Do your job

Seems pretty simple. Do your job. Whatever it is, do it.

I guess this is what frustrates me about our government. Too many agendas, special interests, lobbyists, blah blah blah...just do your job.

You've been entrusted by the American people to govern OUR country. Voted into office, we've given you the authority to act our behalf....not just yours. Stop listening only to those who line your pockets, stroke your egos, make you promises...listen to US. We, the people, are growing tired of your ambitions, posturing, selfishness getting in the way of what you are in Washington to do, your job. Thank you to the few who are trying, we do notice. You will hear our support on election day.

So let's make this simple. If I don't do my job, I don't get paid or I lose my job. Same for you.

If you'd like to stay in Washington, then do your job. See, it really is simple.

peace.

You Know It's HOT When....

R.I.P. Ice Cream Truck.

peace.

No Complaints

My favorite soldier, nephew & niece....many moons ago. 

I was going to complain about how hot it is... then I realized that at least:

1.) It isn't 115 degrees

2.) I'm not 5,700 miles from home

3.) I'm not dressed in a full BDU uniform and helmet and carrying 70+ lbs.

4.) There is very little chance that anyone will shoot at me or that I might drive over a bomb in the road today.

Thanks to all who serve or have served in our fine military! God bless!!!

peace.

A shift in the atmosphere

Ok, it's not quite that dramatic but I'm feeling the need for a change.

A change of place, pace, purpose...like the alliteration?

place...I don't see this being permanent, we're not moving. But maybe some days away...

pace...taking the time to really take the time to relax, renew, reinvigorate, restore...ok, I'll quit... :-)

purpose...this one is a little harder, but with the help of place and pace, I'm hoping it becomes clearer. Must put the big rocks in first.

peace. :-)

Happy Birthday in the Toilet...

It's not what you think. We actually celebrated my mom's 71st birthday this past Saturday by putting in a new kitchen faucet and buying and installing a new toilet for her.

Party Animals, I know. :-)

Mom lives on Social Security, she can't afford the extras. After the recent heart events, we wanted to celebrate her birthday while keeping it low key for her.

Her toilet was leaking, it was old, so it seemed like a good surprise. She told my daughter this was her best birthday ever. Her heart is strong, her family was around her, her faucet works and she has a new toilet.

Life is good. And sometimes, it is the simple things.

peace.

Thinking on Love

We are one in the Spirit,
We are one in the Lord,
We are one in the Spirit
We are one in the Lord,
And we pray that all unity
may one day be restored:

And they'll know we are Christians
By our love, by our love,
Yes, they'll know we are Christians
By our love.

Can you hear it? I remember singing this is my youth group in the '70s. I've been thinking a great deal about love lately. I want my response to be love. I want to sit with the woman at the well and love her. I want to eat with the tax collector and love him. I want to talk to the church people and love them. I want to touch the homeless and sick and love them. 

I want them to know we are Christians by our love.

³¹When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. ³²If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. ³³Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, 'Where I am going you cannot come.' ³⁴ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ³⁵ By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."  John 13:31-35


peace.

NBA Lockout is Official

Wow. I love basketball, my mom loves basketball.

But here's where the rubber meets the road. The players being locked out will not suffer. The owners will not suffer. The ticket vendors, janitors, food service workers, security guards, venue employees, etc... will suffer.

My mom has worked most of her adult life. She lost her retirement in the recession. She now lives on Social Security. I think these owners and NBA players need a dose of reality. Grow up folks, it's basketball. It isn't life saving, life changing, benevolent or society building. It isn't feeding the hungry, clothing the naked,  supporting the hurting or giving life to the dying and downtrodden.

Get a grip. Make your money deal, go play ball and entertain your fans.

Yes, you are talented but so are a lot of us. Just not in ways that pay of millions of dollars for hours of playing ball. Thank you players for the good you do, but lots of us do good without applause or recognition. Talk to the City Rescue Mission workers.

I love the excitement and entertainment that NBA basketball brings to our lives. I also know, lockout or no lockout, life will go on. For some, it will be harder because they don't have millions to bide them over. Think of them when you're whining about not getting paid what you're "worth".

peace.

Change

I know I've talked about change before, but I'm looking at it a little differently these days.

On June 16th, I received a call from my mom. She was crying, sounded scared and all she said was, "Will you come look at me?"  I said yes, I'm coming, and I went. Calling my sister, praying the motorcycle cop didn't read my speed and praying for guidance, I got there as quickly as possible. She was pale, shaky, weak and not feeling good. So off to the heart hospital we went.

