Ready for the rest?

21. You do not have to win every argument. Just accept you are not in agreement, and you can agree to disagree.

22.  Make peace with your past so you will not ruin your present.

23.  Do not compare yourself with others for there will always be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

24.  Only YOU are in charge of your own happiness.

25.  Remember you don't always have control over what happens, but you do have control over what you do with the experience.

26. Learn something new every day.

27. What other people think of you is of no concern to you!

28. Love your body, and respect it

29. No matter how good or bad the situation is, it will change

30. Your work will not take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will!! Stay on good terms with them

31. Get rid of everything that is not useful, beautiful, or fun

32. Envy is a waste of time. You already have everything you will ever need.

33. The best is yet to come

34.  No matter how you feel, get up, get dressed and be there

35. Have wonderful friends

36. Call your family often and send them messages that you are thinking of them

37. Every night before going to sleep, say the following: I give thanks for ________ Today I succeeded in ___________

38. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed

39. Enjoy life---you only have one opportunity, make the best of it

40. Life is beautiful---enjoy it while you can!

On this list, I think #35 is my favorite one, but many others are excellent choices as well. #37 is similar to what Linda J. and I are doing with our blessings jar and basket. 

The original e-mail included pictures of animals and insects in nature and since I am not particularly a fan of such things, I did us the favor of not including them. 

From my friend, Linda M.

                  20 Pieces of Advice

1. Walk 10 to 30 minutes each day, smiling while you do so!

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day, locked away if need be

3. Listen to good music every day; it is true food for the spirit

4. Set a goal for yourself each morning when you awaken

5. Live your life with the 3 E's: Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy

6. Play more games than you did last year

7. Read more books than you did last year

8. Look at the sky at least once each day and realize what a magnificent world you live in

9.  Dream more in your waking hours

10.  Eat more natural foods than manufactured ones

11.  Eat berries, nuts, and drink green tea, plus lots of water and a glass of wine each day 

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

13.  Eliminate disorder in your home, your car, and your desk, and let new energy flow into your life

14.  Don't waste your precious time gossiping or regretting the past or in negative thoughts, or in worrying about things beyond your control. Better to convert your energy in that which is positive in the present.

15.  Realize that life is a school and that you are here to learn. Problems are life's lessons from which you learn.

16.  Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a beggar.

17.  Smile and laugh more

18. Do not miss an opportunity to hug somebody you appeciate

19.  Life is too short to waste it by hating someone

20.  Don't take yourself too seriously---no one else does!

There are 20 more to come, but this has to be digested in smaller bites. Some of these are really great ideas---worthy of consideration and implementation! Can you guess which ones are my favorites and which ones apply to me? (one mentions my desk!!!)

Another marvelous breakfast

It was so marvelous, in fact, that I don't even know if I ate anything. I did, actually, because the nice lady clearing things away after the buffet was closed brought me a to-go box of bacon to take home with me! It seems they had a bounty leftover even though I had done my best to make a dent in the stack. No broken up pieces today---nice, full strips, oven baked to perfection!

                                      

When I walked over this morning, the fog was thick on the river. When I walked home, the sun had burned it off and all was clear again. The dining room was busy with hotel guests coming and going for breakfast, and poor Kathy was running ragged. The Rotarians had finished eating already when I arrived. As soon as they left the garden room, the staff was busy taking down tables and dressing others in lovely silver/grey tablecloths. Must be a weddding!

Much to my delight, Pat showed up for breakfast, the two us eating and talking for nearly two hours. It is amazing how quickly the time flies by when we're together. As the two of us were about to wrap things up, Pat told me she enjoys our time, that I was her 'counselor', which was flattering to hear. I feel that way when talking with her, not necessarily counseled, but rather, inspired! 

It seems my friends, the ants, have left me. When I opened the second Terro trap, I cut it too far down, and the liquid ran out of the container. Fortunately I had a plastic sandwich bag within reach to catch the drippings and sort of feed it back into the trap. The original trap which was nearly dry was crowded with ants, doing a seeming happy dance in and on the container, as if to spite me. I showed them by pouring the poison all over the place! Have to be careful not to lick my fingers or mess with that stickiness next to me.

                                             

Oops, I spoke too soon....there they are, back again. I might have awakened them with my canned air, dusting off my window shelf and the lamp. I have to get the dust wand to clean around the windows before Linda arrives. It still puzzles me how spiders can get up here this high and busy themselves making webs to hold my dust. They can stop any time they want as far as I am concerned!

Last night Justin came home after helping his father, and he was bearing gifts. He stopped at CVS for soda which was on special, and found my favorite Easter eggs. Bless you! He gave me one and put the rest in the fridge for me. Also, he bought a bag of robin's eggs, malted milk balls, of which he took a handful, leaving the rest in my room, out of his reach. He is doing so well with his diet and weight loss, it's just falling off of him. I have to watch where I step so I don't slip and fall on his lost weight! 

