Lesson on Laughter and Happiness

...this was a great lesson on Laughter and Happiness- I challenge you to listen to it:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQXyTgztEPI    (I find it's easier to listen and not watch)

Why do we always forget the important things, and need reminding to laugh, have joy & be happy?
 

I know that not everyone thinks that Joel Osteen has anything good to say, but you know- he does get somethings right...he is like every preacher/lesson giver sometimes right & sometimes wrong.  This lesson was really good! 
 

Is your well of happiness stopped up?  All clogged up with the stones of stress, school, work, etc?  I'm afraid that mine often is...we need to make it our goal to unstop our well, and be the happy people that God wants us to be.

~Adrienne

"Every healthy adult should have a healthy child inside"  ~Joel Osteen

March 18th

I had 2 thoughts today.....

Thought #1:

Happy Birthday, Esther!  Remember how I used to ask you (when you were very small) "how do you spell your name?"....and you would reply in a very fast, sing-song way "Es~th~er". (you couldn't say your "r")  I don't think that I ever got it the first time, and would have to ask again. =)  And sometimes, (likely often) I would have to ask Rachel....

You have grown a lot (and I mean it), since I first met you, oh so long ago...I pray that God will bless the rest of your life here on earth, in ways that you never thought possible! =)

Love ya.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thought #2:

Father-
Our baby would have been 12 years old today.
Why? Why did you give and then take away the one that we had been hoping and praying for for so long? Why?
 I know that it was for our own good- I know that we are a greater encouragement, and have greater care and concern for others going through the loss of a baby...I still want babies in our life-  (not my own, just related to me/near me that love me) Mom says that it's too late for me to have any more siblings, and I'm not holding my breath over nieces & nephews* (if I did get any, they would live so far away....), what's the point in that? I know that it's not your plan for me & my family right now...
...I need to trust YOU. YOU know exactly why things happen, or didn't happen! YOU alone can see the big picture- why should I question YOU?  Please help me, Lord! Help me to open my hands, and let YOU have my wishes and wants.
Your will be done, Amen.


After I wrote the above, I read the verse printed at the bottom of the journal page- it was perfect:  "....yet I will not forget you.Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands..."   Isaiah 49:15-16

*I do have adopted nieces & nephew, and I love them very much, but I don't see them like I would like to. =(

"Hug Him Once For Me"  click to listen.
Reading "See You Later, Jeffrey" by Fran Sandin really helped me with my grieving & loss.

Someday, I imagine that I'll get to meet our baby "Gabriel". 
Gabriel means "God Is My Strength"

Growing up...is hard work.

For me it's so draining emotionally, physically & mentally,

it's taking away my appetite...
but at the same time making me really want comfort food*.
And hugs. And a party that I did not have to plan.

I can see why I put off growing up-
I was not ready for it and probably just could not have handled it.


I am thankful that God has brought me to the place
where I truly love and appreciate my Mom,
I could not be doing this right now if it weren't for her love & help!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To the younger girls reading this post:
1. Make your Mom your best friend & confidant.
2. Do not fear growing up. We only grow up once! =)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

".....But dreams do not develop without fearlessness
To step outside and face the biting winds
And when you step outside, you'll feel the need to close your eyes
But keep them open wide
You need to see the barriers to tear them down along the way
Don't despair, shatter your glass house
And You can breathe fresh air
Destroy it with the stones you've had for years
Throw your stones"
taken from the song: A Glass House, The Fool's Cage

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*I know that it would just make me worse, so I shall content myself with other things that are on my diet. (The last 2 weeks, I have been trying VERY hard to be a good girl again.)

Homesick...

Sometimes I'm homesick, and clingy when I have not even been gone,

and I'm not even planning on going anywhere.
Why is that?

(I guess I'm a little big for sitting in Mom's lap,
but then I don't do it every day, not even every year...)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It makes me think of the book, Love You Forever, by Robert Munsch.
Although that was Benjamin's & Mom's special book.
(because it came out in 1986- the year before he was born)

I think that every one should own a copy.

Orange & Pink...

Do you ever wonder why you all of a sudden notice a whole bunch of red cars,
when you didn't really see any last time you were in town???

Why was I seeing pink and orange (and ducks) today?!?
I really don't even care for orange...

(the best orange spray in the world)

(AVON toy from my G. Grandma, when I was nearing 2 yo)

(T-I-double GUH-ER!)

(~Piglet~)

(paper target)

(random ducks)

(4 pinks that all live together on the same shelf)

(does Sally remember this?!?)

(dear old measuring cups...)

(odd long pipe in the back yard...)

(Garden dwellers...)

(...you never know when you need some of these...)

(The very best (IMHO) dish soap!)

(Have you had yours today?)

(Random duck)

(sorry lighting...this really is a nice pink towel...)

(Poky! Is that how you spell his name?)

(the new flash light)

(dear OLD scissors)

(Fun CD...)

(another random duck)

(Lovely face soap! Just don't use it if you are going to pick berries...the bugs will love you!)

(Attic Shoes)

(Last duck, I promise!)