Within 24 hours, we knew she had 2 blockages in her left ventricle artery. Called the widowmaker, it's nasty juju. So her stay was extended and on June 20th, mom had double bypass surgery. In 1 1/2 hours, they took a vein from her leg and bypassed the bad places in her artery. Her heart is healthy, we are grateful.

But now comes the change. She can't lift, push, pull, extend or reach with her arms. Try it. She has to think about how to put her shirt on, shower, pull up her pants, etc... Change.

Mom has to change the way she eats, cooks, shops, etc... Change.

She can't mow, clean, drive, be independent, etc... Change.

She will feel better, live longer, be healthier, etc... Change.

So change isn't all bad, but it does take thought, effort and commitment. This particular change has created in me a sense of responsibility for my own health. Change is here for me, too.

And it will be good.

peace.

Have you heard of the needs in Cashion?

**PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SHARE WITH  ANYONE INTERESTED IN HELPING**

If you want to help, contact Wendy Hanser.

 

Two teams are heading to Cashion this Saturday. Please RSVP if you can help.  Also, see end of email for prayer needs.

 

Team One- Cashion Donation Site MOVE

We need lots of hands to help move all the donations to a new location.

Where: Cashion High School

When: 8 a.m.-12 p.m.

 

Sorting help is still needed prior to Saturday if you are able to help.

 

 

Team Two-- Debris Clean-Up

Clean up continues at the home sites on Cottonwood Hills Road. We have just learned of an older gentleman who lives adjacent to this area that has not had any clean up assistance yet. We would love to have enough people to continue helping on the home site from last week and to start on this gentleman's yard.

 

Where: Crossings Community Church

When:  7 a.m.

 

Bring gloves, wheelbarrow, small tools, sunscreen, bug spray, water.

 

 

Prayer Needs

Many of the families affected by the tornadoes in May have had long-standing struggles with poverty and other related issues long before the tornadoes destroyed their homes. As a core of interested individuals is developing to assist these families, it is clear that building relationships that endure past this disaster will have the most powerful affect upon these families.  Please pray for the following needs:

1. The ministry of Krista and Mitch Houston, who are in a community missions role in Cashion and have a vision for long-term ministry there.

2. Brett and Gigi Burk, who are neighbors providing primary emotional support to many of the families.

3. One of the women in the area has just been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and is not seeking treatment due to a lack of insurance.

4. One recent high school graduate has the opportunity to be the first in her family  to attend college but currently does not have a car to commute to classes.

5. One young woman just gave birth to a baby with a double cleft palate. Surgery has been done and the baby has been released from the hospital but the mom has nowhere to go.

6. Financial resources are needed for each family to restore electricity ($700 per hook up)

7. Many families are in need of cars to replaced those destroyed in the storms.

8. Financial resources and equipment are needed to remove the storm debris.  This will cost tens of thousands of dollars.

We haven't heard a lot about these needs, but they are needs none-the-less. Please pray and help as you can.

peace.

Sometimes Mondays resemble....

peace.

Working 9 to 5, what a way to make a livin'....

Get Your Tickets Here

I just went to see the Celebrity Attractions production of  9 to 5 last night at the Civic Center Music Hall. I must tell you before I begin my review, I LOVE Dolly Parton. Her music, her spirit, her movies, even her hair!! She is the embodiment of joy to me, she just makes me smile. Anyhoo....

I won tickets on Twitter from Celebrity Attractions and I was thrilled! So I took my good friend, Barb, and we got our Dolly on!

The show is fast moving and so much fun! The sets are amazing, always moving and changing. The three leading ladies, Dee Hoty, Mamie Parris and Diana DeGarmo are wonderful, engaging and provide strong, funny performances throughout the production.

Cast of the National Touring Production of 9 to 5: The Musical. Photo credit: Joan Marcus

If you haven't seen a show recently or even if you have, you should go see this one. Lots of laughs, lots of great music and a terrific cast of talented performers. It'll make you forget you have to work 9 to 5!

peace.

The Trouble with Bees

So we've probably all heard about the studies done on honey bees. If not, you can google it, there's a lot of info out there.

Anyway....

The trouble with bees is they are mobile. They fly. When their hive gets crowded, they swarm in search of a new home. Like the knot hole of our Maple tree. Yep, we've got bees in our trees. (OK, just one tree but that doesn't rhyme.)

We weren't home when they swarmed, but our neighbor witnessed it. It didn't take them long to inhabit our tree though and now we're stuck. You see, if we could have called a bee keeper when they were swarming, they would have gladly come to get them.

