Thank-you

Thank-you everyone!

May 2013 was the highest month of readership for my blog since May 2011.  Sometimes I share fun and simple ideas while other times I rant and rave.  I shared in the beginning that I'm an eclectic person and hopefully the variety of topics have not let you down. 

When something that I write about or share hits your heart or makes you smile; share, share, share.  I do hope to reach a point of over 100 readers a day and begin having some contest giveaways.  That is my goal for us.  Your comments are always welcome.  At this point, I review the number of times a story has been read to see which ones are of most interest. 

This month the topics you have read the most are about:
#1 God
#2 My new book "The Man I Was"
#3 Doberman puppies.

I am a person of random thoughts.  Unexpected ideas pop into my head at unusual times.  Many times I don't know what I'm going to write about then all of a sudden "WOP!" the idea pops into my head and I think, oh, I really need to share that!  I hope that you enjoy the topics and for the more serious issues, I hope that they help you through a difficult time.

Life is a journey,

that we take one step at a time.  Sometimes we are walking up a hill and getting very tired.  Other times we are walking down a hill and you know that is actually more tiring.  Trying to keep going forward without  taking off full-speed in a downward spiral. 

It would be nice if we could maintain our lives at an even keel.  As  people that is not who we are.  Even, level, straight is boring.  We strive for excitement, new things, better things, different things. 
I signed a letter of intent today for the publication of my second Novella, "The Man I Was".  I received the formal contract that I have been reviewing. 

I feel excited, scared, nervous, anxious, pensive, hopeful, just to name a few.  My feelings today have been going up and down those hills from one extreme to another.  It is difficult to make a strong solid decision when emotions feel like they are roller-coasting out of control. But I've noticed that is often the times when we are expected to make the most difficult decisions. 

I had saved money for a self-publication and was willing to take the risk of nearly 100% loss.  So really what is the big decision?  Have you ever applied for a job that deep down you felt was over your head and after several interviews they actually offer you the job?  I think that this is a step up in the publishing "ladder".  As I write this I realize that there really isn't a decision.  It is the excitement that YES! this IS happening.  Wooo-hooo!

Soap Box time again!

In case you were wondering NOTHING has changed in the public school system in the last 40 years.  Okay, maybe the word nothing isn't fair but despite all focus and reports about bullying in the public schools, they still aren't doing much to deal with bullies.  If this were a news headline it would read, "straight kid bullied in school fights back with bat"

I've mentioned before that I was bullied in school.  A neighbor boy and his brother were two of the school bullies.  At the bus stop, on the bus, in the hallways at school, anyplace he had the opportunity he would act up.

Today, the buried memory surfaced in the middle of a conversation.  To my surprise the words just popped out of my mouth, "I've lived through that.  When I was about that same age, a bully was picking on me and I had enough! I turned around and let him have it.  I don't remember what he was doing or how I reacted.  But I do remember being in the principles office and telling my mother it wasn't fair that the bully gets away with picking on me all the time and I'm the one in trouble." 

What brought this up was a story that I was sharing with my boyfriend.  We had been told about a grade school child that was expelled the last couple days of school.  Through out the year, this child has been bullied and the parents have done the "right" thing going to the school principle to deal with it.  The child didn't feel like there was a "safe" adult to go to when being bullied because one of the people actually bullying him was the teacher.

All off the situations were reported to the principle.  The teacher's inappropriate behavior on several occasions. The students that acted up on the school bus, in the classrooms, in the hallway, the bullies were supposedly "dealt with" but it kept happening.

At a school event, the kids were standing in line. No one will ever know for sure if the bully pushed on purpose or if he tripped.  But the bully hit and knocked down the young child that had been bullied all year long.  It was the straw that broke the camel's back.  Bat still in hand from the softball game, pushing the bully off from on top, the young child came up hitting; bat in hand.

The police were called. The child was expelled for doing what the school would not do; protect the child from the bullies.  This child has the biggest heart and will come to the aid of anyone that needs help and is currently terrorized at the concept that the other children may think s/he is the new bully on the block. For a change the bully got what he deserved.  Although some bullies are what they are because they come from dysfunctional homes and it is their way of acting out what they are taught from home. 

