Noah's Ark

Everything I need to know, I learned from Noah's Ark .

ONE: Don't miss the boat.

TWO: Remember that we are all in the same boat!

THREE: Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.

FOUR: Stay fit. When you're 60 years old, someone may ask you to

do something really big.

FIVE: Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.

SIX: Build your future on high ground.

SEVEN: For safety's sake, travel in pairs.

EIGHT: Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.

NINE: When you're stressed, float awhile.

TEN: Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.

ELEVEN: No matter the storm, when you are with God, there's always a rainbow waiting.

THE CHRISTMAS PAGEANT AND CHILDREN

I read this story and it made me laugh so I thought I would share it with you. It could probably have been written about my daughter and her family as about many families. This holiday season, lets remember what it is truely about. Take time for Christmas Pageants, Christmas Teas, Christmas Programs. You will have a better Christmas season if you do.

Choose Joy.

The reason for the Season

My husband and I had been happily married (most of the time) for five years

but hadn't been blessed with a baby.

I decided to do some serious praying and promised God that if he would give us a child, I would be a perfect mother, love it with all my heart and raise it with His word as my guide.

God answered my prayers and blessed us with a son.

The next year God blessed us with another son.

The following year, He blessed us with yet another son.

The year after that we were blessed with a daughter.

My husband thought we'd been blessed right into poverty.

We now had four children, and the oldest was only four years old.

I learned never to ask God for anything unless I meant it.

As a minister once told me, "If you pray for rain, make sure you carry an umbrella."

I began reading a few verses of the Bible to the children

each day as they lay in their cribs. I was off to a good start.

God had entrusted me with four children and I didn't want to disappoint Him.

I tried to be patient the day the children smashed two dozen eggs on the

kitchen floor searching for baby chicks.

I tried to be understanding... when they started a hotel for homeless

frogs in the spare bedroom, although it took

me nearly two hours to catch all twenty-three frogs.

In spite of changing over twenty-five thousand diapers,

never eating a hot meal and never sleeping for more than thirty minutes at a time

I still thank God daily for my children.

While I couldn't keep my promiseto be a perfect mother - I didn't even come close....

I did keep my promise to raise them in the Word of God.

I knew I was missing the mark just a little when

I told my daughter we were going to church to worship God,

and she wanted to bring a bar of soap along to "wash up" Jesus, too.

Something was lost in the translation

when I explained that God gave us everlasting life,

and my son thought it was generous of God to give us his "last wife."

My proudest moment came during the children's Christmas pageant.

My daughter was playing Mary,

two of my sons were shepherds and my youngest son was a wise man.

This was their moment to shine.

My five-year-old shepherd had practiced his line,

We found the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes."

But he was nervous and said,"The baby was wrapped in wrinkled clothes."

My four-year-old "Mary" said,"That's not 'wrinkled clothes,' silly.
That's dirty, rotten clothes."

A wrestling match broke out between Mary and the shepherd and

was stopped by an angel, who bent her halo and lost her left wing.

I slouched a little lower in my seat when Mary dropped

the doll representing Baby Jesus,

and it bounced down the aisle crying, "Mama-mama."

Mary grabbed the doll, wrapped it back up and held it tightly

as the wise men arrived.

My other son stepped forward wearing a bathrobe and a paper crown,

knelt at the manger and announced,"

We are the three wise men, and we are bringing gifts of gold, common sense, and fur.

The congregation dissolved into laughter,and the pageant got a standing ovation.

I've never enjoyed a Christmas program as much as this one,"laughed

the pastor, wiping tears from his eyes.

"For the rest of my life, I'll never hear the Christmas story

without thinking of gold, common sense and fur."

"My children are my pride and my joy and my greatest blessing,"

I said as I dug through my purse for an aspirin.

Jesus had no servants, yet they called Him Master.

Had no degree, yet they called Him Teacher.

Had no medicines, yet they called Him Healer.

Had no army, yet kings feared Him.

He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world.

He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him.

He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today.

Feel honored to serve such a Leader who loves us.

TIPS TO MAKE LIFE EASIER

DID YOU KNOW?

Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to pick the little "stringy things" off of it. That's how the primates do it.

Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!

Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up

Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.

Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert.

