Randomness

Home Sweet Home

I’ve been gone a while. I think a little too long, actually. Stepping through the front door last night was like slipping back into my own skin.  Oh my, how good it feels! Travel is wonderful for many reasons but sometimes I think the most important reason is the appreciation it gives me for home. Even the never ending layer of sand and dog hair was a welcome sight as I scanned the kitchen and great room wearing a huge smile and sighing contentedly. It’s so good to be back to all that smacks of me, him, us.

Randomness

Sea-Sides

My father sang a special song to me when I was a child, as I dug moats around my sand-castles and designed dixie-cup turrets atop the castle walls. I’ll never forget the day I heard the song being played on the radio. I’d had the idea my father had made it up, just for me. It was shocking to discover there were other Mary Ann’s in the world sharing my song. The words went like this: “All day, all night, Mary Ann. Sitting by the sea-side sifting sand.” When I was small, I spent every minute of every summer goofing off at our family lake home in Northern Idaho. That’s what I was put on this earth to do. Why else would Dad so cheerfully sing that song all the time?

Randomness

Filters and Mufflers

At a recent family gathering, it was brought to my attention how so many of us come into the world with a malfunctioning filter. I was amazed by the number of times the women had to stop the men mid-sentence to remind them to put their filters on. Some of the men were apparently born without the knowledge or ability to develop their filters,  or perhaps they don’t have one at all.  It’s a big job to design and implement filters on some of these guys. They’re the ones that get a thought in their heads and the thought just comes flying out of their mouths without going through the filter first. We all know how much damage has been done over the years because of the lack of a good filter. It’s the same way with mufflers. Ever notice how so many men slap their hand down on the table to make a point, causing everyone in the room to jump? Ever notice how many booming voices could be lowered about ten octaves so the rest of us can hear ourselves think? What is it with the need to be heard, loud and clear, clean into the next county?…

Continue Reading

Randomness

As Far As Sausages Go…

I’ve never had a connection with sausages. They’ve always been a food to eat when living under a rock without the internet to tell us what’s in them. Or without the common sense to look on the package and read the list of death inducing ingredients.  Like when we’re in that frantic stage of life when all we do is run around with our heads in the sand because it’s easier than facing one more issue to deal with. Pulling my head out years ago was an eye opener. Obviously, I could no longer eat a sausage. Then the foodies got in a snit and insisted on being able to partake of really great sausages that wouldn’t put them in cardiac arrest. Wallah! Ninety seven percent fat free turkey, tequila, and lime sausage! It’s not a heart attack waiting to happen after all, and they’re loaded with flavor. But what’s with the strangely edible little jackets all sausages come in? If the sausage wasn’t wearing the jacket, would it just spill out all over the place like a muffin top bulges out over the top of really tight jeans.?  Or like some breasts do that are lifted and served up…

Continue Reading

Randomness

Making a Difference

It’s possible that making a difference in the lives of those around us isn’t as big a deal as I originally thought. There was a time I believed in order to truly impact someone’s life, I would need to perform a great feat, putting in lots of time and labor. As it turns out, it isn’t true. Although it took putting many years behind me, I’ve come to realize that it’s actually quite easy. I’ve been making an effort to look people in the eye more often and smile, thereby acknowledging them on a personal level. This all came about simply. One day I was loading my groceries into the car and it struck me that I couldn’t walk back into the store and point to the checker whose line I had just gone through. That brought me back to that old saying, “children are to be seen but not heard.”  I realized it was a bad attitude I was applying to my own life, with a twist. Most people around me, in my day to day living, were being heard but not seen.  I could go grocery shopping and not see the checker, go to the movies, buy a…

Continue Reading

Randomness

The Good, the Bad, and the Chubby

I’ve been trying to be so good lately; eating plenty of fruits and vegetables and staying away from sugar, white flower and salt. It works. I start losing those extra pounds that I vow every day of my life to lose. My clothes are noticeably easier to slip in and out of. I don’t have to lay down on the bed to zip my jeans. What a relief. Then I try on the special skirt that I just love to wear all the time, but have to be skinny to wear. It zips! I’m so happy I can hardly stand it. Soon, most everything in my closet is good to go, all my exercise and calorie counting paying off big time. Nothing makes me happier! So happy in fact that a celebration is in order. Now, finally, I can have that glass of wine I’ve been denying myself. Oh, so good! And then just one little piece of chocolate. After all, I deserve it. I’ve been a saint in the diet and exercise department for long enough and if you don’t allow yourself a treat once in a while, resentment follows. Wouldn’t want that. Two weeks later the skirt doesn’t…

