oh boy

Oye.
This is the move that will not end. It just keeps going on and on and on...

"Christmas is more than trees and twinkling lights, more than toys and gifts
and baubles of a hundred varieties. It is love. It is the love of the Son of
God for all mankind. It reaches out beyond our power to comprehend. It is
magnificent and beautiful. It is peace. It is the peace which comforts,
which sustains, which blesses all who accept it. It is faith. It is faith in
God and His Eternal Son. It is faith in His wondrous ways and message. It is
faith in Him as our Redeemer and our Lord. We testify of His living reality.
We testify of the divinity of His nature. In our times of grateful
meditation, we acknowledge His priceless gift to us and pledge our love and
faith. This is what Christmas is really about." Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign,
Dec 1997,

"This Christmas, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten
friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write
a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest
your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a
grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand.
Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone
else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your
gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child.
Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth.
Speak your love and then speak it again. Christmas is a
celebration, and there is no celebration that compares
with the realization of its true meaning-with the
sudden stirring of the heart that has extended itself
unselfishly in the things that matter most."

Howard W. Hunter, Ensign, Dec 2002

oh golly

Wow.
So this is just a rant, or maybe a rave. Who knows?
New construction...just what exactly do they mean by "move-in ready"? It obviously doesn't mean that things are cleaned. Nor does it mean that stuff is done. It doesn't mean that paint has been touched up, that tile has been sealed or even that the carpet has been vaccumed! It also doesn't mean that floors have been swept or that sinks have been cleaned, that windows can be seen out of or anything else. A new mystery in life, that's what this is. So I guess that's a rant. 'CAUSE I AM SICK OF CLEANING MY BRAND NEW 'READY TO MOVE INTO' HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't know about the tile, but my skin is totally sealed. And the transfer of tiny random carpet fibers from the floor to my skin is complete. So, my skin is now move-in ready. Too bad there isn't room for the furniture.
On the flip side of this coin, I can tell that I will love this new house. It has a friendly feeling to it. It's a nice, relaxed, well-mannered house, that will grow easily into a family home. I put out the first bird feeder last night, and it fits. There are some houses that don't lend themselves easily to actually being lived in by someone like me as I expect alot out of a place...it has to look nice, behave itself and not make too much work, it has to be a friend to all who enter, to the birds and flowers and little barking dogs. This house will do that. It has that feel to it. It and I will be friends. That is good to know. We waited and prayed for guidance and God has blessed us with the right place. Whew. And thank heaven, literally!

My favorite Christmas Hymn is O Holy Night. I feel that it IS Christmas. Below is the brief history behind the song, followed by the lyrics. O Holy Night The words and lyrics of the old carol 'O Holy Night' were written by Placide Cappeau de Roquemaure in 1847. Cappeau was a wine seller by trade but was asked by the parish priest to write a poem for Christmas. He obliged and wrote the beautiful words of the hymn. He then realised that it should have music to accompany the words and he approached his friend Adolphe Charles Adams (1803-1856). He agreed and the music for the poem was therefore composed by Adolphe Charles Adams. Adolphe had attended the Paris conservatoire and forged a brilliant career as a composer. It was translated into English by John Sullivan Dwight (1812-1893). O Holy Night Christmas Carol Lyrics O holy night! The stars are brightly shining, It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth. Long lay the world in sin and error pining. Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth. A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices! O night divine, the night when Christ was born; O night, O holy night, O night divine! O night, O holy night, O night divine! Led by the light of faith serenely beaming, With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand. O'er the world a star is sweetly gleaming, Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land. The King of kings lay thus lowly manger; In all our trials born to be our friends. He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger, Behold your King! Before him lowly bend! Behold your King! Before him lowly bend! Truly He taught us to love one another, His law is love and His gospel is peace. Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother. And in his name all oppression shall cease. Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we, With all our hearts we praise His holy name. Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we, His power and glory ever more proclaim! His power and glory ever more proclaim!

Coming Soon...

