To do about nothing

Today I feel like posting but I can't think of anything to write so I thought that if I just start maybe something would come to mind.

I just realized that we are starting Dec. and that means only 3 weeks til Christmas. I found that my mind got rather racy at the realization. At my age that is the only thing that's racy about me, other than my heart sometimes. The docs like to call it panic but I don't think that's possible at 50.

Anyway, the panic of Christmas is in the air and for all those who are ahead and almost ready my congratulations go out to you. For me, I haven't even started yet. I have no idea as to what I'm doing in the gift department but I have thought about the food side. That's all I've done, just thought. Oh, I did dig out the snowman welcome for the front door and set it in place.

Here is another strange thought. Have you noticed that we buy outdoor decorations and then hesitate to put them outside because they probably will get stolen. I have now bought 2 different snowmen to be set by the front door but have made places for them inside the house because I don't know how to attach them to the house so that they can't be took. The welcome snow girl sits inside my front door and now my new one will probably go down stairs by the entry to the family room. I have now decided to decorate a little tree with colored lights and put it out front. Not near as nice but if it gets took it isn't much money lost. Who knows maybe I'll still come up with a good idea to attach the new snowman to the railing.

With having renovating the house this year I now have no idea how to decorate for Christmas. I now am missing walls and shelves that used to hold all my Christmas ornaments. (Now there is a reason to feel a little racy. Isn't it amazing what makes our hearts race at this age.)It takes a lot of work to figure out a new pattern for all the things I love to have out.

Well, this turned out to be all about Christmas but there it is, my ramblings for today. Nothing profound just dribble. (Is that even a word or did I manage to make something up based on a sound of some other word?)

Think I'm losing my mind? Could be true. I'm still looking for my marbles along with Tootles off the movie Hook.

Cha! Cha! Cha!

Today I just confirmed my order for the core rhythm workout videos. I'm quite excited about it because in no time flat I will have the body of a dancer. Yes, you heard me, the body of a dancer. I can hear you chuckling out there but the TV has promised me that this will work in no time flat. So when it happens I should be the envy of all of you.LOL

This workout is done with Latin dance and is supposed to tone the core of a person like doing palates or yoga. And all that with no stress to the body. Sounds to good to be true hey! Well I guess that time will tell.

I think the hard part of exercise for me is finding something that I love doing. I am not a big athlete the way that so many are and so I get tired of doing what ever after a while. The one thing that Hubby and I have done is to take old time dance and we just love it. You would be shocked at how hard on the muscles it is. Every time we go we say that we'll have to do this more often in order to keep up. So now with the Latin dance to tone all those core (isn't that a nice way to say flabby stomach) muscles I should be on my way to a lean mean fighting machine body.

I haven't broke the news to my hubby yet and I'm just not sure yet how to do it, but I had better get at it before the charge shows up on the credit card. He's always okay with what I do but he'll probably want to know if I think I'll use this one. We have a shelf of exercise videos that haven't worked. I have watched them with a big bowl of popcorn and never seen any change so I know that he has every right to wonder how this will work. The only thing that I can come up with is to actually do them. Now that is a scary commitment for me. I think that I may need to have accountability in order to make it through, or at least give it a fair try. When I told one of my close friends she said that she may try them with me. If there is anymore of you who would like to join the club maybe this thing might work. You know what they say about accountability and all that.

Anyway, that is my new adventure and I'm quite excited.

Cha! Cha! Cha!

"I had a dream........"

I had a dream last night that I actually would classify as a nightmare. My dream was not a vision of things that could be, although I guess that would be possible, but a dream in which I woke up wondering if there was a message in it for me. I really hate it when you have disturbing dreams and wake up feeling shaken and inadequate.

In my dream I was on this singing team that went to churches to lead worship. Everyone on this team was around my daughters age. We were just going up on stage when all these girls, four of them, told me that I was to old and couldn't keep up with them. All the way through that night they kept taunting me about how inadequate and slow I was to be singing with them. Needless to say I was devastated and couldn't understand why they hadn't said anything before. And why were they humiliating me publicly. They felt that I should have known that they were way out of my league. I was just to old to sing with them. Thankfully, I woke up. But that nightmare left me wondering my question of today, "Is there an age in which you should quit doing the things that you love just because you are a certain age?"

I'm 50 and to this point I have been on a worship team most of my life. I am wondering if there is an age where it is inappropriate to be on the team when everyone is younger than you? Throughout my life there have been times that I have thought that there are people who should realize that their time has come and it's time to be your age. I find that I wonder that for things like dress, hair, behaviour etc. Now I find myself wondering if that extends to ministry?