I figured he could use my nice bacon in his next batch of cooked cabbage that he loves so much. A couple months ago, my neighbor, Maureen, told me how she makes her cooked cabbage. Justin made his first batch using her recipe, loved it, and has made it many times since, varying some of the ingredients to change it up a bit. He thinks Jesse and he can live on that when they get moved into the 'new' house together. They will have to get a large fry pan to use for it, with a lid, or an electric fry pan like Maureen uses for hers. 

We are looking for temps today in the low 80's while my family is being buried once again in a snow storm. The schools are closed, so many snow days this year! Mom was supposed to go for a hair cut today and I hope she is able to get there. Linda J. usually takes her but she was planning to go to Shawano for card making class. Not sure that will happen for her either with the snow covered roads. 

My poor sister, Kerry, is at home today not due to snow but due to having a medical procedure yesterday. She will recover this three-day weekend after having skin cancer removed from her cheek, and a sort of graft put in place to cover the hole left by the carving out of the cancer. My heart hurts for her and I hope the recovery is swift and the scarring minimal.

                                   

                        Sarah with her grandma, Sue

It looks bad now, as any surgical site would, and from that I have determined I will wear a hat in the pool this summer! My goddaughter, Sarah, was sporting a lovely blue 'picture hat' with a fur border the other day when shopping with her grandma, and I think that's what I would like for the pool! The color would coordinate with my swimsuit, and look stylish besides. It is all about the accessories and all about being careful now in the sun. 

Thursday on the river

As I sit here enjoying the view from the window, I am also enjoying (not really!) the sight of teeny ants storming my window shelf. Now, where did they come from??? One second, nothing, and the next, a swarm! I have already placed a Terro trap there to entice them to their demise and hope in no time at all they will be gone. I wonder if my dusting the other day stirred them up or something.

                      Yesterday morning's sunrise

Bible study this morning was excellent, as expected. We are nearly finished with our study of Definitions, begun last fall, before our Advent study which we finished well into Epiphany! There was less digression today but still enough to add interest to the class. Next week when Linda is here we will finish this book and then start the very last in the series. This publishing house is switching to electronic studies for this Good News periodical. 

Last night I had orders to let Justin know when I was leaving church so he could put the finishing touches on our dinner. He wanted to wait for me to eat because he said it had been a while since we had a "nice, sit-down dinner". Aw, so sweet! He made a brown fried rice with whole kernal corn in it, plus teriyaki chicken. It was delicious and I even had a small second helping of the rice. So good! 

While he changed a light bulb in the hall (I didn't have to 'hold up the prophet's arms', as he thought at first) I emptied the dishwasher. He refilled it and wiped the counters off while I put the remainder of the food in the fridge. Quite a team! Tonight he is going to help his father again and likely have dinner out so I get the leftovers from last night's feast!

The closing for the home he is moving into takes place tomorrow and he is quite excited. Justin thinks there should be a celebration but is not sure one will happen. His primary job  is to ready here the guest room for Linda, who arrives Wednesday night, but he also has work to do for Ron at his new home. Not sure how he's going to work all that out but Linda is Priority #1!!!

Worship last night was marvelous, with Pastor H. serving as our guest pastor. I was sad when the service was over, so sad that tears ran down my cheeks! For our final hymn we sang "Abide With Me", stanzas 1, 5, and 7, with the last one getting me. I like that one the best and use it often in my life: "Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes; Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies. Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee; In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me." Yes, Lord, please...

Pictures of my home

Some of my friends on Facebook have asked about my home, so I am going to post some photos here for their perusal. Unfortunately, I cannot post very many of them because they would appear sideways on the page! Sorry!

My kitchen, in case you could not tell. I don't usually have items on the counter, but see an ice tea maker and a vase out, which means I might have been entertaining when this was taken.

This shot is looking from the river room into the dining room and toward the kitchen. Justin and I painted these pictures, except the ones over the arch. 

This view looks south down the river 

This console blends with the mural on the dining room wall. The red cake plate is special to me, as is the candlestick, which was a gift from my friend, Christine. In the frame is a picture of Timmy plus the long version of his obituary, which I wrote. The blue flat bottle and the plates were purchased in Winona, MN, shopping with my friend, Judy R. The blue dish on the cake plate is a gift from Olivia, a family friend. 

This is the window looking out over the river, from my living room. My friend, Terri, took this photo in August. From the left is an orb made of blown glass (Great Hang Ups), a blue water bottle from the Cummer Museum, a heart shaped vase, a set of candleholders and a spire which I bought at The Honey Pot in Two Rivers. Then the blue bowl with a white 'foamy' edge, a birthday gift from my scrapbooking lady friends, and blue bowl I bought at Great Hang Ups. The item suspended over the top sort of matches the edges on the foamy edged blown glass, with a bird hanging from it, made by the same artist. 

Life is but a dream

Oh, I was so glad to wake up this morning!!! A couple nights ago there was a "Frasier" episode on that began with his complaint about Martin's chair being squeaky. Martin wanted to keep the peace so got out the oil to lubricate the chair. Meanwhile, Frasier is planning a major social function at his home including bigwigs and society folks. He wanted Martin's ugly chair out of the way, so when they picked it up to move it, a spot on the carpet was discovered, made by the oil which had dripped. Rats! Now what?

