Dad's Urn

In the traditions of our church,

this rose was on the altar the

Sunday morning after Dad died. 

And here is Dad

It's a beautiful urn

We will have a

Veteran's Service

on Friday.

(shhhhhh, don't tell anyone... but at night, I pat the top and say "Hi Pops!")

Aaugh!

AAAaaarrrggghhhhh!

Isn't that what Charlie Brown says when he's frustrated?

Well -- it fits, because I'm frustrated too.


When my father passed away last week, I flew out immediately to be with my family.  But that meant my pug, Sadie, was left at home.  In hindsight, I should have ignored my sister's desire to have me home quick, and hopped in my car and driven - bringing my Sadie with me.  But I didn't.

I also didn't plan on my son wanting to come to the funeral.  He had just been here to visit his grandfather, to say goodbye, two weeks before.  And that left me with a struggle as to how to get Sadie taken care of.  I perused a bunch of dog sitting websites, called PetSmart (her shots weren't current enough, and I couldn't do anything about that being this far away....), and so on impulse, I contacted a friend at work who says she struggles with money issues all the time.  I was willing to pay her $100 to keep Sadie at her house for 4 days, and I would provide all the food and such as well.  We got all our arrangements made, and I finally felt a little at ease, and able to sleep at night.

And now, two days before .... she has issues of her own and can't watch Sadie.  Luckily, I found a retired woman who is willing to come to the house twice a day, walk and feed Sadie.  It is my hope that she'll be ok for those three days spending so much time alone.  She will.  She's a trouper.  And will be SO happy when I get home.  *grin*







how we handle

life's little up's and down's

is what gives us character. :)

Smiling

“Letting go means to come to the realization that 

some people are a part of your history, 

but not a part of your destiny.” 

― Steve Maraboli

This quote always resonates with me.  We all have people who have been in our lives, and we know that there comes a time when the path we're on doesn't go in the same direction as others in our lives, and we need to let go.  Sometimes, that's not an easy thing to do!  But in order to move ahead, we can't hold on to those who hold us back.

That doesn't mean that you can't reconnect with them, to keep in touch from time to time.  That's what I did today -- I saw an old friend in a chat room and connected for just a bit, caught up on what's taking place in each others' lives.  I don't make connections with people that I meet very often.  Most of the time, you start a conversation with someone and it doesn't go anywhere.  Me, I prefer to have good conversations.  There are men I chat with who prefer to have conversations about certain body parts -- and most times I think "Grow UP!  that's what 15 year old boys think about, not real men!" Sometimes I'm even brave enough to say that to some.  *laughs*  I mean, its so boring for me to answer questions about boobs, or someone's libido.  At my age, I don't give a crap.  Capture me with some great thoughts, philosophical ideas, music we have in common, places we've been, sports -- its not hard to have a convo!  Or is that a dying art??

There are a select few, however, who can do the convos, impress me with thoughts or ideas, have something in common to keep the conversation going.  And that always, ALWAYS, captures my interest.  Those kind?  I call "old souls".   And that is the sort of man I'm attracted to!



Today's convo was reconnecting with a man in Sweden in his late 20s who is definitely an old soul.  He gets it, and when we sit down to chat, it goes on and on.  Too bad the time difference is so huge, makes it hard to find a time to connect!  He sounds happy, enjoyed his Holidays ... but best of all, after almost a year of no contact... he still remembered me!


I'm smiling .... all the way to dreamland tonight!

Thank You!!

One Thing Every Day

You need to do one thing every day.

When there are things that need to be done,
when you're hanging in limbo because of a situation, when you're doing more waiting than anything else,
you need to have a plan that gets you moving.

We are struggling with that today.  It is Monday, and there are things that need to happen, and yet there's nothing we can do but wait ... wait for phone calls, wait for something to happen, wait for someone else to make a decision.   I'm usually the one to make things happen, to make phone calls, to decide and act on something, anything.   But my Mom has been so dependent on my sister, and she is out of town for the weekend, so it's been nothing but waiting.  Needless to say, I don't wait very well. hahah

Dad's cremains are ready to be picked up.  But Mom wants to wait for my sister.
The service needs to be arranged at the cemetery.  But Mom wants to wait for my sister.
Someone will need to call the Pastor.  Yep.  Mom wants to wait for my sister.
I know that she's been depending on sis to get things done.
But that doesn't make it easier on me.

And if I was a different kind of person, I might be feeling some resentment.  Here I am away from my home and my job, my life is on hold, and I'm just sitting in limbo.  I've spent all of my vacation time here with my parents, I wouldn't change that a bit, but my sis has taken vacations that allow her to relax and all of mine this year have been changing one stress for another.  Not that I would change any of it, I've treasured every moment with my parents that I can get.   But at the same time, it's been an expensive way to spend vacation time, costly airline tickets, you get the idea.

No Regrets, however.
Just wishing that there was more to do than wait.
So far this visit, there has been something that needs doing every day.
Just waiting today.
The stress is creating havoc for me today.
Maybe I'll sneak off and grab a burger somewhere.

Something New!

Sunday, a day of rest.  And resting we are!  Time for some football, and this isn't easy!  The 49ers are playing the Az Cardinals... and I don't know who to root for!  Well, in fact, most of the year, I root for both teams, and today, I'm just rooting for each play to go well, no matter which team has the ball. But.  In the end, because it will make a difference in moving forward to playoffs, I hope AZ wins!

I took "the girls" (my mom and her sister) to church - because I am always the driver. hehehe  It was a good service, same church I was raised in; that part doesn't change. We stopped off and had lunch at Chili's, and that's never been bad.  We were talking about ordering food at restaurants - how often do we go in and order the same old foods?   I can remember years ago when I would order something "safe", like a burger or sandwich that I would be familiar with.  But .... almost always, food in a restaurant is really good.  So today, I gambled and ordered a Quesadilla Explosion Salad.  It was a mixed greens salad with little tortilla strips, pico de gallo, and a honey lime type dressing that sort of exploded with flavor in your mouth.  It was served with a cheese quesadilla on the side.  This was probably the best salad I've had in a restaurant in a long time!


But my point?  We're always worrying about ordering something we know we will like that we don't venture out of our comfort zone and try something new.  That doesn't apply to just food in a restaurant, however.  It works that way in life as well.  We should always strive to try new things, to see what we're capable of, to push our personal limits and use that to grow.

So go out there,
be bold, be brave
and try something new!

All Is Well

All is well

Lift up your voice and sing

Born is now Emmanuel

Born is our Lord and Savior

Sing Alleluia

I often wonder ... how do people get through hard times without faith?

I was raised being churched my entire life.  But going to church doesn't always make us faithful.  On the other hand, there are people full of faith who don't go to church at all.  I think I fall somewhere in between, but I lean more toward the ones who don't go to church.  I don't always agree with what an organized religion preaches. I'm not saying it's wrong, it just doesn't suit me.  But I have loads of faith, and belief in God.  There's a higher power, and we don't know His plan for us.

These lyrics are from a beautiful song.  When I sang in the choir at Bethel Church, every year we did a Christmas Pageant, this song would be sung by a young boy - a voice so pure you couldn't help believing the Christmas Story.

But no matter our circumstances, we still need to know that no matter what happens in our lives, no matter how bad things seem to be, it will all be ok.  We get through the toughest portions of life and hopefully learn from our situations.

But in the end, alleluia!