I have heard it said often that it is time for the younger generation to step in and lead. Up til now I've been okay with that because I was that generation. Now here I am stepping over that thresh hold of the older generation and I find myself wondering if that means it's time to give up being part of a music team because right now I'm gray haired and over 50.

So again my question comes up "Am I to old to continue singing for worship in a church that has young music? Is there only certain music that you publicly do that is age appropriate?" or "Should I should just dye my hair and try and fool the world into thinking that I'm younger than I am?" (By the way I'm not judgemental on coloring hair.)

P.S.
Do you think I'm going through a midlife crisis?

Vanity, Vanity, All Is Vanity

The other day my funny bone got a tickle when I realized how well we women fake things in life.

Last week we started our bible study group that we call Lifegroup. It was at our house and I thought how nice it would be if I started the year off right by providing something homemade for the snack at coffee time. I decided that chocolate cake would be the best choice cause.....who doesn't love chocolate? (Other years everyone who came knew to expect bought snack from me.) As I was cleaning house I was thinking about getting this cake on the go and where to find the right recipe to gain the desired result of surprising everyone. I could smell the cake baking in my mind and I could see it sitting on the cupboard on my pedestal plate making mouths water.

Well, as I thought of all the processing this would take I found myself in the pantry looking at my shelves wondering where I had put that Devils Food Cake mix. Ah Ha! .... there it was, and guess what? Right beside it was that frosting in a plastic container. Just the right amount for one 9x13 cake. And here is the best part, the cake mix only needed 2eggs, 1/3c oil, and 11/3c of water. Mix for 1min, yes 1 whole min. and pour in a rectangle pan. This was only going to take me about 5 mins. from start to finish. Frosting takes another 3 mins. and whala! done. A total of 10 mins at the most with all the ripping of bags, buttering of pan and cleaning up afterward. (For any of you that really know me, know that I don't really like cooking and baking so this was the ticket to making me look really good.)

Later that evening as we came to snack time my hubby announces that I have baked a cake for coffee time and that is when it hit me in my funny bone. It was all I could do not to burst out laughing because I had not really created anything but I still was going to look good.

Now isn't that just like us women? Anything to make us look good and feel better. Fake hair color, fake nails, fake faces (botox), fake boobs, fake cakes ...etc.

This is the price we pay for our vanity! And guess what? We Love It!!

My Electronic World

I am so excited because I have gotten my very first computer. Yes, we have had two computers at our house for a few years but my hubby bought me my very own computer.

It is a mini computer. It is small and is a little tricky to type on because the keyboard is so small. This is not the smallest computer out there but it is about an inch bigger than the littlest one that I have seen. Not counting the I-phone and I-pod-touch.

It strikes me funny that I'm so excited about this because as you all know I'm "electronically challenged". I'm determined to learn this, but as I am with learning Spanish so will I be challenged with learning my computer. However, I am still excited.

Well, that is it for today. Not much but something that I could type on my new computer.

See you later!

My Big Fat Greek Wedding

In the past few months I have been busy helping my parents move and as that has come to a close we have had family visiting and it hit me with a tickle that in many ways we resemble the Big Fat Greek Wedding family. Here's the story.

My brother and sister-in-law from Germany came to Canada to help settle their daughter into school. While they were in Canada they took the time to visit Mom and Dad. (Their daughter is going to school in a city that is about 6 hours away.) They only had a few days that they could be here so I decided that it would be a great idea to have those of the family that are around here over for a potluck of sorts supper. That way everyone could see them while they were in town without it being to much running for them. When the evening came it turned out that there were 19 of us for supper. It was great and I actually think that everyone had good time. Of course you can't visit on the same level as if it was one on one but with the time crunch I think it worked out well. That was on a Sat. night.

Tues. morning my sister called and said that she and her daughter and her daughter's husband were coming up to see Mom and Dad. They too, only had two days before they would have to fly out. My niece and her husband are from San Diego and those of us in the family that live here have never met her husband as he is from Costa Rica originally. Once again, I decided that it would be a good idea if everyone came for another potluck supper. (Sat. had worked out so great.) As I was adding up how many would be here if everyone came the number added up to 27, and that is when I realized that we closely resemble My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

The scene that played out in my mind was when Tula takes Ian's parents to meet "The Family". They were expecting to meet 4 people and when they arrived the front yard was full of all the relatives. Ian's mother has fear written on her face as she makes her way to meet Tula's father.