Hey principles out there!  It is time to be politically incorrect.  Stop those bullies.  You will be doing them a favor and the nice kids who finally get pushed too far and turn on them. To be honest, I am totally amazed that there aren't more episodes in schools of excessive violence.  Maybe there are?  Seeing how much bullying is being covered up maybe there is more that is being hidden from us.  In the 40 years since I've stood up to a bully, what do you know; kids are still being bullied to the brink of breaking.  Breaks my heart!

Publishing - the next step!

Second-Hand Tuxedo was self-published.  The publishing company that did that printing gave me a quote a couple of months ago. At the same time, I was shown a publisher that did co-publication.

With self-publication, I pay for all the set up and all the printing. All the marketing is on my back.  With co-publishing, I pay for the set-up and the printing of the books that I can sell. They pay for the books they print and sell and I get a royalty. 

I have an offer with five options: three are co-publications and two are self-publications. Hardcover, paperback, 100 copies, or 10,000 copies are just a few of the choices. 

I had saved some money to invest in a self-publication effort. So now I need to decide if I want to risk more than that on one of the co-publication offers.  There are options within and very slightly over what I have saved.

Pray for me as I make the decision.  And get ready! Coming soon, "The Man I Was"!

Many more than two tulips!

I need to do some minor repairs on a section of the foundation and the former owner planted tulip bulbs right next to the foundation.  As I dug them up, I thought that I should take a picture and call it "101 tulips".  I have a few pictures to share. One is the old cat litter box before I started. Another is after I sorted bulbs for an hour to show you what is left and to the side there is the shoe box of bulbs. 
Take a guess....   101? Do you think that I hit my 101 bulbs????

(Higher, guess higher!  Keep going higher!)  I did a rough count and so far I am about 365 bulbs!  And I am not done separating them yet.  I can't tell if I am halfway yet.

Do you need any tulip bulbs?



101 (?) Tulips

Tulips about half processed

Six flowers equaled about thirty bulbs

New Toy

I spent $25 on a new dandilion popper. It is about the length of a cane.  You place the center over the center of the plant and step down on a foot platform.  When you pull it up, it has captured plant, it's root, and a small plug of dirt.  Yup, that is the downfall. It leaves tiny wholes in the ground.

But it reminded me of what I was taught as a teenager.  At a Christian camp, they taught us that when we repent of our sins, it leaves a hole in our soul.  We should study God's word to fill that hole.  If you only go halfway, and create the hole, then you leave room for something worse to drop into your life. 

The dandilion popper gets part of the root. But, just like sin in our lives, sometimes the roots go very deep.  It may need to be cleaned up several times before it is totally gone.

The other side of the story is that a dandilion is a flower.  It self seeds and very prolithecally. Because it spreads so quickly, it is considered a weed. Yes, one definition of a weed is a flower out of place.  Equating the flower out of place to sin...

...Sin can look beautiful, make you feel good and not always be a sin. For example a glass of wine with supper is not a sin in itself. Getting drunk, serving a recovering alcoholic a drink, or if you NEED/must have a drink every day, turns it into a sin. 

Being I am talking about sin, this next paragraph is stated in Biblical terms and not legal terms.  Sex between a man and a woman, after marriage, is not a sin. Sex outside of marriage in any combination is a sin.  Many sins have become socially acceptable behaviors. Therefore it is politically incorrect to call them sins.

So my question for the evening is, "Is it more important for YOU to please God or man?"

Memorial Day

Thank-you to all active military and veterans that have served for our freedoms! 

Thank-you to my mother and grandparents that have passed on in years past.  They have "brought us up in the way of the Lord" giving us a strong moral and Biblical base for our lives.  Although walking in way of the Lord has not been easy for many of us, God is always there and always brings us back to him.  Thank-you to those family members who have prayed me through the tough times.  I stop this weekend to remember them and their unconditional love. 

Ephesians 6:4

New International Version (NIV)

⁴ Fathers,^[a] do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

http://www.biblegateway.com

This World is not my Home, I'm just a passer through...

As Christians we are taught that our time on earth is short a drop in the bucket of time compared to our time in eternity.  Yet in 2013, most of us are still accumulating earthly things in the USA.

