One Part Inspiration...

Tomorrow is April Fool's Day. I remember trying a couple of tricks on people but they weren't very original (Telling my oldest sister that her work had phoned and she didn't have to come in that day...she wasn't very impressed). However, I was looking up some stuff that had been tried and so here are some of the top 100 April Fool's Tricks. (in no particular order). The US public radio program All Things Considered on NPR broadcast a piece about the "Positive Opera Company" on Cape Cod. Its impresario wants to rewrite the world's great tragic operas in order to give them all a happy ending Magic 105.4 in London played Christma songs all morning. The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest: In 1957 the respected BBC news show Panorama announced that thanks to a very mild winter and the virtual elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop. It accompanied this announcement with footage of Swiss peasants pulling strands ...

Sometimes you get a glimpse of "Future Life". I did yesterday. It was Chad's birthday. I bought the gift. My middle son said "we should make a scavenger hunt for Daddy". I told him to go ahead if he wanted b/c I didn't have time to do that. He got out the camera and made picture clues. Daddy had to figure out where on the property it was and go find the next clue. ON the clue, was a letter. The letters were scrambled and Daddy had to figure out what they meant. Then Daddy had to dig through the sawdust to uncover his present where there was a dolly waiting to take it back up to the house. It sure saved on wrapping paper! Although, my printer is now out of ink! He had such a good time putting it together. I thought it was very creative. Especially the way he took pictures of familiar sites in unusual ways. I think he takes after me....

Do you remember when you had a million dreams? When I was planning to go to Australia, my Dad said "Dream Big, Marn". Without that encouragement, I think I would have settled for staying in Canada. Then a whole series of events (which included marriage, career, and children) wouldn't have unfolded. His words often echo in my mind. Dreams can get eaten up by the daily routines of life. But on each dream, hangs possibility . (I am not talking about winning the lottery dreaming. I am talking about the " one- day,- I'd- like- to-....fly to-...be a.-..climb the-...start...." - type of dreaming) Each day,there's a possibility that I am on the cusp of something dramatic. Perhaps, because I dared to dream, I will look back at this time in my life, and say "I'm so glad - because look where it took me".

Every once in a cybersurfing while, I find something that I enjoy. My family rushes in to see what mother is laughing about - all by herself. Hope you find this amusing too. "Of Dust Bunnies and Deceit" Even in this age of faster, easier and infinitely more thorough methods of keeping our homes all clean and spiffy, let's face it: most of us dread housework. Despite the fact that I don't have to whack my family's clothes against a slimy rock in a glacial stream, I still don't enjoy doing the laundry, nor do I relish dusting, vacuuming, washing the dishes, mopping the floor or cleaning the toilet. Call me lazy, but doing something unpleasant that must be repeated the next day (and every single day after that) doesn't inspire me to greater heights of hygienic happiness. So, after years of conscientious study, I've come up with some sure-fire avoidance techniques. It's Saturday morning and from all indications, you should be cleaning your house about ...

A book I read at my in-laws this week had an interesting concept. It was called "Sleeping with Bread". It talked about the idea of doing the 'examen' every day. The examen is a way of looking over the day and being thankful for what you are thankful for, and examining what you are not grateful for, to see if you will have any direction in your life as a result. I have been trying to do this ever since I read the book - to see if it will make a difference. So here's my answers for today. What am I most grateful for today? - that I was able to get a few things accomplished that have been on my list for a long time. What am I most "not" grateful for today? - that my holiday is drawing to a close. What can I learn from the "not grateful" list? I constantly need to reexamine my priorities. Being on holiday has allowed me to look at that again. I like being able to have more freedom to order my days when I don't have so many things on my plate...

May those who love us, love us; And those who don't love us, May God turn their hearts; And if He doesn't turn their hearts, May he turn their ankles so we'll know them by their limping.

I was shopping today and thinking how great it would be if stores had remote controls for people like myself who actually pay attention to the music played in the stores. I find that when I am not enjoying the music, I get very antsy and am less likely to spend money in that store. My eyes glaze over and I become like a caged beast. GET Me OUTTA here! I realize that my taste in music is not what most stores play. But even still, if there was a remote control, at least you could fast forward to the next selection rather than suffer through the song you can't stand. The people who don't pay attention to it wouldn't even notice likely. (I was in a store once close to Christmas and I was the only one who noticed that their CD player was stuck. After the 5th or 6th time through "THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS", I was ready to scream! ) And on the topic of great inventions, I was thinking today as I went through the ATM what a great invention it was to allow the customer ...

This is a comment on the topic of things that make you turn to the person next to you and say "WHAAAAATTTT????" I was watching one of those shows (I hate to admit it's a reality show...but that's where I stop in my revelation of which show) where the contestants are being interviewed throughout the show. One of the contestants said "They (the show's organizers) don't realize how much I want (to win). I not only want it, I DESIRE it. " Don't you think that repeating the same idea is just a little redundant? And from a personal note, some of you know that I have a propensity to call objects by names that aren't their names. My family often stops in the middle of the conversation to try and decipher " just what did she mean this time "? So picture this. My husband and I are having a cup of tea. The teapot is not on the table. I see something on the table that needs attention. I say "Lift the teapot up". He is sitting at t...

I have made the difficult decision to replace my little black book. If the original one is reading this blog, it's not too late to come back home. I will welcome you with open arms. I just felt out of place without an ongoing checklist of things I was doing, places I was going and people I was seeing. Thank you to all of you who expressed your concern about my loss. I can now face the future and feel like I am more organized than I look.

I've been wondering how it would have changed the Bible if certain characters had lived in our time and been able to take advantage of our advanced technologies and knowledge. For instance: What if David (the poet king) had been prescribed antidepressants? Or Paul (the apostle) had been enrolled in anger management courses? Maybe if John Mark (the author of Mark) had taken assertiveness training? Or Jezebel and Ahab had been a part of the Dr. Phil show? I wonder if anyone would have read Jeremiah's (the weeping prophet) blog? I think our Bible would have read a lot differently. See that's what happens to me in the middle of the night. Random thoughts.

This is the story of Steve Jobs. I first heard it on the radio. The announcer told one part of the story and then said he would continue it next time. It drove me crazy because I really wanted to know what happened. But I wasn't going to be in the vehicle the next time he was on the air. Sometime later, I ran across the same story on the internet (not like I play on the internet very often or anything like that. ) I am recommending this story to you to read. Make yourself a nice cuppa something and settle down to read it. It will take a little while but it is most worth it. Cheers! (p.s. got the picture from wikipedia.com) http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html

" There is a gigantic difference between earning a great deal of money and being rich." Marlene Dietrich, Marlene Dietrich's ABC

I've lost my little black book. Not THAT kind of little black book. It is the book where I have kept track of things to do, people to contact, prices of trips and special events. I feel lost. It is so weird. I know I had it and now I don't. I've called it and it hasn't come back. I have offered my family a reward if they find it and it hasn't worked. How does one decide when to leave go and just start another book. The thing was there was a cheque in it. Not for a whole lot, but still, that was going to be my "splurge" money. You'd think that someone would have found it and called me to let me know they have it. BOO HOO. I suppose there's some sort of life lesson that I could pull from this experience. But right now, I just feel lost!