Brrrrrrrrr

Man! Is it cold or what?! It is 13º with a -1º windchill..... and it's going to get COLDER! I am SO not into this.

Learning

I learned quite a lot today. I visited two places on the recommendation of a friend:

First, I visited here:
www.ecoranch.blogspot.com/

Then I visited here:
http://storyofstuff.com/

If you have about 20 minutes, the story of stuff is worth the watch. You will learn quite a bit, too.

Withdrawal

OK. I've had enough. Where do I write these striking writers? I want my programs back!!! ARGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

No Brains

I am so glad that I'm not famous. I mean, what is up with these "stars"? They run off to some tropical island, get married and then lo and behold.... they don't get along. The wedding wasn't really official. They screech like banshees in public (and everywhere else) and then announce several days later that they aren't GOING to make it legal because they can't stand each other. Puleeeeeeaaaaase! All that money and no brains. What a shame.

Really?

Are they serious? Milk on the shelves from cloned cows? Not me (at least I don't think I did)!

Funny

OK. I'm still not supposed to be sitting in this chair... but I got this from my nephew and thought it was hilarious!

Oh, the Pain...

I tell ya... there's nothing like a backache to make you feel old! I really shouldn't be sitting in this chair typing, but I just had to. The girls are not happy because I can't bend over to pet them... they both have a personal aversion to being next to each other most of the time and they have to do that in order to be "scritched" at the same time. Poor things. I don't mean to imply that they are spoiled or anything. The bad part is that I hurt so bad I couldn't even get dressed to go to work. While I love my jammies, I prefer to stay in them all day because I want to not because I have to. Sigh. Even worse, I didn't do anything to make it hurt! Hubby took me out to dinner (nothing fancy - just Old Country Buffet -- love their turkey) and when I sat down in the booth I felt a twinge. Went to bed thinking that it would be all better today -- man was I ever wrong about that one! Gosh it's hard to get older.....

Friends

I was thinking today about friends. Throughout my life I have had many. Sometimes you lose touch with the ones from younger days, and then through some miracle of miracles you find them again. It is wonderful. I have even found a couple of my friends from junior and senior high school through the magic of Classmates dot com. And, of course, there are the new ones you make along the way through life. Be it through work, church, your children... they are a wonderful part of that ever-expanding circle. Each one touches your life in a different way. And, if you're lucky, you will touch theirs in a positive way that will be remembered throughout their lifetime.

Friends -- they make my life so much richer. It's something that money will never be able to buy.

Carelessness

I am so sad. I read that 19 Bald Eagles died in Alaska. It was because of man's carelessness that they died. Disregard for double checking your work. Being in a hurry to do something else. It made me cry. Such majesty gone to waste.

Honored

I noticed something today. Something that made me feel 10 feet tall. Something I never imagined to see. I saw my blog link on some of my favorite blogs. I can't begin to tell you how that made me feel, but one word comes to mind -- honored.

Thank you. You've made my day!

Answers

One of my friends sent me one of those "getting to know you" emails where you tell your favorite food, movie, smell, etc. I always send them out and send my answers back to the one that sent it to me.

One of the questions was: "What is your favorite sound?"

My answer? My favorite sound is: The sound of my husband's key in the door in the evening.

Of course, the girls are thrilled, too! The other "parent" that spoils them is home! LOL

(You didn't think I was going to get all soppy and not throw in something to laugh at, did you?)

Profound Words

These words were at the bottom of an email I got today. Pretty profound (not to mention true).

"The irony of life is that by the time you're old enough to know your way around, you're not going anywhere!"

Sums it up pretty well, don't you think?

Television

I have several shows that I really like, but there is one in particular that really has caught my fancy. It is called "The Big Bang Theory" and it is written by the people who do Two and a Half Men (which I used to like, now, not so much).

Sheldon and Leonard are paired as perfectly as Laurel and Hardy, Martin and Lewis or Abbott and Costello. Penny is the perfect "Gracie" to those two. They never cease to make me laugh.

Another one that is very well written (or at least it seems to me that it is) is "Chuck". I love the take-off, or spoof, if you will, on Best Buy and the Geek Squad. Cracks me up.

Then, of course, there is "House". Love that one, too.

Much to my husband's dismay, I also like HGTV -- it's the woman's ESPN!

Well, I've got to run. Jeopardy is on!

A Wild Night...

My sister sent me this. I thought I would share.

A Wild Night At Our House!!

Another year has passed And we're all a little older.
Last summer felt hotter And winter seems much colder.
I rack my brain for happy thoughts, To put down on my pad,
But lots of things, That come to mind Just make me kind of sad.

There was a time not long ago When life was quite a blast.
Now I fully understand About ' Living in the Past'.
We used to go to friends homes, Football games and lunches.
Now we go to therapy, to hospitals, And after-funeral brunches.

We used to have hangovers, From parties that were gay.
Now we suffer body aches And sleep the night away.
We used to go out dining, And couldn't get our fill.
Now we ask for doggie bags, Come home and take a pill.

We used to often travel To places near and far.
Now we get backaches From riding in the car. . . .
Used to go out shopping For new clothing at the Mall
But, now we never bother... All the sizes are too small.

That, my friend is how life is, And now my tale is told.
So, enjoy each day and live it up... Before you're too darn old!!

Fog

I love fog (when I don't have to drive or walk in it). It's like a heavy snow -- it muffles sounds AND it slows down the flights (I live by Metro Airport). The squirrels must be happy - they've been running across the top of the house all morning!

Cold...

A friend of mine sent me this and I thought it was pretty clever!

Spring Fever

I start watching the snowball bush outside my window in early December. Know what I'm looking for? Buds. Yep. Buds. I look for the slightest hint of a bud on the snowball bush and the maple tree and oak tree. That kind of starts it. Then you most oftentimes get a January thaw.

