Monday, June 20, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Changes!
Lately, I've been thinking about LIFE. I have decided that LIFE is just plain hard WORK! I thought that it was hard work when I had 2 babies who were 14 months apart. Back then, I just KNEW that I would never see the outside of a diaper pail. Just in case anyone reading this doesn't know what a diaper pail is--it's what you put your soiled cloth diapers in until you could get them washed!! FUN, FUN! Then, I thought it was hard work when I had a newborn after 8 years with 3 children. Folks, it is not easy either way--FAR apart or CLOSE together! I remember my pediatrician telling me after that 4th baby, "Oh well, you already know all that about babies." To which I replied, "No, No, I do not remember it--keep talking!"
Then, as I looked at each of those children and realized how enormously different they are, I wondered how anyone can know all there is to know about children. I had to PRAY a LOT. Two more children and then the 3 older ones turned into TEENAGERS!! Talk about CHANGE--hmmm! I just thought that I had PRAYED a LOT! Oh my goodness!! A whole different way of life started coming at a very fast pace. It was a full time job just keeping food cooked. I don't know what happened but food just seemed to disappear! Wow! That brings us up to now. That "sweet baby girl" as her dad always called her, turned 20 this year. No more teenagers. College classes, books and clothes everywhere, everyone going and coming and coming and going. Sometimes I get so light headed I have to sit down! And those PRAYERS--this morning as I was talking to God, I told Him, "LORD, there is SO MUCH to PRAY about!". There are SO many CHANGES in life. That is true for me and true for you. I was praying for a pastor friend and his wife who live in England , when the thought came through my mind, that no matter where you live or what kind of accent you have, or what kind of language you speak, you still have to WORK HARD. Even if you are fortunate enough to be a wealthy millionaire that never has to go to a job, you still have a house to keep, clothes to wash, yards to clean, etc,etc. Now, perhaps you are thinking that millionaires can hire all that done--TRUE. However, I have found that making sure everyone does their jobs is a HUGE headache!
Okay, I think you get the point--Life Is Always Changing and It Is Always Hard Work!!!
So, what can we do about it? In Mark Bryan's book:
The Artist's Way At Work, he said, "We believe in making small lasting changes in the lives we have right now." He suggests looking at the life you now inhabit and making small, concrete changes. Changes that might be actions or acquisitions. He quoted Leo Tolstoy who said, "True life is lived when tiny changes occur." In his life, he stopped yearning for time he did not have and began using what time he did have.
For example: 3 ten-minute reading breaks and a 20 minute walk at lunch. Hmmm! That is definitely doable!!! He also said that although we may not be able to make LARGE changes in our life--"we can certainly make small changes that bring us a sense of comfort and optimism". And over time, little changes can make a BIG difference. He then gives us a challenge: List 3 small changes that you can make in these areas: 1. Your Work Space
2. Your Car
3. Your Wardrobe
4. Your Reading List or Entertainment
5. Your exercise habits
6. Your eating habits
7. Your spiritual maintenance
8. Your kitchen
9. Your bedroom
10. Your living room
Definitely something to give some thought too..........
Then, as I looked at each of those children and realized how enormously different they are, I wondered how anyone can know all there is to know about children. I had to PRAY a LOT. Two more children and then the 3 older ones turned into TEENAGERS!! Talk about CHANGE--hmmm! I just thought that I had PRAYED a LOT! Oh my goodness!! A whole different way of life started coming at a very fast pace. It was a full time job just keeping food cooked. I don't know what happened but food just seemed to disappear! Wow! That brings us up to now. That "sweet baby girl" as her dad always called her, turned 20 this year. No more teenagers. College classes, books and clothes everywhere, everyone going and coming and coming and going. Sometimes I get so light headed I have to sit down! And those PRAYERS--this morning as I was talking to God, I told Him, "LORD, there is SO MUCH to PRAY about!". There are SO many CHANGES in life. That is true for me and true for you. I was praying for a pastor friend and his wife who live in England , when the thought came through my mind, that no matter where you live or what kind of accent you have, or what kind of language you speak, you still have to WORK HARD. Even if you are fortunate enough to be a wealthy millionaire that never has to go to a job, you still have a house to keep, clothes to wash, yards to clean, etc,etc. Now, perhaps you are thinking that millionaires can hire all that done--TRUE. However, I have found that making sure everyone does their jobs is a HUGE headache!
