MY RANTS AND RAVES

Happy New Year! Silence Is Golden!

2012-01-08T12:33:00.000-08:00

2012 is off to a quiet start.

Along with my usual New Year ritual of 're-thinking', 're-evaluating', 'de-cluttering' and 'organizing' I'm getting to evaluate the benefits of 'silence'. I've been without a voice (as in laryngitis) for over a week now. I know what you're thinking.....so yes - Mike is jumping up and down in elation! Ha!

I'm trying to keep a good perspective and I am thankful I still have fingers that work and I have the ability to type, email, text message and write! My sign language is limited so three cheers for technology!

It's amazing how 'routine' certain activities become in our life and how we take the smallest of things for granted. Habits run deep. Like pulling into a drive-thru and then getting to the order box and realizing.... 'Ummmm, I can't talk' (well, isn't this embarrassing!)

You get creative and inventive REAL fast when your normal means of communicating is hampered in some way.

Each morning I get up and let the dogs out for their morning "constitution" - but just like kids they can't be left to their own for too long else they'll be into mischief in no time. After a few minutes I usually go to the door and holler their names to come in. Ummmm...didn't happen this week. Good thing I can whistle! My dogs aren't familiar with sign language! Ha!

On a more serious side tho' this brief vocal set back has made me stop and pay greater attention to what is going on around me. It isn't always necessary to fill every moment with noise. I caught myself on many occasion wanting to quickly jump into a conversation to add my two cents worth (but of course couldn't) and it's made me think twice about whether or not what I might add is really necessary. Sometimes it's just better to let the other person be 'right' (even if they aren't) and just sit back, smile, nod in acknowledgement when appropriate, and let them have the last word. Sometimes, and I'm sure you can relate, I meet someone that I can barely resist the urge to tell them to shut the "H" up!! But alas...I do.

I was prompted during one of my meditation moments this week of the verse in Ephesians that 'speaks about' (no pun intended...hehe) what kind of 'talk' should come out of our mouth.

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is…1) helpful for building others up…2) according to their needs, that it may... 3) benefit those who listen"

Wow! what a GREAT reminder!!

I may not have a voice to speak, but I have eyes to see and ears to hear! Time to engage those senses a little more!

But since I haven't been able to talk much I've been paying more attention to others. Why is it that people seem so uncomfortable with the idea of 'silence', especially when they are around other people? Some people just have to talk! It doesn't seem to matter how meaningless the conversation is! Then there are those that escape into their iPod/iPhone/iPad - as if they are escaping from the present silence somehow. Not!

Whatever happened to just enjoying other people's company quietly relaxing, without guilt, and just 'be'? How come we feel the urge to some how 'fill the void' of quiet with music, stupid tidbits of nothingness from our lives? Some can't resist the opportunity to tout their ability to rule the conversation with their expertise and plethora of wisdom. My grandson said it best one day while we were watching TV..."Gramma, I think that man is just talking out his butt". Humorous coming out of a 4 year old's mouth - but all too true of many people!

Being quiet, silent or what have you, doesn't have to be a meditative experience - if you just discipline yourself - it can be actually quite fun! Is your life so filled with 'white noise' (TV, radio, iPod, meaningless banter from friends/family) that you miss out on what really matters? Speechlessness isn't something that only can be practiced as some spiritual ritual or only when you're alone. It can be a very comforting experience. Even relaxing.

When was the last time you heard the winter wind, the whistle of spring birdsong or even what your kids are REALLY trying to say to you? The old saying "Silence is golden" has some truth to it. Listening is just as important, if not more, than talking. It's funny to watch people's response to my 'whispering' - They originally begin their speech talking in a normal volume and when I 'whisper' a response...they then 'whisper' back! Hilarious. I guess it must be an automatic behavioral response or something.

The antibiotics I was given by the Dr. will only address the sinus and upper respiratory infection I acquired - the only remedy for my vocal condition is, well - the 'silent treatment'. I've tried the lemon and honey with warm water, the salt gargle and even a shot of tequila! No dice. The 'life prescription' I've received has far more value to it and I intend to enter this New Year with a keener sense of value of silence and being mindful of the words that do eventually leave my mouth.

That's it for this week. The rest of my life is status-quo, which is a good thing. Silence is something you can share, it can be very comforting. Try it some time!

Recuperation

2011-12-27T12:03:00.000-08:00

Croupy cough. Body aches. Blahs. What a way to wrap up the holidays. Ugh. Recuperation is important and the body has a way of bringing us down a notch and reminding us it's time to recharge.

Today I'm doing just that. Thinking. Resting. Drinking fluids. Praying. As I was doing the latter I really felt my 'prayers' needed some 'refreshing' as well.

I came across an article in the December 2011 Good Housekeeping magazine that was very apropos.

10 Prayers to Carry You Through (the holidays) by Karen McColl

1. GIVE ME SIMPLICITY - A prayer you'll never forget

If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is "thank you", it will be enough. - Meisrer Eckhart

2. GIVE ME OPEN EYES - A prayer for Thanksgiving

"For each new morning with its light, For rest and shelter of the night, For health and food, For love and friends, For everything They goodness sends." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

3. GIVE ME A BREAK! - A morning prayer for the utterly exhausted

"God grant me the power to get out of the shower!" - Monica Sheehan, from Prayers for All Occasions

4. GIVE ME WARMTH - A Winter prayer

For all warm things of this season I thank you, Lord.
For the warmth of my house as I come in cold from shopping.
For the fragrant warmth of my kitchen as I turn o the oven and sift and measure and stir and bake. For the snug warmth of the bedrooms where (finally, after much commotion) my children sleep.
For the warmth of this cup of steaming coffee in my hand as I settle down (exhausted, and at last) before the fire that dances so warm and festive on the grate.
And for warm clothes, Lord. These slippers, this robe-all the untidy closets bursting. That car coat tossed across a chair. And the car itself, a warm car to take us places (once we get it started). An those warm places: the homes of neighbors, friends, a warm church to worship in.
And the warm people there. The warm smiles and greetings.
The generosity and kindness of people everywhere.

I am full of this warmth, Lord. It comforts me, it calms me.
It makes me feel a glow almost as rosy as the embers in the fireplace.
I want all people to be warm and rested and at peace.

Thank you for this blessed season of warmth in the midst of so much that is chill and stormy. Let it draw all of us together against the coming cold. - "For All Warm Things," Marjorie Holmes, from Hold Me Up a Little Longer, Lord

6. GIVE ME JOY - A don't take it all so seriously prayer

Give us a sense of humor, Lord, and also things to laugh about. Guve us the grace to take a joke against ourselves, and to see the funny side of the things we do. Save us from annoyance, bad temper, resentfulness against our friends. Help us to laugh even in the face of trouble. Fill our minds with the love of Jesus; for his name's sake. - A.G. Bullivant

7. GIVE ME FAITH - A prayer for control freaks

"If you put your whole trust in God, as you ought, He most certainly will give you sustenance, as He doth the birds; they come out hungry in the morning but return full to their nests." - the prophet Muhammad

8. GIVE ME PERSEVERANCE - "Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments" - a prayer that's inspired everyone from Mother Teresa to Martina McBride

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.
People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway. - Kent M. Keith, Ed.D.

9. GIVE ME OPTIMISM - A prayer for the ability to choose the sunny side of the street

Whatsoever things are true,
Whatsoever things are honest,
Whatsoever things are just,
Whatsoever things are pure,
Whatsoever things are lovely,
Whatsoever things are of good report;
If there by any virtue,
And if there they be any praise,
Think on these things.
-Philippians 4:8, the Bible, King James Version

10. GIVE ME THE GRACE OF A SILENT NIGHT - A prayer for our dearest unspoken dreams and desires

"I still think that the prayer without words is best" - C.S. Lewis

MERRY CHRISTMAS - 2011

2011-12-25T06:44:00.001-08:00

Awake before daylight. Tree lights on. Coffee made (hazelnut). Pets put out for their morning 'constitution' and fed. "Silent night" is playing. Fire in the fireplace. Bacon in the skillet. Definitely a serene moment.

"...all is calm, all is bright"...

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

FIFTY IS...

2011-09-05T12:55:00.000-07:00

I saw this greeting card in the Hallmark aisle at RiteAid and it was another confirmation and affirmation of my Year of Jubilee celebration.

FIFTY IS...Fascinating
FIFTY IS...Freedom and Fun
FIFTY IS...Focused and Fulfilling
FIFTY IS...Following New Dreams
FIFTY IS...Fearless

I turned fifty this year! Yes - 50! I can't believe how fast time has gone. My mother had dropped an intriguing 'bug' in my ear once as I approached my birthday saying "It's your Year of Jubilee" - I asked her "what's that" and she gave me a short re-cap of the Biblical tradition of 'letting go of the past and moving forward'. Being the analytical beast that I am, I thought long and hard on this and came up with several more modern variations of the theme. "Moving forward" - now there was a concept. In what direction, I wondered. The answer to that was quickly answered - if you are "letting go of the past", then certainly moving forward couldn't mean going down the same ol' path could it? This meant shifting the direction I was currently going. The direction of my thinking, the direction health, the direction of my relationships, the direction of my spirituality and personal development - the direction of everything. One year - was that enough time?

My birthday came and went and shortly after that the beginning of a new calendar year as well. Change was in the works...moving forward. One year - was that enough time?

The research began. I thought in terms of moving forward constantly. How? Where? What? Thinking, thinking thinking. As I gathered a few more tidbits from other people about this "Year of Jubilee" there was another line of thought that went along with it. The 'forgiving of debts'. Well, I knew that in this day and age there was not going to be any lender who was going to "forgive me my debts" in the strictest sense of the term but a line from the Lord's Prayer came to the fore front of my thinking "and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us". Good Lord, that was going to be a hard one. But if I was going to 'move forward' certainly forgiveness had to happen - even forgiving myself.

