EXIT

Hmmm, the going away party was yesterday and I still had to go to work today. That must have confused my co-workers because they hung EXIT signs all over my desk and surrounding area. They also blew up balloons to go with the streamers they hung. 

It wasn't a highly productive day.  I cleared out my desk and e-mail in box (what little was left in there.)  I sent out a farewell message that created more e-mails. I had taken 4 hours of vacation to go to the doctors and that only took 3 hours.  I went around the office and said good-bye to everyone.  Then there was the exit interview right before the exit.

My three pictures are Tuesday at the end of the day, Wednesday at the beginning of the day, and my celebration of change supper.

Going Away Party

Everyone has their different viewpoints about going away parties. Some people love them, some people hate them, the rest don't care on way or the other. 

Another employee resigned a few weeks ago and for her going away party, she decided to go out to a restaurant with a select group of people.  She invited about 80% of the people.  Of that 80% several refused to go simply because of her selectiveness. 

When I was asked what I wanted, I said simply "a potluck!" Everybody loves a potluck. So much food that you feel like you are going to explode!  Everyone was invited; friend and foe.  Most of the people, friend and foe, attended.  We had a great time! We had a TON of excellent food. 

Two

Two days of work left. Going away potluck on Tuesday and on Wednesday I pack my desk and say good-byes. I moved up my doctor appointment for my heavy metal test results and the only time he had available was in the middle of my last day of work. It is going to make for an odd day. But I honestly think it will be for the best.

Countdown 4 * 3 * 2 * 1

Three more days at my current job then life changes.  I will be working out of an in-home office.  I am excited about the proposition. I can't seem to function without a challenge and this new job, implementing and working with companies resolvng problems with their ERP program will be a job that moves from one challenge to another. 

I will need some training to get from being a "super user" of the software with 6 years experience to understanding all the behind the scenes set ups.  I know some of them but only from my company's viewpoint.  And there are so many business decisions that are made not to use software properly and to its fullest. I hope the deprogramming and learning goes well. 

TV Zombies

I looked up from my crochet project and saw these two dobie noses looking intently towards the TV .  I don't think they were actually watching the show.  Dale was sitting at the table on the other side of the TV.  I'm sure they were watching to see if he was going to eat anything. 

Sometimes we see them cocking their head to the side and looking towards the TV trying to figure out "how did those puppies get in that box?" When we are gone the TV stays on for companionship.

God paints some beautiful pictures!

If you need proof of a God, just open your eyes and look at everything in nature around us.  There is so beauty and color.  The combination between complexity and simplicity is mouth droppingly amazing.  We try to capture it and sometimes duplicate the beauty but we always fall short.  This picture even though it is stunning - paled in comparison to the actual view.

Snow is a "four" letter word

...and my mother told me I shouldn't use those four letter words.  She also had the philosephy that if it was going to snow that it had better blizzard and block us in for days.  Oh I look forward to having an in home office where I don't need to drive to work!

My sister may beat me up but you may hear me singing "let is snow, let it snow, let it snow!" (Just like my mom did.)

It I melted already, but we had our first accumulating snow today.

Find that song so I can play it when you're gone!

Randomly this song pops out of my mouth, "Yes, we have no bananas. We have no bananas today. We have oranges and apples and pumpkins but we have no bananas today."

Every time I sing it; "what we have" changes. The first chorus of the real song says string beans and onions and chamois. I looked the song up for my co-worker and the song is part of a 1922 musical.  In this scene a Greek store owner is dealing with shortage of bananas but he refuses to say that he is short.

He is so positive in such a difficult situation that people start flocking to his store. He calls 3 other relatives to join him and instead of singing alone to the crowd the quartet sings, "yes we have no bananas, we have no bananas today."

What a good lesson! Be positive and success will follow you. And yes once again the song coming out of me is from a generation in the past.

Good Morning World

I'm not a good morning person.  But with the shorter days of Fall and Winter, I can't help but see a few sunrises.  This time of year also tends to have more weather fronts (whether rain hits the ground is another thing).  The clouds that come in and out with the weather fronts do make fabulously beautiful sunrises. 

You don't need to crawl out of bed excessively early this photo was taken at about 7:30 this morning.

Homemade Wild Rice Soup

Dale volunteered to drive a person in need to the food shelf near their place.  One of the things they were given was wild rice. They gave it to Dale because they didn't know how to cook with it.  That is a common issue with food given to the food shelf.

It was good soup making weather. So at noon, I boiled eight cups of water with one and a half cups of wild rice.  I kept it at a low heat forhalf an hour. Then I turned off the heat and ran errands for a couple hours.

