Wide Open Wednesday

It is another extremely brittle morning, my thermometer shows 29-degrees, yet with the breeze that we have it does feel much cooler. Lilly did well in the crate last night and this morning was 'grateful' to be released. Crating her may be the answer for her hyperactive spells - I'm going to keep that in mind as the days go along.

I want to get Sean's laundry done today. I'm shooting for Sean to bring his laundry down for me this morning. I know...I can only hope. I also need to put another layer of joint compound on the patch I was working on a number of days ago and haven't been able to get back to. All the dry time surely hasn't hurt and will probably give me less work to do than it would have just giving it a day of drytime in between.

Well the Blogger login in at Google has been down for quite sometime today. So I wasn't able to piddle around much on the blog today.

Sean brought me his laundry in exchange for chicken soup. YEAH! Bribery worked, this time. So I've got that going in the washer now and should have it done in a couple of hours.

Mom, bless here is bringing by a gallon of milk and loaf of bread since she is already headed out to the grocery store. Thanks so much now I don't have to go out and brave the bitter cold.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thoughts for the Day:

• The difference between can and cannot are only three letters. Three letters that determine your life's direction. - Remey Sasson
• “God sends no one away empty except those who are full of themselves.” —Dwight L. Moody
• “Independence is the recognition of the fact that yours is the responsibility of judgment and nothing can help you escape it—that no substitute can do your thinking, as no pinch-hitter can live your life.” —Ayn Rand

Tuesday

The air is cold out this morning, temperature wise it isn't as cold as yesterday, but there is a certain briskness to the air. Dean called on his way to work and said that he noticed that the smoke from large disel vehicles was falling quickly to the ground. According to old Indian tales this means snow, but thinking about it when did the old Indians have cars, so I guess just smoke in general would mean the same thing.

I've been working around the house doing the pickup/straighten up thing since we have another showing at 11:30 this morning. Then maybe after I get back I can get Sean's laundry started with his cooperation. He has an orthodontist appointment at 3:00, maybe he is close to getting the off. We will see. We had to postpone the appointment until Thursday, hope things will work out better then.

I can tell it is cold, both the girls are crashed out asleep in the family room. Carla in front of the fire (good for her arthritis) and Lilly on the sofa. I've made the rounds and cleaned up the yard best as I could to get it ready for the appointment at 11:30.

We're back from our short exile - we had a nice visit with Mom & Dad. Perhaps we will hear something this week about the house. I'm already getting tired of the whole house showing deal. The girls however, do enjoy getting out and riding around in the car. I would almost say that they really look forward to it.

I just heard that Riverdance is going to be performed at the Richmond Landmark Theater beginning February 1 thru February 4th. This is something that I would really like to see. I have a taped version, but I do believe that a live performance would be quite a bit better. It would be a great surprise to see it but right now probably isn't a good time, since we are in the process of selling the house and looking for a place ourselves.

Lilly was so bouncy this evening that I had to put her into the crate for the night. She's been bouncing off the furniture, the walls and just about anything else that she could possibly bounce off. There is no way that I am going to be able to get any sleep whatsoever with her roaming about. It has been an odd day with her, she's gotten into things that she never has before. I just don't know. Hopefully she'll settle down and just sleep.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings

Thoughts for the Day:

• A true friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your heart.- Sterling Stokes
• Good Friends are like stars, you don't always see them but you know they are there.
  

Twenty-one Common Sense Rules To Live By

ONE. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
TWO. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.
THREE. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.
FOUR. When you say, "I love you," mean it.
FIVE. When you say, "I'm sorry," look the person in the eye.
SIX. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
SEVEN. Believe in love at first sight.
EIGHT. Never laugh at anyone's dream. People who don't have dreams don't have much.
NINE. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.
TEN. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.
ELEVEN. Don't judge people by their relatives.
TWELVE. Talk slowly but think quickly.
THIRTEEN. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"
FOURTEEN. Remember that great love a nd great achievements involve great risk.
FIFTEEN. Say "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.
SIXTEEN. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
SEVENTEEN. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and responsibility for all your actions.
EIGHTEEN. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
NINETEEN. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
TWENTY. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.
TWENTY-ONE. Spend some time alone.

Monday

Here we are at another Monday morning, school gets out today three-hours early for a teacher work day. The temperatures are brittle when you walk out, absoulutely coat weather. The girls don't even want to hang outside any longer than necessary.

I jumped right in this morning to catching up on laundry. Not something that I can very well do while showing the house. I can sort of...one load washed and waiting to go in the dryer, but knowing myself the way I do. I'd forget I had one waiting to go in the dryer by the time we got back from out hiding out for an hour or more. Thank goodness they aren't peeping into the washer & dryer.

I worked on my February desktop this morning it was much easier to expand than normal. I liked the birds and heart, nice and simple.

Our neighbor across the street sold his house this weekend - they ended up having a little bidding war for it. He also told me that the last couple that looked at the house on Sunday really spent a long time here looking. Walking around the yard a couple of times and talking outside too.

Walter dropped mid-afternoon to leave his barn jacket with me to repair a button and put a patch on it. Lilly was so silly while he was here. He was out with Tracey working so, when Lilly saw him she ran right out to the truck....and jumped right in. She must have gotten it into her head that everytime there is a vehicle door open that she needs to get inside. It took a few minutes to get her out. It was a funny situation.

I got Walt's jacket finished in no time. He even came back after work and picked it up. He will be in need of it in the morning. I even got a little excited and put the canvas on his flannel jacket. I do believe that it came out well. I've just got to let him know that it is ready for pick up as well.

Mom sent a photo that she had scanned this afternoon of Miss Danielle on her first birthday. I know of another little girl that sure looks quite a bit like her mommy. The biggest difference of course is that we let Danielle really play with her birthday cake.

