February 2009
Sat 2-28-9

Good Morning

I can not believe that it will be March tomorrow.  It just does not seem that we have already run through February.

On a VERY high note, I'm in love with Tim, the bobcat guy.  I watched with envy as he manipulated his machine.  I saw him
carve this lot into something much better than before.  I saw the mounds disappear and smoothness appear.  There are
probably close to 20 yards between the house and the shop alone.  I do so love the way that is all built up.  It is so smooth
and practically rock free.  There are only a couple that have reared their ugly heads.  I watched in abject awe as he
skillfully buried some rocks.  Now that is a skill worth having. :)  I took some pictures last night and will take some more
this morning.  I thought I was done, but I am going to have another load dumped so he can add more fill in the drive way.  
It does look better, but I want it to look great and another load will do it.  I do so love my dirt.  Next week, I'll be ready
for the weed prevention service.

I know that many would say me spending my resources on the yard is rather stupid since the inside is by no means done.  I
obviously do not see it that way.  I've been living in a construction zone for almost a year now, it was looking at the yard
that was killing me.  I still have a mess in the main part of the house.  I am getting rather used to having a row of boxes
along my living room wall and paint cans stacked in the corner.  They will need to go out to the shop when the living room
gets torn apart, but they are fine where they are right now.  I haven't seen all of my kitchen table since May.  It is used to
sort something or other.  Mostly it is were I put stuff that I will be boxing up, shredding, or tossing.  It is slow going, but
my goal is to not bring one thing back into this house that I do not want.  I want so very little that will be out and
displayed.  With the yard just abut done, I am ever so much happier now.  I had my heart set on a new very large tv for my
new living room wall, but I think I just spent that on my yard.  While I would have loved to have had both, getting the yard
done will give me lots of daily pleasure.  Besides, it will give me something to work towards and I want a good one and a
very large one.  I do so love watching my movies.  I'll be happy to get back to that too along with my sewing.  Oh be still my
heart. :)

I've got some appointments late morning and early afternoon.  After that I'm going to Oracle.  I'll be spending the night at
Dub and Barb's and enjoying a wild card game.  I just haven't been able to get away much this year and Laura will be
going back home soon.  I must at least attempt to whip her ass at cards before she leaves.  I do so enjoy getting away and
spending time with them.  As always, I'll miss my Casey boy while I'm gone, but he will greet me with love and affection
and total forgiveness when I return.   So there will be no blogging on Sunday unless I do it late.

I best get a move on.  I want to be totally packed and ready to leave as soon as I'm done earning a living today.  Whatever
you do this weekend, do so with great gusto and excitement.  We do not know how many days on this earth we can live our
story, so do not waste a single chapter.  

I wish you a day of ordinary miracles and the wisdom to view and appreciate each one.

Special prayers for Cleo, Beth, and Dick and their families.

Cyber hugs and lots of love

J
Mom
Gram

Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire. - Arnold H. Glasow, 1905 - 1998

Through perseverance many people win success out of what seemed destined to be certain failure.  - Benjamin Disraeli,
1804 - 1881

If you are successful, you may win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway. - Mother Teresa, 1910 - 1997

Fly Life on Free Wings, and Sing to its Glory. - jlh

Not in the shouts and plaudits of the throng, but in ourselves, are triumph and defeat. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,

Others will underestimate us, for although we judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, others judge us only by
what we have already done. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1807 - 1882

Those who do not know how to weep with their whole heart don't know how to laugh either. - Golda Meir

Life is what we make it. Always has been, always will be. – Grandma Moses

Fri 2-27-9

Good Morning

I am a little ticked at the talk about Dover and our war dead.  I don't believe the family should have a say on it at all.  
While a part of me will always grieve for every one of our war dead, I am sick and tired of hiding them.  I want them
publicly honored for their ultimate sacrifice.  I want full honors with one of the generals from the Department of Defense
or high ranking White House staff in mandatory attendance.  I want Taps played.  I want an honor guard.  I want a gun
salute.  It is not important that we know their names.  It is important that we see the real cost to our nation for war of any
kind.  In fact, if I were in charge no information about the dead could be released until that service.  I find it shameful
that we slip them in under the cover of secrecy and hide them from public view.  What the family does after that is their
own business and can be as private or public as they'd like it to be.  I just believe the real honor and the first honor
should be shared by all those soldiers together one last time.  Draping a flag over a coffin is just not enough.  Sure they
have the duty of their honor escort, but there needs to be a more public honor.  I want to see true reverence for their
loss.  I want us to feel what that cost is like.  I do not want the death of any soldier to change us going to war, but I want
that decision made with a lot more consideration to the fact that there would be war dead  we'd have to grieve as a
nation.  Maybe knowing there are going to be TV crews in attendance will make peace talk be the first part in our arsenal
and not the last.  I want the wimp out towards the end to stop.  If we are doing something for the right reason, we need to
accept all the costs.

Poor Adrian got sick yesterday afternoon.  I made him sit down on the porch.  At first I thought he might be getting
overheated, but he said that he had eaten and had been drinking plenty of water.  I ended up taking him home early.  I told
him to call me if he felt like working today, but not to push it if he was not feeling good.

I got the loads of dirt brought in yesterday.  Today, Tim the bobcat guy, comes over to knock down some humps, fill in
some low spots and scatter all the dirt around.  I may need another load, but we'll see how this goes.  First he is going to
take down the hump on my driveway and reclaim the dirt washed away that is making a hump along the road.  I can use it
and it is not doing anyone any good there.  I dug out the pipe we had in the ground for the stake on the gate.  I'll put it
back in when he is done and make sure it is high enough to not fill up with dirt every time it rains.  I am anxious to see how
all of this will look when it is done.  I do so like the rock border around my roses.  I think It would look good to have
another row of them on the upper lot and bring in some fill to help control some of the water that comes in there.

I am still getting use to seeing me with less hair.  I am much better looking but probably about an inch shorter and I did
not have that to give.  I had to laugh at something Beth said.  She said that even without hair she was still taller than me.  
Don't you love it. :)

I wish you all at least one ordinary miracle today and hope you have the wisdom to recognize it.  

Special prayers for Cleo, Beth, and Dick and their families.  Damn I hate cancer.

Cyber hugs and lots of love,

J
Mom
Gram

We win half the battle when we make up our minds to take the world as we find it, including the thorns. - O.S. Marden

Thu 2-26-9

Good Morning

Today is the Tucson Rodeo parade, supposedly the largest non mechanized parade in the world.  There are always some
good sights to see.  Had a tragedy a couple years ago that put a damper on young children riding by themselves.  It isn't
about how well children ride at home in their own area.  The horses are exposed to sudden loud noises, balloons, music up
close and personal and sudden movement all around them.  I know that when Dolly and her friend rode in the parade, they
practiced with all those things for a long time to make sure they had a clue what their horses would do.  Accidents do
happen and they are always sad.

Yesterday I got the haircut I so sorely needed.  I swear I got so much accomplished in such a short period of time.  I had
a break between clients.  I called my next and told her I was going to run a couple errands and should be back before she
got here, but just to case I wasn't that I'd be there shortly.  Everything went perfect.  I got into and through the bank in
record time, gassed up in good order, was so far ahead of schedule, I stopped by the beauty shop.  I couldn't believe it,
but I was the only one in there.  Got my hair cut without any wait time, and had enough time to do some quick shopping at
Safeway across the street.  Mostly I got my hair cut and replenished my strawberry supply.  I got home and was putting
the last of the stuff away when she got here.  I think that was the most I accomplished in two hours in a long time.

Today I'll be picking up Adrian and he'll finish up the last of the yard work.  Carole is going to be bringing over my
bathroom sink and cabinet and we'll get her boards back to her and my boards moved to the back.  My dirt is going to be
delivered.  I know, not many people get really excited about dirt, but I love dirt and mostly I'm going to love having my
yard looking a lot better.  Funny, but the yard is bothering me more than the house.  Maybe I'm used to living in a
construction zone.  

Best get with the program.  Trust me.  There will be before and after pictures. :)

Special prayers for Cleo, Beth, and Dick and their families.

Cyber hugs and lots of love.

J
Mom
Gram

Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. - George Bernard Shaw

Wed 2-25-9

Good Morning

Yesterday was Betty's birthday, so a big HB to you and many many more.

I find it so hard to believe that it is almost March already.  I so get rose fever at this time.  Sure I love the rest of my
flowers, but it is the roses that stole my heart all those years ago when Mrs. Stewart first allowed me to walk among her
flowers.  I thought she was one very special lady.  Everyone else had front lawns.  She had roses planted in a
checkerboard pattern with evenly spaced paths between them.  I have no idea how many roses she had, but I sure did love
walking among them, looking at them, gently touching them, and smelling them.  

I suppose the feel of dirt on my hands comes natural for me.  My father's family survived the depression by selling the
vegetables they grew in their truck farm.  Daddy always had a great vegetable garden and grew some of the best flowers.  
His wall of sweet peas on the wall of the back of our home and those majestic blood red cockscomb were some of his
best.  There was always some kind of digging, preparing, cutting, weeding, picking, or just enjoying going on that centered
around the gardens.  I learned to weed at a young age.  Weeding was simply culling the unwanted growth to give more room
and nutrients to the wanted growth.  That growth was encouraged in the same manner whether it was to eat or just enjoy.