My Year of Jubilee begin with a drastic new hair cut. Short! Oh man! It had been so long and it was so scary to have all my hair chopped off. I felt like I lost a part of me - my femininity had been taken away. With a quick check of my thinking I decided this 'change' was good - it didn't take as long to do and I could retire my baseball hat which had become my 'go to' fix for days when I didn't have time or energy to fight an uncooperative mane. Next came a drop of 33lbs. which needed to be done so I could 'move forward' (following new dreams) in my efforts to be healthier. I had major surgery a few weeks after that which would change my life in big and little ways. It was difficult, but necessary.

In the next months to follow my "moving forward" mantra brought me a new car (it had been 15 years since the last car I'd gotten) and a new job (after being unemployed for a year and a half) and a new home. When things started to move - they moved in succession and it was fast! Slow down Nelly! Whoa!

I've been soooo tired and wrung out - change is good, but it's draining too! I'm so thankful today for this holiday and the chance to sleep in (I slept good for the first time in quite awhile) and to relax and just 'be' - do whatever whenever. Nice.

I've been trying to pay attention to the people that come in and out of my life and the things they do and or say. I'm believing it all happens for a reason. This weekend was no exception. I am so grateful for my kids and grand kids. I relished the morning chat with my daughter in law yesterday - I don't get to see her enough and she is wise beyond her years. A real joy to be around. I have the cutest of cute grand kids - I know that is the chant of every Grandma tho', I'm sure.

I took a quick look today at the Leviticus passage that talks about the Year of Jubilee - and found some interesting elements to it. Ones that I didn't know about but amazingly enough are apropos. One translation says "And let this fiftieth year be kept holy, and say publicly that everyone in the land is free from debt: it is the Jubilee, and every man may go back to his heritage and to his family." Other translations include words like "release", "freedom" and "liberty". Unknowingly, this is exactly what we did. We moved closer to our family so we could be around and involved more with our kids and grand kids. VERY interesting.

I have a few more months left of my "Year of Jubilee" and am excited to see where this forward motion is going to take me next!

Keep calm and carry on!

VIRIDIAN: FROM THE LATIN 'VIRIDIS' - MEANING "GREEN"

2011-05-16T12:56:00.000-07:00

Good article I ran across. The Last Viridian Note By Bruce Sterling

You may want to skip over the first 15 or so paragraphs of the article but here are some excerpts I thought were apropos for this time in my life as I cull through music, photographs, dishes, magazines, fabric, and over all "stuff" - I've been going through things for some time but am continuing the process.

1. It's not bad to own fine things that you like. What you need are things that you GENUINELY like. Things that you cherish, that enhance your existence in the world. The rest is dross. ...

2. The things that you use every day should be the best-designed things you can get. For instance, you cannot possibly spend too much money on a bed. ... The same goes for a working chair. Notice it. Take action. Bad chairs can seriously injure you from repetitive stresses. Get a decent ergonomic chair. ...

3. You will need to divide your current possessions into four major categories.

Beautiful things.
Emotionally important things.
Tools, devices, and appliances that efficiently perform a useful function.
Everything else.

4. "Everything else" will be by far the largest category. ... You should document these things. Take their pictures, their identifying makers' marks, bar codes, whatever, so that you can get them off eBay or Amazon if, for some weird reason, you ever need them again. ... Then remove them from your time and space.

5. Beautiful things are important. If they're truly beautiful, they should be so beautiful that you are showing them to people. They should be on display: you should be sharing their beauty with others. ...

6. All of us have sentimental keepsakes that we can't bear to part with. ... Is this keepsake so very important that you would want to share its story with your friends, your children, your grandchildren? ...

7. You will be told that you should "make do" with broken or semi-broken tools, devices and appliances. Unless you are in prison or genuinely crushed by poverty, do not do this. ... There is nothing more "materialistic" than doing the same household job five times because your tools suck. Do not allow yourself to be trapped in time-sucking black holes of mechanical dysfunction.

THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW

2011-03-07T12:31:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine sent me an email today which I found to be excellent - and so true!! I had to just share this - I have taken editorial liberties in places and added my own two cents - but I couldn't resist.

GROWING UP WITHOUT A CELL PHONE

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning....Uphill... Barefoot... BOTH ways...yadda, yadda, yadda. (Actually I DID have to walk to school (more than a mile and UPHILL but that is beside the point)

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way I was ever going to lay a bunch of garbage like that on my kids or grandkids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!

But now that I'm over the ripe old age of forty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a dang Utopia! And I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don't know how good you've got it!

For example:

1) When I was a kid we didn't have the Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog! Do you know the "Dewey Decimal System"? (I do!! for all the good it does me now - however, I can get in and out of a library with what I want in no time at all!) If we want to know a phone number, we looked it up in the phone book! If we wanted a recipe - we looked it up in a cookbook or called "Aunt Marge" or "Gramma Jean" on the telephone and wrote it down!

2) There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter - with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox, and it would take like a week to get there! Stamps were 10 cents. When we traveled we sent postcards with a photo resembling the place in which were went - the post card usually arrived AFTER we were already home, but there was no snapping a photo with our phone camera, emailing to friends/family and/or posting it to FaceBook for another photo sharing website for all to see!

3) Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents spanked us or smacked our mouths for using the "F" word. As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to discipline the same! Nowhere was safe! Not even school! Yes, that's right! Paddles with present in MOST classrooms and used at least once a week!

4) There were no MP3's or Napsters or iTunes! If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the record store and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to ccall the radio station and IF you got through 'beg' the DJ to play your favorite song and then wait around all day on the happenstance that he would so you could tape it off the radio. The DJ would usually talk over the beginning and mess it all up! In the small town I lived in we had a "Record Store" - place that sold record albums and 45 records. They had "listening rooms" where you could go inside, close the door and 'listen' to an album before you bought it!

5) There were no CD players! We had tape decks in our cars. We'd play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished, and then the tape would come undone rendering it useless. Cause, hey, that's how we rolled, Baby! Ya dig? IF (big IF) you were lucky and your parents could afford it, you might have your own "stereo" in your room which would off course include a LP turn table and a tape or cassette deck.

6) We didn't have fancy phone features like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called, they got a busy signal, that's it! If they wanted to talk to you, they'd keep trying! Then there was the proverbial "Party Line" - where in a effort to save money you would 'share' the same phone line with another family. Some times you'd pick up the phone and you'd have to wait for them to finish before you could use it.

7) Speaking of phones - there were NO CELL PHONES! If you left the house or office, you actually had to be out of touch with your "friends" until you got to another destination with a phone! OH MY GOD! (said in my best "Valley Girl" voice) Think of the horror... not being in touch with someone 24/7! There were pay phones on most street corners and in lobbies of hotels, restaurants and the like - you only needed a DIME to make a call! I remember when it went up to 25cents! You always kept a spare quarter tucked away in the glove box or your wallet hidden pocket 'just in case'. I won't even touch the subject of "TEXTING" also known as the "Zombie walk" - hahaha!

8) We didn't have Caller ID. When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your parents, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, the collection agent... you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances!

9) There were no PlayStation or Xbox video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! When I was in school there was "Pinball" machines - later came "Pong" which could be set up in "black and white" on your TV - where a 'cursor' of sorts and two lines that resembled 'paddles' would bounce back and forth across the screen like tennis. We had the Atari 2600 with games like 'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids'.. Your screen guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen.. Forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

10) Now for the subject of television. If you wanted to know what was on TV, you had to use a little book called a TV Guide (which you had to BUY at the store or subscribe to by mail) to find out what was going to be on TV. Channel surfing?? NOT!! There were NO REMOTES!! You had to get off your sorry buttocks and walk over to the TV to change the channel! Here's the biggie - I still remember "black and white only" TV - and rabbit ears! There was no HD or surround sound or Pay Per View or subscription on demand channels. 50" in flat screens? NO WAY! We had "console" TV's that weighed a ton and took at least two large men and a hand truck to bring in the house! Then there was the "Station Sign Off" - remember that? If you're under the age of 30, you probably don't! Stations would often show a static picture of the American Flag and play the national anthem - fat chance of seeing that anymore - you might "offend" someone!!

11) While we're on the subject of TV - let's talk about cartoons! There was no CARTOON Network. You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. You had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, heaven forbid! No instant "baby sitter" for mom's - we actually "played" with each other and with toys and used our imagination!! And then of course there is the subject of the cartoons that were aired and I won't even get started on that!

12) Moving on to the kitchen! My early childhood we had no microwaves. If we wanted to heat something up, we had to use the stove! Imagine that! Later as I was in high school, microwaves came on the scene but again, they were HUGE and took up half the counter space and they were NOT digital. Again, you had to turn a dial and wait! I asked my grandson once "How do you make popcorn?" and he said (so matter of factly) "In the microwave, of course, Gramma" - I just laughed. I said, did you know you can cook it on the stove or in the fire place? and he said "REALLY?" and I said "REALLY!" (so we did).

13) When we weren't in school or in church, we would be told by our parents to "Go outside and play" - and we did! All day! We rode bicycles, climbed trees and rocks, had make believe stores, schools and even war zones. Pine cones were grenades, mud pies were deserts and large leaves off trees and shrubs were our "money". We built forts, we slept out under the stars on the front lawn in homemade blanket tents and flashlights and we had our transistor radios where we'd stay up listening to stations from Southern California and to music that our folks said was "taboo". There were no electronics to soothe and comfort our boredom....and besides, we all knew that if you went back inside... you were going to be doing chores!

14) Now for the subject of car seats - oh, please! Mom threw us in the back seat and you hung on. If you were lucky, you got the "safety arm" across the chest at the last moment, if she had to stop suddenly, and if your head hit the dashboard, well that was your fault for calling "shot gun" in the first place! We didn't have sippy cups and drink holders - you got a drink before you left and when you got to where you were going you could get a drink then. Public places had drinking fountains and of course Gramma's house had milk and water - no soda!

15) Bicycles. There were no helmets! No knee pads gloves. We just got on and road. If you fell - well, Bactine and BandAids were our first defense and then right back on the bike we got!

These are just a FEW examples of how EASY kids today have got it - spoiled rotten!