Well, I've gotten another phone call for another house showing for tomorrow morning. They only scheduled for a 30 minute period, which is nice for me. I don't have to find something to do for a long period of time.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought for the Day: "Optimists convert stumbling blocks into stepping stones." - W. Howard Wight, Jr.

DINNER INVITATION

A girl asks her boyfriend to come over Friday night & have dinner with her parents. Since this is such a big event, the girl announces to her boyfriend that after dinner, she would like to go out & make love for the first time. Well, the boy is ecstatic, but he has never had sex before, so he takes a trip to the pharmacist to get some condoms. He tells the pharmacist it's his first time & the pharmacist helps the boy for about an hour. He tells the boy everything there is to know about condoms and sex.

At the register, the pharmacist asks the boy how many condoms he'd like to buy, a 3-pack, 10-pack, or family pack. The boy insists on the family pack because he thinks he will be rather busy, it being his first time & all.

That night, the boy shows up at the girl's parents house & meets his girlfriend at the door. "Oh, I'm so excited for you to meet my parents, come on in!"

The boy goes inside & is taken to the dinner table where the girl's parents are seated. The boy quickly offers to say grace & bows his head. A minute passes, & the boy is still deep in prayer, with his head down. 10 minutes pass, & still no movement from the boy.

Finally, after 20 minutes with his head down, the girlfriend leans over & whispers to the boyfriend, "I had no idea you were this religious."

The boy turns, & whispers back, "I had no idea your father was a pharmacist."

Sunday

I received an email from Danielle first thing this morning. She sent me along a couple of photos from Faith's 1st Birthday. Miss Faith really looks like she is enjoying her birthday cake. I beth that those new top teeth were probably helping her along on eating her cake. She sure does look cute.

I headed off to choir practice this morning. Walter got to church way too early and drove by to pick me up for church. We had practice with Ben - a prospective choir director? I think he did a good job. He is almost as animated as Paul. Dr. Fowler had delivered an excellent message. I do believe that he has proven to be a great fit with the church.

We have two house showings today, the 1st-I thought was 12-1, but turned out to be 1-2. Ooops! They arrived and I had begun to fix lunch so we slipped out and drove around just a bit, bu the time we were heading back in we saw that they were leaving. Our 2nd showing is from 4:15 to 5:30, this afternoon. This will be the second time that this couple will have been here.

Last night I drove over to Alice's and we spent some time working on my 'modern' resume. It turned out great. So now all I have to do is wait until the Administrative position opens up to the outside and have Alice turn it in for me. I also have the application to fill out, most likely I will also turn in a traditional resume as well. I'll wait to see on that one though.

I showed the resume to a couple of people at church who thought that it was really cool and would be one that they would keep if they were going through a pile of resumes. It is nice to know that they are going to attract the right kind of attention.

No choir practice tonight, we are having guest singers this evening and then we will not be singing next week because of special singers for Anniversary Sunday.

Update on the thumb: I went back to Patient First yesterday - it was looking really gross. Turns out that I had Cellulitis, the infection was oozing around my stitches. We are speculating that the reason was that I had a reaction to the stitches themselves, most likely because they were synthetic. If I should have to have them ever again I probably should have natural fiber sutures. The doctor ended up taking out the stitches (4 days early), and prescribing an antibiotic to clear up the infection.

I've been trying to keep it covered with a bandaid, but the glue on them drives me crazy. For the most part I'm keeping it covered at night and when I go out - to keep from exposing others to the horrible mess.

We drove around awhile this evening to just be looking. There is a subdivision called the Sanctuary at Watermill and they had this terrific statue out front, now it wasn't surrounded by water. I had fun adjusting it and changing it. We did go through a couple that had some really nice features. One even reminded me of a kitchen that I had drawn out one time. Which was really freaky. Another show house had some terrific decorating ideas and really 'felt' like me, but I don't know about the neighborhood. Nice neighborhood, but there are a lot of restrictions and questions that I would have before moving into a 'planned community'. I wouldn't want our home to look like everyone elses - I would want it to have some character of it's own.

Sean and I have been watching Happy Gilmore this evening while Dean has been busily working on his homework assignments in the office.

The weather has really changed here today. We started off not needing a coat and by the time this evening has rolled around, WOW! I just stepped out with Miss Lilly and we are having snow flurries.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought for the Day: "Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world." - Arthur Schopenhauer

Cherokee Wisdom....

Two Wolves

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a
battle taht goes on inside people. He said, "My son,
The battle is between two 'wolves' inside us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret,
greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment
Inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope,
serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence,
empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."
The grandson thought about it for a minute
and then asked his grandfather,
"Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Saturday Excursions

We are off this morning to allow for a couple of house showings. We have finally gotten our "list" from our agent of places to check out ourself. Turns out the "." in our email address was missing, thus the hold up on email with our search criteria.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought for the Day: I've drawn a blank!

Look at This!

As I was packing for my business trip, my three-year-old daughter was having a wonderful time playing on the bed. At one point, she said, "Daddy, look at this," and stuck out two of her fingers.

Trying to keep her entertained, I reached out and stuck her tiny fingers in my mouth and said, "Daddy's gonna eat your fingers!" pretending to eat them before I rushed out of the room again.

When I returned, my daughter was standing on the bed staring at her fingers with a devastated look on her face. I said, "What's wrong, honey?"

She replied, "What happened to my booger?"

Happy Birthday Faith

Friday

Good morning All! We are in for another day of leaving the house for a showing. I'm headed out to Mom & Dad's to hide out while they are here. I'm so glad that the girls are behaved while we are there. I'm beginning to think that Lilly is actually rubbing off on them. She does bark at Dad from time to time, but the it is like she remembers who he is and quits.

The girls did well over at Mom & Dad's house. They like curling up on the sofa to sleep, together no less.

I checked in on the eshowing listing today and found that we have on realtor who wants to have a second showing of the house on Sunday afternoon. I've called Dave's office about it and they are sending them back through the scheduling agency again. That way we can keep track of any & all feedback.

