Captain Kangaroo with Mr. Moose

See -- told you I was feeling nostalgic.

For those that were concerned

Yes. I do feel better today. And yesterday for that matter. Apparently, I just needed to acknowledge why I was mad and get past it. Sorry to worry you.

So what's new with you? Me - I'm feeling rather nostalgic today. That and I wish I was in bed watching cartoons. -- Happy Tuesday!

When you do what you've always done....

Yeah, I know I'm supposed to be thankful. Uh huh. Whatever. Today I am not. Come to think of it, I wasn't so much so yesterday either. In fact, I’m kind of just mad at the world. Ok. Maybe not the whole world. Just a small part of it. And I really have no reason to be mad that is anything specific. It’s really just myself that I’m mad at. You see, I have this idea in my head that things will change. That if I do the same thing as before and the people around me do the same things THEY did before, that the end result will be different. That somehow there will be a different result. Guess what. There isn’t. When you do the same thing you’ve always done, you get the same thing you’ve always gotten. Imagine that.

So how do you get yourself out of the pattern? The obvious answer is that you should do something different. But when that doesn’t work, you still go back to what you know. Even if it didn’t get you what you wanted before. See. There’s that pattern again. Let’s try a different way. Works just fine until the people around you don’t change what they do. And then, here you are stuck doing what you did before and not even realizing it until you are all of a sudden in that pattern again. Stupid pattern. So let’s get everybody on board and all do something different. Here we go marching rattelly bang. Going down this new path and then something gets in the way and we sidestep it and get ever so slightly off of the new path. Marching unknowingly along and then we get to where we are supposed to be at the end. And what do you know. We once again have what we always have. Definitely not what we started towards. How did that happen? Well let’s look. Oh yeah. Back there where that thing got in the way and we sidestepped to go around it. See where we went? Yep. Back to that same old pattern. Cripes. How did we not notice that we were on the same path again? Blissfully marching along we failed to pay attention to where we were.

I know. I’m rambling again. I’d say that this is a first but y’all know it isn’t. I’m a rambler sometimes.

the day after the day they stuffed themselves

Started out like every good little brainwashed American and went shopping this AM. My contribution to Black Friday was the smallest of any year in memory. I sought out to purchase some big things but the lines were more than I was willing to wait in. So I obviously didn't need them all that bad.

Had fun shopping with a friend. We then topped the morning off by eating REALLY rich food at Wheatfield's for bfast. Yummy sourdough pancakes with black raspberry butter. mmmmmm.

Then off to home where my husband was amazed at the amount of money I didn't spend today. LOL Seriously he was. So surprised in fact that he got me back out the door to the hardware store. And THERE I made up for some of my prior non-spending on fun things like sealing caulk and water softener pellets. But we needed them so who can complain? DH did however comment several times on the "insane amount of people considering this is a hardware store". A big not so big box store but a hardware store all the same.

A & Z ended up spending the night last night. Amber couldn't get her beloved to wake up off of my couch where he was experiencing a somewhat severe case of turkey coma. After watching 2 movies we gave up and dug out blankets and pillows. And all the sleepy ones were put away for the night. Today they hung out with us as well. Kind of nice having Amber in the house for the day. Asked for "someone" to do dishes though and then the not so nice to have you back memories kicked in. :) The two of them only just left now, after I fed them supper and sent them out the door with their brother. I see a night of Xbox gaming in the future of the wee ones. Ok, so they aren't so wee size anymore. But they are still MY wee ones.

And even though all of the events of today were not what I would have planned out had I had the opportunity to.... all in all I am thankful. 40 ways and then some. For I am truly blessed. Even when I forget that I am.

