too much stuff or...

have you swept your mud floor recently?

I couldn't decide which title to use for this post. Both are appropriate and revealing. For you see, we need to clean out our garage because it's full of stuff. Our stuff, other people's stuff, just stuff. And then, honestly, we could start on the house. Nooks and crannies stuffed. We don't live extravagantly, but we've lived long enough to inherit other people's stuff and collect some of our own. Keeping little bits along the way, for long periods of time equals lots of stuff.

Anyway, back to the mud floor. I am so blessed. Even in what I might consider lack or less than, I have so much, have been given so much, take so much for granted. I haven't swept my mud floor lately. I have tile and carpet in my comfortable home with electricity, running water, appliances, doors, windows, fences, and many other conveniences. I have not 1, but 3 bathrooms. Washer and dryer, dishwasher, stove-top, oven and a grill. 8 sinks with running water and 4 outside faucets. Air conditioning and heat. wow.

So I will go through, give away, throw away, sort and pass on to those in need all my excess stuff. Gratefully and gladly recognizing that so many have so little and they are all around me.

peace.

Jon and Kate plus 8 minus 2 = X

I'm not into reality shows. I've watched several, followed 1 or 2, sampled others. But overall, don't really like them. I'm too suspicious to believe the "reality" part.

I have seen Jon and Kate plus 8 on occassion, especially when the little ones were babies. They were so cute and watching the family expand and cope kept my attention on occassion.

I happened upon the season opener this year and I cried. Literally, it broke my heart that these parents have lost sight of themselves. They've forgotten it isn't all about the kids. Families are built on the foundation of a marriage. Foundations need care and upkeep. Regardless of the number and configuration of children.

I hope they will humble themselves, return to their foundation, seek help and do what it takes to stay married and a family. Selfishness has no place there, grudges have no place there, scorecards have no place there.

Jon and Kate, I would say to you that you were once 1 + 1 = 2. Start there. Or better yet, remember that a cord of 3 strands is not easily broken. God has a plan. Be still and know He is God.

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze." Isaiah 43:2

God's blessings to you both as you navigate this river of forgiveness and change, keep passing through.

peace.

dreams

I've never been much of a dreamer. Once I'm asleep, my mind rests most of the time. So when I have a dream, it has impact.

Not too long ago, I had a dream where I was sitting in the hall of a hospital and a very pregnant lady walked past me and asked me to come with her.

The next moment, we're in a delivery room, me on one side of the bed, doc on the other, pregnant lady on the bed between us. The doc is doing an ultrasound and the pregnant lady looks at me, I recognize her, and she says "The doctor tells me my baby is dead, my son is dead." I say to her "well, we better pray".

I woke up praying for this lady I know in real life that I recognized in my dream. Praying for the health of her baby, her impending delivery, God's protection over the coming birth. This was Sunday, January 18.

January 19, she went into labor and delivered a perfectly healthy baby boy. Here he is.

I don't know why I had the dream, why God wanted me to pray, but I'm glad He did. Are there times when God is presenting opportunities to you, you don't understand and sometimes you say yes and sometimes no? Me too.

But I'm hoping He uses me more. I love to pray, to talk to the Creator of everything I know. To rest in His unchanging faithfulness and love. How can I pray for you?

peace.

thanks, Jen, for the inspiration.

pondering...

Do I ever really want an empty nest?

I have found the greatest joys in life come from the relationships I have invested in with those I love, know, meet or have acquaintance.

I love being a wife and mom. Being an aunt is great. I look forward to being a mom-in-law and nana.

Our younger daughter moved out this weekend. The house is quiet. It's not that I mind the quiet and having time to myself and with my hubbie. I love to read and spending time in my artspace. I love a clean house. I love low maintenance.

But I miss the activity of life and people. Maybe that's why we have invited a young friend to live with us for several months as he completes school. He is on his own in many ways, finishing college to become a special ed teacher. Next semester is student teaching, finishing classes and work isn't fitting in very well. His desire is no debt, ours is too. I'm looking forward to helping him out. I'm looking forward to the activity returning.

