Walk a mile in another man's shoes.....you know the saying. well, this afternoon my mantra was: walk 3 minutes in a pair of my own shoes and if they hurt my feet before 3 minutes is up, GIVE THEM AWAY or throw them away! (some didn't last even 1 minute!)
i am completely embarrassed and ashamed to admit the total number of shoes that were in the bottom of my closet (so i won't)! no one person should EVER own that many shoes!
to my credit (maybe, maybe not) some of them i've had for the past 25 years. others looked as though they've never been worn. i threw away 6 badly worn out pair and have 27 pair in very good/excellent condition to give to the group that collects in our neighborhood. even that still leaves me with an assortment of comfortable flats and heels in varying colors to see me through any and all future activities.
now that i'm no longer in the business world, i see no reason to EVER buy another pair of shoes, and the good news is that (1) there's a lot more room in my closet; and (2) it's good that i can share with someone who sadly, may not own even ONE pair.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
Recipes & Chirps
New recipe last night was a success, and while it looked like enough for "an army" while i was making it, just 2 of us did a pretty good job on it, with just enough for me to finish for lunch today! I couldn't make up my mind if it was more Mexican or more Italian; nevertheless, it was quite tasty, and very easy to make--my favorite combination! it was zucchini kielbasa, and like all recipes i make, i did change it a little, but i basically followed the book.
the seafood bisque from the other night turned out good too, but even tho i know bisques are typically thicker than chowders, i thought it was a little too thick. so when i heated the little bit leftover, i added more milk and thought it was much better. so, the two new recipes this week were both winners!
Totally unrelated, i'm still (im-)patiently waiting to hear the wonderful chirps of my new parakeet, whitey. he had a lot to "say" in the pet store when i bought him 2 weeks ago so that cloudy would have company after sunny died. but whitey is still adjusting and has been very quiet. well, TWICE this morning, i was VERY delighted to hear short trills and chirps. The first time i heard it however, i realized that it wasn't whitey OR cloudy--it was the 8 a.m. song sparrow sound on my bird clock, singing on the hour. then, just as i was typing this post, i jumped up to see if it was cloudy or whitey this time (for SURE) chirping away. when i saw them both preening feathers instead, i glanced over my shoulder and sure enough!! it was the bird clock chirping the hour with sounds from the belted kingfisher! okay, okay, i fell for it twice! i fully expect that when the tufted titmouse announces ten o'clock, i will have learned my lesson and not go rushing toward the parakeet cage!
JOY today is looking out my window and seeing TEN different kinds of birds feeding in our yard! And glowing between the large snow flakes are all the beautiful red cardinals! i'm SO thankful God made birds!
the seafood bisque from the other night turned out good too, but even tho i know bisques are typically thicker than chowders, i thought it was a little too thick. so when i heated the little bit leftover, i added more milk and thought it was much better. so, the two new recipes this week were both winners!
Totally unrelated, i'm still (im-)patiently waiting to hear the wonderful chirps of my new parakeet, whitey. he had a lot to "say" in the pet store when i bought him 2 weeks ago so that cloudy would have company after sunny died. but whitey is still adjusting and has been very quiet. well, TWICE this morning, i was VERY delighted to hear short trills and chirps. The first time i heard it however, i realized that it wasn't whitey OR cloudy--it was the 8 a.m. song sparrow sound on my bird clock, singing on the hour. then, just as i was typing this post, i jumped up to see if it was cloudy or whitey this time (for SURE) chirping away. when i saw them both preening feathers instead, i glanced over my shoulder and sure enough!! it was the bird clock chirping the hour with sounds from the belted kingfisher! okay, okay, i fell for it twice! i fully expect that when the tufted titmouse announces ten o'clock, i will have learned my lesson and not go rushing toward the parakeet cage!
