A SMALL MIRACLE

I wanted to share something with my readers:

 

Last night I went to the local food pantry for my monthly food appointment.  They are great people and it is a great organization, and they help hundreds of people who are indigent or very low income. 

 

At Christmas, I gave the receptionist, Charlotte, a crocheted scarf.  She loved it so much, she showed it to her granddaughter, who happens to live in Florida, and the little girl wanted one.

 

So, last month when I went in for my appointment, Charlotte asked me if I would make one for her granddaughter.  She wanted it like hers, if I could.  I explained that that yarn was all gone and that it would probably be different.  She said that was fine.  In unpacking some  of my boxes, I found a box of finished crocheted items.  Inside was a scarf identical to Charlotte’s, except that I had put some leftover purple yarn in with the pink to make the fringe.  I grabbed it and put it in the car. 

 

After I got in and settled at the pantry, I told Charlotte I had her granddaughter’s scarf with me.  She said to hold onto it, since her granddaughter just happened to be there with her, and she wanted me to give it to her.  A few minutes later the prettiest little girl about 7 with long golden curls came out and I gave it to her.  She said purple was her favorite color, so the fringe was a hit.  She hugged me and thanked me.  Then Charlotte told her to go get something from her grandpa (who is the evening coordinator and Charlotte’s husband) and in a few minutes she returned and handed me $5.  I told Charlotte it wasn’t necessary, I wouldn't take it.  And Charlotte, who has a heart of gold but a temper to match hell’s fury, shot me a glance and said, not another word, I want you take that.  I thanked her, and told her it was a Godsend.

 

Now, some of you might wonder why I am writing about this as if it is a miracle  or something.  Well, you see, before I left for the pantry, I was completely broke other  than some change.  I had no gas in my car, other than fumes, and didn’t know how I was going to get to the food pantry and back home, and then  to work on Friday to get my check.  I had rolled my pennies and there were only 99 cents worth.  But a customer had found a dollar bill on the floor at work the last day I had worked, and after the store closed and no one claimed it, I took it home.  I also found 15 cents on the floor that day.  So technically I had $2.14.  Gas is going for $2.79 a gal. for regular right now.  So that wasn’t even a gallon.  I stopped at the gas station and told the clerk to set the pump for $2.14 so that I wouldn’t go over.  He laughed and did.  

 

I watched the fuel gauge the whole time I was on my way to the food pantry.  It was still lit up that I was getting low and needed to refuel.  So, when Charlotte gave that $5 to me, I saw my way back home………….I could get gas at the Kroger for $2.73 and make it home and to work to get my check.  Now to some of you out there, being broke may mean only having a couple hundred in the bank.  When I say I am broke, believe me, I am broke.  I am usually $10 short each two week pay period of being able to pay bills and get gas.  So this was truly a miracle to me…………and yes, God does work in mysterious ways, but they are also loving and compassionate ways………..I am just so glad that I know HIM.

 

I hope each and every one of you have a miracle in your life today……small, large, doesn’t matter……..hold it dear and thank God for it.

SPIRITS OR GNATS?????

last night i was watching tv and my cat was sleeping on the pile of dirty clothes in the chair.  she suddenly gets up and starts chasing something all over the three rooms she is allowed in.  i see nothing of course..........so i get up to see if she is chasing something tangible or maybe playing with one of those ghost kitties. 

i still saw nothing. 

a few minutes later i kept seeing something out of the corner of my eye.  could have been a reflection off the tv on the brass floor lamp pole, or could have been the lights from a passing car through the slit in the window, or, an infamous georgia gnat......... i don't want to believe it was anything more.  but it could have been.

i have come down with another sinus infection that is giving me some of the symptoms i had back in january when i was rushed to the hospital.  i had a moment of panic when i couldn't breathe when i first awoke today.  i then had cold chills.  i noticed this beginning last night as i watched tv.  maybe i am hallucinating (but then i guess my cat would be hallucinating too........right???)

i think i have had too much on my heart and mind and still trying to work and be sick and adjust to my new place..........i am just fatigued and reading things into things that aren't really there.  where is that guardian angel when i need him??????????