I am watching a friend of mine go through a terrible difficult time.  She has shared many things she is going through with me and I have done what I can to help.  She is not accepting help from me or from any of the sources that I recommended. 

Through out the years, she has made a series of decisions, just like any one of us.  Each decision accumulates on the other until eventually, the pile of decisions have created a personal monster that is out of control.

Today several pieces of furniture are out on her lawn labeled "free".  She has sold some of what she can sell including her few precious pieces of jewelry.  Today is being spent sorting into piles,

• toss
• sell
• keep
• store

I fear that when she reaches her goal of fitting all of her personal possessions into her vehicle, that she will just disappear.  I am guessing a planned visit to her parents place will transfer the items that will be in the "store" category since she has made it known that furniture that doesn't fit in her car isn't being kept. I interpret that to mean she isn't getting a storage locker.

Look around at the possessions you can see.  A tornado, heavy straight line wind, flood, earthquake, tsunami, can take it from you.  But could you purposefully, methodically diminish your life to what you could take in your car or carry on your back?  Could you plan to be homeless?  Please join me in praying for my friend that God will provide a miracle.

Dare to be Proud / Freedom of Speech

There were bullies back when I went to school.  Don't kid yourself, some of those bullies have grown up and are still bullies in the workplace, in the media, it doesn't matter where they are they are still trying to bully people.

A combination of things happened when I was in the 7th or 8th grade.  I was being bullied.  My brother's had been to some kind of a conference and came home with T-shirts that had an Eagle on it and said "Dare to be Proud!" I confiscated one of the T-shirts and wore it to school with my A-line mid-calf length jean-skirt.

I was going to make a statement.  "Bully all you like but I'm proud of who I am!" Even back then, I had no lack of self-esteem. 

I need to say just once that I am offended and confused at the whole "Gay Pride" movement.  I don't mind people being proud of who they are but why is my "Straight Pride" judgmental, ignorant,  and an action of hate?  I'm not saying because I'm proud of being straight that you can't be proud of who you are.  I don't judge those that are different than myself.  I may not understand them but as long as they understand themselves there is no problem.

But any time that one group says that for them to have pride in him/her self that they other side must give up their pride, that just isn't right.  Can you imagine going to a football game and only one team's fans are allowed to cheer?  Every time that the opposing team's fans begin to cheer they are told that they have not right and are acting out of hatred and ignorance.  Is that what we have come to in America? 

I wish to honor those in America's history who have fought for my freedoms!  Yes, my freedoms! 
I am proud and free to ...
...be a Christian (lately Christians seem to be losing their rights as other religious groups step on them.)
...be Straight.
...live where I want to live.
...vote for the man/woman that I choose. (despite what the media says)
...share my opinion.
...disagree with someone else's opinion.
...to be successful and much, much more!

I have learned in life that those people who bully and try to tear down my beliefs do so because of their lack of self-esteem, depression and other mental or emotional illness.  The only way that they seem to feel good about themselves is by tearing others down.  With that said I want to make sure that you know, I also wish to honor those in America's history who have fought for your freedoms!  Whether you agree with me or not, you need to dare to be proud of who you are at the same time dare to be proud of me, and likewise, I will do the same.

I believe -

in right and wrong.  Oh that can be a controversial statement these days.  But I was raised to believe in right and wrong. 

For instance:

If the cashier gives you $10 back instead of $1 the right thing to do is to give her the $9 back.

It is right to pay for what you buy.  So if things are put on credit, the payments should be made timely. 

You should not cheat on tests.

You should work hard. 

For every question, there is a right and a wrong answer.  Some of it is empirical and other parts are based on the moral code that we are taught as we grow up.  We learn those moral lessons, at home and in church.  The bible tells us teaches us a very definite and strong version of right and wrong. It is not politically correct.  But if you base your life on the principles of right and wrong that are taught in the bible, you will have a better life. 

We can't impose our beliefs and principles on anyone else.  But God, a little bit at a time, can change their minds.  Because deep inside us, God had planted a seed.  A seed of right and wrong.  The depression that takes over people when they act in ways that are against the natural seeds that are planted within us, can be cured by repentance and forgiveness. 

Let me be clear that NOT ALL depression is caused by this and it needs to be professionally treated.  But some people are lying to the therapists, friends, and family and they would be much better off starting to choose what is right, repenting of their wrongs and accepting God's forgiveness.

