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Thursday, December 31, 2009

Rantings on the last day of the year

Every day at work I am exposed to a woman who is constantly in a “down” mode. She comes in the office and sighs (very loud) and tells everyone how sick she is, how much she hates her kids, and how unfair her life is. From an outsiders view her life doesn’t look so bad. She has 4 young children, lives in a brand new house (less than 1 year old), is married to her HS or college sweetie (they were together for 10 years before they got married), and they have enough disposable income she buys ridicules things for her kids. OK, my problem with this is ……… I hear her say (daily) I wish I would just die. WOW, is your life THAT bad you have to say something like that? Is your husband so bad you REALLY wish he would be taken by aliens? I will admit that sometimes we ALL feel down about our lives and think everyone else has it better, but not ALL the time. She complains about her kids and says she can’t wait to get away from them (Oh my goodness, why did you have them?????) Her sister came to visit over the holidays. For a week I have heard her say DAILY how stupid her sister is, and complain about her staying in her home. I would be so happy to have ANY of my sisters come stay with me. I would be so happy to have my little sister even accept the rest of us and let us again be a family. I think my co worker is on a destructive route ….. But who am I am to say that. I have 3 sisters, two are wonderful and love me NO exceptions. One who will not talk with the rest of the family. I grieve daily for my little sister and her family. I am sad my co worker lives such a sad life ….maybe someday she will understand the true meaning of life and enjoy what she has been given to her


On that note, a friend sent the following email about changes he is making for the new year. I want to share ………



Health:

1. Drink plenty of water.

2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.  (does is count that I eat my canned soup 90% of the time for lunch??)
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants..   (Yep, I am doimg that)

4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy

5. Make time to pray.

6. Play more games ( we bought some games for Christmas)

7. Read more books than you did in 2009 .

8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day

9. Sleep for 7 hours. (I have been doing that in the winter time ……)

10. Take a 10-30 minute walk daily. And while you walk, smile.



Personality:

11. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about. (OK, so negate the blog)

12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

13. Don't over do. Keep your limits.

14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does. (I have to really work on this one)

15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.

16. Dream more while you are awake

17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..

18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness. (Phil tells me this all the time)

19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.

20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

23. Smile and laugh more.

24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree... (But, I LIKE to win)



Society:

25. Call your family often.

26. Each day give something good to others.

27. Forgive everyone for everything..

28.. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6. (I love doing this, just need to find more time)

29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

30. What other people think of you is none of your business.

31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.



Life:

32. Do the right thing!

33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful. (I have really been working on this in 2009)

34. GOD heals everything.

35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change...

36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

37. The best is yet to come..

38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.

39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

OK. for 2010, I THINK I need to move more.  I need to be more in touch with God, and I need to let the past go more.     There are probably more things I need to work on but those are on the top. 
Happy New Year
I hope you are able to work on your "top list"

Friday, December 25, 2009

Christmas Blizzard

Winter is here with a vengeance. The forcasters predicted this was going to be a terrible storm, and it is proving to be true. Wednesday it rained, Thursday it rained and rained and froze. Thursday afternoon it changed from freezing rain to snow. Our driveway was covered with about ½ inch of ice …….. then snow! Phil went out last night to plow before bed, but it was snowing and blowing so hard it didn’t really help. This morning we got up and the driveway is totally drifted in with snow. The back porch had about 2’ of snow in front of the door. In back of the house is a drift about 5 - 6 feet deep and to get to the barn the smallest drift is about 3’ deep. The plow is not strong enough to move the snow. Even with the extra weight, it gets stuck. Phil was not able to feel his hands or feet by the time he came in to get warm. I am thankful I have a lot of PTO at my job …… and the last 2 storms have hit close to the weekends.


Today is Christmas. Tomorrow we hope to find someone who can dig us out again. I sure hope this doesn’t happed every 2 weeks all winter long!!