POSSIBLE GHOSTS

I recently had an entry about some possible ghosties living in my new um, old home.  Well, to keep you updated, now I have doors that open on their own.  Of course, I am sure it is just the oldness of the house and when you step on certain boards on the floor, it offsets a door and it opens…………..well, at least that is what I currently want to believe. 

 

My kitty still jumps at things I don’t hear or see.  But then cats have a better sense of hearing thaN we mere mortals do.  Maybe she is hearing the whispers of those already passed on………….maybe even a kitty or pup that has been haunting the halls waiting for a playmate.

 

Either way, there are some strange things going on in the old house.  But I am not afraid.  First if all, I have my faith in God.  Second of all, I am not afraid of spirits.  They would have already forewarned me if they were evil……….and I feel nothing evil from them.  Just odd dreams and a few nightmares.

 

So, again, I will keep you updated if anything worthwhile happens.

 

So I shall now……………………………………POOF!

THE CRABBY OLD WOMAN

once again, thank you anita for sending this.  stop and think about someone elderly you know..............

When an old lady died in the geriatric ward of a small hospital near Dundee, Scotland, it was believed that she had nothing left of any value. Later, when the nurses were going through her meager possessions, they found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital. One nurse took her copy to Ireland.   The old lady's sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas edition of the News Magazine of the North Ireland Association for Mental Health. A slide presentation has also been made based on her simple, but eloquent, poem. And this little old Scottish lady, with nothing   left to give to the world, is now the author of this "anonymous" poem winging across the world as the "Crabby Old Woman."  

What do you see, nurses?
What do you see?
What are you thinking
When you're looking at me?  

A crabby old woman,
Not very wise,
Uncertain of habit,
With faraway eyes?  

Who dribbles her food
And makes no reply
When you say in a loud voice,
"I do wish you'd try!"  

Who seems not to notice
The things that you do,
And forever is losing
A stocking or shoe?  

Who, resisting or not,
Lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding,
The long day to fill?  

Is that what you're thinking?
Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse,
You're not looking at me.  

I'll tell you who I am
As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding,
As I eat at your will.  

I'm a small child of ten
With a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters,
Who love one another.  

A young girl of sixteen
With wings on her feet
Dreaming that soon now
A lover she'll meet.  

A bride soon at twenty,
my heart gives a leap,
Remembering the vows
That I promised to keep.  

At twenty-five now,
I have young of my own,
Who need me to guide
And a secure happy home.  

A woman of thirty,
My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other
With ties that should last.  

At forty, my young sons
Have grown and are gone,
But my man's beside me
To see I don't mourn. 

At fifty once more,
Babies play round my knee,
Again we know children,
My loved one and me.

Dark days are upon me,
My husband is dead,
I look at the future,
I shudder with dread.  

For my young are all rearing
Young of their own,
And I think of the years
And the love that I've known.  

I'm now an old woman
And nature is cruel;'
Tis jest to make old age
Look like a fool.  

The body, it crumbles,
Grace and vigor depart,
There is now a stone
Where I once had a heart.

But inside this old carcass
A young girl still dwells,
And now and again,
My battered heart swells.  

I remember the joys,
I remember the pain,
And I'm loving and living
Life over again.  

I think of the years
All too few, gone too fast,
And accept the stark fact
That nothing can last.  

So open your eyes, people,
Open and see,
Not a crabby old woman;
Look closer . . . see ME!!  

HANDS

i find myself using more and more of what others send me via email instead of writing my own material.  i have been in a slump for some time now as to my writing.  when i do write something, it is usually very depressing, not uplifting.  so, in order to not be a downer today, i wish to pass on something that my friend in alabama sent me.........what would i do for material if it wasn't for her???!!!!!!!!!  thanks again anita.

 Grandma, some ninety plus years, sat feebly on the patio bench. She didn't move, just sat with her head down staring at  her hands When I sat down beside her she didn't acknowledge my presence and the longer I sat I wondered if she was OK. Finally, not really wanting to disturb her but wanting to check on her at the same time, I asked her if she was OK. She raised her head and looked at me and smiled. " Yes, I'm fine, thank you for asking" she said in a clear strong voice. "I didn't mean to disturb you, grandma, but you were just sitting here staring at your hands and I wanted to make sure you were OK" I explained to her.

