Just Don't Understand It

I just don't understand it but then there is a whole lot of stuff that I don't get.  The particular issue this morning is how fast time goes by.  I do not understand how individual days can sometimes be so long but the weeks and months seem to fly by.  The first month of 2012 is pretty well in the books and it seems just a few days ago it was New Year's Eve.  Have caught myself over the past few days looking at my calender and scheduling things from April to July.  I guess that makes time seem to go by faster.  Planning a road trip for myself, Janelle, and the boys.  It will be lots of fun.  But it won't be for a couple of months.  Ah, but as time slips on by I am going to make sure to 'live in the moment' too.  Have a great day.  February is almost here which means Spring is just around the corner!

Road Trip

Took off around 10 Fri. morning and headed south.  Road trip all by myself (by design) to visit my Daddy's sister and sister-in-law in the north GA mountains.  Woke up Fri morning to rain and thought "oh, crap".  Not exactly ideal traveling weather.  However, by the time I finally got out of town the sun was shining and the skies were becoming a beautiful Carolina blue.  Traffic not bad at all.  This is about a 5 1/2 hour trip if you don't stop.  Now as I am a member of the tea cup party (as in a bladder the size of one) I can't make it without at least two stops.  I just cruised down the road talking with Dumbass off and on for probably an hour or little more, listening to different men serenade me on CD and just letting the mind drift.  My new to me truck did beautifully and averaged 20 miles per gallon which I think is just awesome.  I kid you not when I turned on the road to start up the mountain it was almost if I could feel weight lifting off my shoulders!  Had a great visit with the aunts even though we did have to go to a funeral on Sat. for one of  Daddy's cousins.  We laughed and strolled down memory lane much of the day.  Ma (my aunt) and I got back to her house and just hung out and laughed and cried and laughed some more.  I got on the road this morning heading home around 9:30 and made it back home by 5 this afternoon.  I just meandered up the road stopped at a few places and went grocery shopping (3 boxes of brownie mix and 3 2-liter coke zeroes) before getting home.  I did resolve to myself on my way back up the road that I am going to do this more often.  My hope is once a month or at least every 6 weeks I am going to take off on a road trip.  And if I go by myself well that is fine too.  It might be a sign that before I even got home I was already mentally planning the next one.  As I have said before, it is not like there is anybody at home that gives a rat's ass if I am there or not.  Thanks Ma for a great weekend.

I Just Think This is Funny

Anytime that I do a new post it will generally, not always, but usually have the word ya'll in it.  Then when I do the spell check of course it is pointed out as a misspelled word and I have to click ignore.  Now for a Southern grammar lesson.  For those of you who don't know the word ya'll is short for you all and it's tense is singular.  The plural of ya'll is all of ya'll.  Sorry, struck me funny and I just plain ole couldn't help myself.  All of ya'll have a great day/night.

I Hate Being Confused

I really do!  I am really a very patient person.  I do not even pray for patience.  For the simple reason my Bible tells me that tribulation worketh patience.  Don't need none of that!  So I don't pray for patience.  I will however from time to time pray for an extra measure of Grace.  What I tend to be impatient with are people who can't make a decision.  Ya'll know the kind of person that I am talking about and you may even be one.  I want to say, "just make a decision for Pete's sake!".  Now I am not talking about the really big stuff that should be bathed in thought and prayer before making a choice.  I am talking about the everyday stuff that just seems to buffalo some people.  Sadly, today I are one of them.  This may sound awfully strange but today I can't decide if I am young or old.  At various times during the day I have caught myself thinking, "I am only 52".  That translates to, 'I am too young to be thinking like that or to be dealing with this.'  Then I find myself thinking 'I am 52 years old' which translates to 'how did I get to be this damned old'.  And I know that is not old and that I am not old.  I guess that is why they call it "middle age".  But seriously, I was probably middle aged somewhere between 10 and 15 years ago.  How long do ya'll think I'm gonna live anyway?  It is all good and I guess if this is the only thing that confuses me (given my genetics) I should be doing the happy dance.  Think I will go give it a whirl!

Gleanings

Pearls of wisdom gleaned over the last few days.  And, yeah, most of them are from friends FB posts but they are still pretty cool.