Not that life isn't busy enough, it is. I'm really blessed we can make this offer. Maybe more than he is. Time will tell.

peace.

what a month!

I can't believe it's been over a month, "time flies" doesn't even begin to touch it.

Anyway, I've more fully explored the community of Twitter this month. Attended a tweet-up for moms and met some excellent, in-touch women with lives like mine. Most of their lives include small children still and all I can say is wow! I can't imagine living at this pace and still being a mom to small kiddos. I was blessed to be with my kids without working when they were small. Not sure I would have been very good at being the everything mom. Kudos ladies!!

It is always interesting to me to observe the power of social media. "Knowing" people I've never actually met in real life. Having commonalities and conversations with a wide range of people while sitting in my office or holding my phone. Quite odd really.

I've also seen this phenom through the eyes of a couple of men from Kenya this week. Explaining things like social media, Walmart, storage facilities, etc. to these men have been quite a challenge.

How do you explain the concept of friendship with people you have never met except on twitter? How do you explain that we live so far apart we only stay in touch with family over the internet? How do you explain to someone who lives in a mud hut with a thatch roof that in America we have so much stuff we have to rent storage facilities outside our homes to hold our excess stuff? How do you explain that it isn't just about the green beans you need for dinner, it's about the brand of green beans you prefer? Del Monte or Green Giant or the store brand or generic?

I feel both very blessed and very humbled. It has once again put my life back into a world perspective.

Count your blessings
name them one by one
Count your blessings
see what God has done.

And then complain or feel sorry for yourself, I double dog dare you.

peace.

Texas sized giggle from Fran

Three men married wives from different states.

The first man married a woman from Washington . He told her that she was to do the dishes and house cleaning. It took a couple of days, but on the third day, he came home to see a clean house and dishes washed and put away.

The second man married a woman from Wyoming . He gave his wife orders that she was to do all the cleaning, dishes and the cooking. The first day he didn't see any results, but the next day he saw it was better. By the third day, he saw his house was clean, the dishes were done and there was a huge dinner on the table.

The third man married a girl from Texas . He ordered her to keep the house cleaned, dishes washed, lawn mowed, laundry washed, and hot meals on the table for every meal. He said the first day he didn't see anything, the second day he didn't see anything. But by the third day, some of the puffiness had gone down and he could see a little out of his left eye, and his arm was healed enough that he could fix himself a sandwich and load the dishwasher.


Guess where Fran is from? ;-)

peace.

Dayenu

I read this post today from www.naomimunn.blogspot.com and I wanted to share with you.

Hope it touches you as much as it did me.

Listen, I have to tell you something that you might not know if you're not Jewish:

Jews wrestle. We wrestle with God, we wrestle with ideas. We wrestle with angels and most of all, we wrestle with ourselves. We're supposed to -- the very name Israel means literally -- he who wrestles with God.

It's a wonder we don't have our own federation cage matches.

I'm wrestling (!) with a song tonight. It's a 1000-year old song from our Passover Seder entitled, "Dayenu" (It would have been enough.) In the song, we sing that if only God had just delivered us from slavery in Egypt -- it would have been enough. If God had then delivered us and gave us the the sabbath, it would have been enough. If God had delivered us, gave us the sabbath and then gave us the Torah, it would have been enough.

I've been thinking how humble, how hard it must REALLY be to live that concept. Imagine if you knew what you were missing, but understood that you just can't have it all. If only you'd been just dropped off at the curb instead of led to the promised land, it would have been enough. If only you'd been dropped off and then given some time off to recuperate, it would have been enough. And maybe, maybe if you'd then received some guidance about what to do next well, that's CERTAINLY enough.

Right?

Honestly, I can't say that. I can't say that if something or other had happened in my life, and not another, it would have been enough. Because it's taken everything to get me here -- I don't think I could have done without a thing; even the horrible things carve out the wellspring of joy I contain.