Once the rose begin blooming, I'll be taking pictures of each and every rose I have and will post them.  There are a few
that have long gone to rose heaven, but I'll be keeping them too.  Their place was long ago established in my heart.  I'm
sorry I do not have pictures of all I've had and sadly can not remember all their names.  But I will always remember the
way they made me feel.  My roses still give my life a lift.  My roses are the calmness and peacefulness of my life.

Last night Casey and I went on another walk.  He faced his fear of the batting cage without freaking out.  Sounds great,
but quite frankly, it wasn't being used so it wasn't nearly so threatening.

I have had it with my hair.  I can't even remember when it has been this long.  As soon as my last client leaves, I'm heading
over to get mine cut.  I don't even care if I get a good or bad cut.  Whatever happens, it is bound to be better than what
I'd do to it myself.  I mean with these temp, the back of my neck is even sweating. :)

I wish you a wonderful day full of ordinary miracles and the wisdom to see them.

Special prayers for Cleo, Beth, and Dick and their families.

Cyber hugs and lots of love.

J
Mom
Gram

Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me. - Carol Burnett

The permanent temptation of life is to confuse dreams with reality. The permanent defeat of life comes when dreams are
surrendered to reality.  - James A. Michener

Few men have imagination enough for reality. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious
realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were. - John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Distinctions drawn by the mind are not necessarily equivalent to distinctions in reality. - Thomas Aquinas

Tue 2-24-9

Good Morning

Casey and I finally got to go for a walk again.  We didn't break any speed records.  Actually, he got spooked when we
went by the batting cage and a ball hit the fence right by us.  He kind of freaked on me, but then he settled right down
until this little shaggy rat looking thing by the name of Fluffy came zipping by.  He would have made one nice snack for
Casey and he just stood there looking at it barking at him.  Damn thing should have been on a leash.  The little girl who
seemed to be in charge of herding Fluffy told us not to be afraid that he barked like that because he was part police dog.  
Now, I'm not sure what part of him was police dog, but none that I recognized.

I cleaned up the last of my strawberries, so I'll need to go get some today.  I enjoyed some strawberries with Jack last
night.  I do so love that show.  If I'd just had a hot fudge sundae, it would have been perfect.  I also need to gas up and
go to the health food store for those turmeric pills.  I am for sure going to give that a try.  I don't figure it can hurt
anything.  I'll just have to watch my diabetic meds so I don't go into low blood sugar.

I can not believe how hot it was yesterday.  90 is just a bit much for this time of year.  I do hope that doesn't mean it is
going to get hot soon.  My roses won't like that.  I ordered some replacement roses yesterday.  I needed two teas and two
florabunda.  I have never seen an ugly rose, but some of them are sure prettier than the others.  If I had deep pockets that
could afford them and the yard person to go with them, I'd cover this entire place with trees, roses, ponds and paths to
see them all.  It would be very pleasant to walk around.  I'd for sure get my exercise just looking at all the pretties.

I've got an easy schedule today.  At least it looks that way now.

Prayers for Cleo, Beth, Dick and their families.

Cyber hugs and lots of love.

J
Mom
Gram

Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly. - Anonymous

Friends are the siblings, God never gave us. - Anonymous

Follow your dream! Unless it's the one where you're at work in your underwear during a fire drill. - Anonymous

For as we get older, it is not the things we did that we often regret, but the things we didn't do. - Anonymous

God understands our prayers even when we can't find the words to say them. - Anonymous

Growing old is inevitable; growing up is optional. - Anonymous

I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust the set of my sails. - Anonymous

If you can't see the bright side of life, polish the dull side.  - Anonymous

If you don't have a sense of humor, you probably don't have any sense at all. - Anonymous

Mon 2-23-9

Good Morning

I do not usually see clients on Sunday, but work schedules are more complicated for some people this year, so I helped
some clients in the afternoon.  It will still be a standard rule that I don't work on Sunday mainly because I need and want
a day off.

I got some very interesting information on a list I'm on about Turmeric.  I have attached the web links so you can read
them for yourself.  My nephew said he works with a guy from India and it works great for taking care of a cold.  When
you first feel one coming on, put some turmeric into some water, bring it to a boil, and inhale the steam.  The steam flushes
the bacteria from your sinuses.  He said he only tried it once, but it worked.

http://www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/20-health-benefits-of-turmeric.html

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/turmeric-000277.htm

I meant to go see if I could get some in capsule form, but never made it.  I'll stop by a couple places and see what I can
find.  I know there was a health food store not far away, but they may have closed down.  

I have to get my hair cut or someone is going to come at me with sheep shears or hedge clippers.  A friend said the other
day that she'd never seen my hair so long.  This is just way too long for me.

After I finished up my tax business, I just vegged and watched movies.  I have not really taken much down time and I
can't begin to tell you how great it felt to do nothing.  The most strenuous thing I did was clean up another container of
strawberries.  Now I wish strawberries were a miracle weight loss cure with the additional side effect of maintaining
your memory as that of a 20 year old.  Wouldn't that be something?

You can check out this site for the most current information on Dick Ragels.
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/dickragels
This family has sure had its share of dancing with cancer.

I hope today is going to be productive.  I'll get back to work on those files and maybe get my drip system fine tuned.  It is
better, but not good yet.  My glads are coming up.  I also need to order my four replacement roses.  I know of one for
sure, but there are so many pretty roses, that there are seldom bad choices.

Love today's quote...

Prayers for Cleo, Beth, and Dick and their families.

Cyber hugs and lots of love

J
Mom
Gram

Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need. - Khalil Gibran

Sun 2-22-9

Good Morning

I went on a rant yesterday.  I can’t believe how much I lose it when it comes to Jeff Mann coming up for parole.  I just
want to be physically and financially able to make that trip.  The emotional part I can keep under control when I have to.  
Besides I make a very effective speaker on the subject.  I promise you there are no rants at that hearing.  I'll present a
speech that has been in the works for a long time, fine tuned and where the weight and value of each word is chosen
carefully.  There is too much at stake for me to make a fool of myself.  I will give it my best shot.  I will do my best.  I can
do no more and that will be good enough for me to be able to sleep with myself.  

I’m sorry the link did not work I sent to some of you.  The information you need is Jeffery Mann, Cuyahoga county   
http://www.drc.ohio.gov/OffenderSearch/Search.aspx  I found it interesting to see that his race is American native.  
What is the hell is that?  He is of Italian descent. I suppose I should not swear on the lord’s day, but God already knows
me and all my warts and fleas.  I find it interesting that his victim is an adult female - nothing else. Nino.  None.

Yesterday turned out to be a good day after all.  I saw good people and best of all, I got me some more strawberries.  I
swear I will never have enough of them.  I had some great blueberries with my breakfast.  I crave fruit and can never have
enough of it.  There is good fruit and better fruit, but little bad fruit.

I’m not sure what all I’m going to accomplish this day.  I know I’m going to start it off with a cup of coffee, a smile and
throw in some blueberries and a sour dough English muffin for good measure.  I know I’m going to be happy, but hope I
can swing a little productive action as well.

I wish you the best of ordinary miracles.

Special prayers for Cleo and Beth and their families.

Cyber hugs and lots of love.

J
Mom
Gram

You won't be able to follow all of the rules at all times, but you can pick and choose with the utmost care just when to
stray from an accepted track. - Anonymous

Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy. - Guillaume Apollinaire

Give us, O Lord, grateful hearts, which do not waste time complaining. - St. Thomas Aquinas

It is wise to keep in mind that neither success nor failure is ever final. - Roger Babson

May no gift be too small to give, nor too simple to receive, which is wrapped in thoughtfulness, and tied with love. - L. O.
Baird

Sat 2-21-9

Good Morning

Had a great lupper at Chili's with another friend.  I am so blessed with so many good people in my life.   We all need to
appreciate the good ones in our lives.  I have reached contentment with my life.  I am happy more days than not.  I have
enough more days than not.  I am secure more days than not.  I am at peace more days than not.

I got a very interesting email from a friend commenting on my ramblings from the other day about the slings and arrows we
all suffer from time to time.  Her daughter has a saying that works for her and it is " forgive the sin but you do not have to
forgive the sinner".  Now I could wrap my ideology around that one.  I find that such a simple concept and so workable.

Today I'll be working and doing a little more in the office to get it ready for a switch.  Natch, right in the middle of tax
season, I decide to rearrange my copy room.  Yes, that same copy room, that is a sight.  I'm hoping it will be a better fit
and more organized.  With a little bit of luck I'll get one step closer to done.

I ordered a quilt pattern a while back and got it yesterday.  It will be my newest quilt yet to be done if I live that long.  I
have never had a real love for 30s fabrics.  I do remember going to the stores and picking out matching feed sacks.  My
Grandma Annie, the love of my life and a truly good soul, made many clothes and quilts with those feed sacks.   Anyway, I
ran across some fabric last year when I was taking a quilting class that had 4 30s fabric in each yard.  I picked up a few
yards of it because I knew there was a new quilt looking at me.  It will also look so great on my guest bed.  I mean a quilt
looks good on just about any bed.  So getting that pattern in the mail is pushing me to work harder and faster to reach
done and sewing time.  I have so many projects scrambling to get out.

Well, I best get to work.  I wish you a wonderful day of ordinary miracles.  Make sure you enjoy this day.  Make sure you
smile at all you meet.  You can never make anyone happy, but you can be happy yourself.  That is a choice we all make when
we get up in the morning.  Now just in case you run into a sourpuss, don't let them drag you down.  

Special hugs and prayers to Cleo, Beth, and their families.

Cyber hugs and lots of love.