1.  Never be ashamed of the scars that life has left you with.  A scar means the hurt is over, the wound is closed, you endured the pain, and God has healed you.

2.  The phrase, "do not be afraid" is written in the Bible 365 times.  That is a daily reminder from God to live each day being fearless.

3.  Instead of wishing you were someone else, be proud of who you are, you never know who was looking at you wishing they were you.

Things that make you go "huuummmm".

I Am Not Sure When I Missed This

I am old enough to remember and often quote "old wives tales".  You know those old home remedies and such that we always issue a disclaimer with "this is an old wives's tale".  Which right now for the life of me I can't think of any.  However, I have been noticing that you don't hear as much about old wives's tales anymore because it seems to have been replaced with "urban legend".  I could be wrong (it does happen on occasion) but Ima thinking that these are pretty much the same thing.  I am just trying to figure out where I fell behind.  Ah, well, as they (don't ya'll just wonder who "they" are?) say, the only thing constant is change.  Feel free to share any old wives's tales that you can think of.  This old wife (I may be a widow but that just makes me a husband less wife) would love to hear some of them.  Have a great one!

How Cool is This?!

Just received the 1000 blog visit!  I just think that is so awesome!  I realize these really are ramblings and rantings from my end but it really makes me feel good that ya'll come back to read more.  I apologize for the slow down in posts the past week or so and I won't bore you with the details but let's just say it has been busy.  It is 11:22 p.m. right now and I had not intended to write but just plain old could not help myself when I saw the counter roll over to 1000.  I just had to say "thank ya'll" and you really made me feel good.  With that I am taking my weary happy a@@ to bed.  Horse sale tomorrow so I have to get up and at 'em in the a.m.  Take care and thanks again.

Thought To Ponder

I received the following in an e-mail yesterday.  While there is humor to it there is still a very self-examining theme here.  How much kinder the world would be if we all used the "test of three".  Enjoy!

 SOCRATES

We should all live by this! Keep this philosophy in mind the next time you either hear or are about to repeat a rumor. In ancient Greece (469 - 399 BC), Socrates was widely lauded for his wisdom. One day the great philosopher came upon an acquaintance who ran up to him excitedly and said, "Socrates, do you know what I just heard about one of your students?"

"Wait a moment," Socrates replied. "Before you tell me I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Test of Three."

"Three?"

"That's right," Socrates continued. "Before you talk to me about my student let's take a moment to test what you're going to say. The first test is Truth.  Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"

"No," the man said. "Actually, I just heard about it."

"All right," said Socrates. "So you don't really know if it's true or not. Now

let's try the second test, the test of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my student something good?"

"No, on the contrary..."

"So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about him even though you're not certain it's true?" The man shrugged, a little embarrassed.

Socrates continued. "You may still pass though, because there is a third test - the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my student going to be useful to me?"

"No, not really."

"Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither True nor Good nor even Useful, why tell it to me at all?" The man was defeated and left, ashamed.

This is the reason Socrates was a great philosopher and held in such high esteem. It also explains why he never found out that Plato was having an affair with his wife.

Time to Catch Up

It feels like forever since I have posted anything.  So it is time to catch up a little.

I am saddened that my little county seems to have caught up with the rest of the world.  In the past few weeks one of our little towns (that is all that in the county, little towns) fired all but one of their police department amidst lots of controversy.  That brought all the regional news crews to the county and just added fuel to the fire that the county is full of ignorant backwoods people.  It never fails that the man on the street interview will be with the person who has the least teeth!  We are rural but we do have dentists! Last week we had a work place shooting that resulted in 4 people being dead.  One of which was the shooter. 

We never know what goes on in other people's minds and I often wonder does this kind of stuff happen more now than in the past or do we just hear about it more because information is so instantly available. 
You also hear so many people that are so quick to voice their opinion about the person who did the shooting.  I feel bad for all involved but I have to stop before voicing my opinion and remember this man also has family.  Family who probably had no idea that this man was capable of such.  They may or may not have realized how desperate he was.  This man was someone's son, possibly brother and maybe even father.  I can't imagine the pain this family feels.  Not only are they mourning the loss of their family member but also dealing with the fact that he caused 3 other families so much pain.  And, saddly this family will not receive the sympathy that the other families will receive even though their loss is just as great.