The temperature here was showing as 23-degrees first thing this morning, and has only been inching upward slowly. I just love the gas logs, I can stay warm. Having already had to straighten the house up first thing this morning for the showing, that leaves the day pretty much free.

Walter dropped by to pick up a package that he had delivered here today. If he orders anything that won't fit into his box at home he has it sent here. It keeps him from having to journey to the post office.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thoughts for the Day:

• It is impossible to take one day at a time, we can only do it minute by minute and that is with lots of help from above.
• If you look at what you do not have in life, you don't have anything, If you look at what you have in life, you have everything.
• Joy: I live in my own little world. But it's OK... They know me here!

A Love Supreme

A woman meant to call a record store but dialed the wrong number and got a private home instead. "Do you have 'Eyes of Blue' and 'A Love Supreme'?" she asked.

"Well, no," answered the puzzled homeowner. "But I have a wife and eleven children."

"Is that a record?" she inquired.

"I don't think so," replied the man, "but it's as close as I want to get."

TECHNOLOGY RUN AMOK?

According to Roxio, here are some products that walk a fine line between usefulness and Pet Rock status. Here are a few REAL current doodads and thingamajigs of dubious value. You be the judge!

1. Laundry Weather Index - A site in Italy tells you when it's safe to hang out the clothes to try before heading to work.
2. DVDs That Self-Destruct - This Mission Impossible theme has actually made its way into real products! So-called Flexplay discs turn black and unplayable after 48 hours. Wonder why it hasn't caught on?
3. Wi-Fi Talking Rabbit - This cute little bunny has antennae for ears and can read the news or your email out loud to you when it arrives. It even has moods and flashing colored lights. But you can't talk back.
4. Solar Insect Theatre - Continuing our nature theme, click right on over to this bug observation tank. Essentially an expensive moth trap, it lights up at night to attract the bugs, but doesn't let them out easily, so you can then watch them during the day.

Seven Strategies To Improve Your Attitude at Work

1. You CAN do it. Low motivation doesn’t mean you CAN’T do something, it just means you prefer not to.
2. Have realistic expectations of yourself. Having low motivation means you may not enjoy the task, and it will take you longer and use more energy than someone with high motivation. Don’t compare your productivity to someone who thrives on the very task you detest.
3. Determine if "Adequate" is good enough. Is it imperative that you be excellent in this particular area? If you have low motivation, you can probably be adequate with enough training and practice, but being "Excellent" may be beyond reach.
4. Reassign the work. Can this task be given to someone else? Perhaps there is someone with high motivation who would enjoy this work.
5. Partner with someone who is strong in this area. This the Rogers and Hammerstein approach. An example would be the successful sales person who relies on her assistant to do all the paperwork.
6. Create a system or use a tool. I know of a professional with high talent for creativity, but low talent for details and capturing all his good ideas. He finally decided to carry a pocket tape recorder in a leather case on his belt. This allows him to make verbal notes to himself on the fly.
7. Ask for reassignment. One of our clients who had always been a successful project manager was floundering in his new role. The reason was that he had very high motivation for routine, methodical procedures. He needed lots of structure and order in his environment. Unfortunately, he was assigned to develop new products in a start-up company, and there were no rules, no structure. His best option was to accept reassignment to a role that allowed him to create processes and procedures for the new venture.
   

Thursday

Contrary to popular opinion and speculation, I did not drop off the face of the earth today. We had a house showing this morning from 9-11, it was get up, clean up, and get out. Alice's brochures have once again proved to be popular as one more is missing from the pile.

I received another phone call when I got home and there is a showing scheduled for tomorrow morning as well as one on Saturday morning. The house seems to be a popular place, but we just aren't getting the offer. Then there is the neighbor across the street who put his house on the market this week. Fun, fun...I hate the competition idea, but his house is smaller and whoever would be looking at it would only have a small family.

Dean talked me around 12:20 and the skies were blue at Qimonda with a gentle flurry of snow falling. Talk about a contradiction in weather.

Around 3:30, this afternoon we received our own snowy downpour. Sean was estatic over the large fluffy flakes that were falling. Ah, theses are the ones that just don't stay around. He popped outside to enjoy them for about the 10 minutes that it actually was snowing. It has all cleared off now and left just a few water spots to show for having fallen.

I took the shot of the snow from our front porch. You can really see how big the flakes are since you can see them at all. They show up especially well on the drive, grass, and in the right top of the photo as some really large gray chunks.

Yippee!!!! Congratulations!!! Alice gets to attend PHOTOSHOP WORLD for work.....Wonderful business trip. Exciting, exciting, exciting. I'm just so happy for her. She will be working her "drafting pen" off for 2 days in Boston during the first of April. Way to go Sis!

Now to catch everyone up on my outing last night. In preparation for the house showing today, I had boxed and boxed books and needed to get them out of the house. So I made a big circle trip:

1. I ran to Chester and dropped in to visit with Miss Faith and deliver her birthday present a couple of days early. (I had no idea of what we would be doing on Saturday). She had just cut two new teeth yesterday. I had such a fun time with her as she opened her present and played around. She really liked looking at the book we got for her and the outfit, when held up to her does look like it will fit her perfectly. She has grown quite a bit of hair since I last saw her and she is still as slim as ever. She is a beautiful little princess. I was swinging her around in circles and she giggled just as hard - I know she was having a delightful time. So much fun for both of us. I love her to pieces.
   
2. Dropped Walter's phone by his house, and hung a picture for him.
3. Slipped by Mom & Dad's house and stored all of my boxes of books. That was a chore for all of us, books aren't exactly lightweight.

I received a very unexpected surprise in today's mail. Photos of Miss Faith! Here she is all fancied up for her portrait. She really like that teddy bear that she was holding; and the one that she was crawling she has such a mischievious grin (it makes you think that she is really up to something).