Best Regards,

The Over 40 Crowd

THE SUN SHINETH! FINALLY.

2011-01-25T10:58:00.001-08:00

The sunshine is finally upon us! Yeah! What an uplifting thing it can be. Another Dr. appt. in a few hours...husband up, weight bearing and walking gingerly with a walking stick. Progress. Now that my time has been freed up some I'll be spending the next few days playing "catch up". Banking, grocery shopping, post office, etc. I'm looking forward to the weekend where I hope to get away and spend some time outside the walls of this domicile.

SIDE TRACKED OR MULTI-TASKER?

2011-01-24T09:30:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I had a bazillion projects going on at once - multi-tasker? Last week was a devil of a week - hand holding and babysitting health care providers, ugh! What is wrong with that picture, anyhow? I mean really. These people get paid hoards of $'s and can't even make a return phone call? Patient care? Really? You definately have to be your own advocate. My husband hurt his knee over Christmas vacation and it went from bad to worse. He finally went to see our primary care physician. We waited almost an hour in the lobby (aka 'waiting room') which included the 15 mins we got there early (why, is beyond me). Why is it we make appointments? After being called in to see the Dr. we got about 7 mins with him - and 5 of those minutes were spent listening to his skiing accident story and how he "cured himself" - we left with a referral to a Physical Therapist for twice a week for three weeks.

I'm shaking my head. I knew it wasn't the right decision. PT? You're kidding. What if there was a torn ligament or something? PT might aggravate it. We had x-rays taken first - which was a waste of time to me - but who am I? NOT a Dr., obviously. The x-ray visit was a colossal waste of time - serious - one look at the x-ray and they said "Oh, it's not broken" - well, DUH! WE knew that!! He goes to PT and they basically do an evaluation. He was on the stationery bike for about 10 mins - very slow. He was limping along the house the next day or two, doing 'exercises' to his knee as directed. The next PT appointment came and he went. Within 45 mins I get a phone call saying "come get me" - the man couldn't move! His knee was totally 'locked up' and the PT said "ummm, there isn't anything I can do for you". I picked him up and I killed a few mins and made a Starbucks run for us. The Dr. office didn't open until 9:00 am so we sat in Starbucks parking lot sipping our java and having a bagel/scone. The Dr. office was close to the PT facility so we were trying to save my husband having to get in and out of the truck one time too many.

It's nearing 9 am and we drive up the street to the Dr. office. We pull into the parking lot and I call the receptionist. She then tells me that my husband's Dr. won't be in until 10:00. So back to the house we go. I call at 10:00 - he's not in. I call at 10:30 - he's still not in, however, the receptionist assures me he will take a look at my husband's chart as soon as he gets in. By this time my husband was suppose to be at work - so naturally he had called his employer when we got back to the house to explain what was going on. By 11:00 am I called again and finally sent a fax to the Dr. office requesting a note be faxed over to my husband's employer. We waited a 1/2 hour and checked with the employer. Nothing received. So another call to the Dr.'s office. His primary care gave us a referral to an Orthopedist (which should have happened in my mind after the first appointment with him) and when I called the Orthopedist, they couldn't see my husband until the following Monday (which happens to be today). NO WAY! He was in severe pain, couldn't weight bear and we needed some other option. His primary offered him no pain medication, muscle relaxer or anything. No crutches were offered, no wheelchair rental ordered, NADA!

At this point I'm furious. Time to take matters into my own hands. I got online to our health insurance provider's website and searched for orthopedists in our area. My FIRST phone call landed a clinic that was right up the street and they had an urgent care office where we could see a P.A. - consider that DONE! Within a 1/2 a day we were seen, had an MRI scheduled and later when to have the MRI done. HOWEVER, because of the pain he was in and the muscles spasms he was having, they couldn't get good images and said "come back after you've gotten some medication". Again, that should have happened the FIRST Dr. appointment! Lord have mercy, what a fiasco!

The next morning I called the Orthopedist's office and they prescribed medication for him and rescheduled the MRI for that evening. Given the rigmarole we'd been through, we were still ahead of the game considering his primary care Dr.'s referral couldn't see him until today. We were back at the Orthopedist's the next morning. The MRI came back showing nothing significant and no one could understand what was going on. His knee was better but he was still unable to free stand or weight bear on it.

The last few days he's been moving it more and more. We go back tomorrow to see the Orthopedist and see what further examination of the MRI has to offer.

Despite the healthcare hand holding I did manage to get the blackberry jam made, my closet cleaned out, old LP's recorded to CD, Six dozen cookies baked, a beauty of a pot roast cooked and beef barley vegetable soup made with the left overs. Not to mention the regular routine of laundry, dusting, vacuuming, caring for our animals and taking out the recycling and trash.

I woke up today with a runny nose and cough. Lord I can't wait until the sun begins to shine!

WINTER FUNK

2011-01-14T22:59:00.000-08:00

Thrilled as I was to go to Oregon for the Christmas holiday, the weather was so draining - mentally that is. It was raining when we left, it rained (even hailed at times) the ENTIRE time we were in Oregon and it's been raining or overcast a majority of the time since we've been home - which has now been 10 days.

Ugh! I fled Oregon to sunnier pastures in California for that very reason. The dreariness of winter just really gets to me.

I enjoyed having my two oldest grandson's here the week of our return from Oregon - we had a great time being creative and they were such great help to me around the house. We worked at clearing junk from the garage and packed it all in my tiny Mustang and took it to Goodwill for donation.

I've been trying to brighten up my Winter woes with creative gestures here and there - but it's just not working. My brain is in high gear and all I seem to be able to do is get side tracked and start yet another 'idea' without finishing the last one. I've organized, baked, cooked and cleaned. I've crafted and shopped and created dream boards of the things I 'hope' to do some day. As the saying goes, "The natives (native in my case) are restless" - I bought blackberries to can - but need to go to the store and get lids - it's been raining so bad I haven't wanted to go out in the traffic and deal with people's stupid driving abilities in the rain. So they sit in the refrigerator.

I got out material wanting to sew - but have been too lazy to set up the machine! On and on. This sucks. I'm totally wired but not motivated. Quite the contradiction. Oh Mr. Sunshine - where art thou!

A PAUSE FOR REPOSE

2011-01-14T22:20:00.000-08:00

I jumped at the idea of 30 Days of Truth; then I read Day One's subject line. I found the topic incredibly daunting and scary. Hence, the delay.

I'm still not sure I'm ready to address that one. A friend of mine said "why don't you just pick another one from the list and begin with it instead?" - Being a more linear thinker and person it was a difficult concept to consider her suggestion. "No, I'll do it in order listed" was my reply. "I may just have to wait a bit". Before I knew it, a "bit" had turned into "later" and "later" had turned into "in awhile" and "in awhile" had turned into "sometime down the road". So, here we are several months after my initial interest and I still have yet to begin. Don't get me wrong, I haven't ignored the subject entirely - I have thought about what my response was going to be several times. I'm not satisfied with anything I came up with.

I decided to quit thinking about it. I decided to just answer the question simply. That in itself was going to be a challenge. Research. Analyze. Reason. Rationale. That's what I do; normally. Not this time. This time I'm just going to get it over with. Simple, straight forward and to the point. No big composition on 'why' or 'how come' and no 'history lesson' to explain the reason for the answer.

Day One: Something You Hate About Yourself

1. I hate that I trust too easily and often get hurt.
2. I hate that I'm over weight.
3. I hate that I am resentful sometimes.
4. I hate that I worry too much about what other people think.

There you have it! For the record, I really don't like the word "hate" - it's so ugly.

30 DAYS OF TRUTH

2010-10-22T18:18:00.000-07:00

Well, it's of no surprise to me to find my dear pal Anjie, jumping on board a really neat idea! If it's good for her, well - me too!

I love to write - always have - I think I express myself FAR better in written form than verbally. After-all, when you write there is no room for the misinterpreted facial expression - the unknowing shift in body form or some other subconscious gesture for the person or persons of your verbal utterance to misconstrue.

When I read about this venture my first response was PERFECT! The premise of this project is to write each day on a subject matter that has been predefined from the list below.

So thank you to Anjie of Anjie's World by way of Angel Believes for this idea.

Day 01 → Something you hate about yourself.
Day 02 → Something you love about yourself.
Day 03 → Something you have to forgive yourself for.
Day 04 → Something you have to forgive someone for.
Day 05 → Something you hope to do in your life.
Day 06 → Something you hope you never have to do.
Day 07 → Someone who has made your life worth living for.
Day 08 → Someone who made your life hell, or treated you like shit.
Day 09 → Someone you didn’t want to let go, but just drifted.
Day 10 → Someone you need to let go, or wish you didn’t know.
Day 11 → Something people seem to compliment you the most on.
Day 12 → Something you never get compliments on.
Day 13 → A band or artist that has gotten you through some tough ass days. (write a letter.)
Day 14 → A hero that has let you down. (letter)
Day 15 → Something or someone you couldn’t live without, because you’ve tried living without it.
Day 16 → Someone or something you definitely could live without.
Day 17 → A book you’ve read that changed your views on something.
Day 18 → Your views on gay marriage.
Day 19 → What do you think of religion? Or what do you think of politics?
Day 20 → Your views on drugs and alcohol.
Day 21 → Here's the scenario: Your best friend is in a car accident and you two got into a fight an hour before. What do you do?
Day 22 → Something you wish you hadn’t done in your life.
Day 23 → Something you wish you had done in your life.
Day 24 → Make a play-list to someone, and explain why you chose all the songs. (Just post the titles and artists and letter)
Day 25 → The reason you believe you’re still alive today.
Day 26 → Have you ever thought about giving up on life? If so, when and why?
Day 27 → What’s the best thing going for you right now?
Day 28 → What if you were pregnant or got someone pregnant, what would you do?
Day 29 → Something you hope to change about yourself. And why.
Day 30 → A letter to yourself, tell yourself EVERYTHING you love about yourself.

Tomorrow will become "Day One" - This should be interesting as "Me" is not one of my favorite subjects.