That is how I imagined my niece's husband feeling when he came to meet "The Family". (I couldn't help but laugh.)

The evening turned out great and I actually think that my niece and her husband had a good time.

So, what do you think, we're not Greek but don't you think that it may be somewhere in our blood?

"Why Me Lord?"

You ever see the movie The Last Holiday with Queen Latifah?

Today I feel like Georgia Byrd when she asks over and over "why me Lord?".

I haven't felt well for about a week and I'm finally tired of trying to be positive about it. Today I feel like ranting and raving at God for the decisions he makes. So this post is not going to be the most positive posts that I've written but at least I'll get it off my chest and feel like maybe someone has heard me.

Here are the questions I'd like God to answer:

1. How do you decided who to bless and who not to?

2. How do you decided who to allow to be afflicted with illness and who not to?

3. How do you decided when someones life should be over and why then?

4. Why do you allow some to have optimal health? and how do you see that as fair and loving?

5. Why do you allow some to experience miracles and not others?

6. Why when we're desperate do you seem so far away?

7. Why can't you talk in an audible voice so I can hear and get it first time around?

8. If heaven is so great why make us long to hang on to the here?

9. Why don't you make it easier for us to see your plan?

10. As Georgia Byrd would say "Why me Lord? Why now?".

Although I am asking all these questions please know that there is nothing seriously wrong that I'm aware of, it's just that I'm tired of feeling lousy and I don't make the perfect christian with the up beat attitude in all things. When I don't feel well and I'm tired of it, these thoughts go through my mind. As I look at others and realize that there are so many that have it worse than me, I think to myself "why me and not them?". What makes me think that I should be exempt? I do for a moment feel grateful for where I'm at but then I get overwhelmed and forget. I start to complain and ask all these questions.

So there it is for today. I'll be on a much more positive note next time around.


P.S. Lord, why do you make gray hair on the top of our heads and yet our arms and legs get hairier with dark hair that stands out? Shouldn't it be the other way around?

Speaking in Tongues?

As I'm sitting here catching up on the blogging world I'm struck again by the funny things my husband gets me into.

To night I asked him to listen to my comment that I had written on another blog and when I had finished reading it he said "good". Not an unusual answer but when I asked him my next question I got this strange sound in response. (I'd repeat it for you but it was so unusual I can't even remember it. (the pitfall of age).) As a matter of fact right now in the background there are all these mumblings going on. He is, yes, taking an on line Spanish lesson.

For months now he has been telling me that we need to take Spanish lessons and I've been waiting patiently for him to let me know when that is to take place. Well, I guess tonight is it for him. He hasn't told me yet that I need to start but I'm sure that it will be coming soon. It has hit my funny bone with how he is letting me know that the time is now.

This brings up memories of scuba diving, and down hill ski racing. Anyway, that is another topic and I must not get to far off track or I'll lose my thought that I'm working on.

Here it is, I think I going to learn Spanish.

Now, many of you may be thinking "what's so big a deal about that?"

MEMORY! That's the big deal.

I'm the person who has to make a mental note of where I park the car in relation to the store so that I can find the right aisle to find it again. I repeat in my mind as I look in that aisle "it is a green Jetta TDI" I am also the person that tells her friends and family to make sure that if they see me wandering the street to pick me up and take me home. (I can really relate to the old guy Arthur Abbott in The Holiday when Iris picks him up and takes him home.) This is why the thought of learning Spanish scares me.

So, here is my question for today "do you think it's cheating to ask God to give you the gift of tongues in Spanish?" Not trying to be disrespectful of God and the gift he gives but it would sure be helpful for me if he would just let me wake up one morning able to speak and understand Spanish. It would be so much easier.

Oh well,....just wondering?

Go! Go! Gadget #2

A while back I did a blog on gadgets and how I love them. Well this weekend while in the city I needed a new blender to go with my bosch kitchen centre. We found the store and boy was it a find! Here are the great finds that I got:

1) Paring knives that are no stick and dishwasher safe. To top it off they are even sharp. (I guess I'll see if they really keep their sharp edge after the dishwasher.) It also isn't supposed to stick to the food that it's cutting. Oh, by the way the grip is no slip.

2) A sconce pan. It is so cool. It is heavy and has the partitions for the sconce, cornbread, or biscuit. No cutting required, just put it in the pan and it comes out in the perfect wedge.

3) An onion keeper that looks like an onion. When you cut an onion and only need to use a portion of it, the rest goes in this keeper and is sealed so that you don't get a stinky fridge. When you next want to use that left over onion you look in the fridge and know exactly where it is. (They had tomatoes keepers and garlic keepers but I didn't get them. Thought it would be good to try this one out first to see if it really works.)

