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:
11. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don't overdo. Keep your limits.
14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip..
16. Dream more while you are awake
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree....

Society:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything..
28. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
32. Do the right thing!
33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. GOD heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change...
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come..
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

AND

40. Feel free to pass this on, I did.

Why Facebook Is for Old Fogies

Why Facebook Is for Old Fogies

Had to share, thought this was funny and oh so accurate, it was on one of my friend's (Toby) Facebook ...

~ A Bologna Sandwich and a Sweet Memory ~

I had a bologna sandwich and chex mix for dinner tonight. Gary was gone and so I didn't cook. So my bologna sandwich was relished in the pleasure of knowing that when I finished, there would be no dishes to do, no left overs to take care of, no table to clean off. All I had to do was toss my paper towel and empty Lipton Green Tea bottle into the trash and wah lah, all clean.

Last night, I came home to baked ham, field peas, homemade macaroni and cheese, homemade biscuits, and baked sweet potatoes - oh and perfectly sweetened iced tea; this morning I got up, took my shower got ready and went into the kitchen and there was a fresh pot of coffee waiting on me; fluffy scrambled eggs, crisp bacon, toasted english muffins, perfectly browned and buttered with real butter and a warm bowl of "real" oatmeal, ya know - not the kind from the brown paper envelope, poured into a bowl with water and nuked in the microwave - but the real kind from the cardboard box and cooked on a stove.

Yep, it was Tuesday night and Wednesday morning and I was basking in the love and warmth of my momma's kitchen :)

So my bologna was okay, because I still had my fresh memory of my momma's wonderful cooking in my mind. Plus than meant TWO nights of no cooking :)

I don't know what has happened to me, I used to love to cook.

~ Photo Post ~

A few of my favorite Christmas ornaments. I don't have a "themed" tree, I just have a little bit of this and a little bit of that ...







A baby dedication, my great niece was dedicated recently. We had a gathering at my niece's house afterwards ....





Memories from Thanksgiving, kind of melancholy without my Dad, but we had a happy time together.




That's all I got.