"40 Things to be Thankful for" Part IV

36. other people's blogs - the world seems a little smaller somehow
37. extended family even though I don't see them as often as I like
38. fresh air
39. that I live in a place where you can go shopping at 4am. Though I still can't remember why you would want to. LOL
40. the gifts you can't put a price on or stick under the tree

"40 Things to be Thankful for" Part III

21. beautiful nieces
22. positive relationships with my siblings
23. The opportunity to travel
24. hugs
25. books
26. flowers
27. fresh fruit and veggies
28. growing up with my grandparents close by
29. crocs
30. crayons and markers
31. music of all kinds
32. people that know my faults and love me anyway
33. calm
34. Team Hope
35. cameras and the photos they take

"40 things to be Thankful for" Part II

16. Thursday Night TV
17. Internet TV for the shows I missed on Thursday
18. Stampin and Scrappin Friends that have grown to be more than that
19. Little ones that like to be tickled and LAUGH so well
20. Gas is finally below $3.00 again (at least for now)

"40 things to be thankful for" Part 1

1. my husband
2. I have four beautiful children
3. Elvis
4. my best friend that lives far away
5. the unconditional love of my parents
6. the fact that I'm going to be a grandma in 2008
7. invisible friends that aren't so invisible anymore
8. that I know how I am paying the bills this month
9. Diet Coke
10. Crabtree and Evelyn Hand Therapy
11. Fuzzy friends that are always happy to see me when I get home
12. the FHA underwriter that got me into my house
13. scrapbook paper
14. the cardinals that greet me outside the porch each morning
15. spinach and mushroom pizza

39 days until Christmas??

somebody just emailed me that. 39 days until Christmas.

Is this good or bad?

Jack and the Door

Jack thinks he can open the door. He used to just jump for the door handle. He now thinks he'll be able to jump through the window at the top of the door. Silly cat.

Added pics to Sally and the Skunk

http://carolynslostsanity.blogspot.com/2007/10/selsun-blue.html

FOCUS is an F word

My friend Jannel over at the Band Clementine had an extensive blog series about their recent Squeaky Wheel Tour. Clementine's Blog It was fun to read and has had some very enlightening moments since she has returned home from the tour. Ok, maybe not what others may consider enlightening but definitely so for me. I shared one of the blogs early last week. It was about why we let others determine our level and definition of our own successes. Check it out if you didn’t catch it the first time. Jannels version of success

Anyhoooo, her most recent blog was all about being home and the transition that that is and ended with a focus on F words. Found and Fun specifically. She said “The reminder here is that I have learned to focus more each day on what I have FOUND and not what is missing…I would say we all have pain we can focus on if we want to. I know I do, but I don't wants to anymore? It doesn't make my life better and if something doesn't make my life better then what's the point?”

See it’s that Perspective thing again! What is it with that? But notice the change. It isn’t another, “things could be worse” reminder. It is definitely a count your blessings reminder. Change your focus.

So at this time of preparation for Thanksgiving and the holidays that follow, I challenge myself and YOU to the following:

Count your blessings each and every day. Or list things you are thankful for. Every day find five things that you’re blessed with and focus on them. Write them down each morning. Or if you are a not so morning person like me, write them down the night before. Put them in your pocket or purse or planner or whatever you keep with you all day. When the day just flat out sucks and the pity monster starts crawling in pull out the list and take a look at it. REMIND yourself of the things that make your life better.

See now, this is why this is such a huge challenge for me. This is the time of year that I get in this “the holidays just remind me of what I have lost” rut. If I make a list for the next two weeks of five things each day that make my life better, than maybe the rut won’t seem so deep. 40 things to be thankful for should do that, right?

Remind me that I wrote this; because I can tell right now that I’m going to forget. Who’s gonna hold me accountable? Don’t all jump once.

Why so quiet?