PROMISE YOURSELF

2010-03-09T08:54:00.000-08:00

PROMISE YOURSELF

~To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
~To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.

~To make all your friends feel that there is something in them
~To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.

~To think only the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.
~To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.

~To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
~To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.

~To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
~To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

~To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud words but great deeds.
~To live in faith that the whole world is on your side so long as you are true to the best that is in you.

–Christian D. Larson

THE ORGANIZING AND CLEANING CONTINUES...

2010-02-24T13:42:00.000-08:00

With the miserable weather here there isn't a lot to do outside, so it makes for a perfect opportunity to clean out the crud and organize what's left.

I've been taking a hard, long look at what I have - what I actually use and then how do I want to effectively use it.

It's tough to let go of some things, but hey - as an example...I've had a diamond tennis bracelet for YEARS - literally...probably ten - and I've worn the darn thing MAYBE twice! That's ridiculous! Why you ask? Well, because I've been too afraid of losing it or catching it on something and breaking it. Sooooooooooo...I asked myself - why have it! Time to sell it!

XOE even got in the act of helping. I was doing some organizing in my spare room/craft room and XOE started pawing at the bottom edge of the dresser in there. I couldn't feel anything under it (ball, chew stick, etc.) so I pulled out the dresser and low and behold there was this fabulous piece of art that I'd stashed back there so it wouldn't get bent or ruined and had completely forgotten about! Sweet! I ran out and got a frame for it at Michael's. They were having a 40% off sale on frames and I had a coupon for another 25% off. Yeah! Thanks, XOE for finding the picture for me! It made my day!

I really wanted to go to the Chinese New Year parade this year in San Francisco, but financially I think that is going to be a bust! Not to mention it's suppose to rain that day. I'm not up for trudging through the streets of San Fran in the rain dodging hoards of people who are equally annoyed that they have chosen to do the same thing. Maybe next year! I am suppose to be going to a company dinner with my hubby that night anyway so alas I am going to opt to spend time with him and enjoy another free meal.

EATS ON THE CHEAP

2010-02-24T13:36:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was an ugly rainy day - followed by quite a storm in the evening.

However, it was a great day for eating on the cheap. Mike and Michelle took me with them to iHop for FREE pancakes (with a donation to Children's Miracle Network). I had a side of bacon and 1 scrambled egg and water (plus the pancakes) for a grand total of $3.00! That included tip. I donated $5.00 to charity and received my receipt for taxes (hey, every bit counts or at least I think it still does...haha! Who knows, after this administration gets done with us) along with a coupon for $5.00 off the next visit. I hear another FREE breakfast in my future.

After a couple of errands we hit up Jack In The Box for a FREE grilled sandwich with the purchase of a large drink. We hit up another one and both had lunch for the price of a drink. Nice!

When Mike got home from work needless to say we did it again for dinner! Can't pass up free food - well, I guess you could, but why?

THIS AND THAT

2010-02-22T15:08:00.000-08:00

Feeling productive is a challenge some time. So much to do - where do I start. Just 'start', I guess.

SUNSHINE OPPORTUNITY

With rain heavily dominating the weather forecast the last few weeks and the projected days to come appear to be more of the same, I decided to "make hay" while the sunshined today (as they say - not literally, but...) and planted a couple of "mystery" bulbs I got at the Best of Sacramento party in December. I used a couple of pots that I had earlier slated to go to the Goodwill, but pulled them from the pile to see what my bulb experiment might unveil.

I picked up this pretty purple hyacinth at Trader Joe's yesterday for next to nothing. The "plus" was it had two blossoms to it rather than just one as the others did that were perched on the table for sale.

While in the planting mode I also planted the 4" primrose we got for FREE (yeah!) at Capital Nursery after we left Trader Joe's. We had coupons from the Best of Sacramento party for a free one. It's such a lovely white small flower primrose. It's planted at the entry to the house in the planter that once belonged to my grandparents.

DOMICILE ORGANIZATION

January brought on my plight to 'get organized' amongst many other 'resolutions' of sorts that many of us make at the beginning of a new year. I bought this book that basically has you "organize your life" in one year! I consider myself fairly organized already, but I always strive to "more and better". January was dedicated to the kitchen which I successfully cleared clutter (extra utencils and the like) and made some small changes to make my kitchen run more efficiently for me.

February has been dedicated to our bedroom where the closet has been the main attraction needing help. I've also jumped ahead and did some work on March's area of focus, paperwork, and also I've been working on my sewing area. Several months ago I got a 'steal' of a deal on a table (oak with tile top) at Naturewood when we bought our new leather couch. I put it in the closet area of the spare bedroom (aka sewing room) and it fit snug as a bug in a rug! Perfect. Well, up until lately, I haven't done much more in there than that. Today I was pleased with my productivity in getting my bulletins on the wall and other items organized and in their place.

LIVING LAVISHLY FOR LESS (Thanks, Anjie!)

Since the 1st of February I've had to kick up my 'frugal living' skills a tad. But it's been fun! Super Bowl weekend was spent with friends and as alot of people do, I like the commercials. I always look forward to see what they are going to come up with. This year, Docker's had a "Men With No Pants" ad and was offering a FREE pair of Dockers to the first 2010 people who went online and submitted an entry after the airing of their commercial. I entered Mike into the drawing and "whalah"! We won! Nice free pair of Dockers!

Other deals have included free bread from Boudin, free See's chocolate, free bags from Bebe, free perfume samples from Victoria's Secret, lunch at P.F. Chang's for a five spot and free breakfast at Denny's. Thursday past, I got a 2 entree meal at Panda Express and got a free entre of Firecracker Chicken. I got a small serving of plain white rice for $1.00 and all of it fed all three of us for a song! Mmmmm, we love Panda!

In '07 I redeemed Coke reward points for Kodak photo stickers and 8 x 10 collage. The codes had no expiration dates. I went to use them recently and I received a message saying they were invalid. I wrote a polite email to Kodak requesting that they reinstate my codes and they did! Nice.

Tomorrow will be free breakfast at Ihop and free lunch at Jack In The Box! Can't beat that!

AUGUST

2009-09-11T09:31:00.006-07:00

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JULY

2009-09-11T09:31:00.005-07:00

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JUNE

2009-09-11T09:31:00.003-07:00

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MAY

2009-09-11T09:31:00.001-07:00

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APRIL

2009-09-11T09:30:00.000-07:00

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IS IT REALLY MID-MARCH ALREADY?

2009-03-15T07:08:00.001-07:00

Holy schmolly! I can't believe it's the 14th of March already. But as it goes, time sure does fly by. A day off and absolutely NO plans! Wow! My first inclination was to stay in bed for as long as I could. Wrong-a-roo! First off, my ol' bones just won't stand for it and Xoe certainly wasn't going to buy into the "oh let's stay in bed all day" philosophy! 7:30a.m. up and at 'em. No schedule today...just takin' it slow and low!

After dawning my bathrobe I took her outside for her morning "discharge" and back in the house we went with her in "full charge" mode. After throwing open the shutters and letting the awesome morning sunlight in, making the bed and hoping in the shower, I decided to give my hair a break from the normal hairdryer routine and let it air dry. I vowed to clear away at least a half a dozen magazines from the ever growing pile that sits by my favorite chair in the living room.

I turned the TV on and used the guide to select some smooth jazz to set the mood. Armed with a stack of mags in one hand and a large glass of lemon water in the other, I sat down at the table and began to plow through the magazines zipping out pages of interest for later reference and recycling the rest in my recycle bin. I moved Xoe's crate next to my chair and soon found her going through the my recently discarded magazines. Ha!

The six inch stack of magazines soon became a half inch stack of articles, recipes and the like that I'll later use as reference, blog material, etc. Xoe loves to nibble on toes so the 'squirt bottle' has become my new best friend when it comes to nipping infant k9's. Now 9:00a.m. I decided I'd get some breakfast in my gullet. Two pieces of toast, a half orange (organically grown and hand picked from my oldest son's trees) and a cup of pomegranate green tea. I was going to take time to think about each move I made when it came to the preparation. Instead of ripping off a piece of paper towl to throw my toast on and later just toss in the garbage I pulled down my favorite little "XO" pink plate and my pink "XO" mug. There! A little less waste today...a small thing, I know. I stood in the sunny bright kitchen looking out into my back yard as the morning sun bounced off the blue water of the swimming pool. As I ate I noticed the rose trees were getting new blooms and the geraniums were starting to show some color and I imagined how I'd like the scene out my kitchen window to look. I've always thought it would be nice to have an array of beautiful floral images out every window view in my home....awwwww...how nice that would be!

The nipping of small spiked teeth at my toes quickly jolted me from my daydream - where was that squirt bottle! I cleaned up my breakfast dishes and put away the bread and the other half of the orange made it's way to the refrigerator.

Ok, 9:15a.m. - I decided to take the stack of miscellaneous to the computer and start plowing through them. First hit on the list was a collection of music created by Hallmark on iTunes. I launched iTunes and took a look! If you'd been a fly on the wall you'd probably be laughing your butt off! As the "Jeremiah was a bullfrog..." crocked through my speakers, I couldn't help from throwing up my arms and shaking my air dried hair all around. Xoe stopped what she was doing and looked at me with a half cocked head and perked ears...I scooped her up while the music continued and we danced around in the sunshine coming through the sliding glass window in the computer room. Ok, ok, ok....gotta focus...what's next. Well, I decided that I needed to update my blog and was feeling so refreshed this morning that I decided what better time than now to add some daily ramblings to my blog...why not?

While Xoe is entertaining herself I decided to update my book list on Amazon.com. I found some books "must reads" in one of the magazines and once done, then bam! another page dealt with and recycled. You know, I'd really like to be a part of a Book Club...I've always loved to read and have "cheated" lots during my commuting hours by listening to books. Now I'd love to have a new Kindle2...guess I'd better get to saving, eh? Wish my girlfriends would be interested in a book club...oh well. Maybe I'll research and see if I can join one that is already in full swing and make some new friends in the process.