J
Mom
Gram

A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer; it sings because it has a song. - Maya Angelou

A brook would lose its song if God removed the rocks. - Anonymous

A hug is a great gift ... one size fits all. It can be given for any occasion and it's easy to exchange. - Anonymous

Allow your heart to call the tune to which you dance your life. - Anonymous

A smile is the lighting system of the face, the cooling system of the head, and the heating system of the heart.  - Anonymous

A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour. - Anonymous

Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect; it just means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections. - Anonymous

Fri 2-20-9

Good Morning

Most of the yard is done now but there are a few piles of rocks still here and there.  It is coming along nicely.  Tim, the
bobcat guy, was over and surveyed the job and gave me his suggestions.  He'll be here next Friday to get the job done.  
Tim, the bobcat guy, is not as cute as Tim, the nephew plumber.  I am going to be happy to get this part of the job over with
and done.  I'll take and post pictures of the before and after.

Clients are commenting on how nice the shop and yard looks.  I think it looks nice too.  I do so love my turquoise shop door.  
It adds some spice and umph to the place.  Sadly Adrian could not get the bulb out of the dusk to dawn light with that pole
and it was too windy for him to go up the ladder.  He said he is part monkey, but not that big a part.

Last night friends took me out to dinner.  We went to the Olive Tree and it was so good.  I hadn't been there in a very long
time.  The bread sticks were still good and still to die for.

I think my path is going to be fairly simple for the next several days.  I'll be late lunching with a friend today.  I was
thinking how very blessed I am to have so many people I do so enjoy being with and sharing my time.  I got to thinking
about how we waste time every day and how we blow the opportunity to be with people we honestly care about.  Touching
hearts is a very special kind of love and should occupy more of our time.   Maybe we all need to learn to be kinder to
ourselves and those we love.

I wonder how many stars we've not seen in our hurry to get nowhere.  We will each live only for a specific more number of
hours, days, weeks, months, and years.  We need to cultivate the weeds out of our lives and let more flowers in.  We need
to live with disappointments and still move forward.  I know I feel sorrow at the loss of my family, but not enough to
attempt to cross those burned bridges.   I did not walk away from them.  They walked away from me.  Some I understand.  
Some I never will.  I am to a place where I can forgive my mother and brother for not acknowledging Brownie's death.  I
don't have a clue why my sister left my life.  I'll never understand it and it will forever cloud my opinion of them.  Ok, so
maybe I haven't reached forgiveness yet.  Maybe I've reached acceptance and the forgiveness is God's job.  Mostly I
marvel at how ordinary good and decent people can so screw up their lives.  We are for sure our own worst enemies.  
Regardless the outcome, I shall never regret loving people.  Everyone who has ever been in my life has made a contribution
to who and what I am today.  Some have left priceless loving footprints on my soul.  Some I did not treat as well as I could
have and some did not treat me kindly.  We all have those shadow marks in our lives.  We have all been loved and lifted and
been hurt and rejected.  It is a part of our road in life.  It is a part of our tomorrows.  I am trying not to squander mine.

I wish you a day of ordinary miracles you can witness and relish.

Special prayers for Cleo, Beth and their families.

Cyber hugs and lots of love

J
Mom
Gram

A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer. -  Ralph Waldo Emerson
Life is a roller-coaster. Try to eat a light lunch. - David Schmaltz

Thu 2-19-9

Good Morning

This is the poem that Gary chose to have at his services.  The author is Vicki Renee Rider and I found it to be one of the
best I've ever heard.  It was printed in the Conde Paper, where it appeared with information about his death.  I wanted to
see if I could find the author, so I turned to my favorite source, Google. :)  It was misprinted in the Conde Paper.  Here it
is as she wrote it and the link to her site.  This poem so very much touched my soul.

God Knew
Written by Vicki Renee Rider

God knew that you were suffering.
That the hills were hard to climb
So He gently closed your eyelids
And whispered "Peace be thine."
In tears we watched you sinking
We watched you fade away
Our hearts were surely broken
You fought so hard to stay

But when we saw you sleep
So peaceful, free from pain
We could not wish you back
To suffer that again
It broke our hearts to lose you
But you did not go alone
For part of us went with you
The day God called you home.

http://www.poetry.com/dotnet/P7863892/999/3/display.aspx

Adrian did more yard work.  We took what could be my last load of old debris to the dump.  Now you know that breaks my
heart.  The back of the shop looks so good.  I think once we're finally done back there, I'm going to move Brownie's
tractor so it can finally be parked in the shade.  It deserves it after all the years of hard work it has done.  I know my
farm boy loved his tractor.  Once that is done, there will be absolutely nothing visible in my yard from the front.  Trust me
when I say it wasn't always that way.

Tim, Carole's bobcat guy, will be coming by this morning to check out what I want done and to tell me whether or not he
wants the job and how much.  After I know that I'll make arrangements for some dirt.  I need to get all this in place
before we get any significant rain.  Of course, I'm going to be praying that we don't get any gully whompers right off the
bat.  Gully whompers and fresh fill will not mix well.  

Adrian and I tried to replace the light bulb in my dusk to dawn light.  He got the extended pole down from the rafters in
the shop.  Things like that rot in the heat and cold even in a sheltered shop.  So regardless what all those greenies say,
plastic does not last forever. :)  After I dropped him off, I went to Lowes and got me a new one and a bulb I hope is the
right size.  Anyway.  This looks like it will work.   I mean we only change the thing once ever 5 to 10 years.  I have no idea
what size it is.   Guess I'll find out.  That will be what we tackle this morning.    It has been coming on and off and
spending more time in the off position than the on.  That thing has been up there since 88 when we built my office.  I don't
even want to think about replacing the entire light if it isn't just the bulb.

Best get with the program so I'll be ready to pickup Adrian and face this day.

Special prayers for Cleo and Beth and their families.

Cyber hugs and lots of love to you all.

J
Mom
Gram

I subscribe to several daily quotes.  I particularly like the view of this one.

The River of Life meanders without apparent purpose. To question Life is to invite suffering. To attempt to overpower Life
is to tilt at windmills. Life is best enjoyed without resistance. Surrender to the flow of the River of Life, yet do not float
down the river like a leaf or a log. While neither attempting to resist time nor to to hurry it, become the rudder and use
your energy to correct your course to avoid the whirlpools and undertow.

The River of Life has no meaning - no good, no bad, no better, no worse, no love, no hate, no fear, no anger, no joy. The
River of Life has no judgment, no expectation. The River of Life just IS. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Wed 2-18-9

Good Morning

I saw the most amazing sunrise yesterday when I was going over to pick up Adrian.  The clouds were streaking at the
horizon, but were in full cover towards the west.  There was a shocking pink reflection with the blinding bright yellow ball
of a sun breaking through.  It was almost as if they were all fighting for their rightful place in the morning.  Sadly I did
not have my camera with me. :(

Adrian put in another good day's work.  He got all the yard cleaned on the west side of the shop.  We'll be going to the
dump today.  I am going to go out there and take some more pictures today.  He also got the back of the shop done and that
looks very nice.   I am very pleased with the way this is looking.  I got the name of a guy from Carole who has a bobcat.  
I'll get him over here to do some smoothing and spread out dirt I'm going to haul in.  It should be done in another week or
so depending on when the bobcat guy can get over here.  It will be nice to have this behind me so I can concentrate on
working on the house this year.  I can hardly wait.  I just need to work right now to earn the money to fund that project.  

I keep making progress on my files, but that is slower going than I'd like, but like most things attacked, done will be a
wonderful word.  I was looking at my copy room yesterday and I think I'm going to rearrange it.  That will give me some
incentive to sort and toss some more.  I've got a huge construction debris bag of shredded paper sitting my office.  I
should have it totally stuffed before we have to go to the dump.  It does not look that attractive, but it will soon be gone
and having it there has saved me many steps.  Cleaning up my files has yielded lots of shredded paper.  I can hard wait to
see what my house is going to look like all stripped and bare and spacious.  I'm not going to know what to do in a living
room without box and cans of paint and more than just a recliner.  I'm just hoping my poor old recliner lives until the living
room is done.   

I wish you the kindest of days and the sweetest of memories.  I wish you ordinary miracles.

Special prayers for Cleo and Beth.

Cyber hugs and lots of love

J
Mom
Gram

Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can read. - Mark Twain

Let us so live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry. - Mark Twain

Tue 2-17-9

Good Morning

Happy Birthday to Sharon.  I wish her a very happy day full of love and good cheer.

Yesterday was full of work mostly sitting at my desk.  I did accomplish a lot, but I do get tired of inside work.  My idea of
a perfect day is one that starts with a cup of coffee watching the sunrise, a couple hours working in the yard, the rest of
the day sitting at my sewing machine watching movies, broken up only by a nice walk in the park.  Surely that is about as
good as it gets.  Oh, yea, top that off with good food prepared by someone else. :)

After my rant of yesterday, I'm feeling pretty wordless today.  So I'll leave you with a sincere wish that you find at least
one ordinary miracle and enjoy it to the max.  

Today is Dolly's birthday too and she is 45.  

Special prayers for Cleo and Beth and their families.

Cyber hugs and lots of love

J
Mom
Gram

Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing, that we see too late the one that is open.
- Alexander Graham Bell, 1847 - 1922

The best of men cannot suspend their fate:
The good die early, and the bad die late.
- Daniel Defoe, 1660 - 1731

I have noticed that the people who are late are often so much jollier than the people who have to wait for them.
- E. V. Lucas, 1868 – 1938

You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803 - 1882

You have to walk carefully in the beginning of love; the running across fields into your lover's arms can only come later
when you're sure they won't laugh if you trip. - Jonathan Carroll

Mon 2-16-9

Good Morning

I have not reared my head and leaped upon a soap box in a long time.  This has been nagging at me lately, but began
screaming loudly the past couple of days.  I can resist no longer.

