The name of this post was taken from our pastor's teaching this past Sunday. The series topic is: Get Over Yourself. This Sunday we were challenged to name at least one thing each day that we are grateful for and to do one good deed for someone else. We were also asked not to come up with trite sayings or to do deeds for people we are going to be helping anyway. I don't believe in advertising a good deed but I do love to discuss gratitude and hot and cold running water is at the top of my list.
The beginning of my appreciation for and deep thankfulness for hot and cold running water is lost in time. I am not an environmental activist. I am not a vegan. I am a woman with a consciousness. I know how much of the world does not enjoy running water. Even fewer enjoy the luxury of hot and cold running water. Beyond that I can adjust it to just the right temperature, luxuriate under the comforting flow of an adjustable showerhead or float in a tub full of bubbles and hot, hot water. It never ceases to amaze me. I am filled with an awareness of the blessing of the moment. As a result I am conservative with water. Not fanatically conservative. Consciously conservative in how long I allow the shower to run or how deep I let the tub fill. Once in a great while I throw caution to the wind and fill that tub to the top with hot water. It is heavenly. I am grateful.
I did a good deed. A little one but one nonetheless.
Anyone reading this blog will be privy to my gratitude list for this week. For now, I am going home. I am tired and need to rest. Enjoy your shower or your bath tonight.
Love!
Monday, September 28, 2015
Saturday, September 26, 2015
Living on the Downhill Slide
I have been 64 years old for two days. If I live as long as most of my family I have 31 years left on this earth. More than likely I have about 20 years to go given a few of my life decisions in earlier years. I am living on the downhill slide. Mortality looks back at me when I look in the mirror. Oh, in case "downhill" seems to imply a negative perspective, rest assured, I simply mean to convey the well known fact that time passes faster as we grow older. The slide part just reminded me of a recent moment in the gym. The poor trainer who was assigned to me showed me an exercise that he literally uses one of those furniture sliders to perform. He looked darn good doing that exercise. I looked like an elephant who stepped on a patch of black ice. He suggested we use a machine for the time being. I thought he was brilliant.
So what does this mean to me, I ask myself, just to hear myself, because I am, after all, the best person to advise myself. "YEAH. RIGHT!" "Hey, you be quiet and let me talk." Excuse the brief moment of chatter. My mind scattered a bit. Fact is that I am too sleepy to write at the moment. Remind me to pick up where...
Day or so later...Well, I am over the 64 year old thing. It is just a number. Parts of me feel older. My brain does not feel older. I well remember my paternal grandmother giving me "what for" when I mentioned something about her age. She was in her eighties, mind you, and she informed me that her mind was as active as it had been when she was 19 years old but her body would not respond to her brain. That's about it in a nutshell. I am told that I inherited a great deal from this grandmother. At one time this caused me angst. She was eccentric in interesting ways. Strong-willed. Not beyond spinning a yarn with a bit of the truth in it and an intelligent woman who married a man who craved to farm. So they farmed. I now think it is just fine with me if I am a great deal like her. Physically she bequeathed nearly all of herself to me even down to the swayback. I have been told that I have a strong streak of the eccentric in my personality. Both of my grandmothers are worth emulating. They came through incredibly rough times. They were strong women. I am a strong woman. I don't necessarily want to be a strong woman. At times I would like to be able to crumble to the ground and give up but that ain't gonna happen because I come from a long line of women who do not give up. We ascribe to the quote most often attributed to Winston Churchill: "Never give up! Never give up! Never give up!" I am sure every part of the country has strong women but to my way of thinking southern women are, by far, the most stubborn, toughest women you will ever meet. Of course, if a woman is clever in the south, this will be veiled by her accent, her good manners and the wisdom to know when to stand her ground. WHAT THE HECK AM I TALKING ABOUT? Good grief, I have gone off on a tangent that is making me a tad crazy. My mind must be off on a journey it forgot to tell me it was taking. Well, the part about my paternal grandmother is certainly right on. The rest of all this stuff kinda ran off the road and into the field.
