A little food for thought to hold you over....

.....until I get on-line at my mom's!

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My now roommate and long-time friend, Joanne, sends a newsletter to her clients on a monthly basis. This month's was of particular interest to me and thought I'd share a few thoughts with my readers. The subject matter is more like New Year resolutions than CHRISTmas wishes but here's a sampling of what it suggested:

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The first suggestion is to take a pro-active approach to life and work, not waiting for things to happen to or around you, take responsibility for yourself.

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Keep the end in mind (we Christians already do that!) but, in this case, it means to set a goal and work toward it, don't be a rudderless ship!

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Prioritize! Love this one, but not enough to do it myself yet. This means to avoid wasting time and effort, and prevent less than superb performance. (Please remember I am paraphrasing).

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Listen to others, no matter how lame their argument----this does not mean you have to do what is suggested by them, only give them an ear and hear them out. When they are done with their piece, give yours and expect others to honor your turn at the wheel, as it were.

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Recognize the gifts and blessings other people bring with them, and put them to use if you can. Mainly this would apply to the workplace, as many of these suggestions do, but often in everyday living, people need to have a place to use their special "gift".

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Make sure you take time to recharge your batteries, don't allow yourself to get worn down by life, but rather, be invigorated by it!!!!

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Some suggestions to simplify your existence include setting up as many bills and monthly obligations on automatic payment so less thought is required to manage your household bills and expenses; set aside time to pamper each other, whether it is helping out with kids so the spouse can get her nails done, or the other spouse watch a sporting event on TV with minimal interruption. Remember these are borrowed in part from Joanne's newsletter and in part for me, so if you don't like them, they came from her newsletter!!!!

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I'll be away from the computer for a day or so, having to use my mom's dial-up service in WI so please don't be upset if I am not posting daily. Please pray our traveling safety tomorrow as we fly into the snowy north and for Justin's safe travel on Monday as he comes north for CHRISTmas!

Does anyone see the resemblence in Blogo??

Again the morning the news showed stories about the governor of Illinois, affectionately known as, or not so much, 'Blogo'. I simply cannot get over how much he looks like a former friend of ours in Manitowoc, a real estate developer who used to live in our neighborhood, Indian Bluffs. Every time I see the photos of Blogo, I see our friend, only mucho younger, of course. He, too, had a few rough edges but I don't think he used filthy language like the governor does! We'd built a number of houses in partnership with this fellow and did numerous other type of transactions. I've mentioned him in other postings a while back, I think when talking about how hard it is to get to know some people, but once you do, your life is better because you tried. I wonder if I was as profound when I wrote about it the first time!

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Through the networking tool, facebook.com, I've become re-connected with several of my former classmates from grade and high school, much to my delight. The other day I was contacted by a friend from grade thru high school whom I'd not heard from in many many years. She lives in IL but her dad attends church at First German, my home congregation. I think it would be awesome to catch up with each other when I am up there later this week. Another e-mail friend with whom I attended grade and high school might be able to connect with Dolly and me over the holiday season. Great! Maybe I should have gotten a haircut yesterday after all!

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In reading something the other day, I saw an article talking about taking care of our teeth. Being a big fan of teeth, it was interesting to see what this article had to say. The item I came away with was the recommendation to use only a pea-sized dab of toothpaste vs. the "caterpillar-sized" amount shown in the commercials selling the product. This brought to mind a TV show I saw when still living at home, an expose on advertising, with the story that stuck being the one about shampoos. Since both my mom and I worked in the shampoo and body care manufacturing/bottling business, it struck a cord with us. The news report told about how Japan advertisers had multiplied its sales in shampoos by adding one word to the "Use" portion on their bottles---Repeat. That simple word, this statement, influenced people to use double the shampoo, supposedly, as they normally would have if not prompted by this direction on the bottle! Many many years later my now former spouse would bring it up, "your family" (what? my family???, as though we had this written over our doorposts) always scoffed at 'Repeat'! Funny how things come back to us after all these years, a simple TV program a hundred years ago!

"Everything with you comes down to toilet paper!"

I'm listening to an episode of "Seinfeld" called "The Pitch", where Jerry and George try to come up with ideas for a TV show. The program opens with George speculating on what the soldiers used for toilet paper during the Civil War. Jerry gets frustrated that his friend's major concern in life regards toilet paper or bathrooms!