Continue Reading

Randomness

Another Windy Day

We’ve been having more than our usual share of wind lately. It’s unsettling.  It swoops in and stirs everything up, ripping petals off tulips and branches from the trees. What a mess to clean up these days. It’s one thing to have to rake and bag the sorry remains of a stormy night, but how to deal with the winds of emotion is another thing. The mighty breeze seams to stir up the mind as if the havoc it causes outside happens on the inside too. The trash cans blow over and the lids roll down the street like beheaded chickens. We run after them, picking everything up and putting it all back in place just as we’re always struggling to do with our lives. Put everything back in place, where it belongs. I feel the battle to hang on to our country as the United States of America according to The Constitution is raging. We have leadership that refuses to listen to the people it has been elected to listen to. We have a politically correct system that is so terrified of offending Islam that it slams Christianity and the Jews. What happened to us? I’m wondering these days,…

Continue Reading

Randomness

Sleep; How Long Must I Wait?

Humm… Is it just me, or does anyone else get up in the morning, look at the clock and sadly observe that it will be fifteen or sixteen hours before sliding back between soft cool cotton sheets, fluffing up a pile of cloud like pillows, and tucking an airy, billowy down comforter up under the chin? Then, the really good part–the great surrender. The eyelids drop, a sigh like there’s no tomorrow, and a swan dive off the precipice of consciousness into sweet deep sleep. I hate to admit this, but the thought of a good nights sleep is what gets me through my days. My bed is my sanctuary.  Just thinking about it makes me want a nap. Sometimes, I have to purposely avoid so much as walking by our bedroom so I don’t give up and dive through the door, throw myself onto the mattress, wrap up in the afghan and drift off to dream land. Sometimes,  I wonder if this is normal. Does everyone love to sleep like I do? Do others view their bed as some kind of a nest? I gather things around my nest. A reading lamp, a stack of books, my glasses, a…

Continue Reading

Randomness

Happiness Is…

Happiness is getting on the scale first thing in the morning only to discover a tenth of a pound weight loss. Yes! And having my husband say how beautiful I am regardless of morning breath, mangled hair, smeared mascara, and puffy eyes. Happiness is having a big family dinner and seeing everyone enjoy each others company, eat good food, play cards and take walks together in the not so great weather. I love it! Happiness is when the phone rings and the news is good.  And when the annual physical reveals no surprises, just another year of good health. And when you put the boat in the water for the first time all year and it starts right up. Happiness is having no plans for the weekend.  Just R & R.  And when it rains at night but sun-shines all day. And when the dog finally understands not to pull on the leash or chase cars or poop in the house. Happiness is a good nights sleep, a day without hot flashes, and being able to read labels without glasses.  And finding a new pair of jeans that don’t make the butt look big and a bra that is both…

Continue Reading

Randomness

Easter Creaster

My daughter’s pastor has made the decision not to do Creaster. That’s Christmas and Easter combined. His point is, he’s not going to go all out to put on a Hollywood style Easter pageant or a Christmas play to rival the Nut Cracker. He’s not banking on a once or twice a year attendance making much of a difference in peoples lives. I agree with this philosophy. People that show up at churches twice a year rarely bother to go any other time, so why bother with a costly, time consuming production?  I’ve never known anyone to attend a Christmas play and be so blown away that they magically become a regular attendee. But I’ve known a lot of them to say how nice it was with a nervous strained smile as they hurry to their getaway cars. It’s either in a persons heart to worship God on a regular basis in the company of other believers, or it’s not. Why try to impress them with a show? I think it’s much more effective to invite non-believers to a regular service with the sermon centered on the holiday. Presenting our church services are they are on a normal basis is…

Continue Reading