A question for the Ren-Fest

Every fall at the Renaissance Festival I order a breadbowl of chicken wildrice soup.  It is served up and tastes delicious. So at "Cinnamon's Deli" today I decided to order creamy broccoli soup. It was good.

But do you see the bread to the right? The center that they cut out, was served at the side. That left me wondering, "what is done with the center of the bowls at the Ren-Fest?" Something to think about...

What do you see?

That wasn't the title that I was planning on typing but when I saw the picture uploaded from my phone, I thought it looked like one of those pictures that they show you when they are doing a psychological test. 

Extra-virgin olive oil, Balsamic vinegar, and shredded Parmesan cheese 

Okay, yes again I am writing about food!  We found the best Italian restaurant.  Bella Vita Bistro with Chef Adrian in Wichita, Kansas. 

Brucshetta

Now that I've shared a little bit of the food, I will share the impressive decorating.  This wall and around the doors are actually a wall-paper and faux-painting technique.  From a distance it looks real.  Then when you get closer you say, oh it is painted.  When you touch it, you realize that it is slightly more than that.  Someone has cut out pieces of a textured wall paper very carefully in perfect pattern and keeping the lines precise put it on a grayish-blue wall that was painted inconsistently to give the impression of cement.  The wall paper pieces have highlighting on the left and top and low lighting painted on the right and bottom.

Faux-painting

The bricks around the painting are faux-bricks with a similar technique to the side wall in the close-up photo.  In the next room over, they put up small patches of a smooth wall-paper that looks like brick and textured over it.  Then painted the texture to make it look like a fresco wall that is falling off with bricks behind.

Bella Vita Bistro

Oh, I'm not finished yet.  For the main meal, I had chicken Alfredo Parmesan. It was very delicious. 

Delicious!

The three of us decided to share a dessert.  I thought it only made sense to choose the cannoli since it came so beautifully plated with three small portions. It was a nice level of sweetness and one piece each was perfect for sharing.  The rose shaped strawberry was a nice visual touch.


Dessert - Cannoli with an open Rose shaped Strawberry

...way up high

There's a land that I've heard of once in a lullaby!

The land of imagination comes when you open your mind to looking outside of the normal.

Walking with the angels

Aren't these clouds beautiful!  It almost looks like you could run down the wing and jump off ****poof**** see the soft white spray up and out. Some pieces floating away other pieces fluttering back down, landing all around you. 

Can you feel the comfort and the peace? The radiance of the sun shining down! Ahh! Sweet.

Sun Kissed

I guess this song is stuck in my head this week. But is a song that somehow warms the heart. May God be with you and may you open your mind so that you recognize him.

Some where over the rainbow...

As I walked home the other day, the sky was bright blue over my head with the setting sun behind my back. Infront of me was the most beautiful full arch rainbow. 

I could see the entire arch. I tried to get pictures but between reality and the picture (memory) it faded.  So I took a snap-shot and caught a bright section to share with you.

It reminds me of our lives. Sometimes we can see what is really going on in front of us.  But as we try to remember it, even a short time later, it has started to fade.  We need to focus on a particular portion of the event to see any clarity.

Two Seasons...

...close toe and open toe. And I need to announce that open toe has officially begun!


Bye-bye good Friends

I had to buy a new pair of sandles.  Mine were a bit wore wore out, don't you think? I'm not the typical woman who needs a different pair of shoes to match each outfit. I spend a lot for one pair and buy a color that goes with everything.

For summer, I buy Birkenstock. They are real leather and have the best arch support that I have been able to find in years. Yes, they cost me an arm and a leg but I buy one pair every couple of summers.  It is good to make good investments once in a while. 



My New Shoes (no more tired dogs?)

Now is the true confession ... Most of the time I wear socks with my sandles. Can I help it my toes get cold?

Hey! Where did my chair go?

After threatening for over six months, Dale finally dis-assembled his two seated recliner. He bought it four years ago right before his rotator-cuff surgery. 