Next came updating a "must see" list of movies. A post for my 'frugal/freebie' list is my next 'to do' and I continue on the pile before me. Wow, it's now 11:30a.m. - where has the morning gone? I don't know why I continue to ask questions of that nature...after all, it's not like I've been sitting around doing nothing at all? My paper pile is slowly diminishing but still has quite a way to go. So many great ideas and so little time! A couple of more posts to my blog and then I'll have to move on to something else.

I found this one GREAT tip that I just had to write about. When growing up our family was always getting together for birthdays and holidays and my grandmother would always make cakes. My favorite (and still is) white/yellow cake with chocolate frosting. She would use toothpicks to hold the two round sections together. The family "mantra" would then be "whoever gets the "tooth pick" does the dishes". Ha! Well, the dreaded "toothpick" has taken on a new "glory" form for me. I FOREVER fight with finding the "end" on the packaging tape roll. Now that I'm older and it's harder for me to see up close - it's such a frustrating process trying to use the packaging tape. Well........I found this AWESOME tip - stick a toothpick to the cut end of the packing tape so you can find the 'end' again the next time! I know, I know....brilliant! Just wish I'd found this (or thought of it myself) earlier!

Ok, lunchtime! Hmmm...what's it gonna be...nothing like a little 'breakfast' for lunch...I decided on a bowl of whole grain cereal with a little brown sugar and some 1% organic milk and a "refresher" cup of pomegranate green tea. ( I used the same tea bag again for the 2nd cup). By the way, before you throw out that "hard as a rock" box of brown sugar that you've had in the back of your cupboard from the last time you baked something, you can soften it again. Just put the brown sugar in an airtight container and add a slice or two of bread to the container. Leave overnight. If not completely softened, add fresh bread (keeping the old slices for your bird feeding bag) and do again.

Ok, so much for a "day in the life of me" - it's mid-day and now I need to shift gears. Time to be a little more productive...ok, set up my FREE online checking account and will make $100.00 in 45 days - doubling my money! Just like that! I'll move that FREE money to a savings account! Cha-ching! Take Xoe out, get mail...open mail! $15.00 rebate check received! Woohoo! Stock statement...ugh! Another hour gone by...crazy!

Signed up for Shell Saver Card. Painless. Check online re: tickets to Sacramento's Quilt Festival. Sweet! Only $8.00 and I have a 50% off coupon. Woohoo!

I started cutting up an old sweatshirt that had paint on the front and I'm going to use it to make a tee-shirt (or 2) for Xoe (using the ribbing on the sweatshirt, etc.) and then the paint stained parts I'll cut up for rags. Well, I need to finish clearing off my table so I can set up my sewing machine, et al. I picked up one of those 3 drawer rollie-carts @ Target on sale so I guess I'll put that together and organize more of my "office" area. Maybe then things will be more at my finger tips and I won't need to occupy the table with all my papers, etc.

Vacuuming and dusting complete; scattered dog toys reclaimed; now time to think of dinner. Ummm...really not hungry and I'm not wanting to cook. Guess a quick trip to the store is in order. With my expiring coupons in hand, I headed out first to Office Depot where I picked up a 4GB flash drive (reg. $19.99) for $9.99 (50% off) a 4GB SDMemory Card (reg. $24.99) for $9.99 (60% off) and last but not least an 8GB flash drive (reg. $34.99) for $17.99 (50% off) less $12.98 gift card brought my out of pocket expense for all 3 to $27.93. $86.00 dollars worth of merchandise for $28.00 - not bad. One for me and 2 stocking stuffers - not bad!

I hit up the grocery store for some basics - milk, bread, lettuce and a bag salad mix (dinner). Got home to find Xoe in the yard on a 'potty break' and it was fun to have her run up and jump all over me when I got out of the car.

The day closed with random channel surfing which ultimately landed on a re-run of The Mentalist. Lights out at 9:00pm - the day is done.

FEBRUARY - A NEW ADDITION

2009-03-14T11:26:00.001-07:00

February was a busy month.

First we celebrated Grant's 8th birthday in Vacaville at the "Jump House" - the kids really had a lot of fun!

The 8th of February we picked up the most adorable little puppy anyone could ask for. A friend of Mike's who he hunts with had a dog that we just admired for the longest time. We were forever saying "oh, if you ever have puppies, let us know". Well, we finally got the call and our new little girl joined us. She looks just like her dad (our friend's dog) and he is part Chihuahua and part miniature pincher. Her mom is rat terrier. We named her XOE (pronounced Zoey) .

Valentine's Day was spent at my friend Ann-Marie's decorating cookies, dipping strawberries and the like. GREAT FUN!

Xoe poses with our hostess Ann-Marie

Samples of our "loot" from the day!

JANUARY - ANOTHER YEAR BEGINS

2009-03-14T09:37:00.000-07:00

Given the state of our economy at present I decided to start the year off by evaluating our expenditures and getting ruthless on the spending.

First to go - monthly subscriptions: audiobook club - gone; eMusic subscription - gone; yearly savings for the two - $359.28. Next I dropped the coverage on a vehicle we own that isn't driven. Yearly savings - $800.00; I went through all my receipts and submitted several OTC purchases to our FSA plan - reimbursement received - $93.00 and some change; Next was to call and drop our cable and switch to another company - during the conversation the customer service person talked me into adding our phone service and going with their "bundle" which saved us $36.00 a month for the next year over our existing cable/internet plan AND the cost of our phone line with AT&T of $17.00 a month. Yearly savings - $636.00. I dropped the 2nd phone line we had completely - another $204.00 for the year.

Next came cutting back on eating out - limiting it to only 2 x's a month on pay day. I've spent a lot more time and energy on cooking from scratch/watching sales and using coupons whereever possible.

January housekeeping issues aside, Mike and Todd took another trip over to Colorado so Mike could fulfill his elk tag. It was a quick trip - snag 'em and bag 'em. Mike got an elk and the two of them made it back in a wham bam, thank you ma'am trip of 3 days.

They saw some beautiful country and had a great time. I know Mike really appreciated the trip and everyone (especially Todd) for the opportunity to do this hunt. (Pssst...they are already talking about snagging Grandpa to go with them on the next trip!)

5 KEYS TO GAINING [and keeping] HAPPINESS

2009-01-05T21:09:00.000-08:00

Found this GREAT article while perusing a 'freebie magazine' and just had to share! How true and simple most of it is - but sooooo hard to practice!

5 KEYS TO GAINING [and keeping] HAPPINESS
By Istvan Fazekas

1. AVOID NEGATIVE OR UNHAPPY PEOPLE
People influence you with their emotional health, whether you know it or not.
Happy and positive people can inspire and motivate you, while unhappy and negative people can easily pull you down to their level. Whether you walk on rose petals or dead fish, your shoes will retain the smell of whatever it comes in contact with. Your personality is the same, so be
selective with your influences.

2. DO SOMETHING TO BOLSTER ANOTHER’S REPUTATION OR SELF-ESTEEM
We actually gain more happiness by helping another than by doing just for ourselves. This might seem counterintuitive, but it is true once our survival essentials are met. Helping another do well provides you with a great feeling of usefulness and helps you step out of your “prison” of self-interest. Once you can see outside of that small box you can understand the enormous value in living a life being useful to others. When they succeed, you succeed; when they win, you win; when they triumph over a bad habit, you also triumph. Then, instead of having just one person contributing to your happiness (yourself), you have many.

3. SERVE SOMEONE LESS FORTUNATE
This is related to the previous lesson but is even more basic. Instead of working to bring another positive recognition, serving requires helping someone to meet the basics of life. This could entail
providing food, clothing or shelter, or imparting a more complex skill like time, money or stress management. Service is teaching, coaching or mentoring someone who has not had the same privileges as you. There is potentially great happiness in this kind of service.

4. BE CAREFUL WITH YOUR WORDS
Next time, before you speak, silently ask yourself these three questions:
A. “Is it necessary to say?” Many verbal retorts and reactions do not further wisdom, peace or joy.
B. “Is it the truth?” Are you saying it to appeal to your or another’s ego? Is it creatively embellished? Is it purposefully misleading? If you let the truth speak for itself, you can avoid a sore throat.
C. “Does it create a barrier to remove one?” Speak only if it removes a barrier, not if it creates one. The adage “What comes around, goes around,” reflects an ancient life philosophy called “karma.” The concept of karma, meaning “action” in Sanskrit, just means that whatever actions you take in this world, good or bad, will have an influence upon your life. Using language responsibly is one step towards understanding your place in the Grand Scheme of things: You are but one player on the chessboard of life, interacting with and depending upon all the others.

5. DON’T DWELL ON THE PAST, STAY IN THE PRESENT
Much of our unhappiness is derived from the attachment to memories of past events. We replay a difficult conversation, re-live a stressful event or repeat negative self talk that we adopted years ago. Learning how to stay in the present helps us to be more alive. We can then enthusiastically accept the gift of each new day and make the necessary internal changes to open
ourselves to more joy, gratitude and love. Replace the bad of yesterday with the good of today and live a happier life.

DECEMBER - WOW!

2009-01-03T12:01:00.000-08:00

What whirlwind month December was - holy cow!

It started off with a 'bang' with the Best of Sacramento Party! One of my favorite yearly events and this year was just as fun as the past years have been.

My gal pals and I coupled this event with the celebration of my birthday! Some of us met at a local neighborhood bar for drinks...then parked close by and walked to the event. Such a blast this party is and for such a great cause!

Christmas was spent with my oldest son and his family.

Then came the after Christmas shopping deals! Whooohooo - I'm proud of myself this year! I had a budget and I stuck to it!

While out shopping with my girlfriend Michelle, we were rear-ended in a parking lot at the mall. The electricity in the whole area had gone out, so they closed the mall (I'm sure the shop keepers were real happy about that! Not!) and while waiting to get out of the lot, someone hit us. Fortunately no one was hurt - just the bumpers!

The month was wrapped up by our annual New Year's Eve celebration where all my girlfriends and our families get together and do our Christmas gift exchange and ring in the New Year! We held it at Ann-Marie's house this year for the first time. As new home owner she and her boyfriend were the chosen hosts of the event. A good time was had by all!