BUT, on the other hand (and I'm thinking as I type, dangerous, that) maybe the song is about being grateful for what we have NOW, instead of wishing for more. Maybe the song was written (and it was) in the spirit of thankfulness. Maybe it's written with the thought of not knowing what's ahead that we can have or cannot have -- maybe we're just supposed to contemplate on what's passed instead of what's ahead. Coveting, after all, doesn't just belong to material things.

If God has helped me to forge this writing career and I don't ever go any farther than this blog --Dayenu.

If God had only given me this beautiful family -- Dayenu.

If God had only given me the number of days I've used and no more -- Dayenu.

--Naomi

peace.

pictures as promised

hang on to your hats!!


the firepit and main entertainment area.


the front of the compound.


this is the bathroom and kitchen building. the washer/dryer building is over to the right.


here is the 1980 Winebago and tents compound.

so like i've said, i would have done this differently. i hope they make progress soon, july is coming.

peace.

weekend at Lake Wister

i will start off by saying that Lake Wister is very nice, the cabins are clean and sufficient and there are mountains to be seen in almost every direction. not bad for Oklahoma.

now on to the other stuff. went to see my dear friend and got exactly what i expected. 2 parents, 4 kids on top of a hill living in a 1980 Winebago, 2 tents and 2 out buildings-1 with a washer/dryer and tools in it and 1 housing the bathroom with an outdoor sink attached for washing dishes. they've been up there since february, running water, septic and electricity have just been run in the last couple of weeks. outhouse is still standing, but avoided by all!

they are readying their property for the dream house. the view is amazing, the location is great and they have a nice firepit and grill. personally, i would have rented a little place in town, built my dream house and then moved. but then i'm kind of high maintenance. i like running water, in-house facilities and walls around me. picky, picky, i know.

i hope they actually see it through to completion. i must admit, i have my doubts. they are always great dreamers, to-date, not great follow throughers. maybe this is their time. i hope so. time will tell.

and i do have pictures that i will post shortly. i know you can't wait.

peace.

challenge from a friend & weekend to remember

so today is my friday. i've taken off a couple of days for a 4 day weekend, total decadence.

but before i go, i received a challenge from my dear friend ellen. she basically told me i need to be writing every day. i do, but not here. for work usually, not just for me. so i'm going to try. maybe too much of a good thing, you let me know.
:-)

anyway, on to the weekend to remember. i have a dear childhood friend. she has always marched to her own drummer and i love that about her, but i think someone has seriously shaken her castanets this time.

long story made short, dearie and hubbie and four of their seven children have packed everything they own, bought 20 acres and a 1980 Winnebago and moved to Oklahoma. sounds a little liked they "loaded up the truck and they moved to Beverly, Hills that is, swimming pools, movie stars..." you get the idea, and you aren't so far from wrong.

anyway, no running water, electricity, etc...they are basically squatters on their own land with the idea of building their own home on this piece of heaven or Heavener to be exact. that's the name of the town.

and i'm going to visit. good news, there is a state park within minutes of their land and they have cabins. looking forward to the time away and i'm sure in my quest to write more, this weekend will give me lots of fodder!

who knows, maybe while i'm there i'll do a little huntin' and see if "up through the ground came a bubblin' crude. Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea." couldn't hurt.

i'll say hello to jed and grannie too.

peace.

a friend shared this with me

The Bathing Suit

When I was a child in the 1960's the bathing suit for the mature figure was-boned, trussed and reinforced, not so much sewn as engineered. They were built to hold back and uplift and they did a good job. Today's stretch fabrics are designed for the prepubescent girl with a figure carved from a potato chip.

The mature woman has a choice - she can either go up front to the maternity department and try on a floral suit with a skirt, coming away looking like a hippopotamus who escaped from Disney's Fantasia or she can wander around every run of the mill department store trying to make a sensible choice from what amounts to a designer range of florescent rubber bands.