Well, that was my finds this weekend and I'm excited to try them. For me this is like Christmas. I know that for many of you it seems a little boring but I was so excited that I just had to share it with someone.

P.S.
By the way, I will be visiting that store again when I'm in the city. There was so much to look at that I definitely need more time to unearth more great finds.

Anyone out there had any great finds lately?

Love is in the air

Are you a romantic?

I am. I know that is kind of a silly thing to ask but I was wondering if any of you out there find romance in the strangest places? It's easy to find romance in a movie or a book, but every so often it pops up just out of the blue when your least expecting it.

Well I don't normally but the other week at church while our pastor was giving his sermon, I all of a sudden found a "read it in a book kind of romance". You know the kind of romance that gives you tingley feelings and makes you wonder if there is another man in this world that could possibly be the hero that you just read about.

There I was sitting listening to the pastor; who, by the way, was not talking on romance at all but teaching in the book of Ruth on some other topic; when all of a sudden I got this visual image of Boaz arranging the events for insuring that Ruth would become his wife. Here he was just walking in his field when he spots this girl who is gleaning grain. She doesn't notice him but he is taken enough with her that he tells his hired men to make sure that she isn't sent away and in fact make sure that a little grain is left behind so that she would have enough. Then one day he invites her to have dinner with him and his hired crew. She was a little shocked and couldn't figure out why he was showing her such favor. I think that maybe he had a bit of a fascination with her and wanted a chance to get to know her. As time went on, and I think that maybe he had her take lunch at his table frequently, he realized that she was something really special and love bloomed in his heart. He then went through their cultural rituals and made sure that there could be no mistake in her having to be given to someone else. He thought of it all and made sure he covered all his bases so that she could be his.

I don't see how Ruth couldn't help but fall "head over heels" in love with him. Wouldn't you? Having someone persue you and make sure that no one else could prevent you from being together. That is a "knight in shining armor" moment.

In the end they did get married and I think lived happily ever after.

Know what else I think is interesting about this love story is that they didn't have this hate then love relationship. They would be a happily ever after couple because they complemented each other right from the start.

Anyway, there it is, romance in church. I know that the Bible has always had romance in there, after all, God is the creator of romance, but it has never hit me before where it moves my emotions and I can picture the scene playing out in front of me. It's not the mushy gushy stuff either but the way that Boaz looked out for Ruth and took care of her needs. Just gotta love him.

I am sure that if my pastor was to read this he would be shocked to realize where my mind went in his sermon but like I always say "There it is".

Well, I hope that you find a little romance in your day. It makes the heart feel good.

That tickles my funny bone!

I have noticed that Dick and I have totally different humors. He will laugh at jokes and funny sayings and I laugh at situational humor.

Have you ever seen the show Canada's Worst Handyman?

I find myself rolling on the floor, tears running down my face and hardly able to breath. Dick sits there and watches me wondering what I find so funny. He just doesn't get it. He finds little humor in how bad someone does a project, in fact he thinks that it has to be fake because no one can be that bad. I simply think that yes there really could be people out there that are that bad. I think that I see myself in them. I love the concentration on their faces and how hard they work at things and how they can get it wrong so many times; to the point where they settle for what they can make.

If your watching it this year, Tex is my favorite. I haven't seen all the shows but the few I've managed to watch he was hilarious on. I am still laughing at the things he and the others have done.

Since I started this blog, the show has ended for this season and guess what? Tex wasn't Canada's worst handyman.

What tickles your funny bone?

Him & Her

My hubby is going away for a week without me and as I assured him that I would be fine on my own I got to thinking about how it works with men and women when one goes away and the other stays home.

This is what I have observed. It would seem to me that when a women goes away and leaves her hubby at home alone that he will get many invites out for supper, or out to do lots of fun things. When her hubby goes away and leaves the his wife at home there is seldom invitations to dinner or out for fun. She is usually the one who initiates the effort to fill her time with other people.

I think that it is interesting that we seem to think that women are better on their own at home than a man would be. Makes you wonder how bachelors do it. Maybe something happens after men get married, they become incapacitated with life at home. What is even funnier is that when their wives are home they can cook and clean almost as good as she can.

Anyway, just thought that this was an interesting observation. It's not a complaint, just interesting.

Since I started this blog, Hubby has come and gone. Guess what? I was invited out 2 times. It was great. I'm starting to wondering if maybe my observation may not be totally accurate. What do you think?

Random Rambling!