Simply chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream. Yummm!

Reheat Pizza
Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.

Easy Deviled Eggs

Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.

Expanding Frosting

When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.

Reheating refrigerated bread

To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

Newspaper weeds away

Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and for-get about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.

Broken Glass

Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.

No More Mosquitoes

Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.

Squirrel Away!

To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.

Flexible vacuum

To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in nar-row openings.

Reducing Static Cling

Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and ..... ta da! ..... ..static is gone.

Measuring Cups

Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.

Foggy Windshield?

Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car . When the window s fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!

Reopening envelope

If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.

Conditioner

Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair.
Goodbye Fruit Flies

To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2" with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!

Get Rid of Ants

Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants They eat it, take it "home," can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!

INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS
The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the fil-ter after every load clothes.) He told us that he wanted to show us something; he took the filter over to the sink and ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material ... I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like. Well ... the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn't go through it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that's what burns out the heating unit. You can't SEE the film, but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free ... that nice fragrance too.

You know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box .. well this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to potentially burn your house down with it! He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months. He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long! How about that!?!

Learn something new everyday! I certainly didn't know dryer sheets would do that. So, I thought I'd share!

Note: I went to my dryer and tested my screen by running water on it. The water ran through a little bit but mostly collected all the water in the mesh screen. I washed it with warm soapy water and a nylon brush and I had it done in 30 seconds. Then when I rinsed it ... the water ran right thru the screen! There wasn't any puddling at all! That repairman knew what he was talking about!

FOUR THINGS

FOUR THINGS YOU CAN'T RECOVER

The stone.............after the throw.

The word........after it's said.

The occasion........after it's missed.

The time........after it's gone.

The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.

Have a Blessed Day!

A LESSON THAT SHOULD BE TAUGHT IN ALL SCHOOLS

I got this story in my email yesterday and I thought it was important enough to post.

A lesson that should be taught in all schools . . And colleges

Back in September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a
social studies school teacher at Robinson High School in Little Rock ,
did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with the
permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building
supervisor, she removed all of the desks out of her classroom.

When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there
were no desks. 'Ms.. Cothren, where're our desks?'
She replied, 'You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.'

They thought, 'Well, maybe it's our grades.'
'No,' she said. 'Maybe it's our behavior.'
She told them, 'No, it's not even your behavior.'

And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third
period. Still no desks in the classroom.

By early afternoon television news crews had started gathering in
Ms.Cothren's classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had taken
all the desks out of her room.

The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats
on the floor of the desk less classroom, Martha Cothren said,
'Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he/she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in
this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.'

At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it.

Twenty-seven (27) U.S. Veterans, all in uniforms, walked into that
classroom, each one carrying a school desk.. The Vets began placing the
school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall... By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place
those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their
lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned..

Martha said, 'You didn't earn the right to sit at these desks. These
heroes did it for you.. They placed the desks here for you. Now, it's up
to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good
students, to be good citizens.. They paid the price so that you could
have the freedom to get an education.

Don't ever forget it.
By the way, this is a true story.
Please don''t ever forget the freedoms we have in this great country were earned by U. S. Veterans. Some with their lives.

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out non essential numbers. This includes age, weight and height.

Let the doctors worry about them.

That is why you pay 'them'

2. Keep only cheerful friends around you. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever..

Never let the brain idle. 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop
And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath. It is said that we can add years to our life by laughing long and often. You know how good you feel after you have laughed, so it must be true.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever.

Your home & family is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health.
If it is good, preserve it.
If it is unstable, improve it.If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER - Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Do share this with someone because.......................

We all need to live life to its fullest each day!!

Worry about nothing, pray about everything!!!

Growing Older and Proud of It

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become kinder to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, well not every time. or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement frog that I didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio.

I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant. I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging. Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60 &70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ... I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, despite the pitying glances from the jet set. They, too, will get older and rounder. I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You should care less about what other people think. I don't question myself too much anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong. So, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever,but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day (if I feel like it).

DANCING WITH GOD

I recently read this article that I am sharing with you today. It says everything there is to say about life. Please read it, follow it, and enjoy it.

When I meditated on the word Guidance,
I kept seeing 'dance' at the end of the word
And I remember reading that doing God's will is a lot like dancing.

