Four Things About Me.....

It's been a long crazy day. I don't know why we think we need to fill every minute of every day. When I tell myself that I'm are going to slow down, it seems like life gets faster. I wonder if that is God's way of keeping us out of trouble.

I have been attending a class to find out more about Foster Parenting. I didn't expect to like it as much as I do. The teacher is real sweet. Interesting how much the class has changed since I started going. The class is held twice a week for three hours each night. There has been anywhere from 6-12 people in the class but only 3 of us have attended all classes so far. The class runs a lot like a college class only at the end of each night there is a knowledge assessment, aka: test. I don't know if I will go through the entire process and become a licensed foster parent but it has been very interesting and there are a lot of lost children who need a lot of TLC. Besides, I love children and have a lot to give.

I found this MEME in my travels on the WWW and thought it would be interesting to share. Feel free to copy it if you like it. I would be interested in knowing more abut some of you.

Four Things About Me

Four jobs I have had in my life

1. Worked in Special Education in the Public Schools with blind children and
ADHA children.

2. Worked in several Chinese Restaurants and can speak some of their language

3. I worked nights as a nurse aide for a very wealthy family

4. I spent one summer as a cook for a Day Care Center and I don’t even like to cook


Four movies I have watched over and over and over

1. SOUND OF MUSIC

2. A FAMILY THING

3. LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE

4. A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT

Four places I have lived

1. Cincinnati

2. Cincinnati

3. Cincinnati

4. And oh yes, did I mention Cincinnati


Four TV shows I love to watch

1. GREY’S ANATOMY

2. NUMBERS

3. EXTREME MAKE OVER

4. HOME IMPROVEMENT / REMODELING / CARPENTRY SHOWS


Four places I have been on vacation

1. TAMPA FLORIDA

2. SOUTH CAROLINA

3. PENNSYLVANIA

4. FLORIDA KEYS


Four of my favorite foods

1. BAKED GROUPER

2. ANDREA’S BROCCOLI CASSEROLE ( AKA FRAN’S )

3. HAM SALAD

4. SWEET POTATOES


Four places I would rather be right now

1. ON VACATION ANYWHERE WITH MY FAMILY

2. IN KEY WEST FLORIDA, ON THE BEACH, WATCHING THE SUN SET ON THE OCEAN

3. SITTING ON MY FRIEND PAM’S PORCH ON A BREEZY AFTERNOON REMINISCING ABOUT OLD TIMES

4. SPENDING SOME QUALITY TIMES WITH A SICK FRIEND IN TEXAS


Four places I would like to see

1. EUROPE, FRANCE, PARIS

2. ALASKA

3. PUTT IN BAY

4. CALIFORNIA


Four things I would really like to do

1. WRITE A CHILDREN’S BOOK

2. BUY MY DAUGHTER AND SON-IN-LAW’S OLD HOUSE.

3. LOOSE SOME WEIGHT

4 LISTEN MORE, TALK LESS

Four things I'd like to change

1. MY OPINIONS / THOUGHTS WHEN I AM FEELING NEGATIVE

2 THE UNTIMELY DEATH OF MY DEAR FRIEND GROVA

3. MAKE ENOUGH MONEY TO SHARE WITH THOSE IN NEED, ESPECIALLY THE CHILDREN HERE IN OUR OWN CITY

4. CHANGE HOW BUSY OUR LIVES ARE AND SPEND MORE QUALITY TIME WITH MY DAUGHTER, AND FAMILY

Good Night and don't forget to count your blessing.

Family, Trees Limbs and Blog Changes

Blog designing takes a lot of time..........and energy.....just ask my daughter....Thanks Dear!

Boy, I still have so much to learn in the blog world. If not for my daughter I would be in a world of trouble. As you can see, I have moved over to the new blogger. I decided to try on some new colors too. The pink / red was a bit much. We are still tweaking it but I like the greens and pinks better. Some how the side bar information went to the bottom of the page, but we're working on it.

You remember I talked about a new cat. Charlie. He sure is a sweetie. He is always close. Most often at my feet (keeping them warm) whenever I am at the computer. But the other night he decided to jump up on the desk. And after walking around on the keyboard and the papers that were on the desk, he decided to settle in on top of a stack of papers and take a nap. Now every time I come to the computer he jumps up and stays there as long as I do. He really is a cutie laying there but I miss him keeping my feet warm.

I spent a very nice day with my daughter and family yesterday. Well the quality time was nice. The chore at hand wasn't so nice. They were here with a chain saw to help clear some tree limbs that fell from the trees when we had our ice storm. The tree branches turned out to be a lot more than I first thought. My son in-law didn't complain. He worked hard. And it was cold. He even climbed up on the roof and removed several BIG limbs. Thanks Big Guy!

He worked outside while my daughter worked on changing the blog over to the new blogger. I was having problems with the old one. She said I would enjoy all the new perks on the new one anyway. It looks better doesn't it?

After we finished working on the blog, we all ate pizza and went outside to work on hauling the branches to the curb to be picked up on Monday. My grandson had a great time riding back and forth down the driveway in the cart once it was emptied. He's so cute and good natured.

But wait, it gets better.

My grandson opted to stay at grandma's and take a nap. Saturday evenings is our time together. He took a two and a half hour nap and was in a great mood all evening. We did dinner (he wanted to help. Said he got lonely in the room by himself.) We read stories, watched movies, colored, bathed and just enjoyed each other's company. I love kids a three. Especially one on one time, (big sister sometimes wants ALL the attention. I love them both. Nice not to have to choose.)

I did miss spending extended time with the family after church today, but wedding shopping is priority. My daughter is getting a new sister in law in September and there is much to be done.

Isn't it a blessing to watch our families grow? God is so good!

What's your meaning for Beauty?