“So”, you ask, “where have you been all week and why no blogging?” That would be because since this time last week, I have really haven’t been on the computer much. I also have done little to nothing that can be classified as even remotely exciting. Not that my previous garden adventures and wedding whines and pitiful boring “What I did last night” blogs were ever exciting but, well, you get my drift. But I’ve kind of been in this weird “quiet” place that didn’t involve talking to much of anyone let alone the blogosphere. I even left my cell phone in the bedroom for 2 days and didn’t once pick it up to see whose calls I had missed. Me without a cell phone attached to my ear. Imagine that. But it was kind of nice. Quiet can sometimes be just what you need.

Pitiful or Bored -- You be the judge

So tonight I had HUGE plans for coming home and:

• cook dinner and extra for a second meal to freeze for next week
• clean the kitchen
• pack up summer clothes and get out all the sweaters
• read a few chapters in the book I keep telling myself I should be reading

instead I:

• cooked frozen pizza
• cleaned nothing
• made a bigger mess in the winter clothes looking for a sweater for tomorrow
• read every post in the blogs of note blog of the day http://beingfive.blogspot.com/

So what I had planned to do and what I did didn't match up. What's new?

Then again, I could have been at a friend's house stamping but she decided not to invite me over but to call and rub it in that that was what SHE was doing with her OTHER friend. [insert pouting face here]

I'd say tonight was a wasted night but it wasn't. Because I got to laugh at the http://beingfive.blogspot.com/ comics. Check them out! They'll make you giggle. And everybody deserves to giggle now and then.

A Pittance of Time - Terry Kelly

This is a tribute to the Canadian Military but it fits for the US Forces and Veterans as well. May we all remember and thank those who have served.

11/8/07 -- Well apparently this has ghosted. It must not have liked being on my blog. huh. I'll have to see if I can figure out where it snagged off to.

Jannel wrote it, I stole it

"As I travel this road of an Indie artist it constantly amazes me as to who “makes it” and who doesn’t. I hear people like Yvonne Perea, Susan Gibson, Gary Floyd, Dana Woods, Jimmy Davis, Kelly Fitzgerald, Denise Lee… I can’t help but wonder if the people listening realize they are in the presence of greatness. This brings me to the many talented musicians that we have met during the tour and those that have volunteered to profile missing persons at their events. These are hard working artists with day jobs who have to make their music like they have to breathe. They have many other responsibilities and they still come out exceptional. They are the real music industry. This makes me wonder why any of us ever give the “industry” any right to choose or not choose us. We know what we were born to do, we know who we are and we will do it with or without them. 15 or 55, fat or thin, short or tall, the look or not…we will continuing breathing our art in and out. Isn’t it up to us to choose everyday that we have “made it?” What would we rather be just another fast food restaurant that one could find in any city anywhere in this country or a fine restaurant that people plan their vacations around? A place or music that people in the area flock to because of the genuine, honest, home grown, honed, finely crafted songs (food) good for their souls. In the end what is a measure of a mans life anyway…a hit song, a Grammy Award, a record deal from a label that could drop or shelve you at anytime…or a hard working artist who’s mission is to do some good in the world wherever his/her guitar/piano and songs take him. We “make it” every day we choose to get out there accept who we are, walk forward and continue to be true to our own reason for breathing. " -- Jannel Rap at http://clementineband.blogspot.com/

Whether you are a musician or not - this screams the truth.

That pesky perspective thing again

"It's true that life's gifts come with responsibilities. When I don't feel like cleaning up my desk or my car or my house or my general existence, I try to remember the people who would be desperate to have all the things I take for granted." - Rachel Clarkson

What is it about a lesson that even though you think you have learned it, you still keep running into it? The above was the quote from my planner for the other day. I didn't read it then as it was last Friday and I had major Fridayitis and avoided everything that I could that day, which also included avoiding my planner. And then today I had to go back to the day in the planner twice. Should have only been once but I couldn't remember what I'd read after I read it the first time and consequently had to flip back to Friday yet again. The second time I read the quote. Which is obviously what I was there for the first time in the karmic version of reality. And having obviously not read it the first time, the memory lapse had to occur to get me to to back to Friday again and read the quote.