When two people try to lead, nothing feels right.
The movement doesn't flow with the music,
And everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky.
When one person realizes that, and lets the other lead,
Both bodies begin to flow with the music.
One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back
Or by pressing lightly in one direction or another.
It's as if two become one body, moving beautifully.

The dance takes surrender, willingness,
And attentiveness from one person
And gentle guidance and skill from the other.

My eyes drew back to the word Guidance.
When I saw 'G': I thought of God, followed by 'u' and 'i'.
'God, 'u' and 'i' dance.' God, you, and I dance.

As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust
that I would get guidance about my life and once
again, I became willing to let God lead.

My prayer for you today is that God's blessings
And mercies are upon you on this day and everyday.
May you abide in God, as God abides in you.

Dance together with God,
Trusting God to lead and to guide you through each
season of your life.
This prayer is powerful and there is nothing attached.
If God has done anything for you in your life,
Please share this message with someone else.

There is no cost but a lot of rewards; so let's continue
to pray for one another.

AND I HOPE YOU DANCE!!!!!!!

Thanks To You

My life will never be the same so.................................

I just want to thank all of you for your E-mails over the past year. I am totally screwed
Up now and have little chance of recovery.

I no longer open a public bathroom door without Using a paper towel or have them put lemon slices in
My ice water without worrying about the bacteria on The lemon peel.

I can't use the remote in a hotel room because I don't know what the last person was doing while Flipping through the adult movie channels.

I can't sit down on the hotel bedspread because I can only imagine what has happened on it since it Was last washed.

I have trouble shaking hands with someone who Has been driving because the number one pastime While driving alone is picking ones nose (although Cell phone usage may be taking the number one spot).

Eating a little snack sends me on a guilt trip Because I can only imagine how many gallons of
Trans fats I have consumed over the years.

I can't touch my purse for fear it was placed on the floor of a public bathroom.

I MUST SEND MY SPECIAL THANKS to Whoever sent me the one about poop in the glue
On envelopes because I now have to use a wet Sponge with every envelope that needs sealing.
ALSO, now I have to scrub the top of every Can I open for the same reason.

I no longer have any savings because I gave them To a sick girl (Penny Brown) who is about to die in the Hospital for the 1,387,258th time.

I no longer have any money at all, but that will Change once I receive the $15,000 that Bill Gates/ Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating In their special e-mail program.

I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me, and St.
Theresa's Novena has granted my every wish.

I no longer eat KFC because their chickens are Actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers...

I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even Though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.
THANKS TO YOU I have learned that my prayers Only get answered if I forward an e-mail to seven Of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.

BECAUSE OF YOUR CONCERN, I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains.

I no longer can buy gasoline without taking someone Along to watch the car so a serial killer won't crawl in My back seat when I'm pumping gas.

I no longer drink Pepsi or Dr. Pepper since the People who make these products are atheists who Refuse to put 'Under God' on their cans..

I no longer use Saran Wrap in the microwave Because it causes cancer.

AND THANKS FOR LETTING ME KNOW I can't Boil a cup of water in the microwave anymore because It will blow up in my face.. Disfiguring me for life.

I no longer check the coin return on pay Phones because I could be pricked with a needle
Infected with AIDS.

I no longer go to shopping malls because some- One will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.

I no longer receive packages from UPS or Fed Ex Since they are actually Al Qaeda in disguise.

I no longer shop at Target since they are French and Don't support our American troops or the Salvation Army.

I no longer answer the phone because someone will Ask me to dial a number for which I will get a phone bill With calls to Jamaica , Uganda , Singapore and Uzbekistan..

I no longer buy expensive cookies from Neiman Marcus since I now have their recipe.

THANKS TO YOU I can't use anyone's toilet but Mine because a big brown African spider is lurking Under the seat to cause me instant death when it
Bites my butt.

AND THANKS TO YOUR GREAT ADVICE I can't Ever pick up $5.00 dropped in the parking lot because It probably was placed there by a sex molester waiting underneath my car to grab my leg.

I can no longer drive my car because I can't buy Gas from certain gas companies!
I can't do any gardening because I'm afraid I'll get Bitten by the brown recluse and my hand will fall off.