NOVEMBER - COLORADO HUNT!

2008-12-01T20:48:00.000-08:00

Mike and Todd made their way to Craig, Colorado in follow up to Mike's 50th birthday. Everyone pitched in and gave Mike a hunting trip in Colorado for his 50th birthday.

The guys drove out to Colorado (18 hours one way - crazy!) and stayed at the Ranch of Mitchel Walz - who was their host and guide.

Both came home with mule deer.

Todd bagged himself an elk, too!

They are hoping to go back again by the end of January so Mike can fill his elk tag, too!

Mmmmm, can't wait for the meat to be done...can taste that venison jerky already! Yummy!

NOVEMBER - POMEGRANATE HARVEST A SUCCESS

2008-11-29T12:42:00.000-08:00

My wonderful friend D'Aon has a pomegranate tree that did quite well this year. The "harvest" was very bountiful.

We've begun a 'quasi' annual event (harvest results always a factor) where our little group of friends all gather up at D'Aon's house to make pomegranate jelly.

First there is the picking of the fruit from the tree.
Then there is the donning of 'old clothes' (pom juice stains BIG time!)
Then there is the removal of seeds
Then there is the juice extraction
Then there is the filtering of the juice
Then the actual jelly making can begin

This year we produced 60 jars of jelly and only used about 1/2 the poms that were harvested!
(I have more photos I still need to upload off my camera that show the "fruits of our efforts")

Alot of work, but soooooooooooo worth it! Thanks, D'Aon for sharing!

Here's a "fun" recipe D'Aon shared with us:

POPPY COCKTAILS

Ice cubes
1 part gin-based drink (recommended: Pimm's)
1 part pomegranate juice
1/2 part citrus vodka
Splash lemon-lime soda
Lemon wheel, for garnish
Combine all ingredients in a pitcher full of ice. Serve in a rocks glass with ice and a lemon wheel to garnish.

Prep Time: 5 min
Level: Easy
Serves: 1 pitcher
courtesy of Food Network

And....speaking of pomegranates...here is a neat treat shared by my Freelancin' friend Marilyn:

FREE CHOCOLATE COVERED POMEGRANATE SEEDS! YUMMIE!

NOVEMBER - BLACK FRIDAY 2008!

2008-11-28T23:25:00.000-08:00

Wow...despite the fact that I LOVE a bargain, I had absolutely NO desire this year to head out to the stores at the crack of dawn just to save a buck or two.

First of all, this last year I've been working very hard at doing more, with less, better. I don't mean that in a condescending way, either. Simplifying and using the resources I have at my disposal to the fullest.

With the montra of "Recycle, Renew, Reuse" stuck in my head - the whole act of rushing out to the stores to spend my hard earned dollars on yet more products that we probably really don't need, was just not that appealing me.

I did go out and take advantage of some pre-Christmas 50% off on ornaments sale at Macy's today, but that was it.

I started a tradition of sorts years ago when my kids were young that I have continued even with the grand kids. I get them an ornament each year. (My original intent with my kids was so that once they were grown and moved out, they would have some ornaments of their own to begin their first Christmas trees with.)

The lines were long and the "technology" challenging. Registers and "pin-pads" weren't working and sales staff were flustered and few to be had.

I've focused my gift giving this year on: 1) hand made gifts 2) gifts of time and 3) gifts of purpose.

I've been quilting and baking. The gifts I've opted to purchase are done with "purpose" in mind and/or something consumable rather than just another 'trinket' to line the shelf with. Here are a couple of quilts I've done so far this year:

This one was done for my oldest grandson - I have plans to do one for each of them

This one was done for my daughter in law

I watched the news this evening with a different prospective on Black Friday, this year. Watching the hoards of people pouring into the stores for yet more "stuff" just really didn't sit well with me. Some even lost their lives!

42" Plasma TV - $700.00
iPod players - $49.99
Animated Reindeer with red noses - $69.99
Guitar Hero - $99.99
Wii Bundle - $199.99
The life of a sales associate @ Walmart - PRICELESS!!

Gawd, I'm not sure that I could sleep at night knowing that my "mad dash" to get the latest gadget or "deal" ultimately cost someone their life...I just don't know. Our greed has reached an all time high. Totally disgusting!

OCTOBER 2008 - 10 DAYS TO GIVE

2008-10-13T20:56:00.000-07:00

Although just now getting this posted, I began "The Give" on Friday morning. My only plan was to be "open" to what was going on around me and keep a watchful 'ear and eye' as to how/where I could give.

Day One - Friday, the 10th
5:45 a.m. I'm in the bakery getting my morning ritual begun when a women came in and asked the bakery owner if she could get a cup of coffee and a doughnut and come back later and pay her as she didn't have enough. The bakery owner knows me as I'm in there nearly every morning (shamefully - hehehe) and with a shared glance between her and I, I added the women's order to my total. She thanked me and added - now I will not only have breakfast, but I will have dinner as well as the money I have will get me bus fare to the shelter this evening.

1:00pm-ish I'm driving to the bank and the post office doing my work errands (we are based in a rural community so these errands are 15 mins away) and on days I go I usually plan to get food through the drive-thru so I can kill 2 birds with 1 stone, so to speak, and make the most of the time I have. The road I drive is a two lane frontage road that parallels the freeway and is used mainly by local people and farmers. As I'm driving along I happen upon a man walking with back pack, old 2liter bottles filled with water and a sign flapping on his back that read "In need of food". I though "cool..." I'll order food for him while I'm in the drive thru and pull over on my return to work. It was a hot day so I got a sandwich without mayonaise (didn't want it to get yucky) and got soda in a can vs. cup and ice) and sure enough, there he was. I pulled over and rolled down my window and said "How 'bout some lunch?" He crossed the road, took the bag and said "Thank You". All I could think about was gee, I hope he doesn't mind dry bread! :)

Day Two - Saturday, the 11th
I drove up to my girlfriend's house for the weekend to work on our quilts. I had just a little bit more to go on my daughter in law's quilt (her b'day was a few weeks ago)so I went into the fabric store in Chico before going to get my hair cut. There they had the coolest thing..."Charms for scissors" - who'da thunk! I just had to get one for my girlfriend - they had a little sewing machine charm with a purple crystal - I know she'd love it! It was a small token but not cheap by any means - but well worth it. When I got back to her house I gave her the charm which she put on her 'snipping' scissors right away. Later in the evening she said out of the blue "I'm so happy that we can share this together - it's just so much fun". Every time I see my charm, I will think of that day and be reminded of our time(s) together quilting and making memories.

Day Three - Sunday, the 12th
My daughter in law has a full plate. Three kids, a full time job and a busy husband (my son) who is frantically trying to keep up with his every growing business. Like most business owners, you're always "on call" - at least in our business you are. I know how much she likes hydrangeas, so I found 2 plants at the nursery and decided to plant them right by her back door porch (which is the exit she uses every day to take the kids to school and leave for work) so that each day she can start it off by seeing the beauty of the flowers she loves. I work right across the property in another building so I can keep a watchful eye on the plants and help nurture them into nice shrubs for her to enjoy for a long time. She loved them!

Day Four - Monday, the 13th
I have a long time friend who just accepted a new position in none other than Kodiak, Alaska! Brrrrr! She's very excited about it, but it was a HUGE change for her leaving her comfort zone here in California for the island of Kodiak. Most things are VERY expensive and some of the 'comforts' of home just aren't available all the time. I mailed off a *C*A*R*E* package to her today filled with many 'essentials' which will hopefully along with a 'singing' b'day card (it was yesterday). I'm hoping she'll enjoy it. We'll see.

Day Five - Tuesday, the 14th
My new office has been working long and hard to master our daily payroll issues. I appreciate her dedication to be 100% accurate and while I was out running errands for work, I was in the hardware store and there was a very neat Christmas tree display with various ornaments. There on the tree was the CUTEST chihuahua ornament I just had to get it. She has chihuahua's and I thought how perfect and this will give me a chance to say "thanks for all your hard work".

Day Six - Wednesday, the 15th
My best friend's daughter recently moved up here from Southern California to enjoy her first apartment. As a working young adult, she is challenged with making ends meet just like many of us. Through out the month I gather up odds and ends I know will help to make her very stretched paycheck go a little further and try to get together with her for lunch or the like. Tonight I bought dinner for her...and we watched the Presidential debate together.

Day Seven - Thursday, the 16th
My mother and her husband live in Oregon and attend a church up there that has taken 'under their wings' about 15-20 children who live in homes that are "high risk" homes. Being an 'older' church (congregation consists of members probably 40 years plus with an emphasis on the "plus" end of the spectrum) having these children attend has been a good thing in many ways for their congregation. A couple of years ago now, they began a 'closet' so to speak of items specifically for these under priveledged kids. Several times through out the year people donate items for the kids. Example - this time of year items for school, even school clothes for some - then Christmas time, etc. etc. Today I gathered up all the school supply items I have been gathering from specials and boxed them up and mailed them out for the kids.

It's so hard for me NOT to give...I just love it. So when my grandson came into the office tonight when I was ready to go, he asked if he could come home with me. His parents said ok and on the way home we had to stop off at the grocery store. Shopping with him was hilarious. He began putting things in the cart as fast as I could take them out! He is all into dirt bike riding (8 yrs old) and wanted a dirt bike magazine. So with the promise of "once your homework is done" - I told him he could have the magazine. He spent the rest of the evening reading that and went right to bed without issue. Hmmm... :)

Day Eight - Friday, the 17th
For some reason, today seemed like a 'struggle' - As I stated prior, my only plan for "giving" was to be 'open' to what might come my way either as a spiritual prompting, a twinkling of conscience or by means of 'in your face here's a need' kind of thing. I got to work and began my day and I really was struggling with what to do. My husband had been in the office yesterday and made a comment about how quiet it was in there and that "us girls needed some sort of back ground music going or something" - we joked about not being able to get any good stations to come in and that was that. Today was another slow and quiet morning so I snagged the radio out of my boss's office and stuck it on the spare desk in hopes of getting something to come in on the radio. After running up and down the dial, I finally came across a station that was playing a song and it was coming in really well - I looked over at my office assistant and said "well? what'da think?" she say, "yeah, that sounds pretty good". So, the music was going and we were working and the day is going on and on. I still was perplexed with what I was suppose to do "giving wise" today. I mentioned this to my co-worker even and said, "Hmmm, maybe I'm just trying to hard". The whole day we'd been listening to this station - rather the music was playing, I guess but I hadn't been "REALLY" listening until making one more comment about not knowing what I was going to do and then it dawned on me - this radio station has been running a marathon fund raiser all day! Helllllllooooooooo??? Hahaha! Although I couldn't commit to a monthly pledge, I did call the station to make a one time pledge. Some times answers are RIGHT there in front of you...just need to pay attention!