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Once more during Lynn's visit we dined at home with me doing the meal preparation. I began the process before 5:00 pm but had to leave in order to take Lynn for her hair cut. While we were at the booty shop, Joanne called to say she was coming home for the evening instead of working in her office so would join us for supper. I finished my conglomeration of hamburger, pasta, sauce, and corn, tossed it in the oven and cooked the daylights out of it. Call it a meal!

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Lynn and I stopped at Publix after getting her hair cut and I bought some peppermint stick ice cream and chocolate shell to squirt over the top. Joanne had a nasty accident with her peppermint-flavored iced coffee yesterday which brought to mind the ice cream treat. The cover wasn't tight on her cup and right down her front it went as she drove.....yikes! What a sticky mess that made for her!

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We had a nice time yesterday in St. Augustine, as the weather vastly improved for us, getting up into the 70's as the day progressed. We went to the outlet mall first as Lynn wished to shop at Sag Harbor where she'd gotten some great buys in the past. Sag Harbor was a bit more droopy than we'd hoped, offering little for women of generous proportions this time. Later, we drove a bit further down the mall and found a shop with great sales in the women's sizes so we came away with a bag or two each from Dress Barn. Such amazing sales, already marking things down to 70% off, or buy one/get one half off, that sort of thing.

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Without much difficulty, we found our bed and breakfast Inn, got parked and climbed up to our third-floor suite. We had to get a suite in order to have a king-sized bed, because Lynn and I certainly wouldn't fit in one queen! It was no extra money but we appreciated having the extra room to rattle around in. It was so quaint, and perfectly clean. At the appointed time we headed over to The Columbia to meet Justin for dinner. He did have to come down to St. Augustine by himself since his friend couldn't make it. The waitress was quite taken with Justin, having overheard me call him that. She asked what kind of work he did and was otherwise charming toward him. Her name was Angela, from Romania, and she reminded us so much of my friend, Judy R.!!! Probably about the same age, too!

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Our meals were delightful and the Cuban bread to die for! Mmmm! Justin was able to take my leftovers home with him, as well as half the chocolate bread pudding we shared. Lynn had the key lime pie which she enjoyed all by herself. Justin wasn't interested in coming up to see our room at the Inn as he wanted to get back to watch football with his friends. On the way back to our room, I stopped at the front desk to get a Diet Coke or three, but the poor lady was only able to cough up one can! She claimed the delivery man was coming in the morning, but that sure didn't help me now!!! Don't mess with my Diet Coke!!!

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Lynn and I both had trouble sleeping, even though I started out just fine. From the depths of sleep I heard my phone ringing---rather, "The Phantom of the Opera" was playing loudly---Justin was calling me. At 11:45 pm at night, Justin called me. He had gotten the best news, his grades came in just before the midnight deadline, and he'd done so much better than even anticipated, which prompted his great excitement and phone call when I was fast asleep! Good for you, Justin!!! He started telling me about his teacher, how much he liked him, hoped he could have the professor again next semester, and so on, but I had a hard time focusing and trying to be quiet so as not to disturb Lynn. I told Justin I was proud of him and that we'd talk about it in the morning........but I couldn't get back to a sound sleep to save my life!

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We had the most delicious breakfast in the dining room, enjoying Belgian waffles, ham, and assorted other continental breakfast-type foods. And, wonder of wonders, the Diet Coke man had come very early in the morning and brought me my soda!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thoughts assorted in nature

Last night while resting my weary bones, the three of us, Joanne, Lynn, and I, watched a movie called "The Other Boleyn Sister". Well, what a story THAT turned out to be! Not being a student of this era, I shall assume what we saw on the screen was historically accurate, to a point. Joanne has read the book which she says was about 3" thick so the screenwriters had lots of work to do to reduce the book to 2 hours. Like the Harry Potter books Justin is always upset about having been abridged in the movies. The movie was quite good, well done, but such a tragic way these women, and all the people of the time, were forced to live!

