Another year gone by

Today is the sixth anniversary of my husband's death. A couple of weeks ago, I wondered why I was a bit down, and then I realized exactly what was going on. Even though time passes, as certain dates come, they bring with them a bit of sadness even though you think you're more removed from the actual date.



Last year I told myself that I wouldn't write again of it, but a few of you are new readers, and I wanted to share a little with you. If you care to read, go here and here.

Thanks for your encouragement.

Don't Postpone Joy

I have from time to time posted articles by Steve Goodier of Life Support System. Today's' just came in an e-mail, and I thought it would be a good one to pass along. The title of the blog is from a bumper sticker. Those three words say a lot.

JOY ALONG THE WAY
A senator once took Will Rogers to the White House to meet President Coolidge. He warned the humorist that Coolidge never smiled.

Rogers replied, "I'll make him smile."

Inside the Oval Office, the senator introduced the two men."Will Rogers," he said, "I'd like you to meet President Coolidge."

Deadpan, Rogers quipped, "I'm sorry, but I didn't catch the name."

Coolidge smiled. A sense of humor is a marvelous gift to have. It is one of the most important means we possess to face the difficulties of life. And sometimes life can be difficult. I deal professionally with issues which are critical: relationships breaking apart, people losing jobs, people facing serious illness or agonizing with someone close who is suffering, addictions, grief and heartache. Without a sense of humor about my own life, I don't know if I could survive! I take what I do seriously, but I try not to take myself too seriously. Like the New York City cab driver who said,"It's not the work that I enjoy so much, but the people I run into!"

Here is an experiment: look for and find as much joy as possible for one full day. Try to enjoy the people you run into, the work you do,your leisure time and your relationships. Don't forget to enjoy yourself - and take enough time to enjoy God. I believe that if you try this experiment for one full day, by evening you will bask in the glow of a rekindled spirit. It just takes a day to find joy along the way.-- Steve Goodier

There's not much going on here. The weather is wonderful, not yet too hot. Most of the snow birds have gone back home, and we don't have the terribly congested traffic as we do during the winter months.

Our Great Strides walk is this Saturday at Siesta Key beach. Having never done this before, I'm not sure what to expect. On Monday I'm going to go to Tampa to volunteer in the CFF office. I offered to work on the computer. The lady I spoke with said that they never have volunteers who want to work on computers, so she was ecstatic. On Monday they'll be counting all the funds that have come in from the walks in the greater Tampa Bay area.

I've been putting off doing some things around my house. I have tile in my downstairs, all except the dining room and living room. The Groutsm*th came today and cleaned it all. It looks like new. I told the gentleman who came to measure and give me an estimate that I had been tempted to cover it with wood flooring. His reply was that cleaning the tile and grout would be a fraction of the cost of wood. And indeed it was.

If you ever need any tile or grout cleaned, I highly recommend the Groutsm*th.

The upstairs bathroom had black and white tile in a checkerboard pattern, and I decided it was time for that to go, so I'm retiling that floor and replacing my toilets in the two upstairs bathrooms. The old ones are as old as the house, so I figured it is time. I'm also going for the higher stool. They are so much nicer, especially when you're tall or the knees are a little stiff.

After I recover from this, I'm going to replace my carpet upstairs and on the stairs. When you get started and refresh one area, the other spaces all of a sudden look like they need redoing too.

My friend Peg (the other Peg) and I have been playing tourist. A couple of weeks ago, we went to the Ringling M*seum of Art. There was an exhibit of Grandma M*ses. If you ever come to this area, the museum grounds are a must see. The Ringling's vacation home is there, as well as a circus museum.

Yesterday we went to our local historical park and reminisced about days gone by here in our county. The gentleman who offered to be our guide has only lived here for three years, and I think he found it more interesting to listen to us talking about our childhood and our growing up here.

Next weekend is our Sweet Adelines regional competition in Daytona Beach. Our chorus has been working hard to polish up our songs, but we have a way to go. I still have a few notes to correct on one of the songs, so it's practice, practice, practice.

Have a good weekend, everyone.

Happy Birthday, Peg

Meet my best friend, Peg. Today's her birthday. When I woke up this morning, I realized that I had not sent a card (nothing new.) Peg and I became very good friends when my husband and I began going to her church. Her husband was the pastor, and Peg and I hit it off and became fast friends.

Who knew that eleven years later that it would be Peg who would come to my front door to tell me that Don had been taken in a tragic accident. You see, a deputy from our church was at the scene right after it happened. He called the church to tell them what had happened, and they discussed among them who would come and tell me. Peg chose to be the one. I have no more words.