Coming to McIntyre Hall, Mt. Vernon WA, summer of 2008

Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Presented by The Amazing Lyric Light Opera of the Northwest

http://www.LyricLightOpera.org

Synopsis:

After a handsome but conceited prince treats a
beggar woman poorly, the woman turns out to
be a beautiful enchantress and turns the prince
into a beast. Further, the prince's staff is all
transformed into objects to do with their profession.
The prince is given a magical mirror to view the
outside world. To break the spell, he needs to
learn to love a person for who they are, and get
her to love him before a magical rose loses its petals.
Meanwhile in a nearby village, a beautiful young
bookworm (Belle) feels lonely and out of place.
She lives with her eccentric but kind father,
Maurice. Soon, Maurice goes off to compete at
an inventors' fair but gets lost in the woods and
ends up a prisoner at the beast's castle. Belle
eventually finds the castle and makes a
deal with the beast to let her father go
in return for her staying there with the
beast. As the beast's inner kindness slowly
reveals itself, Belle grows to be in love with
him. However, a jilted, self-centered and
overly-masculine suitor from Belle's village,
Gaston, takes a posse to 'save' her from the
beast. Gaston ends up stabbing the best.
Luckily, when Belle rushes to the beast and
expresses her love for him, he comes back
to life again as a handsome prince.

A Song for Today, Tomorrow and onward...

Incubus - Drive Lyrics

Sometimes I feel the fear of uncertainty stinging clear
And I cant help but ask myself how much I'll let the fear take the wheel and steer
It's driven me before, it seems to have a vague
Haunting mass appeal
Lately I'm beginning to find that I should be the one behind the wheel
Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there
With open arms and open eyes yeah
Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there, I'll be there
So if I decide to waiver my chance to be one of the hive
Will I choose water over wine and hold my own and drive, oh oh
It's driven me before, it seems to be the way
That everyone else get around
Lately, I'm beginning to find that when I drive myself, my light is found
Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there
With open arms and open eyes yeah
Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there, I'll be there
Would you choose water over wine
Hold the wheel and drive
Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there
With open arms and open eyes yeah
Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there, I'll be there

oh, what a day

Oh golly. There are days, and then there are days. In thinking backwards a moment, it's actually been a couple of days. I'm not a huge people fan in general, but I do have quite a large group of exceptions to that rule. What's a rule without an exception or a dozen, right? Anyway, after the past 48 hours I think I must be walking around with some sign flashing on me that says, "GO AHEAD".
Math teacher of youngest daughter. For some reason she has become highly concerned about math scores that are right where she has aimed for them to be. Okay, no problem, we'll pop it up and make it more of a challenge. Nope, I must not understand what she's saying, this is REALLY a critical thing. All attempts to reassure her that my child does indeed know the material but has been given work far below her grade level and so that's why she's performing, in class, at that level go unheeded. Alrighty, fine. Just let her talk, thank her for her concern, agree with whatever she says and make my own plan and let her think it's hers. Whew. Leave meeting completely exhausted by all the good will and interest.

Dear friend affirms my feelings that a situation that I felt I had accomplished very successfully this past spring/summer is in jeopardy of not happening again, much to my heartache. Nothing that I can do at this point except let whatever happens happen. A certain individual that I have had almost NO contact with whatsoever has decided that my behavior is completely reprehensible and I have supposedly perpetrated some heinous crimes against their family. This is, of course, believed by some. I am heartbroken. I do admit that it was a stretch and a laborious thing at times to make sure that I did not behave in anyway that would be seen as unfriendly or non-supportive, but I felt that my actions and words were kind and that my motives were above board. I worked hard to make things be alright in whatever way I could and I find that it has slapped me in the face. Ouch. So what's at stake? An opportunity to be a part of something again that I found so fulfilling and worthwhile. And what can I do? Nothing at this point. At least I know that what I thought was going on IS indeed going on.

Yesterday was my birthday. A week or so ago I sent my brother an extremely belated bday gift. I felt so bad, and stupid, that it was late when I had it purchased and packaged well before his actual bday. Bless his heart, really, he sent a Thank You email early this morning, and a Happy Bday message. Groan. In between the words of not liking that item so giving it to daughter, not knowing grandparent that reference was made to, appreciating the thought but why spend that on postage, etc, was a major thing, the email itself. 2 in 5 years or so, so along with the "ouch" "Ouch" "OUCH" was a happy happy spark that I mattered enough to rate a personal message.