I am not playing devil's advocate or justifying what was done.  I am simply saying that sometimes we need to think before we speak.  Reminds us that there is a reason that God gave us one mouth and two ears.

I Have Nothing Else to Add

The Truth Will Set You Free

The truth may set you free, but boy oh boy, is it ever painful sometimes.  As Chanda Peirce says (and if you don't know who she is look her up on YouTube, she is hilarious!) I am going to give you some truth.

Today I spent the better part of the day out of the office.  As I was spending a large part of the day in my vehicle I stopped at a convenience store to stock up on necessities. I do this because I knew that I would not stop and go in somewhere for lunch and it is just not convenient to stop every so often for something to drink.  Now I will be the first to tell you that I know I do not eat like I should.  I am aware of it and sometimes think that I really do need to do better.  Let me say here though that when you are by yourself cooking most of the time is just not worth the effort!  And, as I learned to cook cooking for a large number it is very difficult for me to cook a small amount of anything and I get tired of eating the same thing all week long.  Yes, I know I could freeze some of it and sometimes do and I know there are those handy dandy microwaveable box meals and I have tried them.   I do try to keep individual packets of tuna on hand for something reasonable healthy and quick but as usual I digress.

So I am armed with my provisions for the day, hot and spicy meat skins, honey bun, mint 3 musketeers, giant Hersey bar with almonds, and 2 Coke zeroes.  Did stop to fill up with gas at a place that I saw was cheaper than anywhere I had seen and they also had the mint 3 musketeers so I get another one (cause you can't find them just anywhere) and they had Coke zero on sale so I picked up a couple more.  So this has been what I have eaten today, except the Hersey bar that I haven't gotten to yet.  Now, I have told ya'll you don't get the Reader's Digest version so I am getting to the truth.

The truth is I love Dairy Queen.  While I will occasionally get a chocolate covered cherry blizzard my usual is a turtle pecan with extra pecans.  I have said before that I love them so much that if some old boy sent me flowers we would call that "courting" but if he took me to the DQ for a turtle pecan blizzard with extra pecans we would consider that foreplay.  In my travels today I went by a DQ and did not stop.  I went by another DQ and did not stop.  I came back by the 1st DQ and did not stop however, I did turn around and go back when I realized that my diet for today did not have any calcium in it.  (you didn't really fall for that did you?)  Went in, got my blizzard, moaned and groaned over the first 4 or 5 spoonfuls then back in the truck and headed up the road.  Finished my blizzard and had to be honest with myself, it really wasn't that good.  Not sure if my tastes are changing or if this sinus crap I am dealing with has altered my taste but my blizzard just didn't taste as good as it should have.  And that my friends was a painful realization!  TTYL

Blessed and Highly Favored

Yes, I am indeed blessed and highly favored.  I just have to remind myself sometimes.  I have much to be thankful for.  We have a mail carrier here in town and when you ask her how she is doing she usually replies with, "I am blessed and highly favored".  Now ya'll know as well as I do that there are some people that you know that you try to avoid asking them how they are because they are gonna tell you.  They will tell you everything they know and some stuff they don't.  I don't want to be one of those people.  I will answer the "how are you" question often with, "better than I deserve".  But I like that "blessed and highly favored".  You even look forward to asking her how she is because you know you are going to get a positive upbeat answer.  And yet, we all need those one or two people that when asked how we are we feel the freedom to tell them, the good, the bad, and the ugly.  Received a wonderful blessing from a friend in a telephone conversation last night.  This particular lady gave me the 2nd best compliment anyone ever has.  (Remember, Dumbass gave the greatest when he said he knew he could depend on me)  After we talked awhile I told her to call me any time she needed to, day night didn't matter.  She then told me that with some people that tell you that and you know they don't really mean it but she knew that I was sincere and that meant the world to her.  And that meant the world to me.