Swarming bees = good bees to capture and relocate.
Happy bees building a hive in a tree = no one wants them.

It's to dangerous, difficult, time-consuming, yadayadayada....to deal with them once they are established. So our options....cut the tree down or kill the bees.

I hate to say it, but bye-bye bees. I love my tree and honestly, if the neighbor behind us weren't so concerned for his son and wife (both highly allergic) we'd let them stay. They are happy bees. They are high enough up in the tree they don't mess with anyone, but the liability of what might happen/could happen means the bees have to go.

Services pending.

peace.

Desks

A lesson that should be taught in all schools and remembered in life.

Back in September, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a social studies school teacher at Robinson High School, did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks out of her classroom.

When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks.

'Ms.. Cothren, where're our desks?'

She replied, 'You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.'

They thought, 'Well, maybe it's our grades.'

'No,' she said.

'Maybe it's our behavior.'

She told them, 'No, it's not even your behavior.'

And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period. Still no desks in the classroom.

By early afternoon television news crews had started gathering in Ms.Cothren's classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room.

The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the deskless classroom, Martha Cothren said, 'Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he/she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.'

At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it.

Twenty-seven (27) War Veterans, all in uniforms, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall... By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned..

Martha said, 'You didn't earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. Now, it's up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don't ever forget it.'

By the way, this is a true story.

Never forget.

peace.

Memorial Day

To all the men and women who have served to protect our country and our freedom, thank you. We remember.

peace.

Wow, What a Week

This week has been a bad country and western song.

The storms hit Joplin and nothing remains,
The storms hit Oklahoma and lots got hurt,
Friends are divorcing and cheating and dying,
a baby was born and the dog died.

I don't think anyone would actually record this, but it keeps playing in my head.

It's been a heart heavy week. I'm thankful for a 3 day weekend to rest, renew, pray and see the sunshine.
Thanking God his mercies are new every morning, we've needed them now especially.

Help if you can, pray regardless and remember, this week some lives changed forever.

peace.

Creative Time

I love doing art in a communal setting. I'm a hippie at heart. The energy and encouragement is awesome but the learning and stretching is my favorite. Seeing what ideas others have, how they implement them, and what we can discover together is just the best.

I was a guinea pig last night for a test class for a friend. She's a talented artist and last night I discovered, a great teacher as well. I'll be a guinea pig for her anytime.

We worked in wax collage. Check it out and take her class, you'll have a blast!!

Thanks Sherry!!

peace.

Help a Non-Profit Out

I've worked for non-profits for years and the one thing they all have in common is needing funds. Whether that be through an individual donor, a corporation or through a fund-raising activity, the work is to ask...plead....beg...whatever.

I once heard a story about an Executive Director who would go to the house of a large donor each year for tea and a donation. At the end of the tea, the donor would throw the check on the floor and watch as the ED bent over to pick it up. He did it every year because he knew what was at stake.

I've been working with Easter Seals of Oklahoma on an event they are having in June. You can learn more about it here. (buy some tickets while you're there :-)

But we need help. We need YOUR help. We need auction items, gift cards, and honestly, butts in seats.
It will be a great party, lots of fun, and for an amazing cause.

Would you consider grabbing some of your friends and spending a night on the town to benefit others?

I thought you would.

Thanks!!!

peace.

P.S. If you would like to donate something, please let me know by leaving a comment. I'll even pick it up!

Blogs I like

Just because I thought you might enjoy them, too!

Design Crush

Good Grief Girdie

Recyclart

Not Martha

Design for Mankind

So inspiring in different ways...and sometimes, they even give away great stuff!! Check them out.

peace.

Bucket List

I've been hearing a lot about bucket lists recently. So I think I'm going to start one.

My Bucket List
Go to Nepal and help Rinzi & Nanni Bette (my daughter's in-laws)
Go to Australia.
Go to Hawaii.
Take a cross-country road trip.
Ride with a storm chaser.
Go to NYC and see a Broadway show I love.
Go to Scotland with my husband and buy him a kilt in his family's tartan.
Take my kids and grandkids (someday) to Disney World as a family.
Perform in a musical.
Write a book.
Ride the train to Ft. Worth.


to be continued...

I'm noticing there is a lot of going on my list. I LIKE it!! It's even better when you include friends. :-)

peace.

Flowers!

I love these! I will be making some soon. 

Thanks not martha for the inspiration.

peace.