I believe quite strongly in freedom of speech and freedom of choice.  However, I believe responsibility walks hand in
hand with them both.  I believe we are all benefitted by a respectful discussion and airing a difference of opinion.  I
believe also that you should be willing to put your money where your mouth goes.  

Republicans and Democrats have long held differing views on what is the best course for our nation to take.  The last 8
years have been a fiasco led by people who are ethically and morally bankrupt.  I honestly and sincerely believe that Bush
will not do any better in history looking at his Presidency in 200 years as he is viewed right now.  The country wanted
change.  We got that change with a candidate  who took office with an extremely high rating as opposed to Bush who left
office with one of the lowest ratings ever.  I do not blame Bush and his administration completely for this horror in which
we live, but I do believe that they contributed greatly to how bad it got.  Obviously the Republican leaders did not have a
plan that did anything to help save jobs.  They favored oil and big money.  In fact, many more of our jobs were sent
overseas to take advantage of cheap labor.  That is corporate greed at its finest.  

The wealthy benefitted by unbelievable tax cuts and left the lower end of the scale wanting. I do not believe the rich
should be punished for having money, but I see nothing wrong with a sliding scale of increased tax rates.  We should all
pay our fair share.  What no one wants to talk about is the tax free interest available to those with higher incomes.  It was
just a few short years ago that people with a meager income could not even buy into those funds.  Some of the better one
used to have 100,000 minimum buy ins.   I don't know about you, but I just never had an extra 100,000 just lying around I
didn't need, so I never was able to invest in any interest free notes.  I'll get back to what my views of tax reform would
be a little later.  

Anyway, along comes Obama with a different view and willing to attempt to save our country.   His view values the middle
class and recognizes that the middle class has been taking the brunt for just way too long.  When it came down to a vote on
a plan that just might work, it came down to an almost 100% party line vote.   I found that terribly disturbing for lots of
reasons.  Stubbornly sticking with what didn't work is not the answer.   Rush, the pill popping hypocrite with idiot
tendencies who is just hoping  that Obama fails is not a good source of anything but inflaming words and unfounded
attacks.

Now while I believe strongly that each is entitled to their own opinion, I believe you should have to live with your decision.
I have to assume that each elected Senator or Representative honestly represents the majority of the people from their
district.  Fair assumption or they would not have been elected in the first place.  So to help the stimulus money last longer
and go further, I do not believe any of the money should go to the district of anyone who voted against it.  Now if that
went into place, those same people who voted against it would be screaming like panthers for not getting their share.  I
believe you should have to live by the choices you make.  In that vein, anyone who voted against the measure must believe it
is wrong.  If it is wrong, then why would they want any part of it?  You know and I know they will be standing in line with
their hand out wanting to get the most they can especially if someone else is going to pay for it.  

I find it most humorous when Republicans decry the spendthrift Democrats.  Their memory is short.  When Bush took over,
our national budget was balanced and in the black.  When he left office, it was Republicans who ran us into the red at an
alarming pace and gave us the highest debt in history.  I probably hate most that their solution was to borrow money from
China to fund all those tax cuts they made - like China and the US have so much in common.  Like I am so comfortable in
having China hold so many pink slips for our country.  God help up all if they attempted to call in that debt.  

They are not the only hypocrites.  We are all hypocrites in one way or the other when we do not live by the words we speak
and actions we take.  Mostly I resent the class hatred I see.  I do not view all rich people as evil greedy users, nor do I
view all the poor as lazy slobs with no ambition.

I do not believe anyone is worth what some have been paid.  That goes for the wall street brokers, ceos, and all the sport
figures.  What we have seen and heard about is just truly obscene compensation and totally out of line.

I do believe basic greed is the true evil that has been attacking our country.  We can't have it all.  We can only have what
we can afford.  We should not be living beyond our means and be aware exactly what those means are.  We must accept
that unless we are at the very high end of the scale, we can not have everything we want and must learn to be happy with
what we can afford.  We should all be saving at least 20% of our gross income and when I say saving, I mean having that
in an untouchable account that can only be used for a true emergency.  I don't have such an account.  

I believe a lot of corporate greed and manipulation could be eliminated if all corporations had to pay taxes on what their
prospectus show.  In fact, why not just send in their prospectus and a check on what they say their net profit is.  No
corporation with a gross income should be able to pay no tax in any year.  They are the ones who should have an alternate
minimum tax.  No corporation should be able to sell an unused credit.  An individual can't so why should they.  

Corporations have seen fit to stop using the manufacturing labor in this country.  This is a country of free choice.  I would
just add one tiny little clause to the tax code...  If a company chooses to save money by having the work done outside of
this country, they can not deduct the labor and must pay an import tax when they bring it back here to sell.  That just might
bring some of that work back here.  Some American corporations have chosen to locate their main office offshore because
of the banking and tax advantages.  Again, that is a free choice, however, I would impose a tariff on all transactions done
by that company that involved the import or sale in the US.  That tariff would be high.  Basically, the rules would be made
to protect the American worker, not undermine them.

I believe all income should be taxable.  I mean I believe all income including the sacred cows of social security, veterans
benefits, workman compensation, welfare benefits, the value of food stamps, foster care payments, just to name a few.  
There would be no tax free income.  There would be no tax free interest.  There would be no capital gains rate.  Why
should investors be able to pay less tax on their earnings than the person working at WalMart.  Income is income, period
and it would all be taxable.  The alternate minimum tax would have a thresh hold at 100,000 and increase automatically
with the cost of living.   Course if you did away with a lot of the loopholes, there were be less that would kick you into an
alt min tax.  

Lastly and probably the most controversial would be the elimination of joint filing.  Each person of any age who earned any
kind of income during the year would file a tax return if their total income exceeded 50,000.  There would be no
deductions for children.  You had them.  They are your problem and society as a whole should not have to subsidize your
choice to populate.  There would be no itemized deductions.   I'm glad you like your house and hope you can afford it, but
that should be your problem and not mine.  Your tax bill should not be reduced because you have a mortgage.  Again,
society should not have to subsidize your debt.  I would make it your problem.  I would make you accountable and make
you live within your means.

In order to get people to be more willing to support their children, child support should be totally deductible up to 10,000
per year per child.  Yes, that would make it taxable to the person receiving it.  Oh well, deal with it.  To eliminate the
constant battle over who gets to claim the kids (if kids were still deductible), they could only be claimed by the person
they lived with more than half the year.  If the child did not live with one person more than half of the year, they could not
be claimed by anyone.  A kid moving around that much has more problems than just who is going to claim them.  The total
amount paid for child care while a person was working or going to school would be a deduction up to 6,000 per child.  If
we want people to work, we have to make it easier for them.  There would be no earned income credit.  Your kids.  Your
problem.  Now that seems like a real bad deal and quite the horror story, but I believe it would be fair.  It is just about
time, we became responsible for our own actions.  I would make the first 50,000 of income tax free, so anyone making
less than 50,000 a year would have a zero taxable income.   After that everyone and all entities would pay the same rate.  
Between zero and 100,000 you'd pay 5%.  Between 100,000 and 200,000, you'd pay 10%.  Between 200,000 and 500,000,
you'd pay 15%.  Between 500,000 and 2,000,000, you'd pay 20%.  Anything higher than 2,000,000 would pay 25%.  

All tax laws would have to be implemented prior to the year they take effect.  In other words, anything that affects the
2009 tax year would have to be in place prior to Jan 1, 2009.  What a concept.  No last minute tax laws made retroactive.  
All tax laws would take effect on Jan 1 and run through Dec 31.  There would be no more split year rules.  Simplicity.  
What a concept!

To address illegal aliens, I'd issue some kind of proof of citizenship card.  You can't get food stamps, welfare, medical
attention, social security or for damn sure vote unless you can prove you are a citizen.  Oh and BTW, just because you have
a kid in this country does not make the baby a citizen nor give you a right to stay.  I don't honestly believe there is a way
to stem the tide of controlling our borders, because businesses want the cheap labor here.  It is the businesses who want
to pay the cheap labor that keep them coming here.  It is the wealthy who want maids, nannies, gardeners, cooks, etc and
not pay them what they are worth and turn them in if they bitch.  No work, no prospect of work, and they would not come.  
If it wasn't for businesses and individuals encouraging them with jobs, we would not have the problem.  We can get "them"
to pay their fair share by collecting a tax of 15% of all money wired out of this country.   No exceptions.  25% of that
money would be divided equally among the local hospitals to help pay down their debt, 25% would go to the state,  and the
other half would go to the US Treasury to be used only to pay down our debt.

Obama's campaign slogan was, "Yes we can".  Well, I believe sincerely and completely that we can get out of this mess, but
I don't think it is going to be pretty and I don't believe it is going to be easy or soon.  I don't believe that many people on
either side of the aisle want to see big government.  There were plenty of bad choices that got us here and there are going
to have to be some good but difficult choices to get us out.  There can no longer be a free lunch.  People who are able to
work must work in some capacity doing something in order to get any kind of social aide.  Sitting on the sidelines with your
hand out has got to be eliminated.  In Jamestown, if you didn't work, you didn't eat.  We need to weed out the bleeding
hearts way of life.  There is nothing wrong with expecting everyone to pull their own weight and to work for what they
get.  A little bit of sweat never hurt anyone.  