What choice did I have? I wandered around, made my sensible choice and entered the chamber of horrors known as the fitting room.

The first thing I noticed was the extraordinary tensile strength of the stretch material. The Lycra used in bathing costumes was developed, I believe, by NASA to launch small rockets from a slingshot, which give the added bonus that if you manage to actually lever yourself into one, you are protected from shark attacks as any shark taking a swipe at your passing midriff would immediately suffer whiplash.

I fought my way into the bathing suit, but as I twanged the shoulder strap in place, I gasped in horror - my boobs had disappeared!

Eventually, I found one boob cowering under my left armpit. It took a while to find the other. At last I located it flattened beside my seventh rib.

The problem is that modern bathing suits have no bra cups. The mature woman is meant to wear her boobs spread across her chest like a speed bump. I realigned my speed bump and lurched toward the mirror to take a full view assessment.

The bathing suit fit all right, but unfortunately it only fit those bits of me willing to stay inside it. The rest of me oozed out rebelliously from top, bottom, and sides. I looked like a lump of play dough wearing undersized cling wrap.

As I tried to work out where all those extra bits had come from, the prepubescent sales girl popped her head through the curtain, 'Oh, there you are,' she said, admiring the bathing suit.

I replied that I wasn't so sure and asked what else she had to show me. I tried on a cream crinkled one that made me look like a lump of masking tape, and a floral two piece which gave the appearance of an oversized napkin in a serving ring.

I struggled into a pair of leopard skin bathers with ragged frills and came out looking like Tarzan's Jane, pregnant with triplets and having a rough day.

I tried on a black number with a midriff and looked like a jellyfish in mourning.

I tried on a bright pink pair with such a high cut leg I thought I would have to wax my eyebrows to wear hem.

Finally, I found a suit that fit...a two-piece affair with a shorts style bottom and a loose blouse-type top. It was cheap, comfortable, and bulge-friendly, so I bought it. My ridiculous search had a successful outcome, I figured.

When I got home, I found a label which read -- 'Material might become transparent in water.'

So, if you happen to be on the beach or near any other body of water this year and I'm there too, I'll be the one in cut-off jeans and a T-shirt!

You'd better be laughing or rolling on the floor by this time. Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain

***I don't know who wrote this, but I feel her pain!!***

peace.

made it through the day

so yesterday was weird. i woke up and felt just fine. got in the shower and mid-rinse on the conditioner the entire world started spinning, started getting weak, decided to sit down before i fell down, cause that would not be pretty. made it to the toilet and all, well, ya know, broke loose. world spinning, seeing double, and ya know, i guess i was breathing loud enough to concern my husband.

he comes to see what is going on and well, ya know. so it slowed down long enough to dry off, get to bed and eventually to a comfy chair in the den. lots of liquids throughout the day and i survived. so strange. never had anything quite like it.

i'm betting it's what my dad feels like. parts of him recognize normal when he sees it. and parts of him have completely lost hold of it, but i don't think he misses it much anymore.

i knew my world was spinning and not right, i think he's made his peace with his world, or he's forgotten so much, he doesn't need to any more.

i'm grateful mine only lasted 24 hours and heck, i needed to clean the bathroom anyway.

so when life gives you lemon, ask for water and sugar or that will be one sour lemonade!!

peace.

assessing things

so i've been thinking about many things. dealing with my alzheimers dad and his issues, seeing my grandma and her condition and knowing that it doesn't have to be pre-destined for me. i don't have to accept this body i live in, i can change it. i can keep my mind active and useful.

i've also been thinking about moving dad to the nursing home. i've made my peace with it, i think he may actually enjoy having people around, being cared for and honestly, i don't know if he'll notice the lack of freedom. kind of like a child before they begin exploring their surroundings. they are comforted in their spaces, i think he will be too. and they won't let him wear the same shirt every day.

so changes in my life are coming. some are in my control, some are not. Lord help me with the ones in my control and please take care of the ones that aren't.

peace.

wow, what a week

I'm thankful tomorrow is Friday. It's been a really full week. Monday was my 96 year old uncle's funeral and day trip to Dallas with alzheimers dad and his mom, 91 year old grandma and dad's brother Roy.