"Have you ever looked at your hands? " she asked. I mean really looked at your hands? I slowly opened my hands and stared down at them. I turned them over, palms up and then palms down No, I guess I had never really looked at my hands as I tried to figure out the point she was making. 

 Grandma smiled and related this story: "Stop and think for a moment about the hands you have, how they have served you well through out your years.  These hands, though wrinkled, shriveled and weak have been the tools I have used all my life to reach out and grab and embrace life. They braced and caught my fall when as a toddler I crashed upon the floor. They put food in my mouth and clothes on my back. As a child my mother taught me to fold them in prayer. They tied my shoes and pulled on my boots.  They have been dirty, scraped and raw, swollen and bent. They were uneasy and clumsy when I tried to hold my newborn son. Decorated with my wedding band  they showed the world that I was married and loved someone special They trembled and shook when I buried my parents and spouse.  They have held children, consoled neighbors, and shook in fists of anger when I didn't understand. They have covered my face, combed my hair, and washed and cleansed the rest of my body. They have been sticky and wet, bent and broken, dried and raw. And to this day when not much of anything else of me works real well these hands hold me up, lay me down, and again continue to fold in prayer. These hands are the mark of where I've been and the ruggedness of my life. But more importantly it will be these hands that God will reach out and take when he leads me home. And with my hands He will lift me to His side and there I will use these hands to touch the face of Christ."

 I will never look at my hands the same again. But I remember God reached out and took my grandma's hands and led her home. When my hands are hurt or sore or when I stroke the face of my children and husband, I think of grandma. I know she has been stroked and caressed and held by the hands of God.  I too, want to touch the face of God and feel his hands upon my face.

FRIENDLY SPIRITS????

just one last entry before i have to scoot.................

since moving, i have had at least one memorable dream or nightmare each night...........and i remember details for hours and days later.........which is rare for me.

i am wondering, since this is a 109 year old Victorian home i am in, and since it is possible that the previous owner died "in" the house, is someone or something trying to tell me something.  i am not afraid, just saddened by some of the dreams.  i hope that i will be open enough to understand what is being conveyed if that is the case.  but not open to anything evil that might come my way.

i will keep you posted................................

FRIENDS

I JUST HAD TO ADD THIS TO MY JOURNAL.  IT IS SO TRUE AND SO CUTE.  THANKS TO TABITHA FOR SENDING IT TO ME.........AND I HOPE YOU DON'T MIND ME USING IT TABITHA.................. (people have stated that they are getting a square with a red x instead of the pic.  i have saved the pic to my photobucket in hopes that it will now come through without the red x.  if you get a red x, email me and i will try to send personally.  sorry for any inconvenience)

 

OH MY.....DIRTY DISHES........NO NO NO NO NO

When I moved I said that I would never go to bed with dirty dishes in my sink, considering where I have lived for the past year and the dirty kitchen I had to see day after day..................

But last night, God forbid, I left four dirty dishes in my kitchen sink! 

I had hoped, and rather earnestly, that Dorn's Dirty Dishes Fairy would come and help me with them...........but alas..............NO!!! 

I got up this morning and had to wash them before I could even brush my hair and teeth..........

But now, I am happy........I have a clean kitchen once again............................

NO THANKS TO THE DIRTY DISHES FAIRY..................

BLAZING SUNSET (AND OTHERS)

THIS WAS A SERIES OF SHOTS TAKEN FROM BEHIND THE HOUSE WHERE I WAS RENTING A ROOM.  THE SKY LOOKED LIKE IT WAS ABLAZE.

 

THIS WAS AT DUSK, TAKEN FROM THE BACK OF THE HOUSE WHERE I WAS RENTING A ROOM.

 

THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITES.........THE SKY LOOKS LIQUIDY.  IT WAS MOMENTS LATER FROM THE PHOTO ABOVE.........