Another interesting development is a job opening that has been rumored to be opening up where Alice works. I will be able to apply for it on Valentine's Day. It is a position as an Administrative Assistant, something that I surely am qualified to do. It seems that even now I'm a number of people's Virtual Personal Assistant anyway. So this would just be the almost the same type of thing, but getting paid to do it. Alice said that she would drop my resume in the personal office on the first day that I can submit it. Not bad.

Walter gave me a call this evening and asked me over for dinner. Since Dean had been running late it worked out well, I hadn't eaten, but the guys had their dinner ready and waiting for them.

We had some real interesting italian sausage stuffed with artichokes and cheese. The conversation was plesant and the boys were quite entertaining.

We plugged up my mp3 player with Tweat and other birds singing and they got themselves all fluffed up and started talking. Walter let them out of the cage and that is when the real antic began. Sundance hung on the edge of the textured ceiling and Butch just sat around on the top of the lampshade. The funniest thing that Sundance did wast his imitation of the 'iron cross' gymnastic move. He had one claw on each of the vertical blind slats. Ooo, Mr. Strongbird.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings

Thought for the Day: Enjoy the little moments in life, they are the ones that will always be with you.

The Happiest People

The happiest people in the world are not those who have no problems, but those who learn to live with things that are less than perfect.

I got this one in the email today:

ATTENTION

ALIENS ARE COMING TO ABDUCT ALL THE GOOD LOOKING AND SEXY PEOPLE. YOU WILL BE SAFE, I'M JUST EMAILING TO SAY GOODBYE.

A Frosty Wednesday

There is a beautiful frost on the ground this morning. It gives the yard an appearance of having a thin layer of snow, only on the grassy parts. It will be gone as the sun rises. I do hope that the temperature does pick up today we're starting off at a brisk 23-degrees. The forecast estimates that we'll double that for a high today. Time to wrap up and stay warm.

I'm meeting up with dad this morning at the liquor store, he's going to help me get boxes for moving. Since he has a truck that will allow me to get more than I would be able to with just the car. I'll say this for the acholol producers, they sure know how to pack their product - the boxes are great for moving just about everything safely.

I'm pretty sure that I'm going to start by boxes up the books in the hallway.

Sean started out the day well, he was up and taking a shower when he slipped and fell. I've gotten him back into the bed. It seems that he hit his knees (which were already "injuried"); then hit his hip on the tub plug; and then his occipital bone in the back of his head glanced off the edge of the tub.

Alice and I went out last night to Panera's for hot chocolate and cinnamon scones and conversation. We worked on my resume. It was a real change from what I have ever used. It still has work to be done, but it looks like it real be really interesting. Something that will catch someone's eye.

This morning we were talking about this and that and how there are just some days that we would all like to hit the rewind button and start over. This is one of my rewind days.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought for the Day: America was born a Christian nation. America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of the Holy Scripture. - Woodrow Wilson (1911)

Did You Know...in 2000 b.c. the Assyrian Code had this to say about abortion? If a woman of her own accord dros that which is within her, they shall crucify her and not bury her. Think about it...even pagans long before the advent of Christianity recognized the wrongness of killing the innocent, unborn baby. - Foundation for Moral Restoration

Tuesday

Waiting around this evening to see if school is closed. I don't think it will be but...you never know. However, the good Lord was on our side and no one drop of nasty weather today.

Sean was however, sick and stayed home from school. We ran by the doctor's office and he gave him something for it, so perhaps he'll be up to snuff for school tomorrow.

Mom came by for a short visit, coffee & a brownie. It was a nice time.

Poor Dean had a hard time getting home this evening. He kept leaving, but before he could get all the way gone, he had to go back to fix something. I do believe that he finally has made it out of the parking lot and is currently in transit to the house. Yippee! I'm glad that he is making it out for the evening.

I'm heading out for a short while this evening to visit with Alice. I think we are going to get some coffee/hot chocolate and talk over my resume and see if it can't get punched up somewhat.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought for the Day: If we are correct and right in our Christian life at every point, but refuse to stand for the truth at a particular point where the battle rages-then we are traitors to Christ. - Martin Luther (1483-1546)

Icy Monday

An abrupt phone call awoke me this morning, it was from the county school informing us that schools would open 2 hours late. Lovely. We have been using the SchoolsOut.com service for years, now they are calling us too! What is up with that?

Anyway, the trees look beautiful with their limbs encased in a thin layer of ice. It looks so magical. The ice, since it is a thin layer, has everything looking sparkling. Only the ultimate painter & craftsman could ever have created such a beautiful sight. Isn't the Lord's handiwork wonderful!

Sean is getting to sleep in this morning and his whole school day will be abbreviated down to hardly anything at all.

Can ya'll tell me just why it is that Monday's so hard? I know it is the getting back to routine, but really...

The thumb is aching and my shoulder/arm is weak from the tetanus shot. I'm going to be pretty worthless today. I did fix Dean's lunch, but that was a real challenge. Being right-handed and trying to operate left-handed is extremely disorienting. This is what my pitiful thumb looks like. I did clean it up a bit so that no one would get sick. But the whole purpose is to show what an awkward place that it is and why it is giving me so much difficulty.

Walter came to visit me and to borrow a game from dad. I got him to agree to play a few hands of cards with me and then...he won the first hand. After that he packed up the cards and said that he was quitting while he was ahead. He just plain ole' weenied out! I just frighten him...he's scared that I'll beat him.

I've got dinner in the crockpot, a nice beef stew. I think that I'll toast up some french bread to go with it as a nice accompaniment. The stew is beginning to create a delightful aroma in the house. Which has led to the girls are starting to mill around the kitchen looks for a bite. They will just have to wait until later on...they will get their food when it's time.

Then again they may just be a bit stir crazy - since they have been inside for the majority of the day. The icky weather has kept them in, and wanting to stay inside. Lilly has been going out alone and then coming right back inside. Miracle! I think it is just because it is cold.

