Oh my!

Sometimes, situations in life happen that define those special moments. The moments that are filled with laughter. Those times that you can tuck away in your memory and pull out later in life and still laugh as hard as you did when it happened. We had one of those moments yesterday with Baby Girl. We were leaving the mall when Brother wanted to get his little trains out of the diaper bag. Well, Baby Girl wanted her diaper bag because she knew she had some toys in there, too. As I'm driving out of the mall, I can see her in my rear view mirror. She is very intent and has her head bent down over the diaper bag that she has pulled into her lap. She is rummaging and searching and having a grand time discovering what is stored in the bag. We drive along enjoying the beautiful day, glad that both the children are content, when we hear Ahhhh! from Baby Girl. I glance in my mirror and shout "Oh my gosh, look at your daughter." Any of you who have ever been around small children know the rules of emergencies. 1. Assess the situation. 2. Determine everyone is okay. 3. Take a photo before the moment gets away 4. Solve the emergency. Now, my daughter, being the brilliant person she is. had the foresight to grab both our camera phones and document the moment before she repaired the damage. They say a picture paints a 1,000 words so I'll let the Kodak moment speak for itself.

It's the little things that thrill me....

I am one of those people who get so excited over little things in my life. Today, I get to go to McKay's Book Store on Papermill in Knoxville. I love going there. I take back all my books I've read and then swap them out for new books, DVD's for the kids, DVD's for me & Allen, whatever suits my fancy. The place is huge. I absolutely love when I get a new book to read. And to be able to get a bunch of new (to me) books at once and not cost anything and not have to take them back by a certain date is heaven. When I leave there, I get to go to AC Moore and pick up some craft supplies. Wow, could my day get any better. Well, yes it does. 'Cause I have a coupon for 10% off my entire purchase at AC Moore. Anybody that knows me knows I love my bargains. So free book and a discount on crafts is going to make my day today.

Why I love Fridays...

Friday is such a wonderful day. You are winding down from a long week of hard work. Hopefully, you feel like you have accomplished something, achieved some goal, made some difference. You look forward to 5:00 when you can leave the work world behind for two day. There is a sense of anticipation. You wake up with a little more pep in your step. You starting looking forward to what to do over the weekend. How to spend time with you family.

I love Fridays. I usually start the morning off with a little housekeeping so I can have a nice weekend without having housework staring me in the face. I know I will go shopping Saturday, even if it is just to the grocery store. I make a list for what I want to look for, what I need to pick up.

I look ahead to the prospect of getting to go to church on Sunday. Getting to worship and be uplifted before I start another week to do it all again.

Friday should always be feeled with happiness and light. You should be patting yourself on the back for making it through another week.

So enjoy your Friday. Be nice to someone. Be thankful you are a survivor. And rest of this week, enjoy your two days off. Because, come Monday it's gonna start all over again. Have a great weekend!

For this day...

For this day, I pray for peace and contentment.

For this day, I pray for love and comfort.

For this day, I pray for health and prosperity.

For this day, I pray for joy and laughter.

For this day, I pray for family and friends.

For this day, I pray for satisfaction in a job well done.

For this day, I pray.

Amen

Challenges

I have a gentleman who is a dear friend, who posts a question of the day on Facebook everyday. These questions are always thought provoking and challenging. He asks questions that make us really stop and think. Questions that make us look deep inside to find the answers. Through his questions, he is guiding each of us on a quest to make the best of our lives, No Matter What!

We are not only learning what makes each other tick, but what makes ourselves tick. I have learned more about myself and my beliefs through these morning sessions than I have on anything else I have ever studied.

One thing I have found is a sheer joy in challenging myself to really think about the questions and to be honest with myself, no matter what others may think.

It has been a mind-opening experience. I have started looking for ways to challenge myself...to be a better person, a more open person....to strive harder to reach my goals...to become passionate about every facet of my life. We do not have these sessions on the weekend and I miss them so much that I have started asking myself difficult questions to challenge me on the weekend.

Through these sessions, I feel like I have become a better person, developed a more open mindset and learned to look at my struggles as obstacles to overcome and conquer and not as stumbling blocks.

So I urge each of you to face the roadblocks in your life and dig deep inside to challenge your inner self to find a way to conquer the obstacles. I recommend you read his book, No Matter What!

Getting Organized

I don't know what it is about fresh air and warmer temperatures that makes us want to do some spring cleaning. When I went to my daughter's house Sunday, she had spent Saturday evening organizing closets. She had cleaned, tossed, thrown out, moved around, and boxed up until I was afraid to touch anything for fear of messing it up. Yesterday, with such a beautiful day, I could see why her mind would turn to spring cleaning in January. I have this one room that is our multi-purpose room. It serves as my home office, a library, my craft room and a family room with a sofa bed to make it a guest room when family comes to visit. The closet is very neat, very organized and very full. Every January, I get in my craft mode and want to start new projects. One thing I'm ready to do is my Camp Grandma scrapbook. I've been pulling my pictures all to one place so I can take them to Walmart to print. When I started looking into my craft drawers and containers, I realized that as I purchased the materials for the scrapbook, I have placed various things in different places. I guess I'll have to take a page from my daughters book and get organized first. How many projects do we each have laying around that are half finished because we didn't take the time to get organized first? How many things do we start only to decide, "Think I'll finish this later.". Sometimes we get overwhelmed when we get too much going on and then we don't get anything done. I have a habit of getting so excited about the finished project that I lose patience with the details that get me there. So I'm going to take the scrapbook in baby steps. I'll worry about getting my pictures printed first, then take it from there. Guess it's a good thing she organized her closets and got me motivated to bring some organization to my life.

The View

How do you view the obstacles in your life? Do you see them as challenges to overcome or do you see them as problems that lie in your path. Do you see them as something that is holding you back, a stumbling block to your success? Or are they simply one more achievement that you can say, "I did it!" when you have reached your goal. It's all about perception. Your view on what lies ahead can determine the road you take and can cause you to succeed or to fail. It's the old "glass half full or half empty". Your view of a situation can cause you to take the bull by the horns and plunge ahead, take that leap of faith that will get you the results you want. Or you can be so intimidated by the thought of tackling the situation that you bring about your own failure. What is the view from your window? How will you face the storms that come your way? Faith plays an important part in my life. I know that is why I can face things with such a positive mental attitude. It may be presumptuous of me, but when I need God's help, I just assume I'll get it. I guess that is what faith is all about. He may not answer how I want it answered, He may not give me the answer in the time I want it, but I know that He will lead me down the path he wants me to go. The grass is sometimes greener on the other side, but if you allow God to lead you and guide you in the path He wants you to take, YOUR yard can be the one with the green grass.