Darn it! 24 hours are not enough time for a day. It is healthy to go to bed at a reasonable hour. This is going to blow the heck out of my beloved 3 a.m. bedtime. I resent it. I honestly resent it but I have been spending time visiting a nursing home for a month now. The wisdom to know that health matters is clearer to me. But I don't have to like it and I don't...not one bit!
Do any of you get arbitrary threads of songs running through your mind out of nowhere like a lone truck on a long stretch of a desert highway? The one that just went through my mind...dang it...seems the key part of this entire paragraph is that it went through my mind. Must be out on the highway with that truck cause I cannot remember it now. Only thing I can think of now is Glen Campbell singing something about a rhinestone cowboy. Dominant desert theme going on here. Now I hear a thread of that song about tumbling tumbleweed which I believe has a great yodeling part in it but I could be wrong on that bit of info. I love to listen to western yodeling. (ADHD is a bitch!)
Good Night!
So what does this mean to me, I ask myself, just to hear myself, because I am, after all, the best person to advise myself. "YEAH. RIGHT!" "Hey, you be quiet and let me talk." Excuse the brief moment of chatter. My mind scattered a bit. Fact is that I am too sleepy to write at the moment. Remind me to pick up where...
Day or so later...Well, I am over the 64 year old thing. It is just a number. Parts of me feel older. My brain does not feel older. I well remember my paternal grandmother giving me "what for" when I mentioned something about her age. She was in her eighties, mind you, and she informed me that her mind was as active as it had been when she was 19 years old but her body would not respond to her brain. That's about it in a nutshell. I am told that I inherited a great deal from this grandmother. At one time this caused me angst. She was eccentric in interesting ways. Strong-willed. Not beyond spinning a yarn with a bit of the truth in it and an intelligent woman who married a man who craved to farm. So they farmed. I now think it is just fine with me if I am a great deal like her. Physically she bequeathed nearly all of herself to me even down to the swayback. I have been told that I have a strong streak of the eccentric in my personality. Both of my grandmothers are worth emulating. They came through incredibly rough times. They were strong women. I am a strong woman. I don't necessarily want to be a strong woman. At times I would like to be able to crumble to the ground and give up but that ain't gonna happen because I come from a long line of women who do not give up. We ascribe to the quote most often attributed to Winston Churchill: "Never give up! Never give up! Never give up!" I am sure every part of the country has strong women but to my way of thinking southern women are, by far, the most stubborn, toughest women you will ever meet. Of course, if a woman is clever in the south, this will be veiled by her accent, her good manners and the wisdom to know when to stand her ground. WHAT THE HECK AM I TALKING ABOUT? Good grief, I have gone off on a tangent that is making me a tad crazy. My mind must be off on a journey it forgot to tell me it was taking. Well, the part about my paternal grandmother is certainly right on. The rest of all this stuff kinda ran off the road and into the field.
Darn it! 24 hours are not enough time for a day. It is healthy to go to bed at a reasonable hour. This is going to blow the heck out of my beloved 3 a.m. bedtime. I resent it. I honestly resent it but I have been spending time visiting a nursing home for a month now. The wisdom to know that health matters is clearer to me. But I don't have to like it and I don't...not one bit!
Do any of you get arbitrary threads of songs running through your mind out of nowhere like a lone truck on a long stretch of a desert highway? The one that just went through my mind...dang it...seems the key part of this entire paragraph is that it went through my mind. Must be out on the highway with that truck cause I cannot remember it now. Only thing I can think of now is Glen Campbell singing something about a rhinestone cowboy. Dominant desert theme going on here. Now I hear a thread of that song about tumbling tumbleweed which I believe has a great yodeling part in it but I could be wrong on that bit of info. I love to listen to western yodeling. (ADHD is a bitch!)
Good Night!
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
What Is The Definition Of Insanity??
