Happy Hour Chatter

Yes folks, this is the last day of my vacation (insert heavy sigh here!). Though I was on vacation, my days were jam packed with things. My "to do" list didn't get very much crossed off it, but that is alright. I just need to remember to look at it every week and try to accomplish something from the list every weekend. I'll feel like I'm making progress and my house will be all the better for it. I served at coffee fellowship this morning, which is always nice. I find myself chatting up a storm with whomever is working the kitchen with me. Normally we're rushing around at 10:30 trying to wash dishes and put things away to make the 10:45 service, but today was a small crowd; most of them had left by 10:00 am and we had pretty much everything cleaned up at 10:10. I hit the market after Church for some essentials and came home to do some laundry and get things ready for my first day back to work tomorrow. It is my early week also, which really bites! I kn...

Still.....after almost 24 hours, I feel as stuffed as the turkey was yesterday! Good heavens! I tried to contain myself, I really did.....but it was all so good! My stuffing was delicious and moist, the potatoes were whipped to perfection, and the turkey was moist and tender. About 3:00pm I had this moment of euphoria (maybe it was a turkey coma or the coffee and Kahlua I was sipping on at the time), where I just had a warm fuzzy feeling of "life is good." Anyway, I stepped on the scale this morning and decided I won't eat for another month (yeah, like I can stay away from food that long!). It wasn't too bad and could have been worse - but I seriously need to jump on the treadmill bandwagon SOON! ~L~ What is on the agenda today? Gonna do some yoga, clean up a last few items from yesterday, get ready to go in to town this afternoon to see my niece Karen and then take my mother-in-law to the Holiday Razzle-Dazzle parade! The last days of my vacation are going too fast! ...

I'm sitting here looking out my office window and smiling at the beautiful sun peaking through the tree branches. Morning is such a quiet, calm time of the day. A time to set the intention for the day, perhaps say a prayer for those on our minds and in our hearts, or to adopt a moment of gratitude for everything good and wonderful in our lives. All too often we get caught up in the rush of starting the day that we forget what a precious gift a new day is. Think of it as a canvas on which we can paint the beauty of a single day in our life. Today is a day that we cannot live again - no do overs. It can either be a good day or a bad day - only your attitude determines which it will be. Paint life - your day - on the canvas.

Yes, I just completed my 90 minute yoga practice, sitting here blogging about it (See other blog) and drinking a cup of coffee (1/2 caff), I'm wondering what is going on in the working world today. NOT! (hahahaha). Sorry, I couldn't resist. I am so enjoying my time off today. I had a fabulous yoga practice and now I'm ready to tackle a project on my "to do" list. I have to be in town for an appointment at 3:30pm today, so the project won't be anything major - perhaps straightening up my office. It is amazing how cluttered this room can get. I almost hate walking in here when it is so cluttered. I have to find a better way of managing it. I find myself strapped for time and will walk in to the office, lay a piece of paper down and say, "I'll deal with it when I get time." Two weeks (hmmm, maybe months?) later, I have these piles of paper sitting on the desk, chair, and spare bed - that I swear grow faster than the national debt!@ Sheeesh! I've...

Oh yeah......it's vacation time for little ol' me! Wooooooooo Hoooooooo! Do I have anything planned? Am I going anywhere special? Nope and Nope! Well, I do have some things that I need to get done, like cleaning and bookwork. Oh, and getting ready to cook Thanksgiving dinner, but other than that...nadda! Not even teaching yoga this week. How sweet it is! The bad thing is - the growing list of things that I want to get done in the next few days will probably not get done. I'm going to try and not sweat it. Anything accomplished will be one less thing to worry about later on. I had already decided that I'm not going to do deep-down, crevice, nook-and cranny cleaning this fall. I'm going to leave that all for my spring vacation. Hmmm, do you see a pattern developing here? ~hahaha~ I rarely go anywhere on vacations; it's spent at home tending to things that don't get done during the work week or on weekends. I imagine that I'll find time to read a book or m...

By now, everyone has heard that Vic passed away on Saturday night aroung 6:51 pm. He was home with his wife Sharon and his mother, and went quietly in his sleep. Sharon called me to let me know of his death and quietly added, "the last time he opened his eyes was for you." I'm so glad that I was able to spend time with him earlier that day. It doesn't make the sadness go away, but it does dull the ache a little bit. I spent some time with Sharon on Sunday, helping her to clean and get the hospital bed and oxygen equipment ready to go back to Hospice. We talked quite a bit about Vic's life and how they lived their life together. They truly had a great relationship. Vic will be laid to rest on Wednesday. He'll be honored by former co-workers and friends as special pallbearers and the JRCC Honor Guard. A fitting salute to such great man.