 

JUST SOME RECENT PICTURES

THIS IS MY ONLY KITTY NOW.........COATIE........WITH IGGY, HER FRIEND.  (THIS IS AT THE OLD HOUSE WHERE I RENTED A ROOM)

 

COATIE AND IGGY AGAIN, WITH MY "KITCHEN" SHOWING IN THE BACKGROUND (AT THE OLD HOUSE WHERE I RENTED A ROOM)

 

THIS IS BUDDY, WHO I CALLED BOBO, TAKING A NAP WITH TIGGER.  BOBO BELONGS TO THE FAMILY AT THE OLD HOUSE WHERE I RENTED A ROOM.

 

BOBO AND DAISY IN THE ENTRANCE TO THE KITCHEN AT THE HOUSE WHERE I RENTED A ROOM.  DAISY IS SUCH A SWEET DOG.  SHE BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE I RENTED FROM.

BANK DEPOSIT (NOT WHAT YOU THINK)

 A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably coifed and shaved perfectly, even though he is not completely but legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.
 

 

After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready.


 As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window.

 "I love it," he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

 " Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait."

 "That doesn't have anything to do with it," he replied.

 "Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged ... it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it.  It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer
 work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do.

Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away. Just for this time in my life.

Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you've put in. So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories. Thank you for your part in filling my Memory bank. I am still depositing."




 Remember the five simple rules to be happy:


 1. Free your heart from hatred.
 2. Free your mind from worries.
 3. Live simply.
 4. Give more.
 5. Expect less.

MOM---A JOB DESCRIPTION

MY DAUGHTER IS GROWN AND MOVED OUT, BUT ONCE A MOM, ALWAYS A MOM.....AND THIS IS SO TRUE....THANKS ANITA FOR SENDING VIA EMAIL.........

 

MOM -

JOB DESCRIPTION

 

POSITION :

 

Mother,  Mom, Mama, Mommy, Ma

JOB DESCRIPTION

Long term, team players needed, for challenging permanent work in an often chaotic environment. Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 24 hour shifts on call. Some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities. Travel expenses not reimbursed. Extensive courier duties also required.

 

                              RESPONSIBILITIES:

The rest of your life. Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily, until someone needs $5. Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly. Also, must possess the physical stamina of a pack mule and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat in case, this time, the screams from the backyard are not someone just crying wolf. Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges, such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets and stuck zippers. Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and coordinate production of multiple homework projects. Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings for clients of all ages and mental outlooks. Must be willing to be indispensable one minute, an embarrassment the next. Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a half million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices. Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality of the end product. Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and janitorial work throughout the facility.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT & PROMOTION:

Virtually none. Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills, so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE:

None required unfortunately. On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

WAGES AND COMPENSATION:

Get this! You pay them! Offering frequent raises and bonuses. A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the assumption that college will help them become financially independent. When you die, you give them whatever is left. The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.

 

BENEFITS:

While no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and no stock options are offered; this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth and free hugs for life if you play your cards right.

 

MY PLACE

I still haven’t gotten my pictures back on my new place, but I have to tell you………………..

 

 

There is nothing like being able to take a nice long tub bath without having to clean the tub out due to slow drainage. 

 

 

It is also nice to run around the house naked……….well, at least most of the house, lol.

 

 

It is so wonderful to be able to cook a meal in my own kitchen……….  without having to wait till the rest of the household goes to bed and without having to clean or move the entire kitchen of dirty dishes to get to the stove and sink.

 

 

It is so nice to listen to the silence……….well, after 10 pm anyway.  There seems to be no traffic outside at all after 10 pm every evening.

 

 

It is such a pleasure to watch whatever I want on tv without fighting with the antenna.

 

 

It is so nice to not have to mark all my food with my name in the freezer and fridge (and to know that it won’t get eaten by someone else).

 

 

It is nice to not have a knock on my door from a family of 4 either wanting my help or money, or whatever.

 

 

It is so wonderful to have so much room to spread out and enjoy “my” things.

 

 

I truly appreciate the offerings others have made for me to have a place to live………..but there is nothing like your own “Home sweet home”.  Even though the home is 109 years old………lol.  It has lots of character.

 

 

Thank you, god, for hearing my prayers………and answering them.  (OH, AND BETTY, THANKS FOR THE VEGGIE BEEF SOUP...........MMMMMM MMMMMMMM GOOD)