It Is a Dang Good Thing

It is a dang good thing that I got a good healthy dose of sunshine on Sat. because there sure ain't been much since then.  There is nothing that will make you (for me anyway) more sluggish than a cold, dreary, rainy day.  I realize that SAD (seasonal affective disorder) is a recognized condition but I am beginning to think that I may have a slight case of it.  Or it could be that I am just lazy.  Sitting here working a short while ago and got to feeling so sleepy that I could hardly move!!!  It is not from sleep deprivation either, counted it up and I got like 8 1/2 hours of uninterrupted sleep last night.  Hey, that could be the problem, the body is just not used to that!  And while I am on a rant let me just say that I do not understand hot flashes at all!  Sitting here last night watching football game and had a flash (and no it was not all those tight football pants).  Face was on fire and sweating around the hair line and my feet were like ice.  Just don't make no sense at all.  But then a lot of stuff doesn't so it is all good.

Ahhhhh, Sunshine

I have enjoyed an absolutely beautiful day!  Right now it is 3:56 p.m. and a very pleasant 68 degrees!  I love it.  Got out this morning with just a sweat shirt and jeans, no coat needed.  Walked around the flea market to see if there was anything that I could not live without.  Found me an Oldtimer pocket knife just the right size for me and got a really good deal on a 5 piece of luggage.  RK, it will make those running away trips easier.  I can pack for a night or 2 weeks.  Then came home and cleaned my truck (oh, I just love that).  It was clean when I bought it but I have been chomping at the bit (another of those idioms) to CLEAN it up.  Still didn't get to do all I wanted to it but I am satisfied for the time being.  Had to stop and getting ready to take a shower and clean up a little bit.  Heading to a horse sale in about an hour, just gonna go hang out and see how the wind is blowing (yep, another idiom).  Ya'll have a great evening.  I am going to enjoy this temporary reprieve from the cold.

Good Morning Boys and Girls

Yep, I would make a very good bear!  Eat enough to get fat enough to hold you all winter then sleep for about 3 months.  Sounds like a plan to me.  The sad thing is that it really hasn't been that cold so far this winter and yippee the days are slowly beginning to get longer. 

It has been a very busy week as it usually is with my business this time of year.  I have had to do a lot of service work this week, but that is par for the course (one of those idioms I was talking about) for this time of year.  I really do like my job even though I often think of doing something else and if someone came along with the right amount of money it could be bought.  However, I am willing to bet that I am one of the few insurance agents in the county that has their clients tell them that they love them on a regular basis.  As I have said before, even though you have to have new sales, it is that retention that pays the bills.  I can't compete with rates but I can give better service than anybody else!  Had a sweet old lady call me yesterday to thank me for helping her earlier in the week and tell me how much she appreciated all I did for her then when she got ready to hang up she told me she loved me.  That is just sweet!

Got to go get in the shower so I can go see the Golden Girls (they worry about me if I don't show up) then it is off to work at job 3 for the day. 

Thought of one more idiom;  it is as broad as it is long.
Have a great day!

Had Enough

Ok Winter, you may leave now!  I have had enough.  Highs only in the 30's with a brisk wind all day, I'm done!  Of course I have no choice when the cold comes and goes but as my daddy used to say about some people, that they looked better going than they did coming, that is how I feel about cold weather.  I do not feel the need to see at least one good snow fall and am not exactly embracing the colder temps.  My one consolation is that when I hear the heat come on every 15 minutes or so I don't have visions of a fuel oil tank being sucked dry.  Not trying to rush things but am already looking forward to those days of pulling on shorts, a tank top, and flip flops.  Stay warm folks!  Thankful that I don't live in an area that has extreme winters!

What Does the Future Hold

None of us really know what the future holds and for that I am thankful.  I prefer to think that God supplies us the grace that we need for each day and for each situation that we happen to be going through.  I like to think that is His plan.  I am reminded that God has a plan for each of us and His plan is perfect.  It may not be the path we would choose for ourselves at the time and we may even remotely understand why we are going through what we are at the time.  (Ya'll remember what I said about that word "through").  But God has a plan and we can rest assured that it is for our good and His glory. 

As we begin another year, and isn't it kind of amazing that the prevailing human feeling is that with Jan. 1 of each year that it is a new beginning, a fresh start, an opportunity to finish some old things and start some new ones.

I wish for you all a prosperous, blessed, and safe new year.  May you accomplish all your goals and achieve all your dreams. 

Remember in whatever situation that you find yourself in that God promised us in Jeremiah 29:11 (KJV)  "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."

Happy New Year!