Let the race against the clock begin! Frasier decided that instead of simply cleaning the carpet, they would replace it. One thing lead to another and a crew of workers came in to replace the carpet, and sand the floor which was scratched when moving the chair out of the room. 

Then a leak was discovered in the gas line to the fireplace so it had to be repaired "before the explosion" as Martin said sarcastically. Time was running short before the party....oh my! Mom knows this feeling as this was typical "Kim and Roger party planning"! Now it makes ME nervous! With 45 minutes left before the party, Martin bribed the guys to be out the door in a very short time, leaving the house as though nothing had gone wrong. 

Well, I had that same feeling this a.m. when waking from my dream. It seems I was taking a trip to a foreign destination, though I didn't know when or exactly where. My spouse was acting quite blasé about the whole thing, sort of mocking me for being concerned about the frenzied bag packing thing and about the time we were departing. Sweaters? Or summer wear? So frustrating!

My sisters were there, it seems we were in Rome but I can't be sure. Some of the group whom I did not know went ahead, leaving us in the dust, as it were, seems we were in search of something. Jill and I were walking through European streets and shops, including one with the old fashioned typewriters and beautiful glass. I got distracted by the glass.   

We lost Kerry because she took off in search of whatever it was we were looking for. I thought about standing on the street corner and shouting her name (having totally lost the others in our group) but thought that was not cool to do in a foreign country. 

Somehow Jill and I found ourselves at what seemed to be an airport (as happens in dreams....), standing with a guard before a giant steel door. In my mind I was going over everything, wondering if I packed more than sweaters, etc. I was thinking I was above reproach for having done everything right, aside from losing my sister. 

It suddenly occurred to me that I had not brought my passport which was, in fact, expired. (This is true, mine is expired, the end of an era!) I was crying into the guard's shirt, begging him to let me travel without it, and asking if my spouse had renewed his passport. He couldn't leave without me, right? Besides not knowing where I was going, I had no idea what time the flight was or anything, not being allowed to view the tickets. Sort of like a game where I was already the loser. 

I have no idea what happened to the rest of the group, or to Kerry, who was roaming the streets of Rome. How did we get to Rome in the first place, with no passports? All that rushing about and the sense of frustation left me weary this a.m. and feeling like I needed more rest. But what if the dream came back again? Would I find Kerry, who ditched Jill and I in search of something we had no idea we were looking for??? 

Life is like that sometimes---we get ourselves all in a lather and are not even sure what outcome to expect. And, would we recognize it once it came?

It's President's Day

No school and no government offices open today but great buys on furniture and mattresses in this area. I suppose that is nation-wide too, in keeping with the holiday. I hope that school children are still taught about the two important presidents being celebrated today---not all lumped together with "lesser" of our nation's leaders.

                          

Michael lead our Bible study again today and we were joined by Mike S. who is working less these days in his landscaping business. He remarked at how the time flew by (just over an hour) for this class while the Sunday one of 45 minutes seems like it has no end. He said that now he might adjust his workweek to include Monday mornings off so he can attend this class. We would be so glad to have him! 

We have one other man join us since the Christmas break, a son-in-law to Donna W. Ricky was baptized in mid-December and is taking BIC privately. He brings much to the class, being knowledgeable about the Bible. His wife comes too so we often have a dozen or so around the tables on Monday mornings. Love that!

Six of us ladies went to lunch at Longhorn, arriving just before the rush, it seemed. When Fred, the manager, came around to greet us, he said that due to the holiday more were expected to come in today. He estimated 100 additional meals would be served simply because of no school or work for gov't. employees. How about that?! To switch it up, I ordered the new sandwich on the menu, sliced sirloin on a roll, and a bowl of baked potato soup. Half of each came home with me to enjoy for lunch tomorrow!

Justin made it home safely from his weekend adventures. He was telling me about going to Busch Gardens, a decision made without his input, but he was a good sport and went along. He said they were the only English speaking people there, and I told him I remembered that from the last time I was there, many years ago. It's a big draw evidently for European travelers. I think this was the place where men and women were confused by the "international" signs on the restroom doors. Awkward!

It was cold for them, but not miserably so, and the group enjoyed mini-bonfires two nights of their visit at their friends' house. Justin told me they made s'mores and risked life and limb to toast the marshmallows. Guess they didn't have the first-class forks like we used at Linda O's condo the weekend before! 

Justin came home with more of his 'traveling pains' (Justinism) including having stepped on a landscape rock while wearing rubber-soled shoes, bruising his heel early on in the day. Also, his hips ached after riding the roller coaster and sort of getting knocked around in the seat. In addition, he had to sleep on a sofa which ached his back. Typical fun weekend for Justin!

He was off work today but had to go to help his father get a mattress and spring to replace one which has left his house. It doesn't show well to have an empty frame sitting there, and in my mind, I would simply remove the frame and call it a day. But, anyway, they are off to Sam's Club tonight to make the purchase. I hope all goes well with this outing. 

                    

Justin spent the day going through things in his room, showing me his collection of iPhone boxes and accessory packaging from which he simply cannot part. I sort of get that, but also hope more than these boxes got packed up today!