Hello! I'm back!

Thought that it was time to do a little rambling. It has been so long since I have been here to visit that it is hard to get my mind to work but setting that aside here it goes.

I have just turned the big 50! and I am back to the embracing my age thing. Yes, my hair is on the grow out again. I tried this once before as some of you may remember and lasted about to 3 inches of growth before I had to color it. Well, I'm at it again and this time I'm going to try a new tactic. My original thought was to just cut all my hair off to the gray, which is about an inch to inch and a half long. When I asked one of my friends what she thought, she suggested that I should get my hair highlighted with a silver blond and then let things just continue to grow. It sounds like it may be the way to go so I'm thinking about trying that.

What do you think? Think it will work? Hope that I don't look like I'm about to put one foot in the grave. Yikes!! Guess time will tell.

(Since starting this post I have seen the hairdresser and she suggested that I just cut it short and keep it that way til it grows out. So that is what I am doing and so far so good. However, I'm almost at the 3 in. again and it is getting tougher to hold out.)

Do you think that getting klutzy is something that happens when you get to my age? And do you think that it will last forever?

Today as I was making supper I could easily been on the Three Stooges with the calamity that was happening at the stove. I was making pancakes while talking to my sister on the phone. In order to keep them warm it required the oven to be turned on. I am not using my own stove and for some reason I couldn't get the oven on. After finally getting it, I went to open the door and boy was it springy. All of a sudden, bang! The door had slammed shut sending the pasta jar that sits on the back of the stove right into my frying pan with pancake batter it in. My sister stopped mid sentence to ask if everything was okay. I answered yes as I'm holding the phone on my shoulder, the spatula with two pancakes in one hand, trying to clean the mess and open the oven door all at once. (You never know with these glass pasta jars if direct heat will cause them to shatter.) When I finally got things under control my mind started to play one of those old movies with the Three Stooges or I Love Lucy. It seemed like I was living some of the things Lucy would get into. Yikes! I hope I'm not turning into Lucy.

Maybe I should drop the embracing my age with gray hair and just go straight to red?

I am still alive!

Just thought I'd drop a note to say that I am still alive and doing well.

We are still in the middle of home reno's and due to some delays will be out of our home for a few more weeks. I'd like to think that it will only be 3 weeks but at this time I have no idea how long.

Please know that when I get back home I hope to continue blogging but for now it is on hold just like the rest of my life.

I look forward to hearing from you again. See you in a while.

Why, oh why?

Here are some of the whys around going away for a holiday:

1)Why is it that your clothes don't fit when you wore them only 7 months ago?

2)Why are your clothes never the right ones for the occasion causing you to feel that you need to buy new ones?

3) Why do you always get a sore throat and cold just a couple of days before you leave?

4) Why is packing such a dreaded job? (Where are those little elves.)

5) Why do you feel as if your house has to be clean and in perfect order before you leave?

6) Why is it so hard to decided on how many shoes you should take and which ones are the right ones? (This is a biggy for me with my shoe fetish.)

7) Why is it that your suitcase always weighs a lb or 2 less than the maximum weight causing you to stress over how accurate your scale will be to the airport scale?

Even with all the "Whys" it is still worth all the effort for those 10 glorious days of laying on the beach, swimming in the pool and ocean, eating all day long and sleeping til your not tired.

"I think I'm allergic to mornings"

I have come to the conclusion that no matter how hard you try you can't make someone a morning person. If it is possible to be allergic to morning then I think I am. I notice that when I have to get up early that I show the signs of an allergy: puff eyes, watery eyes, dark circle under my eyes, headachy, sometimes stuffy nose, a bit of a sore throat, and a foggy mind.

I have had to get up most every morning the last couple of weeks by 8:00 a.m. Not only have I had to be up but I have had to look as if I am ready to do the day. Up until this time I have had very few times where on an ongoing bases I have had to start my day in this fashion. When the kids were in school we we're up by 7:00 - 7:30 each day but at least I didn't have to be out of my pj's and housecoat, hair looking half way presentable. And after they left I could either climb back into bed for another hour or slump down on the couch and let the early morning run off me. (Yes, I did feel a little guilty that my kids had to have it together so early and I expected them to do it no complaining.) All the years I worked I started work and between 9:00 - 10:00. I used to tell people at work that I didn't wake up til 10:00 and that is why I was so quiet in the morning. I simply can't think before 10. My presence was in body not mind.