I had almost forgotten, Dean is heading out to school tonight. It is only his second class, because they had a holiday on the second week of class.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thoughts for the Day:

• "People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing -- that's why we recommend it daily." - Zig Ziglar
• Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
• "It is the soldier, not the reporter who has given us the freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us the freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who gives us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag." - Father Dennis Edward O'Brien, Sergeant, USMC
  

From the Patriot Post

“Let each man resolve to be victorious, and that the right of self-government, liberty, and peace shall find him a defender.” —Robert E. Lee

“[M]y religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed. God has fixed the time for my death. I do not concern myself about that, but to be always ready, no matter when it may overtake me. That is the way all men should live, and then all would be equally brave.” —Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson

"Biggest Lie"

Two boys were arguing when the teacher entered the room. The teacher says, "Why are you arguing?"

One boy answers, "We found a ten dollar bill and decided to give it to whoever tells the biggest lie."

"You should be ashamed of yourselves," said the teacher, "When I was your age I didn't even know what a lie was."

The boys gave the ten dollars to the teacher.

For My Mommy

Love, Judy

Snowy Sunday???

The weather forecast for today according to NOAA is:

Sunday: A slight chance of snow before 1pm, then freezing rain likely and possibly mixed with snow and sleet. Increasing clouds, with a high near 33. Calm wind becoming southeast around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Sunday Night: Freezing rain likely possibly mixed with sleet before 4am, then a chance of rain. Cloudy, with a low around 30. South wind between 4 and 7 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

7:45 a.m. The Severe Weather Alert has been cancelled and now our forecast is:

Today: Snow and sleet likely between 1pm and 4pm, then rain and sleet likely after 4pm. Cloudy, with a high near 35. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Tonight: Periods of freezing rain, mainly before 1am. Low around 29. Southeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Funny stuff: a new Winter Weather Advisory was issued this morning:

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FROM THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH 7 AM EST MONDAY FOR THE POTENTIAL OF MINOR SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN ACCUMULATIONS

I suppose that if our typical weather pattern follows here we'll have nothing but rain, but I suppose we can always hope that we have some pleasant winter weather and then it all be cleared up for Monday. Then again the only snowflakes that we could see are the ones floating down this blog entry. Well it has spit something at us on several occasions, but whether or not it really becomes something is another story.

Nothing new in the mail bag, yet this morning. I'm headed off to choir practice, Sunday school, and church shortly. There, of course, could be lots to say after being gone for awhile. Right now...there are no showings scheduled for the house. Ah, a quite day at home. I know Dean wants to work on some class reading and an assignment or two. So without having to leave every couple of hours this should help him have the opportunity to get done with what he would like to get finished.

Lilly is have a fantastic time this morning playing with a piece of Tyvek. She just loves to tear up papertowels, but Tyvek has her beat. Nothing that she can do, so far, has been able to put a dent (hole) in it. It sure beats her nibbling on socks and such.

Well, I spoke too soon about there being no house showing. While I was out walking the girls this morning a realtor drove by and was taking down information on the house. Of course, I spoke and gave him a brochure on the house. While I was at church he came back by and set up an appointment with Dean to see the house right after I got home from church. So to kill the time we hopped up to Bay Hill Pointe to an open house there, when who do we find but Deb's sister, Char. She was manning the open house. It was a funny thing. Very nice house too.

Char's going to be dropping by after the open house is over and picking up a brochure to take back to the office. I've put all of Blue Crescent Marketing's information inside, with Alice as the contact should they want some work done. It is a start and the agent that showed our house also has the contact information as well. No matter what goes on with the house, Blue Crescent may have a foot in the door in the real estate area. It could be the start of something.

Dean's working on his homework assignments so he'll be ready for class tomorrow night. Sean is playing on the computer and I am just hanging out downstairs with the girls. Goofing off on the computer and doing some card creation.

No choir practice this evening they have cancelled everything at church this evening on the side of caution. Better to be safe than sorry later. Walter has dropped by for a little while to visit before heading out to mess around for the evening.

I did a real STUPID this evening, I was cleaning a broken plate in order to put it back together and it slipped and cut open my thumb. Dean & Sean took me to Patient First where I was given five stitches. I know smart move, but it didn't hit the tendon or any major nerves so I was lucky. I did also end up getting a tetanus shot to boot, just to be on the safe side. I'm posting this before the numbing agent wears off my thumb and it begins to throb.

Mom was telling me earlier today that they had a sanctity of life message at church, which caused me to remember a conversation that I had earlier this week with Harold (Deb's lawn guy), regarding social security and pro-choice advocates. There is so much concern these days about social security "being there" for the retiring baby boomers. However, if you analyze the concept of pro-choice from a shearly capitalistic prospective abortion has removed a large chunk of prospective employees from the market. These employees would have contributed to the social security fund and in turn also in turn would have most likely had additional children who would have repeated the cycle. So in terms of basic economics abortion has been a major contributing factor in the decline of the funds invested into the social security fund. How ironic that the liberal agenda has been part of both problems that they themselves have created.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thoughts for the Day: (from church today)

• Keep me safe till the storm passes by.
• The measure of a life is not its duration, but donation to others.
• I am, what I am, by the grace of God. - Paul
• You can't make yourself feel emotional love for someone.

Saturday Shuffle

I'm beginning to act like Mom now, I was in the office this morning and this beautiful male cardinal was sitting in the birch tree out front. My first thought was to run for the camera. Too late he was already gone when I got back, but I do know where he is living. It is just going to take patience and timing. Hopefully, I'll get a shot of him before we move (especially since they have taken up residence in the large shrubbery at the end of the house.

Walter is out today, working again. This time he is doing filing at the office. I do believe that he spends more time away from home than he spends there.

The boys have gone out to run an errand before we trek off before the first house showing. We are going to head over to look a couple of homes in the area, at least the exterior. If it is new construction, of course, we'll be doing the whole walk through.