Day Nine - Saturday, the 18th
Wow, a day at home for once. I've been gone several weekends in a row and my days during the week are always packed - like many people's I'm sure. I began today early, doing house chores, laundry and cleaning. I sat down to rifle through a pile of "less important" mail and to go through the piles of of mail items I've rec'd through the last couple of weeks. As I sat down to begin to go through the pile, I thought to myself, "hmmm, how am I going to give today?" and then continued through the stack of mail. Who thought that going through piles of what some would consider "junk mail" would be so much fun? First item - a postal card from Victoria Secret...inside - a little coupon/card for a FREE pair of undies. *DING* that will go to my petite and sexy little daughter in law - she's a hard working mom who puts family first and she will enjoy this little freebie. Next, coupons from Marlboro. *DING* another "give" - this will go to Anjie. Next item to be opened was labels from the Veterans Administration (love to get these by the way - I use them ALL the time) These were Christmas ones and of course *DING* I can give $5.00 to them. *DING* my FREE Movie Tickets from a GDA through Office Depot - Hmmm...another give for my middle son and daughter in law - they work hard, have little 'extra' and will LOVE going out together. We're headed down there tonight for a few days and we can play "babysitter" to our grandson while they enjoy the night out. Lastly, *DING* a couple of FREEbie coupons for CAT Food and a CatFood sample which will be going to my local SPCA.

So, next I decided to head to my computer to check on some websites I saw in my quilting magazines and low and behold was an add for a FREE pattern download. After I downloaded I thought - "Hmmm, I wonder if I can find more free downloadable patterns?" so the search was on...sure enough - so I downloaded and loaded to two different Flash Drives (which I had stored up from a couple of recent GDAs) - one to give to my best friend who quilts and one to send to her mom who is 80, on a fixed income and has recently caught the "quilting bug" as well. She will love these! Ok, guess I'd better get back to the tasks at hand.

SEPTEMBER 2008-PAUL NEWMAN REMEMBERED

2008-09-28T18:05:00.000-07:00

As all of you know, I'm sure - Paul Newman died a couple of days ago.

While it saddened me to hear the news of his passing, it did, however, bring back memories of a fun time in Fontana, California at the California Speedway when a good friend of mine, Terry, and I went to the 2001 CART FedEx Championship Series Race.

In 2001 as a "1 year cancer free" celebration for my friend Terry (she had a double mastectomy) - I treated her to a trip to Fontana to see the Champ Car race (her and I are big fans) and we were fortunate enough to have gotten special access to the Newman - Haas pit (courtesy of a friend of Christiano DaMatta's . That vantage point put us very near to, our then favorite driver - Christiano DaMatta, and also provided us the opportunity to meet Mr. Newman himself and have our picture taken with him.

It was such a great time and will be remembered for a long time to come. Mr. Newman was so gracious to allow us to have our picture taken with him. After the photos were done, I remember him saying "Thank you, hope you ladies are having a good time" and that was that.

I remember thinking to myself - "you have no idea!"

SUMMER FUN IS NEVER FAR AWAY!

2008-07-04T17:40:00.000-07:00

INDEPENDENCE DAY! 2008

2008-07-03T16:13:00.000-07:00

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

OUR TROOPS ROCK!

All I Ever Needed with Iraq Footage

AND

Happy Birthday, My Friend

XOXO
BIG 55!!

JUNE - SUMMER IS WELL UNDER WAY

2008-07-03T16:12:00.001-07:00

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OH MY, MAY! WHEWWW!

2008-07-03T16:11:00.002-07:00

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APRIL IS ALWAYS BUSY!

2008-07-03T16:11:00.001-07:00

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LOOK WHO'S TURNING 50!

2008-07-03T16:09:00.002-07:00

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STRAWBERRIES IN FEBRUARY

2008-07-03T16:09:00.001-07:00

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NUT TREE IN JANUARY

2008-06-27T05:51:00.000-07:00

My girlfriend and I took my two little grand - "nuts" to the NUT TREE for the day. We had a great time. The Nut Tree is somewhat of a California 'icon' of sorts - especially in this area and it was shut down for a few years and re-opened in 2006. They have a wonderful farmers market there with a slough of local merchants. The kids amusement park was the main reason for our trip and the kids just loved it.

While we were there I picked up some items from the Farmer's Market. They had some wonderful whole wheat flour from locally grown wheat farms.

Here is a great recipe for TollHouse Chocolate Chip cookies made with whole wheat; I also used eggs from a locally grown source and local 'nuts'.

SERVINGS Makes 4 to 5 dozen cookies

INGREDIENTS
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup nuts, chopped

PREPARATION
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or cover with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Cream the butter with the brown sugar until light in color, about 4 minutes. Beat in the egg until well incorporated. Stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and blend well. Stir in the oats, chocolate chips, and nuts.

3. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, or until brown. Cool on a wire rack.

DECEMBER MARKS A FIRST FOR MOI!

2008-06-22T13:05:00.000-07:00

With time off at a premium we finally were able to take some time off to go down to San Diego to visit my middle son and his family. What could be better - nice warm weather in the middle of winter, eh?

For several years I've been talking about getting a tattoo. I've spent many hours trying figure out what I wanted and just couldn't ever make a decision. Well, while we were in San Diego my daughter-in-law said "let's go get you your tattoo" and away we went. I chose a Tiger Lily in part to match the one my DIL had (along with her mom and sisters) but also because I thought it was pretty and 'fitting' - it just seemed to go with "me". For years my nick-name has been 'alikatt' and I like cheetah prints and own a cat and well, "Tiger" lily just seem to fit the theme. Not to mention that in the language of flowers "lillies" mean "I'm walking on air" and since I was getting my tattoo on my foot - well, just seemed to again, "fit".

The "mystery" is finally over - it doesn't hurt at all! The continual "etching" - so to speak- of the needle is really more annoying than anything. As soon as it was finished I said "Ok, I'm ready for another one". The guy that did mine was excellent. I had Gina chronical the whole thing via photos. I really like my tattoo! Well, I guess I'd better, huh? It's going to be with me a LONG time!

NOVEMBER - CABELA'S GRAND OPENING!

2008-06-22T09:13:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness, you'd think Christmas had come early! My husband had been chomping at the bit for days once they announced the grand opening of the Cabela's store in Reno, Nevada.

Reno isn't far from us so the 18th of November we hit the highway over the mountain into Reno to check out Cabela's. We took our oldest grandson, Grant with us.

We were there for four, yes 4, hours! I don't think I've shopped that long in any one store EVER! There is no way my hubby can complain now about shopping with me! He was just like a kid in a candy store! We had a fun time - they've got quite the set up going on there!

Laser shooting gallery, Antique Gun museum, tons of stuffed game, just about anything "camo colored" that you could imagine - hahaha!

APPLE HILL IN OCTOBER

2008-06-22T08:41:00.000-07:00

Each year since the onset of our arrival to California over twenty (20) years ago, I've headed up to the hills with my kids and now my grandkids to Apple Hill. It's so beautiful up there and you can find just about anything "apple" you can imagine. Many of the Apple Farms have grown and evolved into "mini-parks" of sorts. Pumpkin patches, apple pie, crafts, pony rides, fishing, you name it! It's a great way to spend a sunny fall day.

We had a great time, as usual, on our last trip. My friend Michelle and I took one of my grandsons, Grant, with us. Grant caught a fish, road horses, picked out a pumpkin, had kettlecorn, had his face painted and soooo much more! It was a great fun filled day.

SEPTEMBER CAME AND WENT

2007-10-26T22:21:00.000-07:00

I want to say I can't believe that September came and went - man I hate it when I don't get time to sit down and regularly write here. I guess it will be something that I'll try to be more diligent at making time to do.

Mike did more hunting in September - this time, rifle season. He was gone alot and for whatever reason, my time seems equally filled but I couldn't really tell you doing what...ha! We both worked hard at fighting off some sort of 'bug' which never really ever got hold - that goodness for Airborne! (Hmmm, I need to buy stock in that stuff, I guess!)

My friend and I took a day trip up Hwy 88 to Hope Valley. What a fun drive and a good time! So beautiful. We both took scads of pictures, of course, but we were still about 2 weeks to early - the trees were just beginning to turn. Nonetheless, we still got some pretty shots. We took our time and stopped whenever the urge struck.

It was so awesome - there was even snow in the upper elevations which was a complete surprise to us. Made for some really beautiful landscapes.

I'd never traveled up this way and I always enjoy traveling to new destinations. We found this incredible lake and picnic area and a number of other little turn offs that proved very scenic.

Our trip ended in Lake Tahoe, where we took a quick detour to Harvey's casino to take our chances on the slot machines! I walked out of there $52.50 ahead of when I walked in! Love it when lady luck shines down on me - even in a small way!