Wednesday, December 23, 2009

MORE winter weather

More snow is on the way! Good grief winter started only on Monday. This will be our second major storm in as many weeks. Last time the airlines put Phil in a hotel for 2 days so he was able to get back and forth to work. They offered to put him up again, so he would be there over Christmas. He said no. He is probably not going to be able to get to work tomorrow and Friday. I don’t think I am going to be able to get to work tomorrow. Right now we are simply getting rain. The temperature is holding steady at 33 degrees, as it has been all morning. If the temperature drops only one degree, the roads will be a nightmare!!! Tonight the temps are supposed to drop to the teens and the freezing rain will turn to snow. We are supposed to get about a foot of snow, and then the conditions will become blizzard like. The winds are going to gust up to 40 MPH. Our roads will be a mess. Phil said he would plow every hour if he has to, to make sure we are able to get out of the driveway this time! We need to get a tractor with more power. We need a blade that will move more snow than we are able to now. Every year we seem to be a little better prepared. I wonder how long it will take to be REALLY prepared. I worry so about losing power. How will we heat the house if we loose power? How will we flush the toilet? How will we cook? We need to get a windmill and/or solar power to take care of those problems. At the very least we need a wood stove to stay warm.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Relationship thoughts and Winter Solstice

I was listening to Dr Laura on the radio last week. I don’t get to listen to AM radio much anymore. She was talking with a couple having marital problems. Her solution was brilliant and I think it is something that all married couples should do. She said for the next month she wanted them each to think only about the other persons happiness. They had to work at making their partner happy every minute they are awake. The outcome of doing that …… they will start to think about each other in a more positive manner and because they are working so hard to make the other person happy they will be happy in the end as well. OK, so I am thinking if all married people (LISTEN JOANN) would work hard at making their partners happy, there would never be a reason to divorce or cheat, or even yell at one another.

For the most part Phil works very hard at making me happy. I have a difficult time accepting the kindness. I had never been subjected to that kind of treatment. I think I tend to be moody at times. It is something I am working at; I hope it won’t take forever. I know I am much happier in the summertime. The lack of daylight affects my moods in a big way. I always dread this time of year because of that very thing. Phil’s friend sent an email the other day that made me smile. She said be happy because it was the winter solstice and starting today we start gaining a few minutes of daylight each day. YEA, in no time the sun will be warmer, the snow and ice will be gone. I will be able to think about planting again, and see God’s miracles growing around our home. Spring is just around the corner!!!!!

Thought on decorating

Phil came home from work Sunday with a Christmas tree. It is a cute little tree about 4’ tall. It is full and fluffy. Caelum and Phil cut the bottom limbs off and put it into the holder. Olivia helped him sting the lights. The girls and Phil decorated it all by themselves. It is a very pretty tree, full and decorated so nicely. We have so many decorations packed away downstairs …. We haven’t even looked at them since we moved out here. I wonder if I should spend some time going through all of the totes and giving some of the things to the girls ……. Some things probably need to be thrown away. Others need to be saved maybe the grandkids will want them when they get older. I have homemade decorations from all the kids, some have lost their tags so I can only wonder which kid made it. A few are from my childhood. It is pretty amazing how many memories can be packed away in totes.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Ramblings of a grandma .......

Brandon dropped the kids off Saturday evening; they had been at his place since the previous evening. Caelum said a quick hello and went outside to play in the snow. The girls came in to see Grandpa (nope, not me, he is the favorite)


Unfortunately Phil had to go to bed early because it was a work night. We had dinner together then off to bed. The kids always expect to do something special when they are here, so I decided to make some cookies. I had a pouch of cookies in the cabinet …. I picked them up on a clearance aisle … I don’t buy things like that. The girls mixed it up and baked the cookies. They were eating them and GRANDPA woke up to use the bathroom. Normally he doesn’t even talk to me, just goes back to bed. The smell of fresh baked sugar cookies woke him up instantly. He and Olivia had a tickle fest then they ate cookies. Those girls do love their grandpa!!!

As we grow older we learn different things. One of the things I have learned is that I need to check my blood pressure on a regular basis. Saturday I got the blood pressure cuff out and pumped it up. Both Ruby and Olivia had stories to tell me. Kids should NEVER put their arms in those things because if they do they will get squeezed off. Those things are for testing your blood, but only if you are a grownup. I finished taking my blood pressure and was folding it up to put it away. Ruby said ……….. So do you have enough? I was taken aback …. What do you mean? She said “you measured your blood, do you have enough?”

Sunday morning we all went outside to play. The snow was still deep. Caelum had been working on building a fort. I was amazed at how deep and heavy the snow was. I pulled Olivia around on the sled for a while, but it was to heavy for me to do that for to long. We were all happy to get back inside.