JOY today is looking out my window and seeing TEN different kinds of birds feeding in our yard! And glowing between the large snow flakes are all the beautiful red cardinals! i'm SO thankful God made birds!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Memory Lane
It would seem that yet another sheer pleasure and JOY of my relatively new "re-LIFE-ment" is having the time to stroll ever so slowly down "memory lane!" this afternoon, that stroll brought a couple tears, but more so, much laughter--and left me in complete awe of just how speedily the years, and decades even, just vanish!
a recent conversation with my kids (now grown of course) reminded me of a book i kept when they were both very young. the days of "journaling" and "blank books" had not yet become popular, so my book is one of those old fashioned black & white marbelized "Compositions" that we always referred to as Copybooks. On the cover i wrote: "Memos to Remember - Conversations with J & J." The pages are now quite yellowed as my first entry was made in 1970. (WOW!)
when my children were very young i would have bedtime prayers with them, and after our "Now i lay me down to sleep...." and "God Bless... (the whole family and all our pets)" i always asked them if they had a special prayer, which they said in their own words. in addition to recording some of their classics, i also wrote some precious conversations that we had when they were 3, 4, 5 years old, and more. i truly, truly thank God that i had the wherewithal to record these incredible, heart warming, loving vignettes. The slices of life on those pages AMAZINGLY brought memories back so vividly that it was as if someone had just turned on the slide projector!
surprisingly it only took me about 20 minutes to find my book (and was also delighted that along with it were their "baby books" and old report cards from elementary school). they were in the second box i looked in...which reminds me: i need to put all the things BACK in the box, cause i have no room on the floor to walk until i do! but as quickly as it took to find my copybook, i then spent several hours sitting on the edge of the bed reading through everything. what FUN! what JOY!
(shhhh, don't tell my kids, but...) i think one of the nicest, most meaningful gifts i could ever give them, is to some day, give them each a copy of all these entries, which span from 1970 to 1978. one of the sheer classics (the one that encouraged me to find this book today) is a special prayer offered by my little guy regarding his 2 year old sister. he prayed quite ernestly, as only a 4 year old can: "Dear God, Help J to stop spitting at me and play nice. Amen." And as that same young man pointed out yesterday, God answered his prayer!
indeed, God still does. JOY
a recent conversation with my kids (now grown of course) reminded me of a book i kept when they were both very young. the days of "journaling" and "blank books" had not yet become popular, so my book is one of those old fashioned black & white marbelized "Compositions" that we always referred to as Copybooks. On the cover i wrote: "Memos to Remember - Conversations with J & J." The pages are now quite yellowed as my first entry was made in 1970. (WOW!)
when my children were very young i would have bedtime prayers with them, and after our "Now i lay me down to sleep...." and "God Bless... (the whole family and all our pets)" i always asked them if they had a special prayer, which they said in their own words. in addition to recording some of their classics, i also wrote some precious conversations that we had when they were 3, 4, 5 years old, and more. i truly, truly thank God that i had the wherewithal to record these incredible, heart warming, loving vignettes. The slices of life on those pages AMAZINGLY brought memories back so vividly that it was as if someone had just turned on the slide projector!
surprisingly it only took me about 20 minutes to find my book (and was also delighted that along with it were their "baby books" and old report cards from elementary school). they were in the second box i looked in...which reminds me: i need to put all the things BACK in the box, cause i have no room on the floor to walk until i do! but as quickly as it took to find my copybook, i then spent several hours sitting on the edge of the bed reading through everything. what FUN! what JOY!
(shhhh, don't tell my kids, but...) i think one of the nicest, most meaningful gifts i could ever give them, is to some day, give them each a copy of all these entries, which span from 1970 to 1978. one of the sheer classics (the one that encouraged me to find this book today) is a special prayer offered by my little guy regarding his 2 year old sister. he prayed quite ernestly, as only a 4 year old can: "Dear God, Help J to stop spitting at me and play nice. Amen." And as that same young man pointed out yesterday, God answered his prayer!
indeed, God still does. JOY
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
IN-door Transition
Hmmm; it's been two weeks since I posted on my blog. a combination i guess of my mom's death, my favorite parakeet's death, not feeling like i had any profound thoughts to record, and trying to jump-start my transition from outdoor activities to indoor activities, now that the warm weather is gone. No more planting, watering the garden, weeding, relaxing with a book on my swing, photographing flowers and insects, or planning a lazy day at the beach. Now all the things that were put on hold, while i enjoyed doing those just mentioned, are staring me in the face each day: sorting papers and filing, shredding old papers, dusting knick-knacks, washing windows, cleaning out closets.
one thing that the colder months do prompt me on is trying new recipes. i miss having my fresh garden veggies to pick, but i "pick" instead through my many cookbooks, for interesting and yummy-sounding recipes. they're not all winners, but most of them we really enjoy. matter of fact, tonight i will be making a seafood bisque. last week i made a tortellini vegetable soup that was especially tasty. i like to make one soup a week, plus one other new recipe--two new dinners a week make eating more exciting. next week i will make a new england clam chowder, and then i want to make a cheesy potato soup that sounds good.