And I now keep my toothbrush in the living room, Because water splashes over 6 ft. Out of the commode.

Oh, by the way...

A German scientist from Argentina , after a lengthy study, has discovered that people
with insufficient brain activity read their e-mails or blogs with their hand on the mouse...

Don't bother taking it off now,
it's too late.

Life

We have lived in our Big Blue House going on 31/2 years now. I can't believe it. Time goes so fast but what I am so totally surprised at is the fact that I have not missed my old house at all.

We lived in our old house 33 years. My dearest and I built it from scratch. He did all the electrical and plumbling and I helped with everything. I know a lot about building. I raised my children in that house. I thought for sure I would think about different events or happenings in our old house like my children's firsts. I do sometimes but not as often as I thought. It seems like we have lived here forever. That is how I felt when we came to see this house. I started calling it "my" house from the beginning. I never thought I would live here as my dearest has lived in the country all his life and had no desire to do otherwise. He especially did not want neighbors living so close to us. He also liked the fact that he could go outside in his pj's and no one would see him, unless one of the few cars would drive by.

I liked living out there, 3 miles out on Hwy 34, when I was there but after moving here, I feel like I am actually a part of the world! I didn't know I was missing out on so much life! I saw very few people out there, our renters lived in our houses around us, so we did not get to know them very well.(not a good thing to become to friendly with renters) As I mentioned before, there was very few cars that went past. I was home alone often and I was 'alone'. Living here, when I am 'alone', I don't feel alone. People are always walking, biking, or driving by. The road in front of our Big Blue House is very busy but we are within walking distance to many restaurants, park, activities etc. along the beach. My dearest loves it too. (I can't believe it) He loves to watch people and he can surely do that here. We have an acre of land with our house, unheard of on West Lake Drive, and the cottage on our right side is an occasional seasonal. The house to the left of us is a rental with 4 nice boys living there who work on their cars continually. No old wrecks but nice, detailed, clean fixing of cars. No wild parties. From that, there is no one for at least two more lots down. We are an island, not what I expected. I wanted neighbors to socialize with. I guess one should be careful what they wish for.

We sold our old house this spring after almost 3 years of trying!! Now we feel we are really meant to be here. At one point, Ithought our old house hadn't sold because we were supposed to move back to it. Yeah right. I suggested it to my dearest who promptly said, "No way".

It is funny how life can change! Just with a simple move from one house to another, from one job to another, etc. This change in life was a good one for us. We have replaced a few windows, a new front door and new driveway. It is finally 'our' Big Blue House. That took a while for us to not feel like we were living in someone elses house. Now 'Our Big Blue House" needs painting and I would like to change it to the Big Brownish-Red House but my dearest likes the blue. What do you think?

Shame

For today, I commented on sojourners blog about Shame.

I don't feel shame but did rant and rave a bit. I need someone to talk to that is not going to take what I have to say personally and be defensive. I don't feel I need a psychologist, I just need someone to CARE. I have my dearest but he always wants to fix the probem or tells me I should have done or said ...........I do have ONE friend that I can talk to about pretty much everything but I could overload her and then she wouldn't be my friend or maybe would try to avoid me. Hey, maybe that is what she is doing now. I haven't seen her for a while.

I think my problems are something I have to deal with but my way of dealing with things are to go to the source (person) and talk to them about the problem. Even during that talk, I am choosing my words and feel I can't say what I am really feeling or don't know how to say it without bringing out defensiveness in that person. It usually makes it worse instead of better. Why? I am telling them how I feel or what it was that hurt me, etc. I want them to tell me what they were feeling or why they did or said what they did so I could understand where they were coming from. They don't do it. They don't tell me anything, they don't answer the question. I just feel intimidated or that it was all my fault. Sometimes things are better but most of the time it ends up the same or worse, they go on with our friendship like nothing happened but it is there, it is still there between us. You can feel it. I have chronic fatigue and stress makes me sick so heeeeellllllllppppppp!!!!!