The OLD recliner

It has been through a tough road during those four years including having his nephew sleep on it for several nights.  It was the style with cup-holders in between so it was not designed for sleeping. 
It has also made it through two dogs and three litters.  Duchess and My Jenny often claimed one of the two seats.  This afternoon Duchess realized that her seat was gone. And in its place two rockers with rocking foot-stools.



Where did my chair go?

Dale says that these will be good for my "worms" (which is what he calls my toes as they involuntarily wiggle as I rest.) At a family get-together last year I noticed my sister was doing the same thing. So I took my cell phone and made a short movie.  That is until I started giggling uncontrollably. After some discussion we realized the toe wiggling was a widespread family thing.



Gone - sort of

Back to poor Duchess realizing her chair was gone. But where did it go? ...to a pile of metal and a pile of pieces.  The cup-holder section is still between the two rockers.
 

What happened to Spring and Summer?

The weather front that brought in the needed spring rain also brought in some pretty chilly air.  The wind didn't help much either.  But at lease I'm seeing flowers started to bloom in the gardens.  The unusual cool weather has the bulb-type flowers peaking out at random intervals.  Dale has a small flower garden in front of his place, last year he had me plant some bulbs.  He thought they had all come up and I kept telling him that I thought we'd planted more.  They are finally coming up!

I need to keep looking at the flowers and remembering God's beauty and the miracle of these flowers as they transition from seed to bloom.  There is so much going on from Washington D.C. to the streets of my home town that could easily leave people feeling hopeless.  That it is important to stay focused on hope. 

We picked up some vegetable seeds today but it was raining as we were shopping.  We may not get to plant the seeds until next weekend.  The weather forecasters have said to be prepared for rain and scattered showers over at least the next five days.  With any luck it will be dry enough in the morning to plant the seeds. 

"The Man I Was" has been submitted!

I just finished a few minutes ago submitting my book to a new publisher.  Now it is a waiting game.  I am excited for the publication of the second Novella. 

I have been pushing hard this week to make it through all the recommended corrections and adjustments from my front line editors.  Needless to say that I am very mentally and emotionally exhausted right now. 

Pray for me that the wait is not too long!

Warning!

I will be off line for a couple of days.  I am comparing the manuscript notes from two editors at one time and making some minor adjustments to the Novella, The Man I Was.  I want to get the book off to the publisher as quickly as possible.  So It may be a couple of days before I am back on line. 

Please check back on Wednesday, May 15th or Thursday, May 16th. 

Back from the editors

The draft of my book is back from the editors!  My next step is comparing the comments of the two editors and making appropriate corrections.  I'm on page 3 so this will be a long process.  But this is the exciting time. 

I get viewpoints at a spot were I can make minor adjustments.  Sometimes when I write my mind gets ahead of my fingers and those quick typing fingers miss part of the sentence.  It doesn't help that my mind knows what it wanted to say so when I do the re-write that it sometimes fills in those missing portions in the sentences. 

I have put a timeline on myself and this will be a tough one to meet.  I put some books in a local café and I'm getting hounded that my spring release of the second book is being extended by possibly going through a different publisher. 

The third book, Trusted Friend, is into chapter 3.  Stepping away from it to do the editing will be a difficult thing because the characters are running with this next story.  They have found themselves and they know exactly where they want to go.  Hopefully they don't forget where they are heading because they haven't told me yet. 

Amazing what snow melting does!

Then we had several days with a bit of rain/drizzle with very little sunshine. But as I started weeding (the weeds were taller than the flowers already) I saw beautiful color! 

This weekend is still cold, very windy but spring is HERE!  Next week will be summer.

You think I'm joking? It is supposed to be high 80's to low 90's by Wednesday and Thursday.

Big Feet

...or should I say paws.  Big Duke had his first boat ride today. 



Big Duke's First Boat Ride

Dale got a new fish locator and he decided to take it for a ride with all three dogs.  If the weather is good enough this weekend for us to make it out fishing (it is opening fishing after all) then we might need this new toy.  But it is supposed to be cold and windy this weekend. 



Big Duke 15 weeks & My Jenny 15 months

The lakes in this area are iced out but still cold.  The lake temperature is in the 50's.  The dogs had a wonderful time running in and out of the cold water.  They didn't seem to mind a bit. 