not only have i been pouring over my cookbooks for new recipes, i've also been reading a lot, all non-fiction, my favorite. i started to keep a spreadsheet several months ago listing the books i'd read. i expect to finish a book this afternoon, which will make #23 on my list, since january. that's a little better than 2 books a month--definitely one of the blessings of re-LIFE-ment! i got a new book in the mail yesterday (God Speaks to Women in the Bible), expect another today (Gov. Huckabee's new release), and have 2 more on order (both on the Hebrew language).
so my cold-weather afternoons should be relaxing and informative! a good book, an afghan (with a warm, purring cat on top), soft music and a cup of tea make for THEE PERFECT afternoon! Not to mention: it is the proverbial "carrot on the stick in front of me" to encourage my doing those closet cleanings, dusting knick-knacks, sorting, shredding, filing things all morning, so as to have my afternoons free for the REALLY fun things! so, off i go!
one thing that the colder months do prompt me on is trying new recipes. i miss having my fresh garden veggies to pick, but i "pick" instead through my many cookbooks, for interesting and yummy-sounding recipes. they're not all winners, but most of them we really enjoy. matter of fact, tonight i will be making a seafood bisque. last week i made a tortellini vegetable soup that was especially tasty. i like to make one soup a week, plus one other new recipe--two new dinners a week make eating more exciting. next week i will make a new england clam chowder, and then i want to make a cheesy potato soup that sounds good.
not only have i been pouring over my cookbooks for new recipes, i've also been reading a lot, all non-fiction, my favorite. i started to keep a spreadsheet several months ago listing the books i'd read. i expect to finish a book this afternoon, which will make #23 on my list, since january. that's a little better than 2 books a month--definitely one of the blessings of re-LIFE-ment! i got a new book in the mail yesterday (God Speaks to Women in the Bible), expect another today (Gov. Huckabee's new release), and have 2 more on order (both on the Hebrew language).
so my cold-weather afternoons should be relaxing and informative! a good book, an afghan (with a warm, purring cat on top), soft music and a cup of tea make for THEE PERFECT afternoon! Not to mention: it is the proverbial "carrot on the stick in front of me" to encourage my doing those closet cleanings, dusting knick-knacks, sorting, shredding, filing things all morning, so as to have my afternoons free for the REALLY fun things! so, off i go!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Different but Same
I just took some scraps to my compost pile and started to come back into the house when a bright spot out the corner of my eye caught my attention. i went over and picked the most beautiful late-blooming yellow rose you can imagine! i can hardly stop smelling it--inhaling its sweet, sweet aroma! the outside of some of the lower petals are tinged with a pink blush.
it came from one of my unusual rose bushes; each flower is different. Really! the buds are usually a dark red-orange color, but then each and every flower opens to its own unique splashes of mixed yellows, oranges, apricots and corals. Some of the petals are just tipped in color, others are blushed evenly, but every one different...much like us.
it reminded me of a poem i once wrote and framed; i gave it to my Mother for Mother's Day, probably close to 20 years ago. it described one of my childhood memories of how my mother used to walk my brother and i to a neighborhood church where she taught Bible school. we were raised to never see people as black or white; we were taught no matter how different we look on the outside, God made us all the same on the inside. (Mom illustrated this to that little Bible class more than 60 years ago, but my memory of the game she had us play is still fresh. After repeating all the colors of the clothes we had on that day, Mom told us to stick out our tongue. Well! We felt very naughty because that was something that we were never given permission to do. Mom made her point of how we were all unique and yet, the same inside.)
the rose I just picked reminds me that a yellow rose signifies PEACE. i need an extra dose of PEACE these days, since Mom's very recent death stirs my emotions at unexpected times and for unexpected reasons. it also reminds me to pray for PEACE for our country, having just emerged from an historical election process. like my rose bush, this election has produced a president-elect different than all others, yet God made him the same on the inside and has laid on his heart a purpose and desire to lead our country. SHALOM!
it came from one of my unusual rose bushes; each flower is different. Really! the buds are usually a dark red-orange color, but then each and every flower opens to its own unique splashes of mixed yellows, oranges, apricots and corals. Some of the petals are just tipped in color, others are blushed evenly, but every one different...much like us.