I guess I've shared enough ideas to tick off just about everyone, so I am going to give it a rest for now.

I wish you a day of ordinary miracle and your ability to recognize them.  I wish you love without limits.

Special prayers for Cleo and Beth.

Cyber hugs and lots of love.

J
Mom
Gram

You were born an original.  Don't die a copy. - John Mason

Sun 2-15-9

Good Morning

I had a wonderful surprise.  One of my clients brought me a very pretty bouquet.  I have been blessed with having lots of
good people in my life.  I sent out a Happy Valentine's Day message from gmail and all those with msn addresses rejected.  
Damn I do so wish there would just not be those kind of problems.

My scanner has been on the fritz.  Actually the scanner was working just fine until I tried to install my new printer.  They
are just not playing nice together.  Since I have been moving my office files to being more computerized, this has caused a
real slow down.  Yesterday I started using my camera instead.  I am taking pictures of documents in super macro mode.  
They are turning out great.  It is much faster and a whole lot easier to label.  For anyone needing to do this, I do have a
tip, I discovered accidentally.   When taking a picture of a full page turn the paper horizontally, take the picture.  I resize
and label using Irfanview.  It is a free program.  http://www.irfanview.com/  Be sure to download the plugins too.  All
pictures are hogs and they can be read just fine in a smaller version.  I take all my pictures suitable to print an 8 x 10 with
clarity.  First I crop and resize to 1024 x 768 and then I rotate 90 degrees to get it upright.  By resizing and then
rotating, you can view the entire page on your screen.  To do it the other way around, the page must be scrolled in order to
view it.  Anyway that was a real Aha moment for me.  The doc loader on my scanner no longer works and I was going to be
getting me a new scanner.  Now I do not think I will.  In fact if I am going to do anything it will be to get me a newer
camera. :)  I must say my clients took my new tool in stride.  I am going to attempt to hook up my scanner and printer and
see what happens there.  

The yard is looking better and better all the time.  Adrian will be working for Carole this weekend and Mon.  He'll be back
here o a couple days next weeks.  Wed afternoon, I do not have any appointments and I am not going to make any.  We will
be loading the truck and making my final trip to the dump.   There is quite a collection of bagged trash out back.  There
must be at least 10 or more by now.   It is going to be such a good thing to get my yard totally done.   Darrell will be coming
out this week to pick up my cooler and totally revamp it.  God knows it needs it.  My squirrel cage is so rusted, chunks are
falling off.  I suspect it will cool a whole lot better with a complete new squirrel cage.   I'll give him my old furnace and
what little other metal I have.  That will finish cleaning up the yard of debris.   The part out back under the porch has not
been that clean since Brownie first built it.  It will be nice when the inside of my house looks as good as the outside and
yard.  Hopefully, I'll make a big dent into that this summer.  It will be nice to be able to walk around in the shop too.  All in
good time.  All in good time.  Time and money are my only enemies - just as they are for most folks, but I'd rather pay cash
for whatever I'm doing.  Actually, that is not true, I'd rather have had it all done yesterday, but I am not going into debt
to get it done.

I have allowed a couple appointments this afternoon.  It is not the norm, but these are unusual circumstances and I do try
to be accommodating.  Sunday will always be a day of reserve.  I like to have that day to myself and a day to play catch up.

I wish you a wonderful day of ordinary miracles.

Special prayers for Cleo and Beth and their families.

Cyber hugs and lots of love.

J
Mom
Gram

No words are necessary between two loving hearts. - Unknown.

Sat 2-14-9

Good Morning and a VERY Happy St Valentine's Day to you!






I don't have lots to tell than can't wait.  I want you to celebrate love today.   One of the best things that can happen to a
person is to love and to be loved.  Everything else pales.  Knowing you are loved will erase a deep wound.  Having someone
to walk beside you and catch you when you fall will ease your journey over those dark trails and those troubled waters.
Love can cause both joy and pain.  But even if I knew I'd one day suffer, I would still chose to set my sail towards taking
that chance on love.  Love has given me what I could never buy.  Love has lifted burdens.  Love has encouraged and taught.
Love can live in your heart long after the one who put it there has died.  For so long as one person lives, love can not die.

I wish you many ordinary miracles today and always.

Cyber hugs and lots of love

J
M
Gram

To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides. - David Viscott
To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage. - Lao Tzu
Love is friendship set on fire. - Unknown
Love does not dominate, it cultivates. - Anonymous
Pain reminds us we're alive-Love reminds us why. - Unknown
Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence. - Erich Fromm
If you have love, you don't need to have anything else, and if you don't have it, it doesn't matter much what else you have.
- Sir James M. Barrie
Years of love have been forgot, In the hatred of a minute. - Edgar Allan Poe

Fri 2-13-9

Good Morning

Yesterday in the afternoon I made a supply run to Kelly's Papers.  I think I picked up everything I'll need to get me
through the season with the exception of paper.  I may need another case, but really don't want anything extra lying
around when we have to move stuff around to do these rooms.  I'll wait to closer to the end for that decision.

After I took Adrian home, I stopped by Office Max and picked me up a new UPS (uninterruptible power supply).  
Something else that has changed.  They are brand known rather than by a generic job.  Anyway this one should be fine.  It
has 8 places to plug things, so that will be fine.   I also replaced my powered hub.  My new hub has 7 places so that should
be more than fine.  I cracked up on the picture on the container.  It shows a couple memory sticks being used.  I must admit
I never thought of using them that way.  I've got a place on the side of my computer unit for that, but for those who don't
that would be a slick deal.  I'm going to put the new one on my computer and move that one in the back room.  I'll make that
switch probably Sun AM when I've got plenty of time to hook things up.  I am going to try to install my scanner again and
see what happens.  That is going to be a real fun time.

Yesterday Adrian got the back fence totally cleaned out, the rocks stacked, and the area raked.  Our NW corner is such a
collector for all manner of trash that blows in the yard.  With all the yard debris, he has several large bags of trash.  He'll
be working here today and then again next week.  Right now, it is working on the west side of the shop. It is my hope that
he can finish everything up so that we can take a load to the dump.  Then it will be time to get some more dirt brought in
here and get things smoothed out.  That should be the last I have to do for that.  Then if I use that weed service, my yard
work will consist of doing my roses each year and planting my flower bed.  I think, I'll still get help for doing the roses.  
It worked so well with me whacking and him loading into the truck and maybe most important unloading at the dump.  I had
never got them all done in one day before.

I am liking gmail more and more as I use it more.  Thunderbird is OK.  I may try comcast online to see if I like the feature
of checking my voice mail online.  Right now, there is just a sour taste in my mouth over the transition.  I'm sure that
bitterness will fade with time.  BTW, I never did get all those volumes of emails I was suppose to get - at least not yet.  
That tells me that no one else will either.

I saw the most beautiful dawn yesterday.  The sun was partially over the horizon and there were streaks of thin clouds all
around.  It was quite a sight.  To think all those who slept it missed it and that could have been the only ordinary miracle
they got.

I wish you a day of ordinary miracles.  

I do really like both of Lincoln's quotes I used today.

Special prayers for Cleo and Beth and their families.

Cyber hugs and lots of love.

J
Mom
Gram

Die when I may, I want it said by those who knew me best that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I
thought a flower would grow.

I do the best I know how, the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing it to the end. If the end brings me out all right,
what is said against me will not amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would
make no difference.

Both from Abraham Lincoln, 1809 - 1865

Thu 2-12-9

Good Morning

I heard a new weather term yesterday.  They said we had an Apache frost.  I googled it and nothing came up.  I could have
wasted more time, but figured I'd ask you.  So, have any of you heard the term before?  We had a light frost.  My
windshield was coated, but I just turned the windshield wipers on and hosed the ice away.  Some of you who actually live
in the land of ice and snow have probably never heard of doing such a thing.  I know when Brownie's father saw me doing
that one day, he said you sure wouldn't do that in South Dakota and of that I have no doubt.

I got an absolute gonga deal so I bought a ticket to Texas.  I could hardly believe it was only 114 plus tax.  Course that tax
bumped it up to 156.40, but that is still a very good deal.  So I'll be heading for Texas on 4-29 and returning on 5-12.  You
can't hardly beat a deal like that.  Wish I could find one for MI after Ash's baby is born and TX again in the fall.  Basic
greed just does take over. :)  I'm very excited about getting a ticket so cheap, just wish the same could be true when I go
to MI.

Adrian got the rocks placed to help to control the washing next to the fence.  I swear that guy is more anal than I am.  He
is finishing up cleaning up the back fence.  He has cleaned up around the shop and has semi sorted the stack of wood
between bad stuff and stuff than can be used.  Maybe we'll take one more load to the dump.  

My techie guy was out and ran several diagnostics.  The first time one of the memory modules failed, but the second time it
passed.  He can see nothing that looks wrong with my mother board.  We are going to try an experiment.  He removed my
two memory modules.  He put 2 new ones in the places that had been empty.  I'm going to see if it locks up again.  If it does
not, I'm going to put one of the old ones back in and see what happens.  I'll try it with both modules to see if I can
identify the bad one.  It is does lock up again, he'll give me my money back for the memory and we'll see about the mother
board.  The power supply is good.  I do so hope it was one of the memory chips.  If that is the case, I can boost my mem up
to 3 gig.  Nothing wrong with more power.

The more I work with gmail, the more I'm liking it.  I just hate trading horses in mid stream.