Now with contractors arriving by 8:00 a.m. this has been my schedule. I don't want them to think that I'm pathetic or something so I watch the clock and try to time myself to get everything done before they arrive. I find myself longing for the weekend to arrive when its only Tues. By the time Fri. gets here I am giving myself pep talks on how I can do this, "its only one more morning before sleep-in day". "Tomorrow I won't have to watch the clock", trying to sneak in just that last minute of dozing. I rejoice in Sat. morning and the feeling of my bed as I lay there thinking about how great it feels to not have to get up. (Isn't that pathetic?) As a matter of fact, by the time Fri evening comes I am looking forward to going to bed due to exhaustion.

I have wondered if there is something wrong with me. Why I couldn't get it changed around. Yet, in all my acquaintances over the years I have found that when you're a morning person, you're a morning person and when you're a night person, you're a night person. The way I see it is I've been created by God so why try to change what he had planned. It helps me feel better when I think this way. I'm sure that my hubby may disagree with me seeings that he's a morning person. To him morning is the best time of the day. Ugg! But, he loves me anyway and doesn't resent my sleeping in because he is just as happy getting up.

On the topic of mornings all I can say is:
"I think I'm allergic to mornings!"

Decisions, Decisions

Why is it that making decor decisions is so hard?

As you know we're in the middle of our renos and with us going away for 10 days there are many decisions that have to be made. I am now at the flooring crisis. I say crisis because it is so hard to get it just right and it sometimes feels that we may never get the pick made before the contractors will be here to install. Here are the things that I am learning about this process and about myself.

1) This week I have spent all my spare time looking for flooring and as I come to the end of the week and look back I realize that although I found a pick I like there is now the whole budget thing to factor in. (I must have expensive taste.)
That created another rush around day today looking for the right price to make the budget work. I may even have to take Mon. and Tues. to rechoose my flooring. Crazy isn't it?

2) The other thing that I came to realize about myself was that it is so much easier to pick for someone else than it is to pick for me. I am usually sure of how things will look when I'm helping a friend pick their choices but when it comes to myself I am having a hard time knowing what I will like and be happy living in for the rest of my life. (I'm under the impression that this is a one time deal.) My hubby keeps saying that "you have to be happy with it". I'm not sure if that is his line because it doesn't really matter to him or if he just doesn't want to hear me complain if it doesn't turn out. I must admit that I will be for a time, after everything is all said and done, be looking to see where I should have changed things. I can't help myself that's just the way I am.

3) It matters alot to me what other people think. I want people to come in and love our house. Ooh and ahh over how great it looks. (Vain aren't I?) There's a great deal of pressure that when my friends and family come to look they will not like it and they will realize how lousy my taste really is. How sad is that?

4) I have come to appreciate the stress that others tell about when they're in a building project. There are times when you just want a normal day, one in which you won't have to make another decision.

With all that I have just said things are moving along right on schedule which I am thankful for. I'm still having fun doing this project. It's going to look just great when it's done.

The Shaggy Dog

Have you ever seen the movie "The Shaggy Dog" with Tim Allen in it? The dog is 700 or 800 years old. Well if you have then you will understand why I call my dog "The Shaggy Dog".

When our kids were in school, I think the oldest was 12 and the youngest was 8, I allowed the household (including Hubby) to talk me into getting a puppy. After all we all know that every kid should have a pet. The gerbil had finally died, he lasted 2 years and I think that is long for gerbils to live, and the kids just had to have something that they could love. I wasn't fond of rodents and so when the dog came up for discussion, and after much calculation of how long it would live, I consented.

Here was my thought process: the youngest child was 8 and we all know that dogs live for about 10-12 years so that meant that we would have an empty nest at just the right time for hubby and I to start enjoying life. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

Since I gave my consent, our youngest child is married with two small children and guess what? That's right, the dog is still alive. We are still getting a babysitter when we want to go away and we're aging fast. If we don't start to travel soon we'll be in our rocking chairs reminiscing about what?

We have talked about getting rid of the dog many times but it has never seemed like the right time. However, this year we decided to do major renovations on our house and while all this kerfuffle is happening we thought it would be nice to go on a holiday. The dilemma is "What to do with the dog?". We finally decided that maybe it was time to let him go to dog heaven but when the time came to take him to the vet, neither hubby nor I could do it. After all he is part of the family.

A couple of days ago my hubby came home from work and informed me that he had made an appointment with the vet to have the dog checked to see how his health was fairing. I thought this is a good idea and seeing that the dog was as best as we could figure 14-15 this would confirm that he was on his last legs and that the loving thing for us to do was put him to sleep and save him some pain. That was going to make this decision so much easier.