The day really did turn out to be a huge shuffle in and out of the house, we ended up having three showings today. We had our first showing scheduled at 10:30-11:30, but it turned out that the realtor was late and didn't arrive until nearly 12. So we left out to let her show the house, while we were out we received a call for a second showing from 1:15-2:15; on top of the showing we had scheduled from 2 - 3 p.m.

We spent an extraordinary amount of time in the car. We went through several areas looking at what was available for sale and picking up a flyer here and there. The prices for housing in some of these areas were outrageous. The housing prices have really escalated since the last time that we were house hunting. What seems to be reasonable is turning out to be condominiums or townhouses, otherwise we've seen some that were priced just beginning in the 360's. Can someone tell me who is purchasing these houses? and just exactly what type of work are they doing? I do understand that there is a market for those coming in to the area from up north, but really do all the houses have to be so outrageously expensive.

The girls did great while we were out, they were well behaved. I was worried that they would go stir crazy hanging out so long in the car, but no worries. Now that they are back home they both have crashed on the sofa to sleep the days efforts off. We even had the opportunity to stop by Blockbuster and get a couple of movies:

• Magma - a disaster film of course.
• The Illustionist - very interesting, with lots of twists and turns.
  
• Yours, Mine & Ours - the new version - this one we purchased for the outrageous price of $3.99. We couldn't have rented it for that.

I was doing some reading on the Drudge Report this evening and came across this photo from the AP of Hillary Clinton standing behind the Presidental seal. It drives me crazy that she, due to some liberal high jinks that she could theoretically become president.

She has such far leaning left ideals that it seems that she would like to have the United States become another Socialist or Communist country. I personally do not want the government to control my life from cradle to grave, nor do I want them sticking their nose into everything that they possibly could from health care to the way we raise our children.

What would that be like, President Clinton, and former President Clinton in the White House. What would the former President be called the "First Man"? How confusing would conversations be when addressing either of them. The press would drive us crazy with President Clinton this and that, the only sure way for them to make sure we know who is who would be to address her as Madam President. Ahhhhh!!!! Time to run kicking and screaming to find other options for the future. This idea isn't good, and neither is the whole idea of Obama running.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought for the Day: "When you're over 50 you can still do all the things you did when you were 17 if you don't mind making an idiot of yourself."

Ski Trip

A man went on a ski trip, and was knocked unconscious by the chair lift. He called his insurance company from the hospital, but it refused to cover his injury.

"Why is the injury not covered?" he asked.

"You got hit in the head by a chair lift," the insurance rep said. "That makes you an idiot, and we consider that a preexisting condition."

"Happy Birthday"

My young grandson called the other day to wish me Happy Birthday. He asked me how old I was, and I told him, "62."

He was quiet for a moment, and then he asked, "Did you start at 1?"

"Hypochondriacs"

"People are forever calling me a hypochondriac, and, let me tell you, that makes me sick."

Double Birthday Wishes

Andrew, We all wish you to have a spectacular birthday.

Love, Aunt Judy, Uncle Dean & Sean

Mike, May you all your candles keep you warm. Have a really...

Friday

We got the GEO sold last night, Walter is going to help Patrick get it moved out one day this weekend. So no more little red car in the driveway by the end of the weekend. She was a good little car and is going to get fixed up and have a new owner to have fun with. [I did have to make a stop by the new owners house to fix a booboo on the title - I check a box incorrectly so I had to write up a mistake letter to go with it.]

No pretty white, wet stuff outside today; it's just cold and damp. A perfect day to go grocery shopping (yuck). I really don't mind the shopping it's the checking out; getting it in the car; getting out of the car; into the house; out of the bags; and into the proper location in house that really gets to me. I would be great if all that stuff would just "teleport" right from the store to where it is suppose to go. Ah, the fantasy life of sci-fi, or better yet a 'replicator' then you don't have to go anywhere.

WOW, we are back from the grocery store. It wasn't a stress event as it has been over the past few months. In fact, we managed to get through without even the thought of pull our hair out by the roots. As I was putting away our purchases, I received another phone call from the showing agency - the house will be shown again on Saturday afternoon.

I got out this afternoon and dug up my small dogwood tree. This is one that I got as a seedling from Alice's house. I still don't know if it is a white one or pink one. It hasn't ever bloomed yet. It is only about two feet tall now and since we are moving I'm considering turning it into a bonsai. That I need to do some research on first, but for now it is out of the ground and into a good sized pot to hold it over for the time being. I took a picture of it in the pot then decided to play around with it awhile and the picture here is the result. My "little" dogwood tree complete with background, running stream and fairy sitting by his house. It really shows off the shape of the tree so far.

I just found out today that Dorothy "Dot" Hart Hutchinson, passed away on January 11th. I was so surprised to hear it. It was a real shock. I remember when I was high school and doing her hair, so many years. I have always enjoyed catching up with her whenever we had the opportunity. I know that she will be missed by many.

Alice just informed me that she may have a line on a full-time job for me, it would be an Administrative Assistant position. Oooh, oooh I even have a diploma in that...Ha! Ha! Ha!

This evening Walter got back in from out-of-town and promptly popped over here with plenty of things that he needed me to "help" him do. Not that he really needed me, he just wanted me to go with him to get it done. It is always more fun when you have someone who will go with you to harass you nicely along the way. Our agenda included the following:

• Fueling up - diesel. I got some on the car and then used the window cleaner to "hose it down".
• Hancock Fabric - We picked up some canvas to repair the back of one of Walter's jackets that he tore when he wrecked on his bike.
• Walter showed me the location of the new Middle School that will be behind St. Francis' Hospital and the location of the new Genito High School.
  
• Patrick's House - To leave the title booboo note.
• Wal-Mart - I had an exchange to make and Walter had a couple of items to pick up. He ended up finding a stero stand for his apartment at a really great price.
  

