The Little Things

Tonight's dinner preparation was a bit of a workout. There was LOTS of chopping.

As I was chopping I just started thanking God. I realized that there are many people who can NOT chop.

It may be painful for them to grip the knife.
They may not have enough strength to cut the thick carrots.
They may not be able to stand for as long as I stood while chopping.
They may not have anything TO chop.

Yes, in something even as simple as preparing dinner, I had a praise on my lips...because I realize that NOTHING should be taken for granted.

So as I thank God for continued eyesight (which I do EVERYDAY), I've also thanked Him on this day for the ability to simply prepare a meal.

I praise God for the Big and the Little things...because He deserves the praise in ALL.

Let the DIALOGUE begin! What's something small that you think people take for granted, yet YOU don't?

Talk to me!

Til next time...

Reciprocity

All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.
~Matthew 7:1

A few weeks ago I was at a street fair and found a woman's driver's license on the ground. The fair was extremely crowded and finding her would have been virtually impossible.

So I took her license with me and 2 days later, on Monday, I mailed it to her. It was the right thing to do.

Now we fast forward to this passed Saturday. I lost MY driver's license. Where? I have no idea. I've been checking my mailbox daily in the hopes that some kind person would have "done the right thing" and mailed it to me as I did with the one that I found.

Well, it's been almost a week...no license.

So my question is this, why is so difficult for people to "do the right thing" these days? For $.44 whoever found my license could've easily sent it back. Instead, I'll have to pay $29.00 to get it replaced.

Sometimes, I just have to shake my head.

Let the DIALOGUE begin! Have you ever lost something and had it surprisingly show up due to the kindness of a stranger?

Talk to me!

Til next time...

Labor Pains

Deep cleansing breaths...right?

I don't know what's goin' on here. I've had 3 babies "the natural way" (you know...like the way Eve & Wilma Flintstone had theirs...no drugs, no c-section...just a LOT of pain and pushing), yet giving birth them was exponentially easier than it has been for this book that's been gestating in my heart and mind for years. I mean really...time's up...COME OUT ALREADY!!!

I think about the book everyday. Many times a day. I could probably WRITE IT in a day...if I would just sit down and do it.

But it just won't come out. It's like I need a "mental suppository" in order to get this thing outta me.

WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?!?

Why is it so difficult to put pen to paper and get the first page done?

I know why, and I have to get over it.

You see...the book is about me. The good, the bad, and the ugly. The good, I can write about easily. Nobody gets hurt there. But the bad and the ugly...yeah...some toesies are gonna get stepped on there.

But what am I supposed to do?

I'm not writing to make anybody look bad. I'm just writing the truth about MY life.

I can't help it if every page of my life has not been rosey...and they haven't been. And I don't want to sugar-coat the pages either, because they definitely haven't been that.

I know that I have a story to tell. Too many people have heard my story, shook their heads, looked at me in amazement and said..."You have GOT to tell your story"! And I know I need to.


The problem with me is that I'm always considering how others will feel about my actions, and so...I don't act. That's so not cool.

And I know...I've gotta get over that. I mean really, if the shoe were on the other foot, you can bet your bottom dollar that the folks I'm "protecting" would write their book, and care less about how it affects me.

And therein lies the problem.

Whadda I do, whadda I do?

Breathe in, Breathe out...deep cleansing breaths...and...PUSH.

Let the DIALOGUE begin! What's dream, goal, idea, do you have growing inside of you that needs to come out, but hasn't yet? What are you waiting for?

Talk to me!

Til next time...

Ha ha!

Today's post gives me a giggle so I thought I'd share the giggle with YOU.

I happen to be one of the very few people who actually drives the speed limit. YES folks, I said it...I DRIVE THE SPEED LIMIT!

If the speed limit is 40 mph, that's how fast I go. If it's 25 mph, that's how fast I go. Ok...you get the idea.

And as you can imagine it drives people behind me nuts...absolutely NUTS. Oh well...I see it like this...I can not afford to pay for a ticket if I get one, and I don't want my driving record tarnished, sooo...I'm driving the speed limit.

Oh...and another reason is because cops lurk in nooks & crannies where you can't see them. Just when you zoom past one they come "out of nowhere".

So the other day I was on my way home, driving down a street where the speed limit is 25 mph and I know exactly where the cops like to hide on this particular street.

As I'm driving down the street, the dude in the truck behind me is right on my tail and he stays there until he decides to speed up and go around me (mind you, we're on 2 lane street so he's not supposed to pass me).

Well..."Mr. Speed Demon" zooms around me and guess who's waiting for him as soon as he does...Yep...you guessed it...a cop. YAY!!!