Out in the boat, they all had a wonderful ride.  Ahhh, that spring air! They took turns in the front of the boat.   Even Big Duke tried to show what a BIG boy he was.  Sometimes he seems to forget that he is a puppy.



The 3 Musketeers!

Cold toes

I have had cold toes for years. I can't remember not having cold toes. I am sure as a kid that my toes weren't cold but then again I didn't like ice skating bcause my toes would get cold so fast. 

My socks were wearing out so I decided it was time to buy a few new pairs. Yes, I wear socks in the summertime.  Even with my sandles.  I confess I am "one of those"! I bought socks that will blend in with the sandles. 

So many of the socks in the stores were so wildly colorful the cried out to me, "Tabatha would LOVE these!" But they jist weren't my style. Then I saw these with neon toes and heals.  I don't paint my toe nails there aren't enough to paint.  I have these short stubby toes with itty bitty nails.  So the most color they see is the bright covering of my socks.

And then there was ONE



Sister, My Jenny and Brother, Big Duke

The litter 3 puppies are now 15 weeks old.  We started with 11 puppies in the litter and they have all sold.  So why is there one left?  Because one family ended up on hard times and we bought the puppy back from them.  The welfare of the puppy and that it ends up with a good family that can afford to care for it is what is most important.  So we are back to one.  The difficult part is that there were several people interested in Big Duke that were turned away.



Big Duke

Can you see the size of those paws?  He is going to be one big boy.  Titan from the first litter had whopper size paws and the last I heard he was 105 pounds.  Mama and sister (15 months old) are between 65-75 pounds. 


Sit Duke - Good Boy!

The family that picked up the puppy today said that their vet cropped the ears only AFTER the puppy was done teething.  Because while they are losing puppy teeth and getting adult teeth that the too much calcium was being lost to allow the ears to stand properly.  That is so different from what we have ever heard from the many vets we have worked with in the past.  Usually 10 weeks is maximum. I am interested in seeing the results.    

Book Update - a bit of HOPE

Upon the encouragement of one of the people editing my book, I will be submitting it to a different publisher. My first publisher allowed anyone to self-publish anything.  They were supposed to help me with marketing but nothing happened.  I looked today and my book isn't listed on their website. I'm not sure if their website is still in progress or not.

This new publisher does not accept everyone.  They publish Christian books. They are a co-publisher.  So much of it would be similar to what I do now.  But after the book is printed, they would market my book to Christian bookstores and have it available for sale on their website.

The hard part is that there is about 10 days left of editing and re-writes. After that I will submit the manuscript and it will take 30 to 90 days to receive an approval or rejection. Then it will take 30 to 90 days for the actual publication process.

For those people counting down the days. I am sorry.  This could be a major puncture in that glass ceiling and I would kick myself if I missed the opportunity. Please join me in praying over the publication process.

A busy day and beautiful evening

Monday's are often long days.  The dogs still need their time to play.  This evening, after supper, Dale and I took the dogs out to a hay field to get some running in before bedtime. 



Puddle!

Dale sat on the edge of the hill where he could have a good view over the many acres as the dogs ran and played.  Big Duke thinks he is a full grown dog.  He goes up and tries to play with Duchess and My Jenny as if he were their size.



Big Duke plays with My Jenny

My Jenny is the sister just a year older than Big Duke. But she protects him and teaches him playtime as if she was the mama.  Dale is leaning towards letting Duchess have one litter because she has such wonderful maternal instincts.  But we still have two males that we need to sell from this winters litter.

My Jenny standing behind Big Duke

Doesn't this look like the three dogs are planning something?  "Hey, let's sneak up on Dale!"  In reality, Duchess and My Jenny were playing roughly and Big Duke tried to join in.  He is growing so fast.



Dobie Playtime

The little guy tried to copy mom and sister and shake the water away after running through the swamp water but his shake just wasn't enough.  So he found a sunny spot and watched the other two big dogs run on the other side of the open field while he dried himself.


Big Duke drying in the sunshine

The pleasure of having dogs takes so much stress away. 

aaaaahhhhhhh!

Sorry, I needed to let it out.  I went shopping yesterday and the city was a zoo!  At one point, I was driving down a long thoroughfare both sides of the 4 lane road and all the turn lanes were full of cars.  The parking lots on both sides were also packed.  And inside the stores I could tell. People dawdling everywhere! 