It is nearly four in the morning. I could have been done setting up this laptop for my work on-line hours ago. BUT! For probably the tenth time I got busy trying to fix something that one phone call to the IT folks would have resolved in...oh...sixty seconds! Yep! Took me a long time to give into the urge to call them. After several hours of tinkering, reading pages on how to disable this and find that and trying to interpret lingo that is foreign to me I picked up the phone, said my problem and found out that I should just hit the compatibility selection under internet options and all would be well. It was. Doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. I have sat in this little room at my mom's so many times working like crazy to resolve a computer problem only to have it resolved by a helpdesk in a matter of minutes. What is up with that? I am sure I do not know. It probably links right into the same reason I am still up at nearly 4 a.m. and that probably links right into my sugar addiction which probably links into...nevermind. Self-discipline is not my strong card. Apparently tenacity is my strong card cause I was certainly tenacious tonight. For no good reason but that goes without saying.
Why do I sit typing this and suddenly have a memory of a mountain road we were on with my sister a number of years ago.
Why am I sitting here at all?
Why don't I go home and go to bed?
Good idea!
Think I will.
G'night!
Why do I sit typing this and suddenly have a memory of a mountain road we were on with my sister a number of years ago.
Why am I sitting here at all?
Why don't I go home and go to bed?
Good idea!
Think I will.
G'night!
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Heaven Finds Me In The Darndest Ways
I have trashed at least three beginnings of a blog. That word disturbs me for some reason. If I say "blog" over and over it reminds me of a bog (swamp) or of a "blob" or of anything but a place to record my thoughts. When I say, "I have a blog." I want to say, "I have a blog-g-g-g-g!" stringing out the word in a long, high-pitched drawl.
Stream of consciousness day! Oh boy! I am sleepy. This should be an adventure in sheer determination. Know what? I have to go get dressed. My brother is coming and we are going to see my husband.
Sound of door opening, footsteps, sound of door closing. "I'm back!"
What a day! Beautiful day outside, lovely ride to Sea Level, time with my brother who I seldom see, watching my husband making progress in physical therapy and knowing the effort it requires of him, laughing with friends on the phone, going to my friend's house and playing with "my " parrott, Miss Nibbles, anxious moments scattered throughout, at home with myself and the cats and we are all chillin', having friends remind me that it is just for today cause they have to calm my histrionic self down...you know...bring the boiling water to a softer simmer. Listening to a woman of God get real about who her "daddy" is and she speaking it with force and the power of belief. Wondering who on earth is going to clean this house because my adhd self has managed to take stuff from room to room effectively trashing every room with stuff to put away. accepting that being me is o.k. who better to be me? thinking of the sparkling waters of the coastal views on the way to Sealevel. wondering what it would be like to grow up in that house or in that community and thinking maybe I will spend a night in the bed and breakfast I see along the way to Sealevel then knowing that I won't stay there alone. It is a two story plantation style home and I don't stay in two story plantation style homes unless someone is with me and nevermind the reasons. noticing that some of the homes on the route to Sealevel have been raised in case of rising waters and seeing a home being built with the house itself way up in the air on long, long structures of wood. thinking...if they don't close that in the darn house is going to take flight in a strong wind...just lift up off the foundation and fly away, floating on air drafts while avoiding the water. my Lord, if I was standing beside the home I would get a crick in my neck looking up the stairs. please tell me they are building a dumb waiter to haul up supplies and such.
i will be 64 on the 24th. my mother asked me what we were going to do for my birthday. i told her nothing if i had to plan it. i told her i did not intend to plan my own birthday another time in my life. she laughed an uncomfortable laugh. she is 87 years old and not up to planning much of anything. but i am serious. i will not plan my own party, bake the cake and do the dishes. nope! no way! never again! o.k. maybe if someone was gonna give me say....like about $1,000 if I would plan my own birthday. I would probably change my mind. I have my principles and money can't buy everything but the right money might buy my time planning my own birthday party.
