Faithful

There is nothing in this world more faithful than a dog.

Dog is God spelled backwards.

If we could have as much faith in God, as dogs have in us, we'd be better off.

Silence

I was having a really hard time coming up with something for this word.  Thus, my silence for the last day or so.  I finally googled "Silence", and after I convinced Google that I really meant "silence", not "Silence of the Lambs", I got a bunch of images like the one above.

Why is silence always depicted as being dark, cold and alone?

One of the best feelings I experience is when I can sit in silence with a friend and be totally at ease.

Enjoying silence is to enjoy the moment, to be present, not to worry about the future or the past.

Silence does not have to be dark, cold or lonely.  Remember, silence can be golden.

Spirit

This is what my Spirit looks like when I'm doing yoga.

This is NOT what my body looks like.

That's ok.

Where my Spirit goes, my body will follow.

Celebrate IV

On Sunday I cleaned up my cropping room.  It's time, past time really, to get crackin' on some projects with looming deadlines!

I need to finish Wolf's scrapbook from when he was here. I need to take the second, and final, volume to him when we visit in June.  The tough part of this project isn't so much the hundreds of photos to go through, it's that I'm making a duplicate album so we have one to keep.  It's a daunting task to say the least.

I also need to make Cora a scrapbook of her Senior Year, so we may display it at her Graduation party at the end of May. 

Yeah, I know it's March.

It's time to get to work to celebrate these amazing people and all the great things they do with their lives!

Procrastinators unite!

P.S. Anyone want to come scrap with me?

Endure

I was at a total loss for a picture for this word, then, I was washing my hands in the restroom at the doctor's office this morning, I looked up, saw this bottle of lotion, laughed and took it's picture. 

I'm not sure what "endure" has to do with hand lotion, but who am I to question it!

I don't have much to say on this subject, except that I don't really like this word. To me, it seems rather negative. Endure is something to wait out, not enjoy, not grow from, nothing positive. 

I do not wish to endure anything in life. I hope you don't either!

Help

Today, Deane and I took the afternoon off to go and help his mother.  Her house sustained some wind damage a week or so ago and the skylight on the back patio was damaged.  Deane, Dave and I replaced it today.  We also helped her with a few other things around the house.  Then all went to Cissna Park and looked at an apartment.

Soon, we will probably need to help Juanita move.

It will be very hard for all of us.

The apartment was very nice and has everything she needs and is a nice, safe place with great staff and folks to look in on her and help her.

It's just hard to think that we will all be giving up her home.

Whoever said getting old isn't for sissy's wasn't kidding.

Power

Last weekend we attended a wine tasting at the new Art Mart.  It was a fundraiser and we enjoyed supporting a great cause, tasting wine and socializing with great friends. We also got a chance to look around the new store.

While browsing through all of the lovely things they have for sale, I came across some rose scented perfume.

When I was a poor college student I used to wear some very inexpensive perfume that smelled exactly like roses.  I wore it all the time.  I used to buy it at the grocery store.  I haven't been able to find it in years.

One sniff of this new perfume and I was transported back 20 years.

I excitedly showed it to Deane. He smelled it and got the biggest smile on his face!  He bought it for me immediately.  We took it back to our table and I showed it to our group of friends.  Deane excitedly told them all about how I used to wear rose perfume all the time.

The power of smell to bring back memories is strong indeed.

I put some of my new perfume on before we went to bed that night.

Found

I was at a loss for this word, then, I remembered I found this penny yesterday.

See a penny, pick it up, all day long, you'll have good luck! But only if it's head's up!

People put a lot of stock in finding pennies. Some say it's a "hello" from a loved one who is no longer with us, some say a head's up penny brings good luck.  I think it's a nice way to find a bright spot in your day.

Let's face it, pennies can't buy you much these days, unless you collect a lot of them!  

Did you know, that the state of Illinois is one of the only places you can still use pennies to pay a toll? It is the Land of Lincoln after all!

Here's hoping you find a head's up penny to brighten your day!

Witness

Things are not always Shiny and Chrome.

Sunday night Julian called and said his check engine light was on.

Yesterday, we got a letter from the IRS saying we owed them a couple of thousand dollars from 2014. 

This morning the water heater died.

Witness!

We have an extra vehicle, Julian came home yesterday, dropped his car at the shop and took our truck back to Bloomington.

We talked to our accountant and are most of the way to resolving the issue with the IRS (apparently we had an extra W2 we knew nothing about, an amended tax return and maybe a couple of hundred dollars should take care of it).

I was able to work from home today, find a plumber and we should have hot water within the hour.

Today's photo is of my dear husband shoveling the neighbor's sidewalk last week.  He does this pretty much every time it snows.  He always shovels our block.  You see, our corner is a school cross walk, he wants to make sure the kids can safely get through. If he has time, he will often shovel the other side of the street too.  Sometimes, he uses a snowblower, mostly, he uses a shovel.

What does that have to do with the series of unfortunate events I listed above? I believe that if you take care of others, others will take care of you. Yes, all of the things that have happened over the last few days suck, but they all could have sucked a lot more! We have the resources and tools we need to deal with them all.  We are very fortunate. We are blessed.  

I can't help but think that what you put out into the world comes back to you.  Bad situations are made better, good situations are amplified and sometimes humbled.  Attitude is everything!

Witness!