FIRST KILL WITH A BOW! AUGUST 23rd, 2007

2007-09-07T10:51:00.000-07:00

THREE CHEERS FOR MIKE!
He went back to Plasket Meadows for the opening week of Bow Hunting season for deer. He was up there for a week and on the morning of the day he was going to come home at the last minute (on his return back to the camp to leave) a buck jump off the hillside next to him - OVER him and the ATV and down into the clearing on the other side. Mike stopped, thought 'what the heck...might as well try' and fired off a shot! The deer took two steps forward RIGHT into the line of fire! The arrow nailed the deer in the rear hind quarters - hit a major artery - walked about 30 yards and dropped. By the time Mike was able to reach the deer, it had bled out! Yeah! One down - one to go during rifle season - hopefully! :)

AUGUST 9th-12th LAWRENCE FAMILY REUNION

2007-08-17T14:38:00.000-07:00

What a fabulous time we had up in Central Oregon the 9th through the 12th of this month! We stayed at Eagle Crest Resort & Spa. What a fantastic piece of property that is! So much to do...so little time! We stayed in the Chalets and each family hosted 'dinner' for every one on an assigned night.

We arrived on Thursday and I went to work doing our "share" meal for the evening. Everyone came over to our "house" and we had a good time visiting and getting our fill of good grub!

Friday we all took a drive into Bend and had lunch together at the historic Pine Tavern.

Saturday brought golf from some, swimming for others and I took the day to wonder around the property taking pictures here and there of whatever struck my fancy!

I happened upon some geese along a trailway and some deer on a green spot near the horse arena.

I took some time to go through the art gallery up in the common area of the resort. I really took a liking to the sculptures outside of children playing. What a great idea. I just wish I had property to diplay it all on.

JULY 4th CAMPING (2007)

2007-07-13T23:48:00.001-07:00

Well the itch to go camping just needed to be scratched so we packed up the tent and ATV and spent 3 days up in the peace and quiet of Plasket Meadows. While everyone was enjoying triple digi weather at home in the Valley, we enjoyed perfect days of 80º weather and nice cool evenings. I hadn't slept that well in months!

It was rather dry up there this year; We had a lot less rain this year and it showed up there; very few flowers to be had and little or no water in the stream beds. As it goes sometimes.

I was still able to get a few pictures of "critters" - we saw a couple really nice bucks and alot of does, of course. Saw two sets of twin fawns - so tiny. We had a good time tho' - lots of trail riding on the ATV - I did 99% of the driving while Mike checked out the area for upcoming hunting season.

JUNE 2007

2007-07-13T23:39:00.000-07:00

Wow, I feel so bad that June has come and gone and I'm not sure how to account for the time. So busy, but doing what? Ha!

June brought a visit from my middle son and his family and I held a business event at our house which was a lot of fun. I'm sure that it could be debated by some that learning about the effects of sun and stress on the skin could be 'fun', but for me it was good. I enjoyed entertaining and we ended the day with swimming and a 'mini birthday' celebration for one of my friend's grand daughters.

I guess June was all about the grand kids mostly that month. My oldest grandson spent some time with us and we swam, baked and had a good time getting away with things that only grandma's can get away with! Ha!

I started painting my hallway and finished the framing of photos that will line the hallway creating my updated "photo gallery". I decided it was time to 'update' the wall and remove my kids' pictures from when they were in grade school to new ones of them and their families. Guess I finally decided to admit I'm OLD! Ha!

The end of June began the preparation for camping and several trips to the Sportsman's Warehouse! Our often "home away from home" Ha!

MAY 2007

2007-07-13T22:38:00.000-07:00

Gosh, I can't believe how time flies! May was full of all sorts of ups and downs. Power outages at work that created a surge so bad, it blew out our computer. It was down for nearly a week and I was sweatin' bullets that all our data was lost. They finally got it going and all was well.

The arrival of our 4th grandson was the highlight of the month! What a sweetie. 7lbs 19.5" long.

Decided to close out the month with a trip with my friend, Michelle, up the coast of California to Oregon where I'm from and my family still resides. We cut over Hwy 20 to Clearlake and began our journey up the coast stopping whenever we felt the urge to stop. We took lots of pictures, of course and there plenty of photo opportunities.

One of the "favorites" was a redwood park in the town of Eureka, California. I could hardly believe that such beauty could reside smack dab in the middle of a town. You step into the park and forget immediately that you have houses and city life all around you.

I took A LOT of flower pictures with my new camera.

I took Michelle to all my favorite places in Oregon and all around my old 'stomping grounds'. We were able to see four light houses on our trip. My favorite being the Coquille River Light House. I was excited to see that they are going to begin rennovations of the lighthouse soon. The light house was open when we were there and it was neat to have a chance to go into it after all these years.

My grandparents use to take us to Bullards Beach Park (where you can get access to the light house) for the 4th of July. I always wanted to be able to go up the tower but they had removed the stairs years prior. I'm going to look forward to going back after they have completed their upgrades.

We stopped in Charleston, OR and went to this little "hippie" shop that has been there forever. They have some great tie-dyed stuff and I always like to stop and see what new things they have. Next stop was a little pottery shack - I pick up a piece or two each time I go up there. Can't resist - she does great work!

Next we headed up to the Coast Guard look out to watch the boats cross the bar and what a great view from there - you can see both sides of the jetty and the coastline up and down each side of the bay.

From there the next stop was Bastendorf Beach Park. I spent many summers there camping while my dad commercial fished. We'd spend all week there and then go home on the weekends for church and to do laundry. Many fun memories. From there it was up the road to Sunset Beach and my favorite place in the whole world (almost) Shore Acres Botanical Gardens. I was a little disappointed that more flowers weren't in bloom but it was still great to see. Rhododendrons in bloom everywhere!

We ventured down the road to Simpson's Reef and you could hear all the seals and sea lions immediately as you stepped out of the car. We drove down to Cape Blanco to see the lighthouse there, but there is no access to it.

That evening we took in some melodrama at the Sawdust Theatre in Coquille, OR. It's a lot of fun and people come from all over to see the plays.
We hung out most of the next day and did some relaxing and visiting with family. I had to get some pictures of my mom's rose garden, of course.

Our last night there we drove up the coast further to Winchester Bay where we got to see the sun set and took more light house pictures.

The trip home was straight down I-5 with a couple of stops for food. We had a GREAT time!

WHERE DID APRIL GO? (2007)

2007-05-09T12:50:00.000-07:00

Wow! Where did April go? The MONTH of April that is, not my friend, April. Haha! Although I know it wasn't a complete waste of a month, we did do some things and we did complete some projects!

April brought Easter. This year the kids all had other plans with their other families and so did most of my friend's kids - so we decided to all get together up in Oroville at my friend's for dinner. We all brought food - so there was MORE than enough!

Mike took the new tent with us and decided to use the afternoon to put it up and make sure all the parts were there, it worked like he thought, blah, blah, blah. Others took the afternoon to ride the ATV's while others of us went down to the Lott House to take pictures of the Spring flowers. We were there in the fall and there was such a different array of flowers present this time around - lots of Azalea's. The roses are always my favorite - love the pink ones! Other April events included finishing the remodeling of our bathroom. What we hoped to have been a 30 day project ended up being more like a 60 day project (delays with tile; wrong items received, broken fixtures, etc.) But it looks real nice now that it's done. We removed all the old wallpaper (yes, wallpaper ! Ick! it was there when we bought it) and had the walls textured and painted. We removed the old double sink counter/cabinet and replaced it with double pedastal sinks once the old linoleum was removed and the new tile was laid. With some new artwork on the walls, new accessories to match the new colors - whalah! New bathroom! Now next comes new flooring through out the house!

ST. PATRICK'S DAY-2007 (3/17/07)

2007-03-17T14:37:00.000-07:00

Originally a day to honor the patron saint of Ireland, March 17th has become a worldwide celebration of all things Irish.

CHINESE NEW YEAR-SAN FRANCISCO, CA (3/3/07)

2007-03-12T10:19:00.000-07:00

YEAR OF THE BOAR (PIG)-新年快乐 "Gong Xi Fa Cai"

Our second day in the city was just as fabulous as the first. After taking advantage of the free continental breakfast in the tiny lobby of the hotel we were staying in, we called a cab and it took us to China Town where we had a great time making our way through the masses of people at the street fair. Vendor after vendor giving away goodies! We had Chinese food for lunch at the Far East Restaurant. After lunch Ann-Marie and Michelle did some shopping while I "people watched" and took some photos.

Thanks to my friend, Michelle, we had fantastic seats for the Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco, CA.

Michelle was able to score us VIP seats which put us front and center to watch the parade. It was my first time to the parade so what a treat it was! The parade lasted for nearly 2 hours and what a great performance. Definitely a first-rate event!

After the parade was over, we walked up the street to Lefty O'Doul's for a GREAT dinner at the recommendation of Ann-Marie's dad and mom who attended the parade with us. Ann-Marie's father had first hand knowledge of Lefty O'Doul and really made our dinner that much more entertaining with his stories of the past. This restaurant is rich in baseball history and the food was fabulous at a price that couldn't be beat. The guy at the piano took requests and was great entertainment!

Who is Lefty O'Doul?

Francis “Lefty” O’Doul was born here in San Francisco. He is considered one of the New York Giants most colorful and popular personalities. Whole story

SAN FRANCISCO IN MARCH (3/2/07)

2007-03-11T18:42:00.000-07:00

What spectacular weather for this time of year! We got so lucky! Warm, clear and sunny! My friends Michelle and Ann-Marie and I decided to leave a day early to go into San Francisco to check out the sites before taking in the festivities surrounding the Chinese New Year celebration. Our first stop was the Marin Headlands. We spent quite a bit of time here enjoying the view and snapping pictures of the bay, the bridge and early spring flowers.

Did You Know?
The Golden Gate Bridge’s two towers rise 746 feet, making them 191 feet taller than the Washington Monument, linking the Presidio of San Francisco to the Marin Headlands.

We drove up and looked out over Hawk Hill and Battery 129. We then made our way across the Golden Gate Bridge into the Presido where we hurried to spend some time in the San Francisco Botanical Gardens before the sun set. After leaving the gardens we went to check in to our hotel in the Presido and then set out on foot to find a restaurant for dinner. We settled on an Italian restaurant at the recommendation of a shop owner we spoke to. Excellent choice. Food was excellent and the service was fabulous. A great ending to a wonderful day in the city.