Friday, February 8, 2008

Friday

It has been a full week. Lots of little surprises which have been highly enjoyed.

On the way into work this morning I noticed that the forsythia bushes had burst into full color. It won't be too long now before the hostas start coming up as well as the peonys. I haven't checked on the dogwood yet, but that usually is beginning to put forth leaves before the hostas start to show. It all means that Spring isn't too far off. Although we could feasibly get a snow in March, but the odds of that aren't very good.

This is a sunset photo that I took on Wednesday evening - I pulled off the road on the way home to snap it.


Walter brought Carla upstairs this evening. He thought that she needed to get out of the house for a bit this evening. So she has been absolutely funny...she keeps 'whining', walking to the door, back to me, sitting down looking at me, whining some more and repeating the whole process. It is too funny.

What brought all this on is residual from Walter's accident. Right afterward I would bring her upstairs to spend the day with him, while I was off at work. Then every evening after I would come home after work and take her back home for the the rest of the evening. So lately every time that Walter & I are in the same room she thinks it's time to go home.

Tomorrow is going to be fairly busy. I'm off to the DMV and the bank to handle business there and then on to Mom & Dad's house to give Mom & Mamaw Stapleton perms. I may even be able to persuade Walter into taking Carla to PetSmart to have her nails trimmed.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day:
"Treat your body like a temple, not a woodshed. The mind and body work together. Your body needs to be a good support system for the mind and spirit. If you take good care of it, your body can take you wherever you want to go, with the power and strength and energy and vitality you will need to get there." - Jim Rohn

One Sign You're Driving Too Fast........

I GOT STOPPED FOR SPEEDING THE OTHER DAY
I THOUGHT I COULD TALK MY WAY OUT OF IT
UNTIL THE COP LOOKED AT MY DOG IN THE BACK SEAT

Just Stay

A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside.

"Your son is here," she said to the old man.

She had to repeat the words several times before the patient's eyes opened.

He was heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the young uniformed Marine standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out his hand. The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man's limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement.

The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the bed. All through the night the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted ward, holding the old man's hand and offering him words of love and strength.

Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest awhile. He refused. Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious of her and of the night noises of the hospital - the clanking of the oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the cries and moans of the other patients.

Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son all through the night.

Along towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the now lifeless hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse. While she did what she had to do, he waited.

Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her.

"Who was that man?" he asked.

The nurse was startled, "He was your father," she answered.

"No, he wasn't," the Marine replied. "I never saw him before in my life."

"Then why didn' t you say something when I took you to him?"

"I knew right away there had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his son just wasn't here. When I realized that he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much he needed me, I stayed."

The next time someone needs you ... just be there. Stay.

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