5 Kind Things...

I was "tagged" by Robin and asked to answer these questions.

5 kind things I have done for strangers:
1. I once helped an old man find his teeth in the garbage at Burger King.
2. I once gave a drifter my coffee and bagel.
3. I once visited a sick woman in a local nursing home - for a year - she was no longer a stranger.
4. I cook a feast for the homeless at least once a month.
5. I once invited an orphan to spend Christmas with us - that was 22 years ago - he still spends Christmas with us, and Easter, and Thanksgiving, and New Years........................

5 kind things I do for my closest friend, partner or child:
1. I once helped my daughter find her retainer in the garbage at Wendy's.
2. I once gave my friend my coffee and bagel.
3. I once stayed with my friend through her illness.
4. I cook a feast for my family at least once a week.
5. I invite family and friends over for Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, New Years..........

5 kind things I do for myself:
1. I ask for help finding lost things.
2. I accept coffee and bagels from others.
3. I let people visit me when I'm sick.
4. I allow others to cook a feast for me.
5. I accept holiday invitations.

5 things I do for fun:
1. I spend time with my husband.
2. I spend time with my Lord.
3. I spend time with my friends.
4. I spend time with my kids.
5. I spend time blogging about the time I spend with my husband, friends, kids and Jesus :)

Do you see a theme??

And that is all she wrote..............................

:)De, Indian Lake Papa, and Alicia, "Tag, you're it!"

Walk Away Mother

In our recent trip to Florida, we visited a beautiful Japanese Garden. Each step along the path was planned to please and calm the soul. We sat by a rock garden that was meticulously raked, each stone placed to give the impression of water. The only sounds were of our foot steps along the path, the waterfalls and wild bird calls. Each plant was picked for a specific purpose. The gardens were carefully and thoughtfully tended. The garden winds around a lovely lake and a pond filled with birds and eventually to the gift shop. At the gift shop you can purchase typical Japanese items like chop sticks, soy sauce bowls with Japanese designs, jewelery, art, tea sets, etc. One of the tiny tea sets had an inscription of 10 rules to live by for a healthy, balanced life written by a Japanese man thousands of years ago. The first rule was "Listen more, talk less." As I read on, I noticed that each rule is currently or was one of my New Year's Resolution. I called to my husband from across the gift shop (the volume of one's voice was not specifically mentioned in maintaining balance and harmony in life), "Some ancient dude stole my resolutions!!!" My startled daughter quickly came over to me, took the tiny tea cup from my hand and said, "Just walk away Mother..........."

For My Little Brother

Even though you are my little brother, you have a bigger house, a bigger car, a bigger pool (wait, I don't even have a little pool), a bigger bathroom, a bigger pantry (wait, I don't have one of those either), a bigger kitchen (that's just not cool......), a bigger bedroom, back yard, garden, porch............... but what's really bigger is your heart. Your capacity to love is bigger than all your big stuff and that's why I am proud to be your big sister. In fact, my heart aches with pride. I know in this heart of mine that, in a heart-beat, you'd give up all your big stuff for just a little better health.

Our little visit with you gave us such a big kick. It was the highlight of our trip. But remember, I am still the BIG sister and I get to sit by the window, go to bed later, get the bathroom first and ride in the trunk if I want to (why I ever wanted to is beyond me.....................)

Love you bro, get better............

Memory Survey

I have read that our earliest childhood memory is one that is either tragic or exciting. Mine was exciting. I was about 4 years old and I was with my Aunt Rachel. She took me for a bus ride up Bloomfield Avenue. I remember that she wore white fitted gloves with raised stitching. I held her hand. My next memory is holding my brand new baby brother. I must have been with Aunt Rachel for about a week while my mother was in the hospital. I remember it was sunny, but cold. I don't remember my 3 cousins or my uncle being there, but of course, they were. 35 years after this I went to visit Aunt Rachel in her home for the last time. She was dying of cancer and I was still breast feeding my youngest child. I went into her bedroom for privacy and this memory flashed in my head. In the years that have now past since this memory first occurred to me, I have remembered only a few more details.

So, tell me:

How far back can you remember? What is your earliest memory? How old were you? Do you consider it happy or tragic?

I will be away for a few days (a much needed respite with my family - yay!!). When I get back, I will post all your memories. Please feel free to encourage your friends to post their memories, too. Be blessed dear ones.......................