this is personal but this is my blog (cringe) so I just gotta say what someone gave me out of the blue and having no idea in the world that I have wanted this type of thing forever but never, ever will pay for cause I'd rather eat out with friends, but I digress, someone gave me a bag full of what appeared to be clothes but it was full of wonderful, silky, expensive to me, pajamas and gowns. brand names that i have always wished i had but, like I said, i would rather eat out with friends so i guess God saw and heard that private little part of me that i haven't even addressed in a long time and He said, "My girl is having a tough time and she could use a big bag of soft, silky nightwear cause she has always wanted soft, silky pajamas and gowns. What better way to say, I love you! Total surprise and totally not practical. Yep, my girl will like this treat very much!" and that is why I know He was thinking and He, as always, made a perfect choice that is just for me and can you get over it! Out of the blue, tags still on the garments...couldn't you just die! I am overwhelmed and I feel so special!
welp, that is it for the night. a day at a time. take a deep breath. put on a set of soft, silky pajamas and go to bed! SIGH!
Stream of consciousness day! Oh boy! I am sleepy. This should be an adventure in sheer determination. Know what? I have to go get dressed. My brother is coming and we are going to see my husband.
Sound of door opening, footsteps, sound of door closing. "I'm back!"
What a day! Beautiful day outside, lovely ride to Sea Level, time with my brother who I seldom see, watching my husband making progress in physical therapy and knowing the effort it requires of him, laughing with friends on the phone, going to my friend's house and playing with "my " parrott, Miss Nibbles, anxious moments scattered throughout, at home with myself and the cats and we are all chillin', having friends remind me that it is just for today cause they have to calm my histrionic self down...you know...bring the boiling water to a softer simmer. Listening to a woman of God get real about who her "daddy" is and she speaking it with force and the power of belief. Wondering who on earth is going to clean this house because my adhd self has managed to take stuff from room to room effectively trashing every room with stuff to put away. accepting that being me is o.k. who better to be me? thinking of the sparkling waters of the coastal views on the way to Sealevel. wondering what it would be like to grow up in that house or in that community and thinking maybe I will spend a night in the bed and breakfast I see along the way to Sealevel then knowing that I won't stay there alone. It is a two story plantation style home and I don't stay in two story plantation style homes unless someone is with me and nevermind the reasons. noticing that some of the homes on the route to Sealevel have been raised in case of rising waters and seeing a home being built with the house itself way up in the air on long, long structures of wood. thinking...if they don't close that in the darn house is going to take flight in a strong wind...just lift up off the foundation and fly away, floating on air drafts while avoiding the water. my Lord, if I was standing beside the home I would get a crick in my neck looking up the stairs. please tell me they are building a dumb waiter to haul up supplies and such.
i will be 64 on the 24th. my mother asked me what we were going to do for my birthday. i told her nothing if i had to plan it. i told her i did not intend to plan my own birthday another time in my life. she laughed an uncomfortable laugh. she is 87 years old and not up to planning much of anything. but i am serious. i will not plan my own party, bake the cake and do the dishes. nope! no way! never again! o.k. maybe if someone was gonna give me say....like about $1,000 if I would plan my own birthday. I would probably change my mind. I have my principles and money can't buy everything but the right money might buy my time planning my own birthday party.
this is personal but this is my blog (cringe) so I just gotta say what someone gave me out of the blue and having no idea in the world that I have wanted this type of thing forever but never, ever will pay for cause I'd rather eat out with friends, but I digress, someone gave me a bag full of what appeared to be clothes but it was full of wonderful, silky, expensive to me, pajamas and gowns. brand names that i have always wished i had but, like I said, i would rather eat out with friends so i guess God saw and heard that private little part of me that i haven't even addressed in a long time and He said, "My girl is having a tough time and she could use a big bag of soft, silky nightwear cause she has always wanted soft, silky pajamas and gowns. What better way to say, I love you! Total surprise and totally not practical. Yep, my girl will like this treat very much!" and that is why I know He was thinking and He, as always, made a perfect choice that is just for me and can you get over it! Out of the blue, tags still on the garments...couldn't you just die! I am overwhelmed and I feel so special!
welp, that is it for the night. a day at a time. take a deep breath. put on a set of soft, silky pajamas and go to bed! SIGH!
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