I'll be picking up Adrian again this morning.  He is doing such a good job.  I'll be busy with clients this AM, but I'll be
free in the afternoon.  I plan on working in the yard when I'm done inside.  I really do love yardwork.  It will also be so
good to have all this done so soon.  I really need to get that Epsom salt and get my roses treated.  

Well, talk is cheap and I'm not getting anything done this way.  I left my computer on all night and was thrilled that it had
not locked up.  It is way too early to tell, but I'm going to be so appreciative if that fixed the problem.  Lets just hope and
pray it worked.

Please say prayers for Cleo and Beth.

Cyber hugs and lots of love

J
Mom
Gram

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw
off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream.  - Mark Twain

Wed 2-11-9

Good Morning:

This is a walk down memory lane of the 60s. http://objflicks.com/TakeMeBackToTheSixties.htm

Today I'll be picking up Adrian and he'll be spending the day with me.  Each day makes the yard look just a little better.

Last night I had to cover my Hawaiian Lily and the plants again.  I do hope it doesn't freeze.  I have bundled things up as
best I could, but everything is not protected.  I have turned on the water at the cooler so that it will drip a little more in
the hopes that it will not freeze.  After all, that is the valve that I just replaced. :)  I suppose if it keeps freezing, I'll be
getting lots more practice.

I sent out a letter to all my clients and asked that they use my gmail address.  I have also changed the link on this website.  
This is so very frustrating for me.  I'm sure Comcast is not having a good time either with all the people calling them.  First
there was the porno deal during the Super Bowl and now you can not trust that email is either coming in or leaving. That is
just not the way I like to do business.  I know for a fact my clients don't.

I have always had other email accounts for those rare moments when things were not quite right.  Whatever problems they
had were generally resolved within a few days.  This has not been right since at least 1-29 and that is just too long for me
to be patient.

It was a real pain for me to switch all the addresses.  Importing is not an exact science and I still had to mess with each
address manually and get them sorted into groups and I'm still setting up filters.

Enough with me complaining.  

Last night was the last really cold day for at least the next 15.  I am going to hope and pray it will be the last of the year.  
I can hardly wait for it to get light enough to see whether or not any of my plants were damaged.  I do get so spoiled living
here. It is seldom I have to do anything to protect my home or plants from the weather.  Winterizing my outside pipes means
I need to wrap them with foam or a rag of some kind.  I put on those wrap around foam pipe protectors last year.  The
birds love them for some reason and have pecked them to pieces.

I thought I might get a really cheap trip to TX, but I could not find anything that had decent flight times.   There are so
many different arrival and departure times that I really like to pick something from late morning to early afternoon for
them to either come pick me up or drop me off.  I'll keep looking, but doubt I'll find anything that cheap.  It was $120
round trip from Tucson to San Antonio.  The only catch was that I had to complete my trip by 5-13.  There is one baby due
the first part of May and it would be nice to be there when it was born.

I'd appreciate it if you all would say a little prayer that Beth's chemo goes better for her today that it did last time.  She
ended up with a series of problems and spent most of the day there.  

I think we've all known people that must have been the inspiration behind today's quote.

OK, I was going to let it go, but I just can't.  I am so sick of that bimbet that just had the litter of 8.  She is obviously in
serious need of mental care.  I highly resent having to contribute to her desire to birth children.  Child welfare should
move in and remove all of them.  I mean just where do you put that many people in such a small home.   Those kids need to
be removed and she needs to be fixed so there is no way she can ever again produce more kids for the rest of us to
support.  I would also like the license of the doctor removed who implanted 6 fertile eggs in her.  That should be an
unethical practice even if she was totally supporting them all herself.  I am probably most sick about the media giving her
any air time.  That is just feeding that sick side of her.  What little I watched, well, I just wanted to gag.  Soapbox closed.

Well, I best get with the program.

Prayers for Cleo and Beth.

Cyber hugs and lots of love

J
Mom
Gram

Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped. - Elbert Hubbard

Tue 2-10-9

Good Morning:

I am just learning of the severity of my email problem.  Yesterday I found out about two clients who had emailed me and
got no response from me.  One is still waiting for me to do their return.  One had their return done elsewhere.  I just don't
make enough money to be able to afford to lose people for such a silly reason.  I believe I am going to switch my business
email address to gmail.  I'll still keep comcast, but I can't afford to trust it.  What a horrid time of the year for me to have
to do something like that.  Oh well, life isn't always pretty and it certainly isn't always fair.

We were suppose to get snow down to the 4,000 foot level which means the foothills should be white.  I'm at about 2,400,
but snow here is not impossible with that kind of a prediction.  We've had snow here when it was predicted down to 5,000.
I just poked my head outside and it is raining, but no white stuff.  It was suppose to hit freezing or below so I wrapped
stuff up.  I didn't have enough to cover my entire flower bed, but got most of the stuff.  I think I'll take a picture of my
Hawaiian Lily.  That one is just adorable, but it should be safe.  I hope my yellow pear tomatoes come through this cold
snap.  Actually, I don't want to lose anything.

Most of today, I'll be hunkered down working on the email switch.  For whatever reason, my addresses did not import into
gmail as they should have.  It shows the name, but the actual email address appears only in account notes so I'm having to
manually move each email address into the correct place.  Such a pain.  Still having other woes.  I am having to take
pictures of anything I want to scan.  That is not a perfect science, but it is working.  I just do not like to have to improvise.
For being a control freak, I am certainly out of control or definitely not in control.  Either way is not good.  Since I'm a
stress eater, I'm surprised I'm not eating anything within my grasp.

Today I wish us all a day full of ordinary miracles.  On days when things are not going good, that is the time we should
seek out those miracles even more.  

We need special prayers for Cleo and Beth.

I send you cyber hugs and lots of love.

J
Mom
Gram

There is more to life than increasing its speed. - Mohandas K. Gandhi     

Mon 2-9-9

Good Morning:

The kidding season is alive and well.  If you want to see some just adorable babies, go to
http://drinkgoatsmilk.com/ and check out the babies under the new kids tab.  They just got the first Nigerian Dwarf's and
they are so pretty, but about half the size of the Nubians.  I think I like the Nubians more, mostly because of their floppy
ears.  Totally unbiased opinion without anything like knowledge to slow me down. :)  Their Nigerians are bred for the blue
eyes and they are striking.

Today and tonight it is also suppose to rain.  So far the rains have been slow soakers without causing any problems.  There
has been no runoff.  The driveway is packing down nicely.  I wish it was packed equally good everywhere else.  I didn't do
anything out there yesterday.  Casey and I didn't get our walk in.  I'm a woose.

Today was going to be a lunch gathering for the old gal group.  Unfortunately Beth ended up with some kind of creeping
crawling crud that has attacked her sinus cavities and mostly made her miserable.  I'll miss seeing the Tall One.  Diana is
coming to town to watch Sami for Scott, so we are going to do lunch anyway.  I do enjoy her company.  She is good people.  
She is still a beautiful gal and I know how old she is which makes it even worse.  What is great about her is she is one of
those good souls who is beautiful from the inside out.  Not sure where we're lunching, but that part never matters.  She
said she wants to see what all Adrian and I have done.  Heavy emphasis on the Adrian part. :)

My scanner has taken a dive.  Not sure what the problem is and may just use it as an excuse to get me a new one.  I am
certainly anxious to see what the techie finds when he checks the memory chips on Wednesday.  If I had the money right
now, I know what fix I'd opt for... a brand new computer accompanied with a brand new scanner and toss is a new copier
to boot.  I have been looking at scanners.  Boy are they commanding a high price for some reason.  You used to be able to
pick up a nice scanner for a couple hundred or less.  Now they are coming in at 500 to 1200.  That is just a bit steep.  I
have some stuff I need to scan, so I'm going to try my camera.  It is always something isn't it?

I best get on with today.  I have to clear out some stuff and get into the shower soon.  I do so love a hot shower any time
of the year.  I'd like a hot tub about the size of my kitchen.  Nice warm water and a good place to exercise.  It would be
perfect.  But then to keep me happy, it would also have to be inside. :)  I am such a sissy.

I wish each of you a good day.  I hope that you can see and enjoy at least one just ordinary miracle.

I do love today's quote.  There is a lot of truth there.

Special prayers for Cleo and Beth.

Cyber hugs and lots of love

J
Mom
Gram

My mind is a garden.
My thoughts are the seeds.
My harvest will be either flower or weeds.  
- Mel Weldon  

Sun 2-8-9

Good Morning:

Yesterday Adrian got clear to the back fence and got it almost all cleaned up to where I left off.  He is rearranging rock
along the fence.  Before much longer, it is going to be done.  There are still little piles in that entire area, but it just looks
so good.

I do so wish I could just wave a magic wand and it would be done, but sometimes getting there is half the fun or at least
the most rewarding.

I have no idea when my email will be working.  I will be wrestling with comcast again this AM.  I have changed my email
program which is no easy feat.  I hate having to learn how to do the same old things in a new way.  I do not understand how
some people are getting my mail and some are not.  That part just makes no sense.

I do feel blessed that people love me enough to call me or contact Rob to find out how I'm doing.  I do so appreciate that.

Rob and Claudi are hip deep in baby goats now.  They are so cute.  One of these kidding seasons, I want to be there just to
see all the babies.  I can hardly wait to see Isis and how big she is.  I have always loved big dogs.