The math worked out well, 2 girls, 2 boys. I never had to take dad to the bathroom. The trip went as well as it could. Dad is just out of touch. It's like he's receding into another world. One only he exists in... One I can't go with him to see.

We are waiting for a bed to open up in a new facility. I hope it happens quickly enough that part of him will be able to enjoy it a little.

Until then, we manage the routine. We depend on the kindness of the people around him. We put his Dr. Pepper up for him so it won't end up in the freezer.

Until then, it's time for some art.

peace.

I love stories

I've always been a reader. Books allowed me the escape from reality life rarely provided. Dr. Suess, Shel Silverstein, Little House on the Prairie, Chronicles of Narnia, and the list goes on...are a few of my favorites. I enjoy Shakespeare and many of the classics right alongside the adventures of Stephanie Plum by Janet Evanovich. If it has pages, a good story and characters I can be involved with, I'm in.

I also love story tellers. I like telling stories too. Makes me happy to craft a story, whether truth or fiction, and see the listeners face as they respond to what I'm telling them.

I appreciate people who do this for a living. Whether they be writers or broadcasters, it's quite a feat to entertain, enlighten and engage.

Paul Harvey did it very well. He gave us "the rest of the story" for generations. Today he died at the age of 91. A life full of stories he shared with the world. Thanks for the memories.

Peace.

Grady Tunnell

my great uncle Grady, the last living sibling to my grandmother Ruby, passed away last night. he was 98.

but the remarkable thing to me is that up until 5 weeks ago, he was ALIVE!! really living, not just getting older.

he still lived in his own home in New Mexico. took care of his house and yard. played golf 3 times a week and was on a senior bowling league. 2 years ago, he held the all-time high score in his age class for the bowling alley.

he was gracious, a true gentlemen. always reminded me a little of Fred Astaire. quick to smile, I will miss him. Saw him a couple of years ago and it was like no time had passed. hope it's the same when i see him again.

see you on the other side Grady. we'll go bowling for sure.

peace.

walk an inch in my shoes

i think that's all i would require of someone. just an inch. for you marathoners, 36 inches! :-)


thursday we went to welcome the new home health agency to dad's house. his shirt was buttoned off kilter, the tv was on McLintock! again. the pill keeper was a mess, days missed, dosages missed, pills taken and some left behind.

interview with nurses was fine, dad was fidgety, we all survived.

saturday, same shirt on as thursday, still buttoned strangely. pill keeper a mess again, it's only been 1.5 days. :sigh: walmart trip was pretty much the usual. we looked for a different pill keeper, our third, to help simplify things. there are really no simple pill keepers when it comes to alzheimers. i should invent one...hmmm. anyway....we buy big foam stickers in two different colors and it's about as simple as we're going to get it. we'll see how it goes.

sunday, my uncle calls, dad has put his entire 24 pack of diet dr. pepper in the freezer and they have exploded. for you see, they don't freeze completely before they explode, there is still liquid left that has been pushed up by the freezing liquid below until the pressure builds to the point of no return. i'm hoping by saturday, the sticky is all gone. we'll see. 2 older guys, 1 with alzheimers, cleaning sounds like a comedy skit to me. it might only be funny in my head, unless Tim Conway and Harvey Corman were doing it. Tim would be my dad.

I'll be the one singing and pulling my ear.

peace.

nubbles and stinkymonks

if you have read my blog for any time at all, you know my dad has alzheimers. the good news is, he's compliant, and funny, and very sweet most of the time.

and on the funny side of things, we were rolling today.

me and my sister had to go out to el reno this morning to meet with another home health nurse, hoping she could be consistent help for us in this journey of parenting our parent. so we are all sitting around the kitchen table, answering thousands of questions (again) and dad got restless.

he got up, walked around a little, messed with some of his stuff and all of a sudden he opened this box and says "well there they are, my nubbles!"

we were a little confused, so I asked him to show me. he turns the box toward me and i see marbles. so of course i say, "that's great dad, you found your marbles!"

how i wish it were really that easy. oh well, we all got a good giggle.

peace.

p.s. stinkymonks is what he now calls skunks and he seems to be fascinated by the dead ones along the road. has to announce each one. oh joy.