I visited Vic and Sharon today. I cried. Sharon had told me a few days ago that Vic was going down hill fast, but I didn't comprehend what she was saying until I saw with my own eyes today. The change is so drastic frome my last visit with them lat week. He is non-responsive now. I got real close to him and whispered, "hey ornery, it's me, Sherry...I've come to give you a little grief." He did open his eyes - briefly - and made an attempt to squeeze my hand, but that is all. It is so sad to see a good friend go through this pain and suffering. I said a prayer for him this morning and asked the good Lord to "ease his suffering and bring him home." Sharon is a the epitome of a rock. She has been by Vic's side - non wavering. She held me while I cried, it should have been the other way around. Words, at a time like this, are just words. We all mean well, but it doesn't ease the pain and helplessness of having to watch a loved one die. I've ask...

when you are driving down a city street, in the dark, and as you pass each street light, it goes dark?? Do I have a guardian angel telling me something? Do I have that much positive energy that the electricity flowing from me interrupts the power flow around me? That happened to me this morning while driving in to work. One by one the street lights went dark as I passed by. I didn't think much of it until I hit the 3rd one and it too went dark. As I exited town, the lights were coming back on, one by one. Spooky..... Someone, somewhere, was trying to tell me something I think.

I'm back! Reality bites after spending and awesome weekend absorbing knowledge and wisdom from a master yoga trainer. Alhough my body is tired and sore, my mind is energized and ready to instruct. Too bad I have to wait until tomorrow night! I'm working on catching up on laundry, dishes, and house cleaning. Leaving hubster in the house alone for 3-days isn't such a good idea - even though he did his best to keep things neat and tidy. It's good to be home though - housework aside. Will write more later on, but need to go fold towels and sweep the floor. Later folks!

Today is not just another holiday with a day off from work. Today is a salute to our nation's veterans, the men and women who have fought for this great country of ours. Those that fought to keep our nation free and enjoy the personal freedoms we have. If you haven't thanked a Veteran for their service, please do so today. Let them know how much we appreciate the sacrifice they made for us.

When your furnace takes a dump and it's single digit temperatures outside! NOT a fun way to start the day for sure. All started on Saturday when T kept accusing me of turning down the furnace cause it was 68 in the house. Now, I know I have been getting hot flashes, but seriously, I never turned down the thermostat. Woke up on Sunday morning and it 60 in the house. No WAY was I taking the blame for that one! Yeppers, the furnace took a nose dive. We are lucky enough to have a good friend who comes over and services the furnaces/air conditioners at the three houses. He came over yesterday - in the middle of deer hunting (what a guy!) - and confirmed our worst suspicions. The good thing is we have a little electric heater that throws off a lot of heat, plus he brought one of his over for us to use. The bad news is the parts for the furnace won't be available until next week. Yikes! I guess it could always be worse though - like -20 degrees outside with a 40 mph wind. Needless to ...

Although it is not shown on the calendar, there is another national holiday observed in the north land: Deer Hunting Opener! Yep - Friday, at precisely noon, all the men folk (and some women too) took to the country roads, dressed in their orange finery, holding their well cleaned and oiled guns in search of the elusive buck or doe for which they have license to shoot. With itchy fingers poised and ready to pull the trigger as they walk through stubble and pasture lands, eyes focused in on anything that moves, they wait with baited breath for "the one" to put their tag on. Schools (some of them) in the area actually close on this day. Preparations start two days ahead of time: gas (check), sandwiches and snacks(check), gun cleaned and oiled (check), orange clothing (check), license (check), binoculars and two-way radios (check), beer (ummm, better get some more! check). I live on a fairly well traveled road. However, at precisely 6:45am this morning it turned in to an interst...

I know we are all busy - we have work, children to cart back and forth to school activities, yoga classes to attend, etc. We can all make excuses....but today is one day that is most important and today there should be no excuses. I do not care who you vote for.....just vote. Exercise your right as an American to go to the polls and help select the leadership of this country and this state. Your vote DOES count and it IS important to this great country of ours. So please, no excuses today.......VOTE.

Don't know about you folks, but I don't like this time change! It's dark at 6:00pm! An extra hour of sleep? Yeah right, I woke up on schedule with that blasted internal alarm clock of mine - at 4:30 this morning (normally 5:30am)! Now THAT sucked! I know, I know, we go through this every year and we get used to it, but for this first day, let me rant and rave, ok? Ok ~L~ Well, as promised, I said that I'd write more when I had time. I spent the majority of the day outside because it was absolutely gorgeous out! I'm taking advantage of it before all of the crud hits us later this week (according to the news reports). The last few weeks have been hectic, crazy busy for me. Our hearts are heavy with the loss of our friend and neighbor, Ron. T was pallbearer for his good friend and it hit him especially hard. We spent a considerable amount of time with Ron's family on Thursday and Friday night, the prayer service on Sunday, and the funeral on Monday. The prayer serv...