And the move. The house is on track for closing on time, the move away from the land and the gardens and the life that I would love to love is going to happen. I can't even process it, to be honest. It hurts. I wake up crying, and my heart hurts. I actually feel like a bad breakup is happening. I have to figure out something to do with my beloved elderly blind pony mare. I can't just dump her, I can't. It goes against everything that is me. I can't dispose of living things just because they aren't convenient anymore. I have a responsibility and my commitment to this is part of what makes me who I am. So I'm racking my brains and praying and researching to find ideas of how to make this work. I have homes for the chickens, so that's done. Hurts, but I have some assurances of their futures being happy, so I can be alright there. I haven't found a home for Stevie, our aussie, 'cause I can't dump her either. She's been here since she was 8 wks old and she's 8 yrs now. She's a great girl, friendly, smart, loving. I want to keep her. I want to keep Abi. I want to keep my husband also. So I have to break my heart to keep my heart. Oh golly. I do not know what to do. And I have to figure it out on my own.
My name means, "the reaper". Not as in "GRIM", but as in to harvest. My sun sign is Sagittarius, the sign of expansion. Fire but flexible. The half horse, half human, almost the oldest in the lineup of the astrological signs.Spiritually I know that I am one of God's children. I seem, so far in my 4+ decades, to not have alot of harvesting going on, but alot of making do with the leftovers. Maybe my name should mean, "the gleaner"?

So what do we do? What I should do? There isn't always a compromise, there isn't always a way to make things happen the way they should. Some things just are what they are.

And I think they kind of stink right now. Like a rotting skunk.

a quote is a quote is a quote...

Omigosh! These are great quotes. I love to browse through quote books and scoff, mock or praise the words found there. :D I like all of these. Thanks to the quotepage for the fun.

Eccentricity is not, as dull people would have us believe, a form of madness. It is often a kind of innocent pride, and the man of genius and the aristocrat are frequently regarded as eccentrics because genius and aristocrat are entirely unafraid of and uninfluenced by the opinions and vagaries of the crowd.

Edith Sitwell (1887 - 1964), Taken Care Of ,1965

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.

Herm Albright (1876 - 1944)

I happen to feel that the degree of a person's intelligence is directly reflected by the number of conflicting attitudes she can bring to bear on the same topic.

Lisa Alther, Kinflicks, 1975

Complaining is good for you as long as you're not complaining to the person you're complaining about.

Lynn Johnston (1947 - ), For Better or For Worse, 11-06-03

I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.

Martha Washington (1732 - 1802)

A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug.

Patricia Neal

Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.

William James (1842 - 1910)

The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind.

William James (1842 - 1910)

I'm sick.
Not morally or anything(no, really), but physically. I don't know why, but when I get a cold I sit up at night and just feel like I'm gonna die. I got to feeling better after about 5 days, and then got slammed again. Same routine. After about 5 days I felt like life might just be mine once more, and whammo. So this is now 2 days into that 3rd cycle and I just could not stay awake today. Went into the doctor finally(i hate doing that)and now have a nice little pile of meds to fight what my body just couldn't do on it's own. Why do I bring this up?

When I got home again I heated up some bean and ham soup. Oh golly. Beautiful. The smell instantly took me back to every kitchen of every house that my mom and I lived in when I was growing up. When I felt crummy, which was often, mom would pop into the kitchen and create sunshine. She had such an ability to transform an empty room into a palace of warmth and friendship, where you couldn't help but feel safe and secure. We lived in some really old houses, some real dives in fact...but once mom got in there, you just couldn't tell. Whether she opened a can or popped a "few little things" into a pot, the house would be filled with a most delicious smell. It just made you feel physically warm all over.