I had an interesting happening yesterday.  I stopped off to get gas after taking Adrian home.  I pulled up to the pump and
tried to get gas.  I could not use my card.  I went inside to explain there was something wrong with the pump.  The guy
ahead of me was talking about someone in a white truck who was taking his gas.  The idiot had paid for gas before he was
parked at the pump.  I told them that I just came in to tell them the pump would not work.  I said I'd move my truck so he
could get his gas.  I moved my truck to another pump.  Personally I think that was the fault of the people inside more that
his.  Anyway it sure was blowing and getting cold when I finished up.  I do so like the security of having two tanks of gas.  
Yes, it would be nicer if I got more MPG.

I was suppose to start raining last night, rain all day, tonight, and tomorrow too.  If it does, I'm praying that it be a gentle
rain so it doesn't screw up all the work Adrian has done.  I hope it is nice enough that Casey and I can get our walk in.  
With a little bit of luck, I'll get out there and rake a bit.  The more I get done, the better.  I think we'll be in good shape
to take a load to the dump next week.  That is going to be a very good thing.  That will get rid of the last of the mess out
behind the shop.

I wish you a wonderful day full of ordinary miracles.

Special prayers for Cleo, Beth, and Niki.

Cyber hugs and lots of love,

J
Mom
Gram

Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself and know that everything in this life has a purpose.  - Elisabeth
Kubler-Ross

Sat 2-7-9

Good Morning

Don't know what the problem still is, but some people are still not getting my mail.  I'll be talking with Comcast later this
morning.  I mean it is obvious to me that I have changed my email program and some stuff is still not going through.

My techie guy is coming back over this afternoon to see if he can solve the intermittent freeze up.  That would be so great
since that has been a problem for a long time that I have just been having to put up with.  It would be so great if that was
over too.   He stopped by for an emergency  when my printer just would not print.  It told me it was printing, but
somewhere between my computer and it, it just said no thanks.  I tried to install the new printer I got, but it would not
even let me install it.  Go figure, but I detest computer woes and maybe even more so at this time of year.  He is going to
test my memory chips to see if that is the problem.  It would be sweet if that is what it was.  That would be such a quick
and easy fix.

Adrian will be coming over today.  By the end of today, he should have a big strip done in the back.  It is looking so very
good.  I can hardly wait for more of it to be done.  I won't be able to use him next week except for a few days because I
have late clients and can't take him home at the regular quitting time.  I need to go to Lowes to get a light bulb for my dusk
to dawn light.  It is sometimes on and sometimes off.  I swear if it isn't one thing, it is another.

Best get to work.

I wish you a wonderful day of ordinary miracles.

Special prayers for Cleo, Beth, and Niki

Cyber hugs and lots of love.

J
Mom
Gram

Laugh at yourself before anyone else can.  - Elsa Maxwell

Fri 2-6-9

Good Morning:  

Yesterday was a very good day.  I slept in and then met Shirley for lunch.  We talked and had a great meal.  What is not to
like about that?

I came home and was only here a little while and the tech from Rent A Techie wanted to know if he could come over early.  
He installed my email program, transferred my addresses to both Thunderbird and my Gmail account.  That saved me a lot
of time especially since he moved them folders and all.  So now if I am not able to send through comcast, I should be able
to just zip right over to gmail and go through there.   He dusted everything off and said that if that did not correct my
intermittent jamming problem, it might be a bad memory chip.   It is just a matter of wait and see what it does.  I so hate
that kind of thing and detest having computer problems at all.

I can hardly wait to get things set up, but hopefully it will be better.

I did find out that he does not think much of Carbonite.  He said that several of their clients could not retrieve their data.  
He gave me the name of a company that he does recommend and that is called Mozy.   He says they are reliable.  You can
check them out at http://mozy.com/home  

I just tried to send out a blanket email through Thunderbird and so far we are not compatible.
I assume that our relationship will improve.

I'll be picking up Adrian again today so he can do some more work on the south 40 which is really the north 3/4.   I've got
appts and I'll be spending most of my time indoors.  I am so anxious to see how it looks at the end of today.

Special prayers for Cleo, Beth, and Niki.

Cyber hugs and lots of love...

J
Mom
Gram

It's all right to hold a conversation as long as you let go of it once in a while. - ANonymous


Thu 2-5-9

Good Morning:

I don't have the email problem solved yet, but I'm headed in the right direction - at least I hope so.  This afternoon, I have
an appointment with Rent A Techie.  I do so love that company.  I was cussing Comcast, but I'm wondering now if my
problem isn't internal. Several days ago, I suffered what I thought might be the blue screen of death.  After a couple
boots, it said it had to check the files and found one missing and had replaced it from a backup.  I just went hooray and
Hallelujah Hannah.  Now I'm beginning to wonder if that was not the beginning of my problem.  Anyway, surely after
tonight I'll be OK.  This is a very bad time for me to be having email problems.  I was getting enough mail that I just
figured you guys were kind of quiet.

One good thing did happen from my contact with Comcast yesterday.  When I asked if the problem had been corrected and
he told me no, I said, they must have been busy keeping the porno in check.  He said that he was authorized to give me a
$10 credit on my next bill because of my inconvenience.  I told him that I was not inconvenienced.  I was not even
watching the Super Bowl and at my age, there is very little that would shock me.  He said he was still going to credit my
account with $10.  I just told him thanks and let it go.  So I was not even involved and benefited from the little 30 second
oops.  I would still like to know what was actually shown.  I mean, there is porno and there is porno.  I know that I would
not have enjoyed having to explain some activities to small children, so I can understand some people being miffed.  Most
were miffed because it cut into their bowl time, not because it was porno.  They just got indignant after the fact.

I certainly did miss Adrian yesterday.  He is such a good worker.  He is really more anal than I am in some ways and that is
pretty scary.  He does a very good job and attacks each task with such gusto.  He'll be here tomorrow to do some more
work on the back 40.  What little he got done the other day just looks so very good.  I can hardly wait until all the yard is
done.  I love the new dirt in my driveway.  It filled in all the low spots and leveled things out.  Mostly, it just looks sharp.

A neighbor was telling me about a weed service she has.  She said it cost her $200 for the first treatment and then $20 a
month after than.  That isn't that much different than what I spent last year.  I got two bags of preemergence  @ $85 a
bag plus tax and had to sprinkle it myself.  It would just be nice to not have to do anything about weeds for the rest of my
life.   There is just so much more I'd rather be doing.

I am going to have lunch with Shirley today.  It is always nice to be able to sit and talk with an old friend.  We don't get
together that often.  I miss her as much as I miss having lunch with the old girls and Betty.  Betty is kind of out of the
picture for lunch since she moved to CA.  She says she is much happier there and that is all that matters, but I do miss her
being here.  We always enjoyed our lunches together.  There just aren't enough words to say what those old girls who
came back into my life mean to me.  We parted as girls, lived our lives for many years apart, and have come together once
again as old broads.  We've seen enough of life to have serious views and opinions, but laugh loud and long so we don't
take ourselves serious.

I'll have to be back home by 4:00 for my hot date with Ryan from Rent A Techie.  I'm going to have him switch out my
email program and move over all my address books.  Could I do that myself?  Yes, I could, but not nearly as efficiently and
no where nearly as fast.  My computer is locking up just way too often and it would be nice if he could figure that one
out.  I'm going to install a couple more web browsers and use them more than IE.  IE is causing part of the problem.  I'll
start with Opera and Firefox and see what I think.  I've used Opera before and honestly don't know why I am not still
using it.  I used to have IE, Opera, and Netscape all loaded at the same time and used them for different things.  I may be
stuck with IE for my bank, but if they support Opera or Firefox, I'll just tell Mr. Bill that I won't be needing him any
longer.   I swear, I just start getting a couple pennies together and too many people want into my pocket.  I'll bet that
sounds just like your life doesn't it?  People are all pretty much the same.  In this day and time, I'm grateful for my
pennies.

Casey and I went on our walk late yesterday.  There are an awful lot of people using that park.  I was saddened to see a
couple parents bring their kids and their bikes over so they could ride.  I just got on my bike and rode where ever I
wanted.  My kids did the same.  That is a very sad commentary on the times.   Having said that, if I had small children, they
would go nowhere without me and that is just too restrictive for good growth.  I think we grew into us partly by testing the
waters.  There were just not the evils of child predators out there before.  Oh, I'm sure they were there, but not just
everywhere.

I remember once when we were still living at Red Hill, John and I were allowed to ride to San Manuel to go swimming.  
That was roughly about 6 miles.  We were on our way home and John's tire went flat.  Dad ended up coming to get us.  We
were walking back when he found us.  He was pretty hot about it.  I can understand it from his point of view - having to
drive about 5 miles to pick up your kids that should have already been home, but it was not John's fault and it certainly
was not mine.  They never let us do that again and that was wrong.  I mean we really flew down the worse of the hills, but
those climbs back out were not so hot.  That was way back before 10 speeds and gears.  Our bikes were the old fashioned
kind - complete manual control only.

Well, I best do something even if it is wrong.  I wish you all a simple miracle.  I wish you a day full of love, fun, and joy.

Special prayers for Cleo, Beth, and Niki.

Cyber hugs and lots of love...

J
Mom
Gram

Is it possible that I am so busy doing that I no longer have time to enjoy being? - Wilson
Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than going to the garage makes you a car. - Dr Laurence J. Peter
Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate, now what's going to happen to us with both a House and a Senate?
-Will Rogers


Wed 2-4-9

Good Morning:

This is the first message I've written entirely online.  When people started asking questions about where I was and what
was wrong, I knew I had to do something different.  So save the spot in your favorites, because from now on, it is going to
be online only.