We could surf the world wide web and find most anything. I found this page that had a number of definitions of what the word Beauty means.

The old sayings being beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.......or ...... Beauty is only skin deep. Both of those hold true in most anything we see.

Check out these quotes. It puts a new prospective on what the meaning of beauty is.

People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within. - Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Beauty is the gift of God. - Aristotle

There is nothing that makes its way more directly into the soul than beauty.
- Joseph Addison

Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it. - Confucius

Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old. - Franz Kafka

The human soul needs actual beauty more than bread. - D.H. Lawrence

There is no beauty but the beauty of action. - Proverb

God Bless.

Another good devotion worth sharing........

I found this devotion. It speaks for it's self.

Enjoy........

Is Your Talent Hidden?
Like in this story, we shouldn’t bury our talent. God has gifted each one of us with a particular talent. We need to use it for the benefit of the kingdom of God, so it will bless and encourage others. By allowing our talents to be utilized, not only can we have a big impact on someone else’s life, but we can also be blessed ourselves. We find great fulfillment in what we do. And we should do, for we were born for it.Our lives shouldn’t just consist of work, sleep and the menial tasks of everyday life. We need to use the talents God has given us to make a difference in our world. Even if it’s some quirky gift we think no one would be interested in, we need to find ways in which we can use it.As we use the talents God has given us, He brings increase. Just like the two others in this story, who went off and used the talents that were given to them, God brought increase. In both cases it was doubled. God will use us in far more ways than we ever dreamed of, and expand our borders so many people can be blessed as a result.May we not be like the one that did nothing with the talent given him - only to hide it. Whatever it is that God has blessed you with, consider using it to glorify God. After all, He created you to be used in this way.

Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them...

~ Romans 12: 6

Lord I thank you for giving me

A very precious gift

Help me Lord to glorify you

With what you’ve blessed me with.
By M.S.Lowndes

Happy Valentine's Day

This valentine always seems to find it way to me each Valentine's Day. I love it because it is another season to put God as the reason for the season. That's cool!

Okay, so I couldn't get the word VALENTINE to line up but you get the idea.

For God so loVed the world
That He gAve
His onLy
BegottEn
SoN
That whosoever
Believeth In Him
Should Not perish,
But have Everlasting life."
John 3:16

Happy Valentine's Day All

Carrots, Eggs or Coffee.........

When I first started writing in my blog, I saw it as a place to come an vent frustrations about life and how it had treated you on any given day. As I read more of other people's blogs and become a true blogger myself, I find that sometimes that was the case but, most often I now fine blogging a true opportunity to inspire someone with what we post. At least that is what I found in the blogs I regularly read.

Becoming a blogger has opened a new window of inspiration and friends, not to mention it has been a good teaching tool. If it doesn't do anything else, it promotes us to look beyond ourselves to others. For no matter how hard your life is, there is always someone out there who is much worse. So......suck it up. Enjoy life to the fullest. Tell people how you feel about them. Make their day. God doesn't promise tomorrows.

No matter how hard we try, life sometimes gets us down. I found this inspiration and wanted to share. I think it really puts a positive prospective on life.

So are you the Carrot, the Egg, or are you the Coffee?

You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "T ell me what you see." "Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and felt they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.

The daughter then asked, "What does it mean?"Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity -- boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water .
"Which are you?" she asked her daughter.

"When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?"

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff?

Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.

When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level?

How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean? May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.

The happiest of people don`t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can`t go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so at the end, you`re the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

It`s easier to build a child than repair an adult.

May we all be the COFFEE!

God bless.

A simple act of kindness....

Just about everybody has a story to tell about the snow we got last night in Cincinnati. Most don’t like it and wish we would never get snow. Personally I love it. I can’t say I like diving in it or cleaning up after it is my favorite thing to do. But with patience and the right equipment, even that isn’t bad.

I look at the snow as a work of God. Who else could cover the entire area we view with such beauty. Not only is it beautiful to look at, it tends to bring out the beauty in people.

Yesterday I watch several people have panic attacks caused by worrying about how they were going to get home? The conditions of their cars and how hard it was going to be to drive in the snow; how long it would take them to get home; who will be there to greet their children if they couldn’t get home in a timely manner, You get the idea. Reaching out to our fellow co-worker was the only soothing medicine for the situation.

And many did. I witnessed people working together, cleaning off each others cars, offering rides, working late so their co-worker could get home to their children.. Even the bosses were a more visible support.

On the way home, I witnesses people pushing cars that were stuck, assisting people walking, And even later, calling to check on family member to see if they need help digging out or if they got home safely. It’s often easy to be kind with family. Not so with strangers.

Somewhere in this day and age we have lost the simple act of kindness. It’s too bad we have to have a major snow storm, and auto accident or a calamity for people to trust enough in each other to reach out to help and just be neighborly. The world we live in has caused us to lose trust in people and that’s too bad.

One of the things I want to do in this new year is to reach out more to others in need. Some people think reaching out means digging into our wallets. And maybe that is true sometimes. However there is a lot more to it than that... Small acts of kindness done by many people could make incredible changes in our world, especially in our children.

Our children are our future. We need to find a way to spread some of that kindness and caring on an everyday basis. We need to find a way to get some of the guns off the streets and put a lid one the use of the drugs available to our young people, and find a way for them to end this war. Whatever happened to their role models?

Okay, so I know I have gotten way off the subject here, or maybe not. Kindness needs to start with the older generation. A good role model can put a child back on the right track. The young families are much needier than the older generation use to be in a different sorta way. Trust and being kind are real issues.

Let’s not forget to reach out to the young families. Offer to take them to church with you. Help them find ways to build trust in something other than the guns and drugs.

When do we as a society come together with that act of kindness? What are you doing?