Long time.....

Sorry - it's been awhile since I posted, and, unfortunately, I have no excuse. It just seems like it takes me longer to do things these days, so my accomplishments (aka the things I get to cross of my list) seem to be less and less each day. Hmmm.... Anyway, I am involved in quite a few major decisions and happenings as we speak. I am contemplating moving my residence; Tanner is most likely moving into the dorms when they get finished for his schooling; Spencer (my first grandchild) should be arriving anytime now; my car has over 232,000 miles on it and is begging me to let it die and go to heaven (or wherever worn out cars go); and Barry and Britt (my oldest son and his wife) have announced that they are expecting their first baby in July. Now, I realize, some of those things don't effect me directly, but they all seem to fill my mind as I'm meandering down my life's path here. Add to that all the other things crowding into my head, and, well, I seem to get a little distracted, and boom, the day is over. Not much is happening to report right now. However, I will say, at the risk of sounding like an old woman, I am saddened by the way things are changing in our world. I did some legwork in anticipation of getting a car, and consequently, a car loan, and was sad as I talked to the loan officer at my bank. Now, to give you a little background - I am a small town girl. I have always tried to keep my business in my small town as best I can, and that includes my bank. In the past, I knew everyone who worked at my bank - now I don't know most of the people, let alone their names. In the past, I would just call, say I found a car, this is how much I need, here's the bluebook value, and they would say, "want that money in your checking account or you want us to write it to the place?" Of course, it wasn't quite that cut and dried, but basically. Now, there are more forms to fill out each time - not just updating what they have on file. And I'm a small business owner, so now we want 3 years of tax returns - really? For a small loan for a car? The loan officer explained to me that they used to take a person's character into consideration - of course, the collateral had to warrant that much money on the loan, but basically if you were their patron and your history was good with them, they would loan you the money. Not so anymore. It saddened me because a person's character is no longer important in this world. I can fill out their forms and produce copies of my taxes - all that stuff, but it just made me sad - there's no longer a benefit for me to keep my business in a small town bank. I understand, times are tough, the banks have lost money and gotten "bitten in the rear" in this economy - but to say we've lost the "human" part of our dealing, and now we just go strictly by the numbers on the papers - that makes me sad. In this progressive, forward thinking, electronic driven world, people are becoming less and less human and more and more numbers on pages. Ahhh...now I have really started sounding like my grandma! I'm just not sure that all change is for the better.

Shoe was on the other foot!

Well, this week I was supposed to do chair massages on Thursday and Friday, as I do every 4th Thursday and Friday, in Peoria. Since my car is of questionable ability, and my tires are of dubious quality, and the weather forecast was formidable to say the least, I decided it would be wise to pack my stuff up Wednesday night before all the fun began and head over to stay with my daughter and son in law in West Peoria - well, not really West Peoria, but over a little past it. I think it's officially after West Peoria, but before Norwood. Anyway, that way, I'd be closer to travel in the snow the next morning to my destination. I got all the little runnings done, did up the dishes, cooked some food for Tan man for while I was away, and headed out. Well, as you all know by now, Peoria got hit way worse than Pekin, and I was snowed in Thursday and part of Friday at Mal and Patrick's - not even making it over to do chair massages! The shoe was definitely on the other foot, as they fed me, let me sleep in the good bed, and basically just spoiled me rotten - it was fun! We watched tv, ate, and got a bunch of things ready in Spencer's room - won't be long now til, as Maria says, "he's out!". Actually, Maria thinks all babies get cut out - hmmmm. Anyway, sometimes it's nice to have a completely unplanned, not by the book, interruption in what you expect to happen. When it comes your way - enjoy it!

Sabotage!

Today I found myself doing something that has become a habit over the past few months - a thing that nine out of ten times ends in my frustration. Suddenly the thought rambled through my mind - "stop sabotaging yourself". Hmmmm...so I began to think of all the areas of my life where I might actually be sabotaging myself...and, to my surprise, there were several. What I mean by that, is areas where I do things that do not help me in the long run. For example, like when you're on a diet and you buy tons of cookies and candies at the grocery store. Then those items are in your house and readily available for your consumption in a weak moment - bazinga! You've sabotaged yourself in the area of dieting. So, I'm trying to become more aware of those times and areas where I'm actually "spitting into the wind", "cutting off my nose to spite my face", and "shooting myself in the foot". Some things become such a habit I don't realize what I'm doing, so this is going to take some effort to tune in and become aware of what's actually happening around me. What areas of your life could you be subconsciously sabotaging your success? Might be worth taking a look!

Heart Break

My heart is breaking tonight for a friend who has suffered an indescribable emotional loss at the hands of life today. Nothing to be done. Nothing can change what's happened. No words to make it hurt less. All we can do is be thankful for what's been shared over the past months, hold close the memories, and believe that God who knows all and sees all will protect and hold close those that we love. We never know what twists, turns, and curves life may send our way; my advice, then is to tell everyone you love that you do, indeed, love them; enjoy every single day you are given; see all the fabulous, wonderful things in our world; work when you have to, but let your job be your job - not your life. Hold those you love very close.

An experiment for you!

One of my friends posted this challenge to us all: write yourself a letter, dated 12/31/12 - yep, not 12/31/11, but 12/31/12. Write this letter in the past tense, going over all the things that "happened" this year. For example, "this past summer, I purchased a new car - I love it! It's just what I needed with plenty of room to transport my massage chair, and my massage table if I need to. It drives really comfortably, and gets great gas mileage". That's an example of something my letter might say. The point of this exercise is to set your intention and make a plan, so to speak. To put into words the things that "might" happen for you this year, write them as if they have already happened, then see what actually does happen. It's an interesting exercise in not allowing life to just "happen" to you, but to see that you really do have some input into what occurs. I'm planning to try to get this accomplished sometime this week. I'd be interested to hear what you think about this and what things your letter might say! Do share!

Happy New Year!

Well we did it. We made it through 2011. It doesn't actually seem like that long ago that it was the end of 2010 - but I guess that kinda shows my age - mom always said the older you get, the faster time goes. Go figure. Anyway yesterday was a splendid day. I putzed around my kitchen - one of my fave things to do - made some cookies, made a casserole for Tan, did some dishes, put some oil in my car (yes, it is still running, thank you for asking!), did a little personal end of the year candle ceremony, and packed up and headed over to Bloomington where I met up with 3 of my good friends for an afternoon/evening of fun. We went to see the movie, "We Bought a Zoo" - it was really good (the popcorn wasn't bad either!). Then we drove by that house in Bloomington where they have all those lights synchronized to Christmas music - it was fascinating! Back to our friend's house we went where we ate dinner, had snacks, popped some Christmas crackers (thus the crowns on our heads in the pictures!), and played a game. It was great fun and so nice to spend the last day of the year with friends. I stopped briefly by the store because I forgot to buy navy beans for the traditional Moldenhauer New Year's Day dinner of ham and beans, then home to watch the ball drop, and catch some zzz's. A wonderful day full of fun and activity.