Doesn't that all sound better than "I had to read my planner twice to get the information I should have gotten the first time. And being the short attention span gal I am, had to read around the rest of the page for the day because I couldn't remember even why I'd flipped to Friday and while I was reading I found this quote that has been haunting me ever since."

And now I've spent much of my lunch break eating a broccoli and cheese potato Lean Cuisine and blah blah blahing on this blog.

Back to the quote -- I ran into the same quote in a newsletter recently. I'm obviously supposed to remember its' lesson. I apparently still need to take stock in what I do have and count my blessings. (And apparently I need to clean my house. But that was always a given.)

Are you being responsible with the gifts you've been given?

Blessings. Count them and they'll multiply.

Beautiful Weather weekend day 2

Beautiful day! More than 70 degrees, light breeze and SUNNY! If every fall day was like this the seasons would never change. But I won't complain one bit!



This is the tree that I was saying is my favorite color - RED. The pics don't do it's intense color justice but I did the best I could.



As the summer plants die back and the green fades away (or blows away) we keep finding the beauty in the other things in the yard. I must thank the previous owners for some of the things they left behind.

I'm so glad we have this awesome yard that just happened to come with a house.

Fall colors and adventures with a chain saw

We spent the day today in the yard. When we made the plans it was supposed to be warmer then it turned out to be. At least in my head it was supposed to be warmer. :) I think it turned out to be in the mid 60's. But it was a bit breezy which made it that much colder. I'm so not ready for colder temps.

When we had the wedding in the yard, I fully expected to have changing leaves and the beginning of the fall colors. The warm weather of then has given rise to beautiful reds and deep yellows and oranges. Our feeble attempt to mimic the colors two weeks ago with straw bales and gourds is a pale comparison to the rich colors nature brings to the yard now.

I'll have to take a picture tomorrow of the absolutely stunning red that the bush outside the front door has become. When I say red is my favorite color, THIS is the red I mean. I've spent nearly an hour on the internet now trying to find out what kind of bush it is so I can buy and plant more to share the incredible color with the rest of the yard.

Speaking of reds, Jim and I have made it our mission to save this poor spindle of a japanese maple. We found it at the garden center in the 85% off no guarantee section. Otherwise known as the "we'd plan to throw it out but give it your best shot" section. It will be our labor of love for this fall. It's a lacy leaf variety. Acer palmatum dissectum I think. Not sure though because the tree was being choked by the tag and we threw the tag away before I thought to check for sure. So much for my plans to be so good about tracking everything we planted and planning so well.

So the highlight of the day was the adventures with the chainsaw. When we were standing there in Menards more than a month ago looking at the wide selection of chainsaws we had a discussion. I kept trying to tell my dear husband that we needed at least the 18 inch saw. And higher horse power was a must. We needed a larger saw because we had plenty of large trees that are bound to need chain sawing at some point. "Several of them need it now," I kept telling him. I was told that I was of course being a girl of little knowlege of things chain sawing. A 14 inch saw that was clearly labled as a "limb saw" was all that we would need. This was of course a direct result of the fact that it was dear husband's checkbook that was paying for said saw. Was it the household account or mine, we would have of course agreed that the larger more expensive saw was the one to get. But alas, the miserly decision was made and the little limb saw was taken home.

Fast forward to today. "This limb saw isn't as powerful as one would think it should be. How are we going to take down that massive trunk before it falls on the chicken coop?" And we of course have two such trees that once we started removing limbs today we found needed to be removed completely. So I'm now off to Craig's list to see about finding an upgraded chain saw.

What have you bought from Craig's list? And how cool is Craig to have made us such a place to trade.

Until next time, take a minute to enjoy the colors. And don't forget to turn back the clock!

CLEMENTINE-Must Have Been

These are my friends. And they are Squeaky! Check out their blog of the tour. The link is to the right.

oops

and then someone puts you up on YouTube. Poor lady.