That's what dude gets.

I'm sure that as his ticket was being written up he was probably calling me every name in the book. Oh well...as long as MY name wasn't the one on that ticket, I really don't care.

Now, Let the DIALOGUE begin! Are you a "speed demon"?

Talk to me!

Til next time...

The ABCs of Me

Today's post is inspired by Judy, one of my two very best friends in the whole wide world.

She's created a social psychology collage and I think it is absolutely bee-yoo-tee-ful.
So much so, I want to create one myself. Hopefully she'll show me how one day (hint hint, wink wink).

The background for her collage really captures who she is. Without her even having to say or write a word, you "get it".

Then she added meaningful photos which also reflect who she is. I love her choice of photos ;-)

And then, she chose each letter of the alphabet to describe herself. That's the part that I will attempt for myself here. I'm just gonna type the first thing that comes to mind. Here goes:

A - Affectionate
B - Bubbly
C - Chatty
D - Determined
E - Ebullient
F - Friendly
G - Genuine
H - Hospitable
I - Inspiring
J - Jolly
K - Kind
L - Lovable
M - Momma
N - Nervous
O - Optimistic
P - Patient
Q - Quiet
R - Resilient
S - Studious
T - Talkative
U - Understanding
V - Vigilant
W - Writer
X - Xtra special
Y - Youthful
Z - Zaftig

There ya have it folks. I think that those who know me best would agree with the descriptions. There may be a couple that would tilt a few heads. And for the life of me, I couldn't think of ANYTHING for the letter X, so I got a little "creative" on that one. But these are pretty much me in a nutshell...The ABCs of Me.

Now, Let the DIALOGUE begin! Using each letter of the alphabet, which words best describe you?

Talk to me!

Til next time...

***

So...this afternoon, my dear friend Judy, actually made a collage FOR me. I absolutely LOVE it!!! The clipart image of the girl with letters floating around is the original image that I had for this post. I've now added my BEAUTIFUL collage for all the world to see. Judy, my friend...I love you!

From The Mouths Of Babes

So my daughter Lauren works at a park. Every now and then she comes home with a funny story about the kids that are part of the park program.

Last night, she told me a story about her friend's young niece that reminded me of a story about my youngest daughter Jordan when she was little.

Lauren told me that the friend's niece was at the nail shop when a VERY VERY LARGE woman walked in. As the woman went to sit down in the chair to get her feet done the little girl looked at her with a fretful face and shouted, "NOOO, it's gonna break!"

Now...adults know better than to say such things (even if it may have been true), but children don't have "filters". They tell it like it is. Not saying that it's right, but it is what it is.

So that incident reminded me of one that happened when my daughter Jordan was 3 years old.

Now I'm a big woman...plus-sized, overweight, fat...call it what you will. So I have to shop at the "big girl" stores.

So when Jordan was 3, I had her with me while I shopped at Lane Bryant. As we're in line at the register Jordan notices the VERY VERY Large woman in front of us and she says to me, "Mommy, that lady is a big ol' fat".

I was sooo embarrassed and wanted to crawl under a rock. I apologized to the woman and told Jordan that her words were not nice and that she needed to apologize. So she goes up to the woman and says in her adorable little 3 year old voice, "Lady, I'm sorry you're a big ol' fat."

Ok. At that point I needed someone to DROP a rock ON me.

That wasn't quite the apology I meant, but I understood that in her 3 year old mind, the apology was sufficient. At the very least, it was honest. Which leads us to today's topic...

Let the DIALOGUE begin! What's the most embarrassing thing you've ever heard a child say?

Talk to me!

Til next time...

Things I don't "Like"

So here I am again venting about Facebook and something that I don't "Like" about it.

RE-POSTING!!!

I don't mind when others post or re-post, however, I DO NOT WANT TO BE COERCED INTO REPOSTING by guilt-riddled comments like these:

...let's see how many people re-post this.. I have a feeling I'm gonna see almost no re-post

...Copy and re-post if you...

I am GROWN people!!! I don't need to be TOLD what to re-post, nor do I need to be made to feel badly if I choose not to.

If I like a post enough, I will re-post it, but I ALWAYS remove the part at the end telling others to re-post.

To me, re-posting is like the chain-letter of Facebook. You know..."if you don't send this to 10 people in 10 minutes, yadda, yadda, yadda".

My blessings are not tied to a chain email, nor are they tied to a re-posted comment.

Now, Let the DIALOGUE begin! What irks YOU about Facebook?

Talk to me!

Til next time...