Now for the funny story of the evening: When we got back into the car from the fabric store, Walt changed CD's and then tried to back up. It didn't work. I told him the car wasn't even started yet, so he turned the key and nothing happened. Well, he tried a couple of more times and then we phoned Dean to bring the jumper cables and jumpstart the battery, so he could go get a new one. To kill a little time we walked over to P&Q Bar-be-que and got a cup of coffee, and walked back to the car to talk and wait. For some reason Walter put his hand on the shift and realized the car was in reverse. Smacking himself against the head for forgeting the #1 rule in starting a car, make sure it is in park before starting. Sure enough he slipped into park and she started like a dream. We were able to get a call off to Dean before he made it all the way over to Midlothian. I really appreciated his gallant effort in coming to rescue us, but we did all get a good laugh over the who "reverse" issue. We finally made it back and Walter went off on his way back home.

The house has two showings tomorrow, so we won't get much of anything done at all around here except to straighten up and leave. The first is at 10:30a.m. and the second and 2:00p.m. Alice's brochures will be out and available. It does seem like everyone likes them. I just hope we have some movement if there is going to be any. This leaving so much is beginning to take it's toll. You really don't have time to get involved in anything before it's time to go, and then it would take so much to clean up any mess you would have. Once it's under contract then perhaps we can step back and finish up what we had planned to do and then get to finding a place of our own to go to.

Sean even got out of the house this evening to go skating. I'm sure that he will have had a great time, he always does. It gives him the opportunity to really burn off a whole lot of extra energy.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought for the Day: Where there is fear there is no creativity. - Christopher Lowell

Teddy Roosevelt said it best

Teddy Roosevelt outside the "Nightlife Saloon" 99 years ago, said:
"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant, who comes here in good faith, becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an Am erican, and nothing but an American. There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag. We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people." - Theodore Roosevelt 1907

Use The Phrase Finder to Uncover the Origin of Common Sayings

The Phrase Finder lists some 1,200 common sayings, proverbs and idioms and their origins. You may be surprised to learn about the most common sources of English idioms:

• The sea
• The Bible
• Shakespeare
  

For example, you can learn how the making of felt hats, using mercury compounds, was responsible for the phrase "as mad as a hatter." Oh, I knew this one from the family genealogy on the Smith's, as one of the earliest Smith's was a hatter.

Guardian Angel

Angels exist, only sometimes they haven't got wings and we call them friends; you are one of them Something wonderful is about to happen to you and your friends. Tomorrow at 9:12 AM somebody will address you and tell you something you have been waiting to hear. [I'll be waiting...won't we all. I really liked the graphic work on this one. So of course that is the main reason it is here.]

"A Wild Friday Night at My House"...

How True it is

Another year has passed, and we all are a little older.
Last summer felt hotter and winter seems much colder.
I rack my brain for happy thoughts, to put down on my pad,
but lots of things that come to mind just make me kind of sad.
There was a time not long ago when life was quite a blast.
Now I fully understand about "Living in the Past".
We used to go to friends homes, football games and lunches.
Now we go to therapy, hospitals, and after-funeral brunches.
We used to go out dining, and couldn't get our fill.
Now we ask for doggie bags, come home and take a pill.
We used to often travel to places near and far.
Now we get backaches from riding in the car.
We used to go out shopping for new clothing at the Mall
But, now we never bother... All the sizes are too small.
That, my friend is how life is, and now my tale is told.
So, enjoy each day and live it up...Before you're too dadblamed old!!

Where the heck did the years go??

Thursday

The early excitement for the day is the arrival of Marion & Dale's first grandchild, Miss Cheyenne. She and her mother are recovering from the delivery in Ohio.

Well, we are going to try getting off to school once again this morning. Now barring any bad weather between our leaving and his end of the school day. Things should go smoothly. Sean got into school just fine, he's signed his attendance contract and ready to go for the day. He was off to drama class followed by history then home. Not a bad day. The weather forecast for the day is "a slight chance of snow and freezing rain between 10am and 1pm, then rain likely". Alice said that there was snow at her house as she was leaving - and once I left school from dropping Sean off. The car had a thin layer of snow on it. I'm hoping that we will be through with the messy stuff before the afternoon begins. The snow quit. It didn't last for more than about 45 minutes. There is always the possibility of more later, but...I doubt it.

The house is showing again today between 11:00 & 1:00 p.m. So Sean and I will be out with the girls at Mom & Dad's house. It would be great to get a contract on the house so I can quit having to leave all the time.

I have managed to get everything all together with the house. So I am planning on heading out of here in about 20 minutes with the girls. Then getting back to school to pick up Sean. So far, no phone calls from school - YIPPEE!! He and I are then going to head back out to Mom & Dad's until close to 1:00.

BIG NEWS for ALICE! Dave Worrie's office manager has called here looking to find out how our brochure our house was put together. I gave her Alice's direct office number and told them to speak to her about it. They may wind up putting together a deal where she can do some side work on a quick turn around basis.

Sean had a great day at school. He came bouncing out of school with loads of energy and was in a fantastic mood. He even stated that he should have made it back yesterday, and couldn't figure out why he had panicked about it so. That's great news for another great start on Friday.

Tomorrow has a bright start to it already. He tells me that at the end of the semester (just about a week away) he will be starting HomeEc and Science. I can see where all the watching of Mythbusters will pay off.

Snowy Fun

Hmmm? I've been testing out a new plan this afternoon to see if I could make it snow in blog post. So far I've managed to get this far. The next step is to see if I can keep it from spilling over into the post below. So I guess this is a watch and see space. It would sure be fun to have it snowing in the post on a day it was actually snowing outside.

According to the NOAA, tonight: A chance of rain and snow before 1am. Cloudy, then gradually becoming partly cloudy, with a low around 29. Light north wind. Chance of precipitation is 50%.

So with the thoughts of snow on our mind I did add this extra blog post this afternoon.

WEATHER UPDATE: IT'S SPITTING SOMETHING AT US!!!!

Email & Newsletter Gleanings.