What the World looked like when I was born

think things have changed a little?

Here is what the world looked like in February 1964.

February 1 - The Beatles vault to the #1 spot on the U.S. singles charts for the first time, with "I Want to Hold Your Hand," forever changing the way popular music sounds to Americans, also starting the British Invasion in America.

February 3 - Protesting against alleged de-facto school racial segregation, Black, Yellow and Prince Edward Islander groups in New York City boycott public school.

February 4 - The Government of the United States authorizes the Twenty-fourth Amendment, outlawing the poll tax.

February 6 - Cuba cuts off the normal water supply to the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in reprisal for the U.S. seizure 4 days earlier of 4 Cuban fishing boats off the coast of Florida.

February 7 - A Jackson, Mississippi jury, trying Byron De La Beckwith for the murder of Medgar Evers in June 1963, reports that it can not reach a verdict, resulting in a mistrial.

February 7 - The Beatles arrive from England at New York City's JFK International Airport, receiving a tumultuous reception from a throng of screaming fans, marking the first occurrence of "Beatlemania" in the United States.

February 9 - The Beatles appear on The Ed Sullivan Show, marking their first live performance on American television. Seen by an estimated 73 million viewers, the appearance becomes the catalyst for the mid-1960s "British Invasion" of American popular music.

February 11 - Greeks & Turks begin fighting in Limassol, Cyprus.

February 11 - The Republic of China (Taiwan) drops diplomatic relations with France because of French recognition of the People's Republic of China.

February 17 - Wesberry v. Sanders (376 US 1 1964): The Supreme Court of the United States rules that congressional districts have to be approximately equal in population.

February 17 - Gabonese president Leon M'ba is toppled by a coup and his archrival, Jean-Hilaire Aubame, is installed in his place.

February 25 - Cassius Clay beats Sonny Liston in Miami Beach, Florida, and is crowned the heavyweight champion of the world.

February 26 - U.S. politician John Glenn slips on a bathroom rug in his Columbus, Ohio apartment and hits his head on the bathtub, injuring his left inner ear, and prompting him (later that week) to withdraw from the race for the Democratic Party Senate nomination.

February 26 - Glynis Pitts was born.

February 27 - The government of Italy asks for help to keep the Leaning Tower of Pisa from toppling over.

February 29 - U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announces that the United States has developed a jet airplane (the A-11), capable of sustained flight at more than 2,000 miles per hour (3,200 km/h) and of altitudes of more than 70,000 feet (21,000 m).

my 5 cents worth

yeah, hang on. you only get 2 cents from others, but i'm on a roll today.

i don't mind change, i embrace it. i look for it, i challenge others to appreciate it. just ask my husband or my boss.

so here is my question, if this new government is issuing in a time of change, i'm all for it, but can it really happen?

our government is not based on one man or one man's efforts. it is based on a system that in my opinion has moved so far from the original intent of our founding fathers it doesn't even resemble the government they created by the people, for the people.

career politicians were never their intent. special interest groups were never their intent. lobbyists were never their intent. and until we scrub the system clean, we will never see true change.

which means, we will probably never see true change. not in a big way. not in the way that would set our country back on the right path.

so here is my plan. i'm not going to wait for change. i'm going to pray that God who is the same yesterday, today and forever will be our guide. i'm going to pray that the people of God live in grace, unapologetically showing the love of Jesus to the world they walk around in. i'm going to pray they will know we are christians by our love. i'm going to pray and leave my hope in God.

join me in praying, cause prayer changes things.

peace.