Smile lines?

My work had a professional photo taken of me for an "after weight loss."  It was funny because several of us received just head shots so it really doesn't show much.  I did notice that I have a lot of wrinkles. I knew that I was going to have some after my journey but not that many!!!!  I had to remind myself of one of my favorite quotes by Mark Twain....."Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been."  I hope that is what my wrinkles show.  Smiles, many, many smiles!  I sent the picture to my children and one of my son's who knew I struggled with the wrinkled look decided to photo shop it a little.  I did not realize it was so easy to erase years or living, learning, crying, and smiling with just a tap of a key. I didn't even notice he had done that. I just wondered why he had sent it back.  I have thought about it a lot and decided that I have earned these wrinkles.  Every single tiny line is a unique part of me. I was told by a friend that she considered her wrinkles as battle scars from the battle for her life.  Yes, they are battle scars from a fight I have been on for a few years now. A battle I will continue to fight for the rest of my life to be as healthy as I can possibly be. I guess I will just have to love and embrace these wrinkles because they are not going away and I wouldn't change that.

What to give?

I have been pondering the question of "what to give" to family and friends for Christmas. I have been really bothered by this. I decided today to walk around my house and think about some of the things I consider precious to me that have been given to me. The list kept getting bigger and bigger. I then realized that most of them were not even Christmas gifts. They had been gifts given by people who love me and wanted to surprise and please me. They were unexpected but very cherished. I want to tell you about a couple of them. When I was first married my husband and I went to visit his parents in Cedar City, Utah. It was at Christmas time and there was a project going on. My mother-in law's neighbor was making beautiful little birds out of ribbon that hung on the tree as a ornament. The neighbor was a tiny little feisty red head(white by then) who had very crippling arthritis in her hands. She told me she made the birds to keep the limited movement she had. One evening she came over with ribbon and patience. She spent several hours teaching me and Grandma how to make the birds. I never could get them as beautiful as hers. The gift under the tree for me that year was a whole box of those birds to put on my own tree each Christmas. I still use them. Several years ago my Grand was helping me with the tree and took interest in those birds. He likes to create things like that and was very intrigued.  I gave him one and told him to study it and see if he could figure it out. I forgot the challenge and I thought he had too. A couple of days ago he comes flying out of his house and presents me with one beautiful perfect Blue bird. The one's I had on my tree were green. I love that bird and had him place it on the place of most importance on my little tiny tree. It is the crowning jewel on the very top.. One other gift that was given to me was a little tiny piece of china from my Grandmother Warner's china cabinet. She had many beautiful little pieces of china that were displayed in glass cabinets built into the walls of her dinning room. I would spend hours looking at them through the glass. (We were not allowed to touch.)  When she passed my Grandpa took each piece out and gifted us each one item. He had written our names and attached it to the bottom with some tape. I have so many things that I look at each day but have not taken the time to remember who they are from and what they mean to me and the person that gave them to me. As we are in the season of Thanks and Giving I hope that each of you take a stroll through your home and take that sweet special walk down memory lane that I was able to enjoy today.


Keep your words soft and sweet!

I had an experience the other day that reminded me of something that happened when I was a young mother to four busy children.  I had found a really fabulous teenage girl who would come and baby sit for me every Friday night.  I lived for those nights away. I was a stay at home mom and was also tending 5 other children to make ends meet. So I really needed that out. I loved this little teen and she was so good to the kids. They loved her too.  She came for a long time and then one day I got a call from a neighbor (just thought you should know.) She informed me that this young girl had been having some family trouble and wasn't allowed to tend  kids anymore.  She continued to give me the scoop and all the details of the family problems.  I said okay and hung up.  This little teens mother was a quiet person and did not know a lot of people in my neighborhood. I had talked to her a few times and felt like we were friends.  I called her and told her I had heard that her daughter could not tend anymore and wanted to let her know I would follow her wishes.  There was silence and then she became very upset with me. She wanted to know who I had talked to and why would I spread stories about her daughter.  She felt like the other woman and I had been spreading stories about her daughter all over the neighborhood. I assured her that I had not shared with anyone but obviously the other women had because she had heard from others. I was just heart sick.  A few words from someone else "just wanting to help" had really hurt this mother and I am sure the sweet teenager. I know that she did not believe I had not been passing it along. That young teen never did tend for me again. It truly was a sad loss to my family.  I think of that young girl once in a while. I wonder how she grew up. I am sure she is a wonderful mother because she was so great with my kids. I still am so sorry that I listened to my neighbor. I try very hard not to "share" things that are told to me. I try to take care of my own business and let other's take care of theirs even if I think I have the solution to their problem  I constantly remind my own family that everyone has a right to their own choices and that we need to let them follow their own paths.  I cringe with pain when I think of the damage that was done by that one phone call. I keep thinking of something that I heard as a child and I know that it probably doesn't go quite like this but here goes....
Be careful with the words YOU SPEAK
try to keep them SOFT and SWEET
because  you don't know when they're YOURS TO EAT!

World Travel

I wanted to tell you about my travels this week. As many of you know my son Eric decided to do a cyber Monday sell on one of his Cd's.  My good friend FlyLady shared that information and it was a great success.  I do the shipping for Eric and I do it for a very selfish reason.  I have offers from people to  help all the time but I have to admit I really enjoy doing it alone. Yes, it is a lot of work and can be time consuming but I have a secret. I love to see where the Cd's are going and love to think about myself going too.  Now that probably sound a little strange but let me share some of what I am thinking when I do the addresses.  This week I have been to 5 different countries.  I have been to every state but Alaska and some of them many times. I want to share with you some of the fun street names that I have encountered.  I have been able to travel along the Chisholm Trail and the Overland Trails. I have been in beautiful Cypress Cove and also walked down Pinegrove Lane. I have picked a 4 leaf clover on Shamrock. I wondered how many birds and what kind I would see on Bird Road and loved the Penguins on Penguin Ave.  I felt all tingly and my hair stood on end when I got to Electric Lane. Mink Hollow Road must be a beautiful wooded area and Monkey Run Road just has to have some Banana trees! My almost favorite was North Star Drive but my most favorite was Yesterday Way because when I head for home I can say, "Well, I am headed back to yesterday."