Okay, I think you get the point--Life Is Always Changing and It Is Always Hard Work!!!
So, what can we do about it? In Mark Bryan's book:
The Artist's Way At Work, he said, "We believe in making small lasting changes in the lives we have right now." He suggests looking at the life you now inhabit and making small, concrete changes. Changes that might be actions or acquisitions. He quoted Leo Tolstoy who said, "True life is lived when tiny changes occur." In his life, he stopped yearning for time he did not have and began using what time he did have.
For example: 3 ten-minute reading breaks and a 20 minute walk at lunch. Hmmm! That is definitely doable!!! He also said that although we may not be able to make LARGE changes in our life--"we can certainly make small changes that bring us a sense of comfort and optimism". And over time, little changes can make a BIG difference. He then gives us a challenge: List 3 small changes that you can make in these areas: 1. Your Work Space
2. Your Car
3. Your Wardrobe
4. Your Reading List or Entertainment
5. Your exercise habits
6. Your eating habits
7. Your spiritual maintenance
8. Your kitchen
9. Your bedroom
10. Your living room
Definitely something to give some thought too..........
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Where Do I Begin?????????????
I really do not think that I had the 'flu'. I think that I had the 'Super Flu'. I would get better then get sick again. I could not get well. Not one of my family had any sympathy for me either. All that my children could say was: " Mom, you have GOT to get out of that chair!!!" or "You would NEVER let US sit in a chair like that!!!" or "Mom, GET up and move around! You are NEVER going to get well just sitting there!!"
What could the matter have been with them? I mean, couldn't they SEE that I was NOT well at all??? I must tell you this story. Please bear with me, I will get back to that last train of thought. One night as I was reclining--in the recliner (the Chair)--I heard a dog barking--pitifully--down near my chicken pen. I immediately thought , " Oh, no! Those neighbors of ours--they have gotten another dog!!!" Rain was coming down in torrents. It had been raining off and on all day. I almost got up to see if I could see this barking dog. Alas, I did not have the energy to even get up--or so I thought!! Well, that youngest son of mine came in and took a shower and then came in the den and said, " Mom, are you lonesome?" That should have been clue #1!!! I told him I didn't have time to even figure OUT if I was lonesome or not. But then he said, " Well, I think you are. And, I think what you need is a dog!!" I assured him that I most certainly DID NOT need a DOG! That was clue #2!!! Poor Eddie had not been in the ground barely three days!! He then told me that a stray dog had been hanging around his friend's house and he(the friend) was going to take him to the pound the next day, so he brought him home ..........I don't know WHERE the energy came from, but I shot up out of that chair like I had never been sick!!! Hmmm! I proceeded to inform my son that I WOULD BE TAKING THE DOG TO THE POUND MYSELF TOMORROW!! And to think, I thought it was my neighbor's dog!
Of course, he HAD to tell me that he had never had a dog that was just HIS!! The gardener in me wanted to say " SO WHAT!!" . But the momma in me just melted. You KNOW that our son promised to buy all the food and feed him and take complete care of him (all I could say was, " Yeah, I have heard THAT before!" ). My husband refused to talk about it at all until the morning! Then, when he saw the dog, HIS heart melted. The dog looked exactly like Eddie except that he is black and Eddie was yellow. We are now the proud owners of 2 LARGE dogs--AGAIN! All my beautiful baby irises are trampled. Those 'prize' rosebushes--he chewed 2 of them down to the ground--thorns and all!!!!!! The water hose--chewed in half! My flower pots that I had on the porches--dragged all over the yard and chewed up! And just when I thought things couldn't get any worse.....Well, first let me get back to the 'Super Flu'. I could not get well and you can see no one was helping me here on the homefront. So, I asked my husband would he PLEASE take me to my sister's house and he did. I told my children that I was going to my sister's and was NOT coming home until I was well!!!! I stayed there for a week and not one person told me to get up out of 'the chair'. I started feeling stronger. Then one day my Indiana daughter called me and told me they were coming home soon for a whole week! Yay! That made me feel better too. And what she said next made me feel wonderful. She asked me to make a list of some things that I would like to have done around the house. She said they were going to help me do some of them. WOW! I have six children and that was a VERY unusual thing for one of them to say! That should have been clue #1 again!!! The second call from her came the day before I came home. This call started with--" Mom, we were wondering if you could do us a favor...." (or something along those lines). When I got off of the phone, my sister asked me what the call was about. All I could manage to say was " you don't want to know" ! So, back to me thinking that things could not get any worse...I was 'asked' if I could keep Morgan (the beautiful little black, curly haired Schnoodle from Christmas) for a month... Okay, a month I can handle or so I thought. That should have been clue #2 again.... My sister came by while they were home and I said,
" And here's the new member of our family!" Now, I was just kidding and then she told me that she had known about it because that youngest daughter of mine had posted on Facebook the SHE was getting a new puppy!!! W-E-L-L -----------------
I did say that I LOVED learning NEW things, didn't I? At the moment I am learning how to let a dog train his owner!! I am learning how to give a dog a bath so that he will not smell like a dog! And I am trying to learn how to not cringe when a puppy licks and licks you!! I am learning that dogs LOVE pig ears!