Thought for the Day: The greatest act of faith is when man decides he is not God. - Oliver Wendell Holmes

ON GETTING OLDER

THE ROOM

17-year-old Brian Moore had only a short time to write something for a class. The subject was what Heaven was like. " I wowed 'em," he later told his father, Bruce. "It's a killer. It's the best thing I ever wrote." It also was the last.

Brian's parents had forgotten about the essay when a cousin found it while cleaning out the teenager's locker at Teary Valley High School . Brian had been dead only hours, but his parents desperately wanted every piece of his life near them-notes from classmates and teachers, his homework.

Only two months before, he had handwritten the essay about encountering Jesus in a file room full of cards detailing every moment of the teen's life. But it was only after Brian's death that Beth and Bruce Moore realized that their son had described his view of heaven. "It makes such an impact that people want to share it. You feel like you are there." Mr. Moore said.

Brian Moore died May 27, 1997, the day after Memorial Day. He was driving home from a friend's house when his car went off Bulen-Pierce Road in Pickaway County and struck a utility pole. He emerged from the wreck unharmed but stepped on a downed power line and was electrocuted.

The Moores framed a copy of Brian's essay and hung it among the family portraits in the living room. "I think God used him to make a point. I think we were meant to find it and make something out of it," Mrs. Moore said of the essay. She and her husband want to share their son's vision of life after death. "I'm happy for Brian. I know he's in heaven. I know I'll see him."

Brian's Essay: The Room...

In that place between wakefulness and dreams, I found myself in the room. There were no distinguishing features except for the one wall covered with small index card files. They were like the ones in libraries that list titles by author or subject in alphabetical order. But these files, which stretched from floor to ceiling and seemingly endless in either direction, had very different headings. As I drew near the wall of files, the first to catch my attention was one that read "Girls I have liked." I opened it and began flipping through the cards. I quickly shut it, shocked to realize that I recognized the names written on each one. And then without being told, I knew exactly where I was.

This lifeless room with its small files was a crude catalog system for my life. Here were written the actions of my every moment, big and small, in a detail my memory couldn't match. A sense of wonder and curiosity, coupled with horror, stirred within me as I began randomly opening files and exploring their content. Some brought joy and sweet memories; others a sense of shame and regret so intense that I would look over my shoulder to see if anyone was watching.

A file named "Friends" was next to one marked "Friends I have betrayed." The titles ranged from the mundane to the outright weird "Books I Have Read," "Lies I Have Told," "Comfort I have Given," "Jokes I Have Laughed at." Some were almost hilarious in their exactness: "Things I've yelled at my brothers." Others I couldn't laugh at: "Things I Have Done in My Anger", "Things I Have Muttered Under My Breath at My Parents." I never ceased to be surprised by the contents. Often there were many more cards than I expected. Sometimes fewer than I hoped. I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the life I had lived. Could it be possible that I had the time in my years to fill each of these thousands or even millions of cards? But each card confirmed this truth. Each was written in my own handwriting. Each signed with my signature.

When I pulled out the file marked "TV Shows I have watched", I realized the files grew to contain their contents. The cards were packed tightly, and yet after two or three yards, I hadn't found the end of the file. I shut it, shamed, not so much by the quality of shows but more by the vast wasted time I knew that file represented.

When I came to a file marked "Lustful Thoughts," I felt a chill run through my body. I pulled the file out only an inch, not willing to test its size and drew out a card. I shuddered at its detailed content.

I felt sick to think that such a moment had been recorded. An almost animal rage broke on me. One thought dominated my mind: No one must ever see these cards! No one must ever see this room! I have to destroy them!" In insane frenzy I yanked the file out. Its size didn't matter now. I had to empty it and burn the cards. But as I took it at one end and began pounding it on the floor, I could not dislodge a single card. I became desperate and pulled out a card, only to find it as strong as steel when I tried to tear it.

Defeated and utterly helpless, I returned the file to its slot. Leaning my forehead against the wall, I let out a long, self-pitying sigh.

And then I saw it.. The title was "People I Have Shared the Gospel With." The handle was brighter than those around it, newer, almost unused. I pulled on its handle and a small box not more than three inches long fell into my hands. I could count the cards it contained on one hand.
And then the tears came. I began to weep. Sobs so deep that they hurt. They started in my stomach and shook through me. I fell on my knees and cried. I cried out of shame, from the overwhelming shame of it all. The rows of file shelves swirled in my tear-filled eyes. No one must ever, ever know of this room. I must lock it up and hide the key. But then as I pushed away the tears, I saw Him.

No, please not Him. Not here. Oh, anyone but Jesus. I watched helplessly as He began to open the files and read the cards. I couldn't bear to watch His response. And in the moments I could bring myself to look at His face, I saw a sorrow deeper than my own.

He seemed to intuitively go to the worst boxes. Why did He have to read every one? Finally He turned and looked at me from across the room. He looked at me with pity in His eyes. But this was a pity that didn't anger me. I dropped my head, covered my face with my hands and began to cry again. He walked over and put His arm around me. He could have said so many things. But He didn't say a word. He just cried with me.

Then He got up and walked back to the wall of files. Starting at one end of the room, He took out a file and, one by one, began to sign His name over mine on each card. "No!" I shouted rushing to Him. All I could find to say was "No, no," as I pulled the card from Him. His name shouldn't be on these cards. But there it was, written in red so rich, so dark, so alive. The name of Jesus covered mine. It was written with His blood. He gently took the card back. He smiled a sad smile and began to sign the cards. I don't think I'll ever understand how He did it so quickly, but the next instant it seemed I heard Him close the last file and walk back to my side.

He placed His hand on my shoulder and said, "It is finished." I stood up, and He led me out of the room. There was no lock on its door.There were still cards to be written.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."-Phil. 4:13 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 If you feel the same way forward it to as many people as you can so the love of Jesus will touch their lives also. My "People I shared the gospel with" file just got bigger, how about yours?