My yard is looking so pretty.  I met with some clients.  Adrian scattered more sand and then started weeding and raking
the south 40.  He does such a good job.  I went to WalMart and got some flowers for my toilets.  I put in some pink and
white Cyclamen in the tanks and some red Cyclamen in the bowls.  I put some red, pink, and blue Primrose into a couple
containers beside them.  They look nice.  

Today, I'll be working inside with clients or working on getting my files copied into electronic versions.  I will be so glad
when that will be over, but it might last until summer for everything.  I'll just work on a little at a time and eventually it
will get done.

My email is still not working properly and I don't have a clue why not.  I will be calling comcast again today.  This is just
not acceptable.  I am too much of an email junkie.

I wish you all a day of ordinary miracles.

Special prayers for Cleo, Beth, and Niki and their families.

Cyber hugs and lots of love

J
Mom
Gram

Between the great things that we cannot do, And the small things we will not do, The danger is that we shall do nothing.
- Adolph Monod


Tue 2-3-9

Good Morning All:

Don't have a clue what has been happening, but some of you are getting my blogs and some are not.  I contacted comcast
and gave the list of ISPs of those of you who have written to see how I am or what has happened to me.

The saddest thing has been that Niki has lost her baby.  It was a little boy.  I just feel so very sorry for her and the pain
she must be feeling.  

For me, I am very happy with the way my yard is looking.  Today Carole and I are going to flip a coin to see who gets
Adrian.  I told her my yard crisis is pretty much over and now I've entered a time where there is just lots more to do.  One
thing for sure, Adrian is the best thing that has happened to me in a long time.

Now for the irony that comes from improvement.  The water from my bubblers is shooting way too far on the first ones.  I
am not having much success in setting them either.  I'll be looking for more options when I go back to Lowes.  I need to do
that this AM to get the plants I need for my toilets.  I don't have anything planted there yet.   I plant the two toilets in my
front yard every January.  It is the way some clients know they have the right place. :)

I am going to get on the stick and be ready to roll.  The instant loans are going through quite nicely.  I love modern
technology.  I did a tax return yesterday afternoon and efile it.  My tax software got it first and transmitted it to the IRS
and the bank.  The bank OKed it and sent me permission to print their check.  I'll be printing their check in a little while
and then call them to come and get it.  I just find that so amazing.

I am blessed to have many who love me.  I am blessed to have a good relationship with my grandchildren and my son and his
wife.  I am blessed to have the good fortune of good friends to share my time.  I am blessed to have a dog who thinks I'm
the best thing since canned milk.  I may not have lots of money, but I consider myself to be rich beyond measure.

Please say prayers for Cleo, Beth, Niki, and their families.

I wish you happiness and contentment this day and that you be granted at least one small miracle.

Cyber hugs and lots of love.

J
Mom
Gram

Rumor travels faster, but it don't stay put as long as truth.   - Will Rogers


Mon 2-2-9

Good Morning All:

I see from the news this AM, that the bowl game was tight.  Looks like there was enough excitement for all of you to make
you happy.

Adrian and I had our own kind of excitement.  I got a load of bedding sand delivered on Sat.  I had him dump some in my
driveway in a couple places and the rest in two piles - a small one in the front yard and the rest just inside the gate in the
back yard.  Adrian got rid of the pile in the front yard.  While he was working on that, I went outside the front and picked
up all that trash that didn't belong.  When he was done with the dirt, he used my weed wacker and cleaned off the entire
front of the place.  OMG, it just looks so nice.  It makes all the difference in the world.  There is some raking left to do in
the front side yard and then it will be finished, at least until I get a load of mortar sand to put a finish coat on the paths
around my roses.  That doesn't have to be done any time soon.  It just needs to be done before they start sending out their
new growth and crowding the paths.  I must tell you that I know I am anal when it comes to my roses.  I showed him how I
wanted all the rose wells cleaned up.  He did a better job that I've ever done.  He'll be working over at Carole's this
morning and might be back here tomorrow.  I had a couple clients over yesterday afternoon.  I made an exception to my
Sun no client rule because her work hours are just so bad.  She is working 6 days a week and doesn't get home until 7:30.  
Sunday just seemed like a better solution for us all.  Besides that, she is a good niece.

Today, I'll be working mostly inside.  I've got some clients today and definitely have more office work to do.  I know I'll
wander outside just to look at and admire my front yard.  I wet things down last night and will keep wetting the dirt down
to get it settled.  I just hope it controls the runoff a little better.

Well, I best get on with my day.  I'm thinking maybe Casey and I should start our early morning walk today and just get
into the swing of things so I can keep it up during tax season.  It is going to be a might chilly when we go out there, so I'll
have to bundle up.  It is only suppose to be 45 then but with a 4 MPH wind.  I know, not bad by other standards, but that is
winter conditions for me.

Now I have some sad news for you.  Niki called me last night.  Niki had a miscarriage Thursday and lost her baby.  It was a
boy.  She was in the hospital for a few days but is doing pretty good now.  I just feel so very bad for them. RH negative
factor played a part.

On a good note, I also talked to Ash yesterday and she seems to be doing fine.  She sent me pictures of the baby, but it is
too small to tell what it is.  Her due date was off and she isn't due until the end of July.

I just feel so very bad for Niki and Matthew.  Niki said he was taking it pretty bad.

I wish you all a good day of ordinary miracles.

Special prayers for Cleo, Beth, Niki and their families.

Cyber hugs and lots of love to all.

J
Mom
Gram

It is nice to be important, but it is more important to be nice. - An old Saying


Sun 2-1-9

Good Morning All:

This is a good morning.  Even after my work yesterday, I woke up feeling pretty good.

I want you all to know that I am the proud new owner of a 1/2" plastic nipple extractor and it cost me the fine sum of
$ 4.03 plus tax.  Since I will surely be breaking off more risers on the bubblers in my drip lines, I needed a special tool to
easily remove the damaged remains.  Some might call them a type of easy out. I prefer the plastic nipple extractor.  It just
has a neater name and might make people wonder what I'm doing.  As a sideline, it works like a champ.  The previous
damaged riser that snapped off at exactly the elbow required removal and regluing of the entire end.  That was only not
so bad since we had the line dug up anyway.

I pooped out Adrian yesterday for the first time.  It was almost 4 and we were starting to move some dirt I had delivered.  
He came over to me and said he was tired and wanted to quit.  I was only fresher than he was because I had been inside
most of the day with clients.  He got all my tea rose wells cut and cleaned.  I must say, he did a better job that I have done
in the past, so that scored him high points indeed.  This AM, I'll adjust all the bubblers and get them set and then I need to
just watch for that first new growth.

I'll pick Adrian up again this AM and we'll see about scattering more of that dirt.  It is actually called bedding sand.  It is
fine small gravel about the size of peas or a little larger mixed up with screened dirt.  There is not suppose to be any rock
in it, but I've found a few.  I had the driver dump a driving dump along my lower driveway and the rest in the middle of
the yard with the bulk of it in a pile just inside the back yard. This is suppose to pack down nicely.  I want it to help to
control the mud  in the driveway and by my entry.  If that does not work, I'll go get a load of mortar sand and spread it on
top.  I'd prefer just ordinary wash sand - meaning the sand in any dessert wash.  Once that packs in, it is almost like
concrete or a granite dust path.  Well, not as good as a granite dust path, but a whole lot cheaper.

I made spaghetti sauce last night after we were done.  I had cut up all the onions and bell peppers earlier and just had to
brown everything and add a jar of sauce and let it simmer for awhile at the end of my day.  I still have to put it in
individual containers.  I quite frankly was pooped and just put it all in the fridge.  I'll do that part today.  I wish there
was a good way of saving garlic bread.  I think I'll just eat it and get it over. :)

Anyway, that is what we'll be doing today.  I did have the decency to ask him if he was going to watch the super bowl.  I
loved his answer.  He said, "Why is it going to be tomorrow?"  Damn a super worker and he isn't into football either.  This
guy could be damn near perfect. :)

Well, I need to do some work in my office before it is time to go get Adrian.  I need to make sure we finish up in time for
Casey and I to get our walk in today.  I'm getting so that I miss them when I don't get over there.  I suppose we'll have to
start walking at 7 AM once I start really getting busy.  It would be a good way to start each day.  It would also insure that
I get my walk in and get me revved up to face the day.

For all you super bowlers, I hope you enjoy the game and that your team wins.  I also wish for it to be a really good game
because that will let to rehash it over and over and over and over again and make you feel good with each telling. :)  Must
be kind of like me talking about quilts or roses. :)

I love today's quote and I certainly do believe that we are each very special in our own way.  We each contain many good
things and hopefully only a few bad things.  We need to continue to strive for more good.  We should all do as doctors and
first do no harm.  We certainly need to perfect thinking before we act and to consider the consequences of our actions.  
If I live to be at least 200, I know I can be a better person.

I send cyber hugs and lots of love.

Special prayers for Cleo and Beth

J
Mom
Gram

God gives us each a song. - UteThe River of Life meanders without apparent purpose. To question Life is to invite
suffering. To attempt to overpower Life is to tilt at windmills. Life is best enjoyed without resistance. Surrender to the
flow of the River of Life, yet do not float down the river like a leaf or a log. While neither attempting to resist time nor to
to hurry it, become the rudder and use your energy to correct your course to avoid the whirlpools and undertow.
Comments?  Email me jragels@gmail.com