Life seems to be full of surprises doesn't it? An INSIDE dog----Who'd thought it????????????????
What could the matter have been with them? I mean, couldn't they SEE that I was NOT well at all??? I must tell you this story. Please bear with me, I will get back to that last train of thought. One night as I was reclining--in the recliner (the Chair)--I heard a dog barking--pitifully--down near my chicken pen. I immediately thought , " Oh, no! Those neighbors of ours--they have gotten another dog!!!" Rain was coming down in torrents. It had been raining off and on all day. I almost got up to see if I could see this barking dog. Alas, I did not have the energy to even get up--or so I thought!! Well, that youngest son of mine came in and took a shower and then came in the den and said, " Mom, are you lonesome?" That should have been clue #1!!! I told him I didn't have time to even figure OUT if I was lonesome or not. But then he said, " Well, I think you are. And, I think what you need is a dog!!" I assured him that I most certainly DID NOT need a DOG! That was clue #2!!! Poor Eddie had not been in the ground barely three days!! He then told me that a stray dog had been hanging around his friend's house and he(the friend) was going to take him to the pound the next day, so he brought him home ..........I don't know WHERE the energy came from, but I shot up out of that chair like I had never been sick!!! Hmmm! I proceeded to inform my son that I WOULD BE TAKING THE DOG TO THE POUND MYSELF TOMORROW!! And to think, I thought it was my neighbor's dog!
Of course, he HAD to tell me that he had never had a dog that was just HIS!! The gardener in me wanted to say " SO WHAT!!" . But the momma in me just melted. You KNOW that our son promised to buy all the food and feed him and take complete care of him (all I could say was, " Yeah, I have heard THAT before!" ). My husband refused to talk about it at all until the morning! Then, when he saw the dog, HIS heart melted. The dog looked exactly like Eddie except that he is black and Eddie was yellow. We are now the proud owners of 2 LARGE dogs--AGAIN! All my beautiful baby irises are trampled. Those 'prize' rosebushes--he chewed 2 of them down to the ground--thorns and all!!!!!! The water hose--chewed in half! My flower pots that I had on the porches--dragged all over the yard and chewed up! And just when I thought things couldn't get any worse.....Well, first let me get back to the 'Super Flu'. I could not get well and you can see no one was helping me here on the homefront. So, I asked my husband would he PLEASE take me to my sister's house and he did. I told my children that I was going to my sister's and was NOT coming home until I was well!!!! I stayed there for a week and not one person told me to get up out of 'the chair'. I started feeling stronger. Then one day my Indiana daughter called me and told me they were coming home soon for a whole week! Yay! That made me feel better too. And what she said next made me feel wonderful. She asked me to make a list of some things that I would like to have done around the house. She said they were going to help me do some of them. WOW! I have six children and that was a VERY unusual thing for one of them to say! That should have been clue #1 again!!! The second call from her came the day before I came home. This call started with--" Mom, we were wondering if you could do us a favor...." (or something along those lines). When I got off of the phone, my sister asked me what the call was about. All I could manage to say was " you don't want to know" ! So, back to me thinking that things could not get any worse...I was 'asked' if I could keep Morgan (the beautiful little black, curly haired Schnoodle from Christmas) for a month... Okay, a month I can handle or so I thought. That should have been clue #2 again.... My sister came by while they were home and I said,
" And here's the new member of our family!" Now, I was just kidding and then she told me that she had known about it because that youngest daughter of mine had posted on Facebook the SHE was getting a new puppy!!! W-E-L-L -----------------
I did say that I LOVED learning NEW things, didn't I? At the moment I am learning how to let a dog train his owner!! I am learning how to give a dog a bath so that he will not smell like a dog! And I am trying to learn how to not cringe when a puppy licks and licks you!! I am learning that dogs LOVE pig ears!