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My blogging friend, Jami, in Amarillo, went people watching at the local mall with her husband, which she later wrote about in her blog. The questions she asked were the type you'd think about when viewing what she did: "You DO know you are not at home, right???" So-called people were seen out in the mall on a Sunday afternoon in their pajama pants, tank top-style undershirts, hair every which way, and even sporting fuzzy slippers. I agree, just what is the "point" of looking like you had to run out for a can of formula or diapers in the middle of the night, when it's the middle of the afternoon?????????? As I said to Jami in a comment, "All the world's a stage"---this whole thing is nothing but an act, an attention-getter. Like Pete's dad would do, try saying something to the offenders about their attire, because that is really what they want, to be noticed!

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Friday night after work Joanne was at a 'healthy' cosmetic shop which sells 'organic' make-up. The store was quite busy and only one clerk was trying to take care of all these women looking for make-up assistance. Joanne was glad to see a busy store and struck up a conversation with the beautifully adorned person next to her at the counter while they waited their turns. The 'woman' had French manicured nails, long blond hair, lovely skin, high-heeled shoes, nice clothes.......................but it was actually a MAN!!!! Now, Joanne is quite the cosmopolitan person and yet she was totally blown away having this close encounter with cross dresser! 3" inches of organic cosmetics won't change the fact that you, sir, are a man!!!!

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"I hate teenagers!" This profundity came from Justin after he attended an office CHRISTmas party with his friend, Jesse, Friday night. Jesse's brother had a friend at the party, too, a teenager, which is what prompted Justin's declaration. I said something about the 'double lives' teenagers have, making nice for their parents while having secret corners in their existence where they act out. Justin said "No, it's not double lives", of course, but then sort of backed me up with saying, "If a teenager is smiling, they are looking to get into trouble!". These type of flat statements are just the type he dislikes his other roommate for making but it seems Justin can get away with it. "Hate" is a strong word, perhaps substituting "irritate" or "annoy" would be more accurate.

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A new face/voice will be added to the Fox News Channel in January, Glenn Beck. He used to be on, ahem, CNN, but lost his job during the elections because of his conservative attitude. It didn't mesh with the liberal bias of the management. He has a book out right now, a best seller called "The Christmas Sweater" which I'd like to read some day. Unless there is a movie coming out soon..............Anyway, he did a segment on the F&F program this a.m. where he discussed the "sissification" of our society. What does that mean? People have to be so overly careful when dealing with people because no one ever wants to have their feelings hurt, have toes stepped on, stand up for their views, experience failure.......Glenn made the remark about having two kinds of people in the world: failures and losers. We are all failures in one way or another, but keep trying and trying to succeed. Losers are the type of folks who feel like their lot in life is not their fault, not being the ones to take lemons and make lemonade. Interesting food for thought, don't you think? It gives me the picture of the 'humans' floating around in their spineless shapes in the movie "Wall-E". No personality, no drive or ambition, no desire for anything other than what is given to them. Whether today's discussion changes anything or not, it was good to consider and sort of remember the way it used to be!

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My poor friend, Twila, who has been ailing for weeks, ever since our church's yard sale, has heard from the orthopedist that she needs a new hip. This is great news because the old hip is giving her a terrible fit!!! Many many folks have shared their success stories with Twila which gives her confidence that she'll be a new girl after its over. Dates and times are yet to be determined but hopefully it won't be too long because she is some kinda miserable right now. We will rally the troops to help her out, though her son does live in the same home with her. Certainly there will be some therapy and recuperation time at home and no one minds going to help a friend, especially when she lives at the lake!

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Lynn and I are off to St. Augustine, going to see "Nights of Lights" as well as bum around the outlet mall and St. George Street. We found a deal on a bed and breakfast, splitting the costs, so we can each take a turn in the hot tub the room provides. The prospect of soaking away the aches from yesterday's long walks is quite appealing. I only wish the weather were nicer for Lynn's enjoyment, but at least we are not in the "zeroes", as my brother-in-law, David, would say. Maybe Lynn and I will get to hear the song, "Dominic the Donkey" again when we're in The Oldest City!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The river is a mirror this morning

This photo does not properly delineate the reflection from the actual, guess you had to be here!