When we get that, I'm done. Spring fever sets in.

I know. I know. It just turned winter. But I can't help it. I love spring, summer and fall. Winter, not so much.

What can I say? Can robins be far behind?

Squirreling It Away

Okay. I confess. I'm a pack rat -- big time! I have this little bitty house (900 sq. ft.) with no basement, no crawl space, no attic to speak of and NO garage. Sigh.

I've been here for 35 years and I have, in the last few years, become unable to throw anything away. What is up with that?!

I know I should chuck it or give it away, but I just can't.

Books -- I love books.... I save them. I'm pretty good at giving away the paperbacks, but I won't give away a hard cover. I keep stuff that I think I will use someday. (Of course, there have been times when being a pack rat has come in handy. The whole family appreciates me then!)

Working full time at my age makes me tired. I come home, look at the mail, save the important stuff and throw the junk (things I don't want in the trash) in a box to be shredded later..... a Copy Paper box..... it is full and the girls love to bat things out of it and play in it. All I want to do when I come in the door is feed the girls, get into my jammies, have a bite to eat and watch Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy.

Sad, isn't it?

Hubby will say, "Do you want to go....?" and before he can finish the sentence I say, "Uh, jammies!" When I get home from work, I DON'T want to go anywhere!!!! If it can't be done on the way home from work, it ain't happening!

Maybe there is hope for me....

Trying Something New

I've added a "photo album" to the bottom. I think I'm going to get the hang of this!

Information Please

I got this from a friend in an email today and thought I would share.

When I was quite young, my father had one of the first telephones in our neighborhood. I remember the polished, old case fastened to the wall. The shiny receiver hung on the side of the box. I was too little to reach the telephone, but used to listen with fascination when my mother talked to it.

Then I discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device lived an amazing person. Her name was "Information Please" and there was nothing she did not know. Information Please could supply anyone's number and the correct time.

My personal experience with the genie-in-a-bottle came one day while my mother was visiting a neighbor. Amusing myself at the tool bench in the basement, I whacked my finger with a hammer, the pain was terrible, but there seemed no point in crying because there was no one home to give sympathy.

I walked around the house sucking my throbbing finger, finally arriving at the stairway. The telephone! Quickly, I ran for the footstool in the parlor and dragged it to the landing climbing up, I unhooked the receiver in the parlor and held it to my ear. "Information, please" I said into the mouthpiece just above my head.

A click or two and a small clear voice spoke into my ear.

"Information."

"I hurt my finger..." I wailed into the phone, the tears came readily enough now that I had an audience.

"Isn't your mother home?" came the question.

"Nobody's home but me," I blubbered.

"Are you bleeding?" the voice asked.

"No," I replied. "I hit my finger with the hammer and it hurts."

"Can you open the icebox?" she asked.

I said I could.

"Then chip off a little bit of ice and hold it to your finger," said the voice.

After that, I called "Information Please" for everything. I asked her for help with my geography, and she told me where Philadelphia was. She helped me with my math. She told me my pet chipmunk that I had caught in the park just the day before, would eat fruit and nuts.

Then, there was the time Petey, our pet canary, died. I called, Information Please," and told her the sad story. She listened, and then said things grown-ups say to soothe a child. But I was not consoled. I asked her, "Why is it that birds should sing so beautifully and bring joy to all families, only to end up as a heap of feathers on the bottom of a cage?"

She must have sensed my deep concern, for she said quietly, "Wayne, always remember that there are other worlds to sing in."

Somehow I felt better.

Another day I was on the telephone, "Information Please."

"Information," said in the now familiar voice. "How do I spell fix?" I asked.

All this took place in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. When I was nine years old, we moved across the country to Boston. I missed my friend very much. "Information Please" belonged in that old wooden box back home and I somehow never thought of trying the shiny new phone that sat on the table in the hall. As I grew into my teens, the memories of those childhood conversations never really left me.

Often, in moments of doubt and perplexity I would recall the serene sense of security I had then. I appreciated now how patient, understanding, and kind she was to have spent her time on a little boy.

A few years later, on my way west to college, my plane put down in Seattle.

I had about a half-hour or so between planes. I spent 15 minutes or so on the phone with my sister, who lived there now. Then without thinking what I was doing, I dialed my hometown Operator and said, "Information Please."

Miraculously, I heard the small, clear voice I knew so well.

"Information."

I hadn't planned this, but I heard myself saying, "Could you please tell me how to spell fix?"

There was a long pause. Then came the soft spoken answer, "I guess your finger must have healed by now."

I laughed, "So it's really you," I said. "I wonder if you have any idea how much you meant to me during that time."

I wonder," she said, "if you know how much your call meant to me. I never had any children and I used to look forward to your calls."

I told her how often I had thought of her over the years and I asked if I could call her again when I came back to visit my sister.

"Please do", she said. "Just ask for Sally."

Three months later I was back in Seattle. A different voice answered "Information." I asked for Sally.

"Are you a friend?" she said.

"Yes, a very old friend," I answered.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this," she said. "Sally had been working part-time the last few years because she was sick. She died five weeks ago."

Before I could hang up she said, "Wait a minute, did you say your name was Wayne?" "Yes." I answered.

"Well, Sally left a message for you. She wrote it down in case you called. Let me read it to you."

The note said, "Tell him there are other worlds to sing in. He'll know what I mean."

I thanked her and hung up. I knew what Sally meant.

Never underestimate the impression you may make on others.

Whose life have you touched today?

Lifting you on eagle's wings. May you find the joy and peace you long for.

Life is a journey ... NOT a guided tour. So don't miss the ride and have a great time going around you don't get a second shot at it.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all! May the new year be filled with love, laughter, health, happiness and prosperity!