You see, the things that are going wrong in my life now is "highschool "stuff with friends. We are "fully growed" women and are acting and saying things that should have stopped when they graduated. I know it is probably something going on in their life and it is about them but it still hurts and leaves me frustrated, upset and even angry. I would never say anything to anyone that I would feel would hurt them. I wish the rest of the world would do the same. I know that can't happen but oooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh sojourner, your post has gotten me started.

View from my window

This morning as I looked out my window, I saw something unusual. Yes, the ground had snow on it but on top of the snow, were leaves!!!! This is backwards. Aren't the leaves supposed to be UNDER the snow???? Wow. The wind is blowing today so the leaves are falling like rain. It is now about 2 1/2 hours after I got up and I can hardly see the snow any more. No......it is not melting, the leaves are almost covering the snow. Another thing I noticed is the leaves are almost all green. Nature didn't give the leaves enough time to turn color before the snow arrived. We are supposed to get 1-2 inches more snow on Monday. This is a sad situation. Not only did we have a short summer (September) but now an early winter? My birthday is the 7th of October and I can only remember one other winter that we had a blizzard on my birthday and the snow stayed.................soooooooooooooo the odds are in our favor for nice weather yet.
I have seen many winters. Anybody else out there remember a winter that came early and stayed?

GOOD THINGS: There is a good thing, the traffic has slowed way down. This is a good thing because we live on West Lake Drive and have a lot of traffic. The cars get going pretty fast past our house.Just Jules can verify They have slowed down to where they should be today. I can actually see who is driving as they go past.

Also, the lake is not frozen. That is a good thing because there are several people that still have their docks and boats in the water. I have seen people chip ice to get them out so I hope the snow last night gave them the bug to get them out today. My bird bath however, has frozen water in it and the birds are flying around my window as if to tell me they need water.

All-in-all, if this stays, we will make the best of it. There is something cozy about being safe and warm inside your home, the warm glow of the lights, candles burning, possibly cookies baking my husband wishes, there used to be. Now we can get those chores done that we have been putting off all summer because we would rather be outside. O.K. I tried..............................you all try to have the kind of day that you want to have. If you can't, make the most of YOUR view from YOUR window

New vehicle on West Lake Drive

As I sat drinking my coffee this morning, there was a new vehicle coming down our

street that I hadn't seen for some time. It was holding up traffic and at one point,

I could count 12 cars backed up behind it. It was a "big orange school bus".

Now I know summer is really over! I hated to see it now just as I hated to see

it when my own children waited for it to come that first day of school.

As I drank my coffee and saw the big orange bus go by full of excited children, it took me back to some wonderful days. I didn't realize as much as I thought I did, how much I missed those days.

Not only did I know summer was over but I knew that my time with my children was going to be very limited and as each year came "my time" was used up more by home work, chores, baths etc.

My children are all grown up now and I am enjoying my grandchildren Now I am going to miss my grandchildren, more than I usually do. Not only is my time limited with them but I now have to share it with their mom. They get off the "big orange bus" at 4:00 and supper is 5:00 and they have to go to bed at 8:00. Not much time to share! Time goes by sooo fast. Enjoy EVERY minute you have. I wished I could have been there to see my grandchildren get on their "big orange bus" today, to give them a big hug and kiss and say "Enjoy your day, I will be here when you get home."

Day At The Beach- Bemidji

We had a special day on Saturday. We spent the day with 4 of my 7 grandchildren. The day was spent, swimming in Grace Lake, playing in the sand, having pine cone fights, eating lunch and snacks and in general, having a GREAT time.



Here is the oldest Keegan, and youngest Tryllen. Keegan is going to be in the 4th grade this year and will turn 10 on September 20th. Tryllen is 4 and will be 5 on October 26th. He is in preschool and this will be his last year at home with Mom as he will be going to school next year.

This is Addie. She is 8 years old and is going to start 3rd grade this year. I can't believe what a young lady she had become. She is the only girl in this family and has 3 brothers to help her out every day.

This is Aiden. He is 6 years old and will be 7 in November. He has grown so tall this summer. He is almost as tall as his older brother.

Grandpa's pine cone fight with the boys. They had a great time, laughing and cheering when they hit grandpa. As you can see, there was no lack of ammunition.

We spent 4 hours at the beach and the weather was fantastic as was the company. All in all, we had a great day with my beautiful family.