I may have mentioned it before but I don't like shopping.  I have a list.  I go in with the list and I go directly to the department. The stores that I shop in I pretty well know by heart.  I don't like it when they feel they need to move the sections of the store around.  Then I walk through those crowds of people who don't know what they want only to find out that the store has moved what I wanted.  That was the start of my day shopping. 

I made a bow around the town due to a couple of deadlines that I needed to meet.  I couldn't be at one spot until a specific time and I needed to be to another spot before a specific time.  There was about four and a half hours between the two times but with traffic and people dawdling I didn't want to take the risk.

So I went to the West then looped around and headed to the East/Northeast.  From the stop at the East I headed North and slightly Southwest.  The due South only to turn around and go West again.  Don't worry, it doesn't matter it you need to go five blocks or five miles it still takes fifteen minutes. 

I was so traumatized that I had to take a nap before supper.  Maybe part of the trauma was because I was planning to do indoor spring house cleaning today.  I think I dislike that more than I dislike shopping.  But both are necessities of life.

Airport Entertainment

I have been traveling in and out of Minneapolis St. Paul airport a lot lately.  There is a corner that you turn to go to terminals A,B and C.  At that corner are four large screens on the wall.  I've always wondered about those screens.  They are the largest TV screens I've ever seen but what I've wondered about is why they put four screens right next to each other.  The same thing shows on all four screens.  It is a fairly plain advertisement. 

Sometimes simple is best.  I've noticed it every time that I've walked by it.  But coming back was different.  There were young children interacting with the screens.  There is a censor that as you get between the projection and the screen it changes from a flat screen advertisement to an interactive display.  Watch the children as they try different things to make the screen change.  The red umbrellas turn into hundreds of butterfly that scatter and come back into place as an umbrella.

5 Second Rule

Growing up, if a piece of food dropped on the ground you'd hear "5-second rule" and see a child pick up the piece of food and pop it in their mouth.  Sometimes dusting off some dirt before it was actually eaten. 

I was letting the puppies out and I heard the talk show host interviewing someone.  The conversation seemed to be about over-protection of children from germs.  The 5-second rule should be more like a 10 or 15 second rule.  Instead, parents are picking the food off the ground and throwing it away.  They are washing the floors, counters and walls with heavy anti-bacterial cleansers.  The children's hands are also being washed in anti-bacterial cleansers.

Our bodies need bacteria in order to function properly.  Bacteria is part of our natural digestive system. 

I can't help but wonder if over doing the physical cleanliness has something to do with the human attempt to cover up and clean up the sins of the world?  It seems that minute by minute and hour by hour sins are increasing.  People are walking away from Biblical principles because they are deemed politically incorrect.  But when the Bible gives a direct command and shows an action or behavior as a sin, then it is just that a sin.  There are many Biblical sins that are being fought for as human rights.  For years abortion has been just that and there are other human laws that make sin "legal". 

Are we spending such an excessive amount of time physically making our houses perfectly clean, our hair perfectly colored and cut, our make-up perfect, our clothing the most stylish all because we are trying hard to cover our perfect sins?  The only cleaning that needs to be done is that of repentance.  Acknowledging and turning our back on those sins.  In doing that we must deal with ourselves first and remember to hate the sin and love the sinner. 

Priorities

We all have them whether we acknowledge them or not. My first interaction with homeless people shocked me.  The county and other non profit organizations had helped them get a room in a shared house.  It was a couple and they had two brand new, top of the line lap tops and the best cell phones money could buy. They went regularly to Catholic Charities, Salvation Army and any other organization that helped with food, gas, and heating expenses. They lasted less han six months because rent was not a priority.  That was before Ipads, Kindles, and Nooks.

Knowing that someone is two months behind in rent, chose a low paying job that is now getting 32 or less hours a week and choosing to buy health supplements that the are not regularly taking.  Priorities. 

I guess I have always believed God first, basic life next; food, transport to job, a roof over your head, and basic clothing.  Those are my priorities.  I guess I don't understand people not willing to take care of their basic needs.

But then, there are people that I can't invite into my house because immaculent housekeeping is not a priority of mine.  I would like to de-clutter but it takes me too much space to de clutter.