Pass The Food

This is my theory: The earth spins on its axis because God has balanced every single thing in the Universe, the water - land ratio, the high - low tides, the daytime - nighttime hours, gravity, inertia, thermodynamics . . . you get the idea. It's a uniquely accurate system that He put into motion at the beginning of time. It's so precise that He knows the weight of everything on the planet................... so, if there were to be a mis-balance or mis-distribution of weight, the earth would spin off its axis and chaos would ensue............so, you see (bear with me, I'm getting to the point), the fact that my dear friend has lost weight recently due to illness is the reason I have put weight on. If one person loses weight, one person must gain it in order to keep the earth spinning on. So, you're welcome for keeping the balance, harmony and equilibrium of our precious planet .............. it has been my sincere pleasure to do my part by overeating at meals, eating in between and eating dessert. To you, my dear friend, pleeeeeeeeease get better, I need to fit into my bathing suit this summer .............. ;)

Five Reasons Mother's Need Hips

Here are five reason's why mother's need hips (in this case, less is not more):

1. To hold babies on
2. To bring laundry baskets up the stairs
3. To juggle several bags of groceries on at one time while getting out the car keys (this is vital if you don't want to have to return a shopping cart all the way across the parking lot, because you know that if you leave your cart next to your car you will see your Pastor, his wife and his children in the parking lot waving to you as you drive away.................)
4. To push in the kitchen chairs (that the kids leave 2 feet away from the table) as you walk by with dinner dishes in your hands.
AND
5. To express attitude. One hand on one hip means, "Let's talk child." Two hands on two hips means, "Honey, you are in trou-ble ..............

This beautiful picture was presented to me by my 15 year old daughter this Mother's Day morning while I still lay in bed. So far it's been a glorious day . . . I should probably go to bed now before someone messes it up . . . but, alas, it's only 4:30 in the afternoon...........

My 10 Favorite Words - for now anyway.........

rara avis - rare bird - I have at least 3 friends who are rare birds :)
camarilla - a secretly scheming group - or more commonly known as the "in-laws"
pugnacious - quarrelsome - hello. . . teenagers
ebullient - high-spirited excitement - my Bible study
feckless - feeble, irresponsible, dispirited - I used this word to describe the actions of a local high school principal in a letter to him, no doubt he needed to look it up.
symbiosis - love this whole concept of one form needing another - I use it to describe friends and family
scintilla - a tiny amount - sorry kids, it's the amount of common sense you've been displaying
titivate - smarten up - hello. . .teenagers
logorrhea - too much talking -hello . . . teenagers
flibbertigibbet - a silly talkative scatter-brain person - that would be me...............and most peri-menopausal women ;)

Peace

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

You all know about my New Year's Resolutions, 'balance and boundaries' - 'healing and harmony' - 'rest and renew' (I'm so amused by my alliterations) and how I try to apply this to all things including eating. So, I go to this butcher for my chicken. This chicken comes from Montana, it's free-range, antibiotic and hormone free, fresh chicken meat (one day this chicken is pecking it's organic food on the ground and the next day it's in my refrigerator). Lean protein at it's best. I marinated this chicken for 5 hours in a lemon pepper marinade, grilled it to perfection, served it with baked potatoes, fresh baby carrots, green salad with mandarin oranges from Spain . . . a perfectly balanced meal, served in harmony. I prayed before we ate, "Lord, thank you for today and the blessings of our food that I grilled to perfection (jk) . . . bless this food unto our bodies so that we may be healed and renewed and balanced (jk) . . . a simple grace was said and then I noticed something that so disturbed my sense of harmony and balance and rest . . . I could barely eat for the total unrest in my spirit (but eat I did) . . . my daughter poured ketchup all over that chicken!!!! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Meet Me At The Gym

So, I'm at the gym with my friend and we're walking side by side on the treadmill talking away. We're oblivious to what's going on around us (it's a task to walk and talk and not fall down). This is therapy at it's best. We get to complain legitimately. I mean, we're "working out!" It just doesn't feel right to complain while we're in our cushy homes . . . no matter how many bathrooms we've got to clean, they are our bathrooms and for that we should be grateful. My home is far from a castle but it sure feels like one to me. So, when we're at the gym, it's okay, in my book, to complain about the sweating, the extra pounds (though even that we should be thankful for because we have enough to eat each day - well, maybe too much), I mean, we're "working out" and it's not easy (nor is it very pretty). My friend and I were complaining about how unfair it is that we work so hard at dieting and exercising and we still can't zipper our jeans unless we lay down on the bed . . . then my friend's husband (who apparently was walking on the other side of me for like 20 minutes without me noticing and apparently listening to our conversation) says, "Just think how fat you'd be if you didn't work out." I pulled the emergency cord on his treadmill and that was the end of that. . . . . . .

P.S.

Our daughter came to us the other night after we were in bed and said, "Mom, Dad, I trust you to know what's best for me and since I'm not sure where God is leading me, I'll take your advice and do what you think is best." So, after I picked myself up off the floor, felt her head for fever, checked her for signs of delirium, pinched myself to make sure I was awake, I jumped up and sang, out of tune of course, "Haaaallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah!" Seriously, this was one of those precious moments of life when you realize how amazing your children really are. What I really did was, prayed silently thanking God for hearing and answering our heart cry and then I hugged my daughter and told her how sweet and mature she is. Then when she left our bedroom I jumped up and did a little jig.........