Life seems to be full of surprises doesn't it? An INSIDE dog----Who'd thought it????????????????
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
A Tribute to EDDIE
Last Friday evening our dog died. It was a sad time at our house. Especially for my husband--he is the one who found him and the one who had to bury him.
My Indiana daughter told me that she is expecting a 'tribute to Eddie' posted on my blog--ASAP. "And" said she, "There must be only good things--nothing bad!!"
HMMM! This may take awhile......
WELL, I guess I'll not be able to talk about all the holes in the yard--nor all the poop. She does not want me to tell about all the things that got destroyed when he first came to live with us. All those plants and flowers he tore up, I won't be able to mention! My chickens he killed--naw, I won't tell that! Not even my beautiful white bunny that got out and --no, I won't tell you what happened to it! Not even the times when he would sneak out of the gate and we had to go looking for him. Especially not the time my husband left for work the day after Christmas and Eddie ran out of the gate and no one knew he was gone. But, we found out soon enough.... Oh my, what a fight he had with our neighbor's dogs--BULLDOGS--2 of them. And Eddie probably would have died that day had it not been for 3 squealing barefooted girls in their pj's and a teenage boy with what I had THOUGHT was a BB gun. Nope, it was the real thing. And one of those bulldogs got the firing end of it--which I might add (although I am not supposed to mention it) ended up costing my husband and me several hundred dollars in our neighbor's Vet bill. Hmmm! A tribute to Eddie????
Okay, my sweet Indiana daughter, here it is:
A Tribute To EDDIE
Who always ran to meet me at the gate with eyes full of loving, adoring looks?
It was EDDIE.
Who always sat very stately holding up his paw for me to shake as I went back to close the gate?
It was EDDIE.
Who loved it when I rubbed and rubbed his ears and said, "You are the BEST dog in all the world"?
That would be EDDIE.
Who always lay on the porch just hoping I would come out and bring him some tasty morsel?
Yeah, it was EDDIE.
Who LOVED Alpo dog food with some raw eggs broken over the top, or some left over chicken broth drizzled on?
It was EDDIE.
Who always kept vigilance near the grill whenever we got it out because he KNEW the fellow cooking would always give him one of whatever was on that grill--much to my horror I might add!!
You KNOW it was EDDIE!
Who always took every step I did while I was working in the yard keeping me company?
It was EDDIE.
Who LOVED to sleep between my prize rosebushes underneath our bedroom window right on top of newly laid mulch and you couldn't scold him because he looked so warm and cozy?
It was EDDIE.
Who always walked me to the gate on Sunday mornings when we were leaving for church? And when I said, "Now, you keep all those squirrels run out of the yard while we are gone" , who went running off like he was REALLY chasing a squirrel?
That would be our EDDIE.
Good old EDDIE, he really WAS the BEST dog in the whole world!
WE ALL MISS YOU, EDDIE!
My Indiana daughter told me that she is expecting a 'tribute to Eddie' posted on my blog--ASAP. "And" said she, "There must be only good things--nothing bad!!"
HMMM! This may take awhile......
WELL, I guess I'll not be able to talk about all the holes in the yard--nor all the poop. She does not want me to tell about all the things that got destroyed when he first came to live with us. All those plants and flowers he tore up, I won't be able to mention! My chickens he killed--naw, I won't tell that! Not even my beautiful white bunny that got out and --no, I won't tell you what happened to it! Not even the times when he would sneak out of the gate and we had to go looking for him. Especially not the time my husband left for work the day after Christmas and Eddie ran out of the gate and no one knew he was gone. But, we found out soon enough.... Oh my, what a fight he had with our neighbor's dogs--BULLDOGS--2 of them. And Eddie probably would have died that day had it not been for 3 squealing barefooted girls in their pj's and a teenage boy with what I had THOUGHT was a BB gun. Nope, it was the real thing. And one of those bulldogs got the firing end of it--which I might add (although I am not supposed to mention it) ended up costing my husband and me several hundred dollars in our neighbor's Vet bill. Hmmm! A tribute to Eddie????
Okay, my sweet Indiana daughter, here it is:
A Tribute To EDDIE
Who always ran to meet me at the gate with eyes full of loving, adoring looks?