Mom grew up on a ranch in Colorado. It was one of those situations where the ranch had been owned by her grandfather, a well-known and highly respected gentleman in the region...a judge, in fact. But when he passed away, the ranch was sold for some reason and my grandfather, the eldest son, ended up working as a hired hand on the ranch where he was raised. The family lived in a small house, very sparse and bare. Grandpa came down with yellow fever, of all things, and while ill and then after, he was no longer able to do the hard work of the ranch. The family moved into an even smaller house...about the size of my entire kitchen. The children, all girls, were sent to live with other family members from time to time, and one left and lived with some folks who were better off. I'm thinking that it was during these times that my mom learned how to make beauty from nothing and to create an internal flame of security in the midst of a storm. She just had such a gift.

So here I am, without mom and feeling crummy and wishing beyond belief that someone would walk in the room and stroke my hair and whip friendship and warmth up out of the air so that I can just relax into the peace of feeling safe and cared for. Okay, so that's alot to ask of a can of soup, but it helped. I just needed it to be a much bigger bowl!

Thanks, momma. I love ya. And yeah, I took my meds.

...a little person?

Hmmm...
 One of my favorite shows, and of my younger daughter , is Little People Big World. It's a reality-based show that follows the lives of the Roloff family. Matt and Amy Roloff are dwarfs, or little people(lp's)who live in Oregon on a farm with their 4 children. we've  been watching for a couple of seasons, since it started, and I have made a discovery...I am only 2" above the classification limit for an LP. Being 5' even I miss the 4'10" max height qualifier, by the amount shown below in the space between this paragraph and the next.
Not alot of a difference, to me. I've obviously known that I am shorter than alot of folks. Funny thing, in the 5th grade I was the tallest girl in my class! While the other kids continued to grow, I didn't. I waited for years for my final girl growth "spurt" to kick in until I finally accepted the fact that I had "spurted" early and was done. I think I may have edged up another 1/2" at some point but at almost 43 yrs now I am sure it's long gone again. I ruined my feet working long hours as a Library Technician, or Public Service Assistant as it is now called, in high heels before I got smart and wore flats for comfort. I couldn't work well at the desk computers without being on a stool as the counters are generally set at 48" height, but at least I could walk the next morning without my feet cramping all night long. I've always had problems with counter tops being too high, with needing step stools cluttering the house somewhere, with never being able to reach above the bottom shelf of upper cabinetry in the kitchen...items on the top shelf in grocery stores are a major pain to get to, I can't read the price labels on those shelves and sometimes the ones under that. I use kitchen tongs as arm extenders(they work great, btw). I lift my kids up so that they can reach stuff that are above that. And all this time, I never even considered that I could possibly be dealing with a disability. I just thought, and still do, that everybody else is too tall. Hmmmm...so, I find myself totally relating to many of the things that the Roloff's are dealing with. Steps are never the right height, chairs and seats are too high so my lower legs dangle uncomfortably. Car pedals are also an issue, especially with a manual. I HATE to sit so close to the dash and wheel, yet I have to be able to reach the pedals. I can't even begin to tell you how cool adjustable pedals are to me!!!! Yeehaw, was my thought when I first drove a vehicle with adjustable pedals!!!
We're planning on a move to a new house in the next couple of months. One of my major issues is that the countertops cannot, absolutely CANNOT, be as high as they are usually made. I'd like to have the very top of the counter be no higher than 40" max, about 3 1/2 feet. Not sure that they'll do that, most builders look at me funny because cabinets just aren't pre-manufactured at that height, and we aren't doing custom. So I guess we'll see.
Anyway, I am grateful to the new insight I have into my size and my acceptance now. I view myself a bit differently, and that's okay. I, like the Roloff's, feel like I'm living in a world that wasn't made for me, but I am determined to make things happen still. http://mattroloff.com/
If you're interested in learning more about the Roloff's and their story, follow the link: http://mattroloff.com/

The Very First Posting...

Welcome! This is very exciting for me, my very first blog and my very first blog post! I think that blogs are just the greatest thing, maybe one of the neatest benefits the internet has to offer. It gives all of us frustrated authors a chance to write down our thoughts, to share our feelings and life events with friends and family, and a way to check our personal perspective.

There's a lot of stuff about this that I am completely clueless about. I think it'll be interesting to see how the look changes, once I figure out how to do that...I was told that blogs are dummy-proof...we'll see, won't we?

Thanks for joining in on the ride, ought to be fun! Well, at least not dull.