it reminded me of a poem i once wrote and framed; i gave it to my Mother for Mother's Day, probably close to 20 years ago. it described one of my childhood memories of how my mother used to walk my brother and i to a neighborhood church where she taught Bible school. we were raised to never see people as black or white; we were taught no matter how different we look on the outside, God made us all the same on the inside. (Mom illustrated this to that little Bible class more than 60 years ago, but my memory of the game she had us play is still fresh. After repeating all the colors of the clothes we had on that day, Mom told us to stick out our tongue. Well! We felt very naughty because that was something that we were never given permission to do. Mom made her point of how we were all unique and yet, the same inside.)
the rose I just picked reminds me that a yellow rose signifies PEACE. i need an extra dose of PEACE these days, since Mom's very recent death stirs my emotions at unexpected times and for unexpected reasons. it also reminds me to pray for PEACE for our country, having just emerged from an historical election process. like my rose bush, this election has produced a president-elect different than all others, yet God made him the same on the inside and has laid on his heart a purpose and desire to lead our country. SHALOM!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Sadness
....I just buried my beautiful little yellow parakeet named Sunny. I'm feeling very sad and weepy right now.
yesterday it was only 2 weeks since we buried my dear, beautiful, special, loving, wonderful Mother. i have wanted to write about mom's death, which followed 12 long years of alzheimer's, but found that i haven't been able to write about her yet since i'm still absorbing it all...that even tho mom has mentally been "gone" for so long, now she's really gone from my life. even tho she has not known for a long, long time who i was, i still knew who she was and could stroke her hair and kiss her and try to make her smile, and tell her i love her.
in the interim, one of my parakeets has been ailing. just late yesterday he seemed to stop eating and became weaker. my husband lovingly set sunny on the bottom of the cage last evening so he wouldn't have to struggle to climb to a perch.
this morning sunny was still breathing, but laid his little head down. then while we were up the road voting, sunny died.
i know what i say next might sound really foolish, stupid and childish, but the way i figure it: God LOVES birds! He put them in the garden of eden. the Bible says in Matthew that "His eye is on the sparrow..." and it says in Jeremiah that God causes the birds to know when to migrate.
AND I KNOW GOD LOVED MY MOTHER! AND I KNOW MY MOTHER LOVED GOD and is now in His loving arms in Heaven! my mom also LOVED birds, as i do. the same night that mom died was the night i thought sunny-bird wouldn't live through the night. he bounced back, did well, but then the past 4 days has looked poorly. if God loves birds so much i'm just figuring that they will also be in Heaven. so in my mind, little sunny is sitting on my mom's finger, just chortling and chirping away, bringing her all the JOY that he brought me for the past five years.
... i sure miss my mom.
yesterday it was only 2 weeks since we buried my dear, beautiful, special, loving, wonderful Mother. i have wanted to write about mom's death, which followed 12 long years of alzheimer's, but found that i haven't been able to write about her yet since i'm still absorbing it all...that even tho mom has mentally been "gone" for so long, now she's really gone from my life. even tho she has not known for a long, long time who i was, i still knew who she was and could stroke her hair and kiss her and try to make her smile, and tell her i love her.
in the interim, one of my parakeets has been ailing. just late yesterday he seemed to stop eating and became weaker. my husband lovingly set sunny on the bottom of the cage last evening so he wouldn't have to struggle to climb to a perch.
this morning sunny was still breathing, but laid his little head down. then while we were up the road voting, sunny died.
i know what i say next might sound really foolish, stupid and childish, but the way i figure it: God LOVES birds! He put them in the garden of eden. the Bible says in Matthew that "His eye is on the sparrow..." and it says in Jeremiah that God causes the birds to know when to migrate.
AND I KNOW GOD LOVED MY MOTHER! AND I KNOW MY MOTHER LOVED GOD and is now in His loving arms in Heaven! my mom also LOVED birds, as i do. the same night that mom died was the night i thought sunny-bird wouldn't live through the night. he bounced back, did well, but then the past 4 days has looked poorly. if God loves birds so much i'm just figuring that they will also be in Heaven. so in my mind, little sunny is sitting on my mom's finger, just chortling and chirping away, bringing her all the JOY that he brought me for the past five years.
... i sure miss my mom.
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