It was EDDIE.
Who always sat very stately holding up his paw for me to shake as I went back to close the gate?
It was EDDIE.
Who loved it when I rubbed and rubbed his ears and said, "You are the BEST dog in all the world"?
That would be EDDIE.
Who always lay on the porch just hoping I would come out and bring him some tasty morsel?
Yeah, it was EDDIE.
Who LOVED Alpo dog food with some raw eggs broken over the top, or some left over chicken broth drizzled on?
It was EDDIE.
Who always kept vigilance near the grill whenever we got it out because he KNEW the fellow cooking would always give him one of whatever was on that grill--much to my horror I might add!!
You KNOW it was EDDIE!
Who always took every step I did while I was working in the yard keeping me company?
It was EDDIE.
Who LOVED to sleep between my prize rosebushes underneath our bedroom window right on top of newly laid mulch and you couldn't scold him because he looked so warm and cozy?
It was EDDIE.
Who always walked me to the gate on Sunday mornings when we were leaving for church? And when I said, "Now, you keep all those squirrels run out of the yard while we are gone" , who went running off like he was REALLY chasing a squirrel?
That would be our EDDIE.
Good old EDDIE, he really WAS the BEST dog in the whole world!
WE ALL MISS YOU, EDDIE!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Sick of the 'Flu'!!!
Have you ever hurt all over--so much that you could not sit still? Has your throat hurt so badly that you could not talk clearly? Has your head ever felt like it would pop right open any minute? WELL--if you have ever felt any of these things--then, I can tell you, YOU HAVE HAD THE FLU!!!! For the past 3 weeks I have consumed almost an entire bottle of Vit C and also Garlic. One of my daughters came home one day and exclaimed--"Mom, this house reaks of GARLIC!" I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel--I think! However, that energy that I have been talking about--I do not have much of it!!! Even my son got worried about me. Last Sunday afternoon, he said, "Mom, get your clothes on. We are going for a walk to the end of the driveway." Then, when we got to the end of the driveway, he kept on walking and made me walk up to my neighbor's house. I told him that I sure hoped no one saw me because I looked like 'death warmed over'--to which he replied that no, I just looked like COLD death!!! Children can make you feel so up when you are feeling so down!! To look at the good side, I was able to read quite a lot. I read a book called "The One I Knew Best Of All" by Frances H. Burnett. I love good books. I recommend that as a very good book! I also read "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck. I did not think that was a good book. I guess she did do an excellent job of describing life in early China. Also, it did make me VERY grateful that God allowed me to be born in America. But I did not care for the main character. My sister and I have decided that we are going to read a 'classic' each month of 2011. This month we are reading "Oliver Twist". I will let you know how it makes me feel. I was able to go thru a ton of paper piles (at least it SEEMED like a ton). That made me feel REALLY good! I was able to go to church today--first time in 3 Sundays. I can truly say that "it was good to be in the house of the Lord".
Just in case you are wondering, I did NOT take a Flu shot this year!
Just in case you are wondering, I did NOT take a Flu shot this year!
Monday, January 3, 2011
After Christmas Slump!
Wow, Christmas was fun and fast and busy!! New Year's Day was more relaxing! So relaxing that NO collards NOR blackeye peas were even attempted. Instead, we went to Cracker Barrel! I will say that whoever that Santa was did NOT bring me that I-Pad and I almost ended up with a PUPPY! I only escaped by the 'skin of my teeth'---WHEW!! I will have to admit that the little puppy WAS beautiful--curly black hair and such a bundle of fun! His name was 'Morgan'. I am just 'SO' not a dog person!!! Sorry, Sheri :( I simply do not know HOW to care for an inside dog--or an outside dog for that matter. However, I am the not-so-proud owner of 2 of those wonderful animals that are constantly digging up my vegetable plants and my flowers. Actually, they do not even care if they are digging ANYTHING up--they just did HOLES all over our yard. Can anyone tell me what you can do with a digging-dog? They sleep between my 'prize' rosebushes and wallow all over the monkey-grass! I don't like them----except when I come home and they run to the gate to meet me. They make me feel very special! If they would just QUIT digging everything up!! I even tell them that they are the best dogs in the whole world. You would think that would keep them in line, but, no--they really do not care. Oh well, I must not think about my flowers they have dug up. In fact, I should not think about dogs at all--not even the one that almost became mine at Christmas!!
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