(Pretty pink paint for my attic, only $10, and it is low VOC!
It was one of those lone miss-mixed cans!)

(new dress)

(Little Lady)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So...am I the only who sees colors/things like this?

My boy Fergie. or Silly cat!

Fergie (while laying under the porch ceiling fan) says:
"Dude! It's hot out here!"
And I replied:
"Then why don't you come in and enjoy the AC?"

(but he would not come in...he is aging really fast this spring...so sad....)

Why do I write?

Have you ever seen "You've Got Mail"? In it Kathleen Kelly has an anonymous pen-pal, and she pours out her feelings, frustrations, and silly stuff in those letters, and one time she ended with: "...all this nothing has meant more to me than so many somethings - so thanks."* and another time she says that she did not want answers she was just sending the question out into a cosmic void, and ended with: "Good night dear void."*
(Please don't jump to conclusions, I do not have and do not want an anonymous pen-pal.)

When I was young, my parents had We Three write in our journals- but they told us to never write anything that we did not want them to see, or someone to get a hold of (I do think that that is a pretty good idea). That scared me into pretty much merely chronicling events and never really wrote down my thoughts and feelings.
And Mom would say "to be careful what we told people" and to not "air our dirty laundry". (...but what does that mean?....who would want to do that?!?)

So I would try, (and continue to try) to not talk much, and just listen to other people. =)
(That's nice if the others are talkers, but when I get home I talk Mom's ears off!) And it's nice to learn about other people, and families.

But now I have a problem- my dog died back in January. We had him for almost 12 years- half my life. And I would talk to him- tell him everything. (He was my best friend, he stayed when others left. I am so thankful that I was able to have him during the hardest times!) (click here to see his blog) It is nice to talk to someone who cares about you- I still have my cat, but he does not want to listen to anyone speak on any subject, unless you are telling him what a great cat he is. (he's definitely a man- he prefers snuggling)

So that's why I have been writing on this "blog'o mine", because I feel like I have been losing all my friends along the path of life. (Is that normal?) And I feel like because of Ron Paul I lost almost all the rest. (Why do politics & religion divide? I don't think that they have to.) But because of Ron Paul I got more friends than I had before- the only problem is they are spread out all over the state & nation. And while I seem to have somehow lost my real brothers along the way, I do have new brothers- brothers in liberty! (And Sisters in liberty too.)


*Kathleen Kelly, You've Got Mail

Why is it that....

.....When I was young, I was thoughtfully reckless when it came to sewing and crafting- why is it that the older I get, the more fearful I am, and I don't want to make mistakes, or be wasteful with my supplies?

Angus McGregor McKee R.I.P. March 9th, 1998 - January 13th 2010

…I will be posting photos over time. The following is a compilation of several things that I wrote over the last week………………..

Hi Sally,
This(in purple) was my status on Facebook the other day...and today is the day. =(

"Not such a good day so far- I am typing with one hand because Angus bit me again. I think that this is the last time. (if you know what I mean)"

Well, after a LOT of discussion, (for months now) I think that Dad will take him to the vet around the corner to put him down. We think that Angus' own Vet would try to make us feel like very bad parents. This has been a VERY hard decision to make. =(

He will be 12 at the beginning of March..that is old...his teeth,eyes,ears, bladder or kidneys & joints are going, and everything scares him, you can't cut his hair or bathe or brush him.(the list is longer- terriers are stubborn you know- it only gets worse the older they get) I think the reason that Angus bit me today is because his hair (I guess) got caught in the leash when I tried to take it off.

He also walked off the side of the porch on Monday night- got his neck stretched. He knows that you walk to the edge and steps appear. (But Dad did not realize that!) Angus knows- he voluntarily told Mom and I good bye last night- gave us kisses...and he told Perla good bye this morning and kissed her too. (and he does NOT go around kissing people!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Angus McGregor McKee R.I.P. March 9th, 1998 - January 13th 2010

When will the tears be gone?
I am guessing when the sweetness of his life dulls.

I never thought about his getting old- he has always looked and acted like a puppy- except for the last year and then really down hill in the last month, and faster in the last week.

Angus was a really good friend of mine, a best friend really. I told him almost every thing, (talking to him all the time- Mom would say “what?“ & I would say “I was talking to Angus!“) and he helped me cook, do laundry, play the piano and sew, to name a few.

(Fergie Cat knows that I am sad tonight and is being very sweet….)

I used to sing special songs- “our songs” to Angus…I could tell that he liked it. He loved to play “peak-a-boo”, chase, and squeak toys! (he loved to fetch over and over again) His “tricks” were to shake hands, “Joyful Jennifers” and “Stick ’em up- bang, bang”.

Angus had a huge vocabulary, and his favorite baby sitters where the Bulloks.

If he really loved you and thought of you as family, then he would ask you to take him out-- --I think that his most favorite person was Rachel Hale.

I’ll leave you with our favorite quote about him…
”Mrs. McKee, you have a cute dog” - Isaac Rockett

Goodbye old man……I will pretend that you never bit me……

“I love you in the morning and in the afternoon, I love you in the evening, and underneath the moon…”