We spent the afternoon working on presents for “mom”. What fun we had. The kids love their mom so much; they just want to make her happy. We are so slow (one grownup for 3 kids …it takes a while) but we did a great job. We didn’t have time for the kids to take their presents home ….. We will have to wrap them on Christmas day when we go over. I can’t mention what we did, just in case mom reads this. I will say that my carpet may never recover!!!!! We really need to start earlier next year. I was leery of starting early because the girls can’t keep a secret. Maybe they can next year!!!!

More farm tails

Phil called me at work today, obviously excited.  He had been out plowing snow and said he saw a coyete run out from under the front porch.  The animal loped down the driveway and away from the house.  He thought the animal might have denned down under there.  I (being all wise about such things) told him that was impossible because the cats would be dead if he had been living there.  Then I asked him if the cats were still around ... they were sitting on the front porch.    I went out to the porch after I got home to see if I could tell if the animal had been living under there ......... all I know is that it smells bad!  Phil was concerned that the coyote may have killed an animal and took it under the porch to eat it.  The dogs were under there (after it left of course) and came out licking their lips. 
It is not a few days later, and the cats are still here ........... and I don't think Phil has seen it again.  I know I would be frightened if I was leaving for work in the dark one morning and came face to face with it.   I hope it goes back to the woods where it came from ..........

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Christmas traditions

Christmas is next week.  We don't have a tree up, I suppose one of us will go to the store and pick up and smallest tree we can find and I will pull out a few ornaments and call it good.  I am so sad all of our Christmas traditions are going away.  For all of my life, Mom and Dad would find the biggest tree posssible and put it up 2 weeks before Christmas.  We always had a real tree until Chuck said he was allergic and they got a fake tree (funny, he can go hunt and fish all he wants and is not allergic then).  It was always a great fun time to decorate and it took hours.  Mom always made tons of Christmas candy.  Dad always made the peaut brittle because it had to be stirred and stirred and stirred and he was the strongest of us all.  He was always very proud if he could get it very thin.  Both Mom and Dad loved Christmas and spent way to much money on the holiday.  They never stressed about it.  They never complained about it.  On Christmas eve we would always have fish and lentils.  Mom would tell the story about this being a poor mans dinner, so we eat it as a symbol of feeling Jesus plight.  The kids would eat the lentils even tho they didn't like them.  It was a game to see what bad faces they could make.  We were told the more lentils we ate, the more prosperous our new year would be. Everyone would eat at least two bowls full.  Santa always came to our house on Christmas Eve.  Dad would take us outside because he heard sleigh bells and had to look for Santa's sleigh.  When we came back in, the tree had exploded with presents.  I am still amazed at the volume of presents!  I have wonderful memories of Christmas. 
I am sad that I am not helping to create memories and traditions for the grandkids.  I hope I have given my kids memories ..... and they will continue to give their kids memories.

Friday, December 11, 2009

My hero, my husband

My car is 7 years old.  In all that time I have never had a flat tire, until tonight.  I was coming home from work and got to my exit on the interstate.  I heard a loud noise but it nothing seemed wrong so I drove on.  I had driven only a short way when I realized it was MY car making that noise.  It sounded to me like the ice/snow/sludge had built up behind the tires and was rubbing.  I looked for a place to pull off and could not really find a safe place for quite some distance.  The snow plows had done a good job clearing the roads, but not the shoulders.  When I was able to stop I got out and realized I had a flat.  DRAT!! 
I called Phil he said he would come get me as soon as he could get there.  In the meantime I called my road service company to have them come change the flat.  I was on hold the entire time it took Phil to get to me.  The woman on the other end asked if something was going on in the area, because she could not find anyone to come help me.  In the meantime Phil hooked up this handy dandy air compressor thing we bought last March and in 15 minutes or so the tire had air in it again (while still on hold).  He said let's make a run for it.  He jumped in my car and I took his.  He said we'd probably have to stop and air it up again, but we made it home and the tire still had air. Just about that time the service company called me back and said sit tight it would be at least 2 hours before someone could rescue me.  Thankfully we are home and warm.  When we were standing in the garage looking at the tire, Phil said he was thankful it didn't blow as I was driving 70 miles an hour down the interstate.  Tomorrow I guess we look at a new tire.

Note:  We went to get the tire fixed this morning, and found a razer blade in the tire.  Phil said someone would have had to somehow force it to stand upright to get into the tire that way.  Must have happened when I went to Walmart at lunch time. 

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Happy Birthday Delana

Delana about 2 or 3 years old at Grandpa and Grandma's house.  Below she fell asleep while I was vacuuming.  Do you think she can still fold in half like this?