Well, we have the shaggy dog. Our vet visit was unbelievable. It turns out that we have a 17 year old dog and he is in amazingly good health. He has some plaque on his teeth and a little arthritis in his back hip area. He is going blind and he is quite deaf but other than that he is in amazing health. He does not have the body of a 17 year old dog, he has a much younger one. Our vet said that he could in no good conscience recommend that we put this dog to sleep. As we drove home there were mixed feelings in the truck. Disappointment at the loss of our freedom and relief that the dog was in such good health.

So, there you have it. I live with the shaggy dog. I think he just may live to be 700 years old. All we really accomplished in all of this was to make our decision even harder than before.

Sometimes ignorance is bliss and this is one time where I think that would have been. Sigh!

PS
We really do love our dog.

"To Flush or Not To Flush?"

I have just got back from a week of holidaying and I found that I had one pet peeve while traveling. "Automatic Flush Toilets"

Have you ever noticed how those crazy things flush at all the wrong times?

It seemed to me that every time I'd get in the cubicle and close the door all of a sudden there would be flushing happening. Then just as I'd get comfortable and about ready to take care of business it would flush again.(It kind of gives the experience of a bedday (can't spell that word) LOL) When I'd finish what I came to do and I'm all back together again, there is no way that the toilet will flush. I stand there flapping my arms hoping to trigger the motion sensor and frantically trying to figure out how to get the flush to happen so that I can get out of there.

It would shock you to know how many times this happened to me.

Not only were the automatic toilets a pain but so were the automatic sink faucets. It seemed as if I always picked the one that didn't work. It would work for the person after me but not for me. (I can't figure out what I do wrong.) Others in the restroom would look at me and wonder what was wrong with this woman who moved down the row of sinks waving her hands. Oh well, I always seemed to find one that would work. It was always a great relief to get that job over with.

This got me to wondering if this is how it works for men. Do they have automatic urinals and do they flush at random times just like womens washroom toilets?

Well, there you have it. That is what has been on my mind lately. It's Sad but True!

As the world turns

My time is short and as always the world is spinning out of control.

We are starting major house reno's. I've been dreaming about this for years. Now that it is beginning and I'm getting a glimpse of what this may entail I'm wondering if this time I may have bit off more than I can chew.

For anyone who knows me, I love renovating things. This time however, there are so many decisions that I sometimes feel like the world is spinning out of control.

Here are some of the decisions I'm in the process of making:

1. Kitchen appliances
2. Cabinets
3. Flooring
4. Front doors
5. Mantles
and the lists goes on.

On the other side of the coin, with this being a reno that we live in, I am trying to pack away furniture and all kinds of junk that we've been accumulating over the years.

Now, this is the topper. We're going on holidays while all of this is happening. Sounds like a good idea to be out of the mess but having not realized all the decisions that need to be made in order for progress to happen while we're gone it is making my world spin at an incredibly fast rate. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited and thrilled that this is taking place. What is kind of funny though, is the difference between preception and reality in this kind of project. I'm sure that many of you are out there saying "I told you so," and I want you to know that you are right.

My one consolation is that I'm enjoying my spiney world.

I'm now going to label my life "As The World Turns"

New thought: I now can litterly be called "one spiny old lady" and you know what? You'd be absolutely right!

How about taking a few turns with me? We may as well get dizzy together!

What is normal?

This blog is about what is normal? I know that there are many areas for normal but this one is just about time and what a normal day would look like for you. This is how most of my days play out. How about yours?

I had hoped to get time to post more often but it seems that life has a way of throwing us a few curves that change the best laid plans. This is not just typical of blogging but of most things in my life. I am forever planning to get all these things accomplished and I find that at the end of the day I'm lucky to get anything on my list done. There are some things that I purposely don't get done because of procrastination, so those I guess don't count. I know that I'm not a high energy person as so many people are but all that aside I still don't seem to find enough time to do all the things that I'd like to do.

Blogging is one of my favorite things to do but it seems that it gets set aside for the urgency of the moment. I find myself saying "when things get back to normal then I'll have more time."

That is when I realized that this is normal and that is why it is taking so long for me to get the time.

Please don't get tired of checking out my blog sight. I love to know that someone is out there reading them even though they aren't as entertaining as most blogs.

Anyway, this has got me thinking lately about what is my normal and what isn't?

Have you ever wondered what normal is?

"go! go! gadget"

I am a gadget person.

My kids are always saying "oh mom, you and your kitchen gadgets".

I really like picking up those things that look neat and are interesting and make life look alot easier.