Two and a half years ago, she and her husband left the ministry here to take a new position with the Baptist General Conference, headquartered in Arlington Heights. Peg has become involved in women's ministry and recently traveled to Japan to do some conferences with missionaries and pastor's wives.

When she was at the airport (I think that's what she told me) she came upon these Sumo wrestlers. She said that in Japan they're idolized like football players are here in the States. Everyone had their cell phones out taking pictures. She asked her interpreter to please ask them if she could have her photo taken with them. As she said, "The photo speaks for itself."

Happy birthday, Peg. I won't tell anyone how old you are.

She always reminds me that she'll never catch up to me. And, yes, it's true.

For All Cat Lovers

My friend, Peg, sent me this via e-mail. With all the cat lovers, some with multiple cats, this is a must-see.

Happy Birthday, David

April 15, 1979. Easter Sunday and tax day. What a combination! I had made Sarah's Easter dress, but she didn't make it to church that day because Mom and Dad were at the hospital awaiting David's birth.

My friend who worked in taxes said, "This year he's the Easter bunny, but from now on he'll be known as "Form 1040." Someone said that he didn't need the word "boy" on this outfit to let everyone know he was a boy.

A thoughtful and caring son, David has always brought joy to his dad's and my life.

Now a husband and a father, he continues to be the loving, gentle, kind soul he was as a child.
Happy birthday, David. You are my sonshine!

Quotes of the Day

These quotes showed up on my homepage this morning...some thoughts to ponder.

It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can stop him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important.
- Martin Luther King Jr.

Hanging is too good for a man who makes puns; he should be drawn and quoted.
- Fred Allen

Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.
- Abraham Lincoln

Great Strides

On April 26, Sarah and I will be joining Team Gevity for the Great Strides walk on Siesta Key Beach in Sarasota. An annual event, these walks take place all over the United States, led by friends and family who are walking for a cure for Cystic Fibrosis.

When I was in Virginia, I went to a CF Education Day with my son at UVA. It is not a kind of meeting that one would want to go to, but the more one can educate himself, the more one can understand and equip himself to care for the cystic fibrosis patient.

One of the highlights of the conference was an address by a physician from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. He spoke of new drugs that in the pipeline that could be approved as early as 2010. If approved, these drugs will make GREAT STRIDES toward the improvement of the health of the CF patient. A recent article in Business Week speaks of the excitement about this drug and the role that the CFF has played in getting the research done for this drug. I encourage you to read it. It is so encouraging to all those with CF, but especially for parents with young children who will benefit most from these new developments.

I read a post this morning by a young woman who has CF. I cried as I read her post. I think that she has expressed so well the feelings of many young people who have this life-shortening disease. Please read her post and leave a comment.

Many of you dear friends read my first post about Great Strides and so quickly made a donation, and I thank you all. I'm linking to my page again in case anyone new reads this post and would want to make a contribution.

Further thoughts on chocolate

After posting the photo of the effect of chocolate on one's hair (Go down a couple of posts to see Ella's hair.) I received this thought in an e-mail from a friend:

Can't eat Beef, Mad cow....
Can't eat chicken, Bird flu
Can't eat eggs, Salmonella
Can't eat pork, fears of trichinosis...
Can't eat fish, heavy metals in the waters has poisoned their meat
Can't eat fruits and veggies, insecticides and herbicides

Hmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!
M M M M M M M M M M M I believe that leaves Chocolate!!!!!!!!

So I guess we'll have to put up with horrible hair!

Surprised?

I actually do take photos of subjects other than Ella. While I was in Virginia, I took the opportunity to wander some of the country roads around my son's community. Farmland is still in abundance although some development is taking place. Hopefully, laws are in place to preserve this part of the country.

The Appalachian Trail, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the Skyline Drive are all close to this area. There are many Mennonite churches here, almost like Baptist churches in the South. I love being here because there is still Southern hospitality to be found.

It's interesting how we become accustomed to our surroundings and don't really pay attention to the beauty around us. I found that the longer I was there, I didn't find the views breath-taking, Living here in Florida (which I've done almost all my life) has almost the same effect. I've always taken the beauty for granted. It wasn't until a trip north in January once and then coming home and driving across the Sunshine Sk*way that I realized just how beautiful it is here and why people want to be here during the winter.

Beauty is all around us. We just have to stop and take a look.

Warning!

I know Easter has passed, but I did want you to see what happens when you indulge in too much chocolate. Inside the plastic Easter eggs were chocolate-covered pretzels.

Yum-yum, they were good!

Here's what happens to your hair when you eat too much chocolate!

Lungs for Tricia

Nate has posted on his blog that lungs were found for Tricia. She is in surgery now. Pray for all those working on her and for her family as they wait. You can follow the progress here.