When I got back I sauteed two onions with half a stick of butter. I put the boneless skinless chicken breasts on top and pour just a small amount of half and half (milk) on top and cover it. 

Then I poured a box of low sodium chicken broth in a crock pot with the rice. I chopped a few small carrots and two stocks of celery adding it with the rice.

I removed the steamed chicken to cool and poured the rest of the two cups of half and half that I had mixed with a half cup of flour. I warmed the milk/flour and onion/butter mixtures enough to thicken it then added it to the soup base. I chopped the chicken, added ground pepper and ground sea salt. Then with the crock pot on high, it cooked for almost three hours.

But wow was it good! With or without crackers. (I'm not sure where Dale found the pre-packaged crackers but cute, huh!?!)

Some lucky lady....

Yes some lucky lady will get the fir coat that she dreamed about in the 40's or 50's when fir coats were still politically appropriate.  I had taken a picture of Dale and two guys slightly older than him digging through boxes of tools. I accidentally deleted it.  But the thought of it still makes me chuckle. I'd bet that NONE of them would ever use any of those tools at this stage of life.  But it is a good bargain!

It was the second to the last weekend of the swappers meet.  Most of the vendors were scattered in the cool foggy morning.  A steady stream of people were coming in and walking through.

I stocked up on fresh honey (2 quarts for $23).  That should cover winter baking.  There was a woman selling fresh baked goods which included kolaches!  Four flavors what a difficult choice. I ended up choosing poppy.  Dale found a good deal on Minnesota grown potatoes.  There was even a potatoe that looked like a puppy paw.

Puzzle Idea

I wrote this yesterday any my cell phone froze up while it was posting.  So here it goes again!

On the way home I saw this eagle "couple". I see them every spring and fall sitting in the trees at the edge of the lake "fishing".  They are a mature eagle couple with bright white head and tail feathers.  I didn't have my good camera with me. That means all you get are the limited cell phone pictures. 

Can you find them through all the branches? The close-up shots should help you figure out where they are hiding.  The cloudy sky as backdrop and the 2-d photgraph makes this a perfect choice for a callenging puzzle.

I'll try

I was flipping channels this weekend and caught about 15 minutes of Karate Kid III.  At one point, the young boy tells his master "I'll try". 

The wise master replied, "Do or do not."

I've always heard things like, "If you don't try you can never succeed." "If at first you don't suceed; try, try again."

But the simplicity of "Do or do not" brought the concept to a different level. You must not only try but with a can do attitude as Mamie McCoulough would say.  She tells a story that I often repeat. Scientists have proven that a bumble bee can't fly. It's body is too large for it's tiny wings. Yet they fly every day.  No one told the bumble bees that they can't fly so they DO.

Choose to DO today.

The excitement in her voice rose...

....as she exclaimed, "Is God going to give me a birthday present and let it rain today?"  While the raindrops landed on her windshield. By the time she reached the other side of town, the rain had stopped with barely enough sprinkles to run the wipers.

Lord, we could use some rain.  Most of the farmers have their crops in and the one or two field's that haven't been started- I'm sure there issome excuse.

Then there is this farmer, pulling farm equipment down the road during "rush hour" (so to speak). I am not sure if the tractor is broken or this piece of equipment.  But this is not a natural site. (He was speeding lol at 45 miles an hour. We'll faster than the tracor anyways.)

I Spy Near the Sky

Driving home today, I noticed a large bird at the top of the tree.  We have a couple of eagles nests in the area but this wasn't a full grown eagle the head and tail feathers were too dark.

So did I see a young eagle, a turkey vulture, or what??? Can you tell what did I spy near the sky in the upper branches of the tree?

Math (one understood)

-19-17-(-36)-12

I used to love math. But over the years the educators have been changing the "rules" of mathematics.  No wonder our children are confused. Old math, new math, and back to old math again. 

Have you solved the problem above? I personally refer to this as one understood.   -(-36) is like -1*-36=36

So -19-17=-36+36=0-12=-12. Have I lost you yet?  When I first looked at the problem I was lost.  I had to walk away and come back to it before I could solve it.

Whose paw is hurt?

We have been taking care of Sid trying to help heal his paw. it is getting much better. 

But a couple weeks ago my heel started catching on my nylons and it was gettling soar.   I filed the rough edges and started using moisturizer.  Two days ago the pain got terrible! It is in a spot that I can't see but I could feel the skin around it drying and peeling back. You know what I am going to say next....I helped it out.   :^(

I think both of ours are doing better. But my heart goes out to Sid.

Wild cucumber?