My baby is 29 years old today. Where did the years go? Wasn't it just yesterday she fell asleep with her Raggy Ann doll? Didn't she just learn to walk? Potty training ........ that is still a painful memory.


I feel bad for Delana. She is home with Strep Throat on her birthday. She has 3 kids who have been housebound since Monday, probably driving her crazy.

Sunday we celebrated her birthday. Each of the children wove her a hotpad (like we used to do as kids) and they made her some soap. I think she had a good birthday. Check out her cake! (Man was it rubbery!!!) The kids had a great time helping me decorate it. I am trying to help them do more crafty things for holidays. We made some liquid soap. Caelum was stirring and stirring, it smelled wonderful! I stepped backward, tripped over Molly who was laying in the middle of the kitchen floor. My arms flung out to steady myself and soap was EVERYWHERE!. She didn't get much of the soap!



Olivia made her Mom a card


Caelum wanted to eat the frosting
Ruby made a hotpad


Poor cake ........... just kept shrinking away














Happy birthday my sweet daughter.  I hope this next year is wonderful for you .  Enjoy your family, your new partner and your job.  You have what you have always wanted.  This will be a wonderful year!



Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Photos of the snow

we finally found someone to open up the driveway for us
,








Look how tall that snow drift is












































Tuesday, December 8, 2009

winter time AGAIN?????

Oh my, it is cold outside. The snow is blowing. The animals water dishes are frozen solid. The sun is awake for only about 8 hours a day. My garden is frozen solid. The driveway is slick. Getting the mail is a hazard, if I go 2" more than I should I will end up sliding down into a ditch. We are in the middle of a blizzard warning. The airport put Phil into a hotel so he can get to work. He will probably have to work 16+ hours today then back to the hotel and do it all over again tomorrow.
We talked about my work and decided I would call in, I have tons of PTO to burn anyway. Why take a chance on driving in this weather and getting into an accident. It looks like we are going to have a couple of rotten days. The high temp today is 22 but tomorrow is 9. The midlands are beautiful in the summer, but in the winter I wonder why we continue to live here! ....................... OK, I remember, it is because it is so beautiful, and so bountiful. Well, in good weather it is beautiful.
I am thankful I don't have to take care of cows, pigs, chickens etc. today, but only because I am cold and lazy. I wonder how my parents did it ......... every single day. All of the animals were fed. The cows were milked. The chickens were cared for and eggs (if there were any) were gathered. I believe it was a day like today when dad was kicked by a cow and broke his leg. Mom had to walk MILES in weather like this to get help. We are so fortunate to live with such convince, and telephones. I should never complain.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Smoke on the mountain

A couple of nights ago Phil and I were sitting at the table looking through mail, and reading our weekly newspaper (yep, this area supports a weekly!!). Our local theater group was putting on another play and the opening was Friday. Phil said let's go. We say that a lot and never seem to be able to make time, but this week we did. I called him this afternoon to ask if we were still going, he said he had just been calling about the reservations.
This is a very small community theater built and run by locals. I applaud them because they have never gone into debt to run this theater, and still have built a very nice home for themselves. It started much like the Lofte in Manly with a few locals and an idea. These wonderful local people worked very hard to build it, and are still so humble.
Tonight's production sounded like an old fashioned revival, so I was excited to see what it was all about. The story revolved around a Baptist church in North Carolina in 1938. They were having a "song meeting". The plot was good, the acting was great. In one spot Phil was laughing so hard I thought he was going to fall out of his chair. The old women actors were hams.
The point of this post was not to revue the play, but to tell you what I saw and felt tonight. When we walked in we were greeted some 2 "old" women and one "old" man who welcomed us into the church. The entire thing was like walking into a baptist church in KY or TN or NC back in the 70's , almost a little like stepping back in time 30 years. When the singing started I was instantantly pulled back in time to my childhood (not the 30's .......... but old hymns never die) when Mom would take me to revivals, campmeetings or song nights at the church. I had NO trouble picturing Mom up there singing at the top of her lungs and totally off key. I remember how embarrassed I was as a kid listening to her singing. How I wish I could hear her off key top of her lungs singing again. Why do we think we are to cool for our parents when we are young? Unfortunately by the time we figure out how cool they are we have wasted a lot of time.
Back to the play ......... I am happy Phil and I had a date night. Even old people like us need a night out doing something fun.