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While my printer is making more newsletters to include with my CHRISTmas cards, I am gazing across the river at trees, both those on the shore and those reflected in the water. Waking a bit early this morning after some disturbing dreams about getting my paperwork together for Court, I couldn't help but be drawn into the scenery outside my windows. It was a view begging to be painted, or at least, photographed! In order to not wake my household, I tippy-toed out to the river room with camera in hand, slid the doors open quietly and snapped three shots. As I stood there a few moments, my eyes were searching for any signs of life such as raccoons or waterfowl, but it was too early for them to be out and about, I guess. When Joanne got up she saw kingfishers and other shore life but I didn't see that. She was excited about the magnificence of the view this a.m. and I told her I knew it, because I took pictures! It wasn't only me going ga ga over the quiet, reflective river!

It was Linda who pointed at that the palm trees, the trio, are "reflective" of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, ever-present in our lives!

Sitting and resting after the game

Home again, home again, jiggity jig...Whew! What a great game it was today! Sadly for Lynn, the Packers lost, but bravo for the Jaguars finally getting a decent win. The weather was absolutely glorious, and I was even a bit warm as we did our rather lengthy walk from the parking garage at the Coliseum all the way to the stadium. Forty days and forty nights of walking to our seats on the east end, in the Club Seats. Surprisingly and again, sadly, I didn't run into anyone I knew on the way in nor during the game. Afterward, as we left the stadium, we saw Justin's friend, Ryan, from St. Johns, but we couldn't stop to chat because Ryan had to try going back in to get his little cousin's jacket, accidentally left in his seat. Good luck fighting your way back through the mob, Ryan!

We did have some pleasant conversations-in-passing with other Packer fans, however, and I got a chance to tell a couple people I am a "cross dresser", wearing items for each team. Got some laughs out of it, which is good. A Jaguar fan told Lynn, while in the refreshment area of the Club House, that her hat was ugly, but Lynn didn't have a ready come-back for him. Nuts! Her hat was no uglier than any others, in fact, it wasn't ugly at all, but the Jaguar fans' attitude was uglier than dirt!

Justin and I found sustenance at the Outback mini-restaurant, him ordering Steak and Mushroom in a cup, with me having the wonderful cheddar fries. Lynn went to a separate place to get her food, opting for a burrito or something wrapped up with hot peppers. We found a high top table to stand at to eat, Justin thinking we wouldn't wish to carry our food boxes and soda cups down into the seating area. Obviously I couldn't eat all mine at once, so we took it along with us when we sat. I didn't want to miss the pre-game warm-ups (Lynn called it batting practice!) or any of the other activity on the field.

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If I could have changed one thing about our arrangements, it would have been to put some 'live' people in front of us, instead of the semi-comatose 60-ish couple who barely reacted to anything, whether good or bad. They were evidently Jaguar fans as he was wearing a Jags ball cap which I bumped more than once with my bosoms, accidentally, when getting up and down for different reasons. Of course, I was gracious enough to apologize for nearly knocking his head off, well, not quite that dramatic, but one could sense he was not happy being 'bothered' during a sporting event! Certainly we could have formed an understanding about the whole thing, a friendly understanding, but it was not to be. Once, his wife turned her head toward me and sort of smiled, and I smiled back, but still kept my bulk away from the back of his head as best I could. Good thing I didn't drink beer, nor did anyone in our group, to spill anything on him! That was the minor downside to the seating, otherwise, our seats and perspective of the field were most excellent!

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At halftime, we were delighted to have a mess of Army parachutists leap from a Navy plane. The skilled men all landed center field, only one not quite landing on his feet, but spectacular nonetheless. Justin and I found it particularly inspiring because JR, my nephew and his cousin, is at West Point and also trained as a jumper. The national anthem was sung by a man who competed on American Idol, an amateur show on TV, who is also a Navy man. The Coast Guard presented the colors today and two giant choppers flew over after the singing of the anthem. A great day for the Armed Forces today!

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I had Justin grab my disposable camera as I figured my full-sized Canon would not be allowed into the stadium. Once at the gate, we were split into two lines for frisking purposes, men and women. And it wasn't even my birthday! As we sat in our seats, the teams were just practicing and I wanted to take a picture, only to discover that Justin had left it lay in the backseat of the car. Originally he had it in his pocket and took it out to sit more comfortably. Nuts! We had to use our phones to snap shots, so those will have to do. Hopefully they will show enough of the sights and atmosphere of the stadium, although, face it, this is NOT Lambeau Field!