I showed pictures in August of a vine that grows over the trees and shrubs and gives the illusion of a white caps on an ocean of green. I've heard them called wild cucumbers but I'm not sure if that is right. 

The vines have died off but the seed pods are still there and are they interesting looking.  I really wanted to pick one and cut it open but these were too far out of my reach.  It looks like a kiwi with the shell of horse chestnut. The prickle portion actually looked soft.   I'm like a child that way, "Let me touch it and inspect it. I want to know if it is different than what it looks like."

Songs that stick in your brain!

I got up this morning and walked out of the house singing, "Let's go to the animal fair, the birds and beasts are there. The big baboons by the light of the moon are combing their aurborn hair." 

So on the drive to work the radio personalities were talking about having childrens songs stuck in their heads.  They asked people to call in and share. I couldn't resist. I called in and sang the first stanza. My song was put on the radio.  I wonder how many people said, "I've never heard of that before."

On MSN today, they also had a comment about songs sticking in your head....I just need to chuckle.  It is the same as when 3 people from 3 different churches talk about the pastors sermons and they all preached on the same themes. What is up with that??? Is there a cross denominational preaching theme sent out each week?

Maybe by God!?!?

What is stuck in your head?

My favorite fall color is an illusion

Don't you think when the rust shows in the trees they are at their most beautiful?  But have you ever tried to find a rust leaf on the tree? Some years I go out and pick up leaves with good color in them.  When I bring them home, I dip them in wax.  Then they can stay for an extended period of time after they are dipped.

But I have never, ever been able to find a rust leaf. When I get to the trees that are "rust" I see some green, yellow-green, yellow, redish-yellow , dark red, and various shades of brown. Basically every color except rust.  From a distance the spackling of the colors above give the illusion of rust. Or if you are standing close enough to see all the colors in details just cross your eyes.  You'll see rust there too!

A BIG statement

These young trees caught my eyes when I was walking with the dogs on the woods.  They are such tiny little things. One was only knee high and the other just over waist high yet the leaves are full size making them look enourmous.

Add to that the fall colors and these tiny sapplings are making a big statement.

Light at the end of the tunnel

Someone coming near the end of a difficult time will often say, "I see the light at the end of the tunnel."  They usually mean there is a bright spot of hope and they can endure because the end is in sight. 

My Uncle passed away early this morning.  Sleeping restlessly, his wife and son were checking in on him.  "Turn off the TV." "The TV is off." "But I can see the light from it" Within an hour, he had passed away.  He had reached the light and the eight year fight with cancer was over. 

The Bible says, "Jesus is the light of the world." So is there any surprise that moments before death, Christians would begin seeing the heavenly lights welcoming them home. 

I'll be home after dark, leave a light on for me.  Every day there is more sin and darkness in our world. Just watch the news for shootings, suicide bombers, burglaries, hit and runs, the list goes on. Lord leave the light on for me so I can make my way home to you, safe and sound.

Pests

This is from a few weeks ago. I never saw what it was but something tried to take over my garden and yard. It dug tunnels under the new sidewalk and I re-packed the dirt in the flower garden.  It was obviously full of tunnels. I'm not sure if the water in the tunnels drown the critter or if it was in a tunnel when I packed down the dirt. But I haven't seen it for a couple weeks. Although, I'm a bit afraid of going into my dirt floor basement.

The final harvest

Dale is itching to till the leaves into the garden. I could have left the birdhouse gourds a little bit longer.  I could not believe how many were there to harvest and how HUGE some of them were. I counted 54 ! 

The hog panel that this one is hanging on has eight inch wide openings.  The heights vary.  I put my shoe by it first then I realized that you need to know me pretty well to compare my shoe to this huge gourd! LOL

$0.04 Supper

Due to a computer glitch the the workers and managers couldn't correct, they were only able to charge me four cents for my supper.  It was a real blessing. 

Then on the way into the last evening of Bible study, I got to see this fabulous sunset!  The hope of rain. May God Bless you in both little ad big ways that you may bless others.

It is official....

Over the past few months I have been sharing hints. When I graduated from college I went straight down to Kansas City, Kansas and stayed with friends for a week putting in applications.  We prayed hard that God provide a job for me in Kansas City. 

Here 29 years later what I thought was a "no" answer is being revealed as a "not now".  As I was just offered a position with a company based out of the same area of Kansas City that I was in 29 years ago.  I guess the moral of the story is "if you think God is saying no, keep your mind open to a not now. When you have forgot about it. God may just answer yes."

...when I get around to it.

There is so much to do and never seems to be enough time.  If only I could get around to it.  Here it is.... I pass on my round tuit to you so you can get a few things done too!