I do have to admit that there are some gadgets in my kitchen that have had little to no use but in the big scheme of things they may come in handy.

Here are a few really cool things:

1) cookie dough scoop; like an ice cream scoop and you get the same size cookie every time

2) egg separator; nice little cup that you pour to separate the egg

3) meat hammer; not just any hammer but one that does it all even outside the kitchen

4) perogy maker; flat red square that dough lays over and makes 4 at a time

5) apple peeler; a hands off crank model

6) fancy pastry cutter, and roller

7) potato peelers; numerous styles

8) fancy veggie cutter; makes those nice squiggly lines

9) remote light controls; works well for turning on all the Xmas decorations with a flick

10) numerous floor cleaning devices; styles of brooms, washers, vacuums, dusters etc.

These are some of my gadgets that I can think of off the top of my head. You can also tell that most of the things I acquire are for the kitchen, hence the phrase "kitchen gadgets". As you can see they all seem practical and therefore make sense to own. They may have a little twist to them that make them a little different from the ordinary but that's what makes them interesting and fun to use.

If you have any gadgets that you think I may be interested in let me know. I'm always looking for the next "greatest idea" that's out there.

Soo.....to all those who are gadget people, "Go! Go! Gadget".

Clean up and shape out

Here I am on Jan. 8 2008 and I am just getting things cleaned up from Xmas and New Years. How can that be you ask?

In my case that is not hard because to me cleaning up from this important time means cleaning up not just the decorations but all the junk food and chocolate as well. I have been well under control with the tree and decorations but this year the goodies and junk food are taking a little longer than usual. I'm not sure if it is because we have had more junk food this year or less company. Anyway, it is one of those chores that if I admit truthfully I kind of enjoy.

What seems to get in the way is the ever popular New Years resolution of losing weight from the Christmas season. Okay, I admit from the past year or maybe the last oh... 2 or 3 years. No matter how you look at it, it is the guilt of this chore because of the urgency of this resolution that gets me in a fluster.

How am I to look good for spring and summer clothing when I need months of weight loss to get to that much desired goal. (By the way, I never reach the goal, it is just to high and there just isn't enough time.)

And so my dilemma goes on. I eat chocolate, chips and dips, cookies and cake while watching exercise videos and reading weight lose books. I even try to figure out if I can afford to join the various weight lose clubs while I'm trying to finish this chore of cleaning up the Christmas food. After all, we all know that you cant' start any new program until your house is cleaned out of all the bad foods. (I can't seem to bring myself to throw that kind of food in the garbage.) So here I am well into Jan. and working my way at getting things done. (Oh, what we women must do to get things back to normal.)

I hope your house is all righted around from the festive season. If you find that you have the same problem with this chore of food clean up then let me know. After all, there is comfort in knowing that you aren't alone in these difficult times.

P.S.
For those of you who know me, you know that one of my first loves is chocolate. So there is a certain amount of bliss in all of this, it is just those darn mirrors.

The gift of giving

This blog was written back in the Christmas season and for several reasons it didn't get posted. I have decided to post it anyway because the gift of giving is really a year round gift. Hope you enjoy it.

Have you ever wondered about the gift of giving?

Well, that is what is going through my head at this moment. I have just spent some precious time reading devotions with some of my family and the reading today came from I Peter 3:8-17 in the Bible. The particular part that stood out to me was verse 17: "Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong."

If you take the time to really think about the situations you see around you of people suffering for things that they have done, it is usually those who do things that are wrong choices that suffer the most. I have been in both situations and let me tell you, it is much easier to hurt for making the right choice than to hurt for making the wrong choice. I believe that the primary difference is guilt over selfishness. It is much easier to hurt when you know that you have made the right choice. I think it is a miracle that it is actually a peaceful suffering. I know, you're saying to yourself "peaceful suffering?". Yes, peaceful suffering. I believe that peaceful often gets mixed up with feels good. You can have peace in the hardest and most uncomfortable situations when it comes from right choices. The reason that happens is because you don't have to deal with guilt. It still is painful but you have peace that you made the right choice. I believe that God blesses the hearts and emotions of those who do right, thus giving you the unexplainable peace at the root of all that is happening.

So, as Christmas is the time for giving take the time to make some right choices, even if it hurts, and bless someone who really has a need. And if it is nothing else than making a right choice of action or attitude toward someone and giving up something that is totally selfish for the health and happiness of those you love, then blessings to you in your suffering. God is so good and loves to comfort and bless you who make the right choice.

Merry Christmas and Blessings to those who experience the "gift of giving".