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The game was good, well played, in my opinion, and the Jaguars arose victorious with a 20-16 win against the Packers. On the way out of the stadium, I mentioned that the Jaguars really needed this victory today and Lynn said, sadly, "So did the Packers!" Not today, though, the game belonged to the Jags!

Have you ever typed with latex gloves your hands?

This is kind of cool....I feel like a surgeon or a criminal here, wearing these gloves while doing "my work"! The gloves are skin tight except for the fact that there are little bags at the end of the fingers because mine don't reach all the way to the tips. They make little whisper sounds, or more like shuffling sounds when I tap the keys. Since we aren't attending worship or Sunday school this a.m., this was a good time to remove the silver from my hair, hence, the fancy gloves. Prior to applying the remover to my hair, my face was lathered with baby oil to prevent the yet inevitable tattooing that follows. I am getting to be soooo cool, now even sporting tats just like the others in "society"!

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On Fox and Friends this a.m. the team on duty were laughing, or not so much, about how they know when something is cool and when it is not cool any longer. They were of the opinion that something loses its coolness when your mom also finds it cool! Like text messaging or listening to the same music as yours! This amused me big time because Justin is often quick to show me the "latest, greatest", trying to interest me but often to deaf ears. He has own musical tastes now except for those we've shared such as Mannheim Steamroller at CHRISTmas, TSO again at CHRISTmas, and our love of Italian arias. Plus the hymns, of course. One time our friend, Paul, in order to 'shame' Justin into getting his license asked Justin mockingly, "Are you going to ride with your mother and listen to show tunes the rest of your life??!!??". Show tunes? Just what did he mean by that? I hardly call the soundtrack from "The Phantom of the Opera" a show tune! Humph!

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Justin recently showed me a website where I can watch older programs as well as newer ones, called hulu.com. Since I mostly listen anyway, it's cool for me to access this way and not waste downtime sitting in front of the TV. If I need to see a scene or facial expression, like on Seinfeld, I merely click and do a little rewind to watch what I wish. He and I text message each other as needed, not as the primary method of communication, of course, and we both enjoy our google talk chats when he can't be on the telephone. When he finds a lovely piece of music, he will send me the link so I can hear it, or send me the lyrics when he knows it suit my heart. He is the one who introduced me to a Lynyrd Skynyrd song, re-done, called "Simple Man" because he said it sounded like what I was about. So there!!!, Fox and Friends!!!!!

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Well, after washing the excess silver remover from my hair, I am showered and dressed in what will pass as Jaguar gear. Joanne insisted I wear a turtle neck under my shirt so I won't be too chilly but the only color I had was a minty blue one, since the three red ones I have won't work as well. On the other hand, I am wearing a red scarf and red gloves so perhaps it is back to the closet for the more typical red color.......back in a flash.........

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I am in red and much more satisfied with my outfit. Red is trademark for me, sort of, and since I don't have anything Packer in my wardrobe, I have to use my stock items. The "What Not to Wear" folks would not be upset with this either, my not having the sports paraphernalia in my closet. It just so happens that I had a few animal prints in stock, the WNTW folks would not approve!, plus my animal print shoes from Las Vegas, circa 2001. Who knew I'd need them to order to be the height of fashion?!? These "expensive" shoes, costing me $45 back in those days, were absolutely necessary to save my feet after all the walking we did. I think I started a bunion on my left foot from walking so much in not the right kind of shoe. I understand this also can happen in younger people, not only older, heavy women. Who knew???

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Boy, I wish the sun were out, I'd feel better about the whole sitting outside in the stadium scenario. But I did vow not to complain about the weather because of the rotten stuff they are getting up north. I haven't heard about the CHRISTmas 4 Kids event yesterday at church but I trust it was a marvelous success. I pray it was so, such a wonderful outreach tool to our community and preschool families, as well as serving our own members. We can thank the Pates for getting this program underway at Good Shepherd, they are our spark plugs for kids' events!

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Go, Pack, Go!!!! Go, Jags, Go!!! I will have a win/win day today!