Monday, May 23, 2011

Sing anyway...

Some days there won't be a song in your heart. Sing anyway. ~Emory Austin

Mind is everything. Muscle - pieces of rubber. All that I am, I am because of my mind. ~Paavo Nurmi

Wanted to share two more quotes I liked today.

I've been working on my rubber muscles, ran three days, today being a rest day. Feeling pretty good about it. Was fun to see my blog friends enjoying the prayer that I find so meaningful. A prayer I need each day, for sure! :)

Can't believe only 10-11 days of school left. It has gone so fast!

Garden was beaten down by the rain/storms the last 24 hours, but will perk up with some sun, hopefully. Deer/rabbit fence needs to go up tomorrow.

I hope you are well. Dear Reader

Thursday, May 19, 2011

St Francis of Assisi prayer

I love this-in fact, my family loves this prayer.

Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.


O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

I would love to be that type of person...

There are souls in this world which have the gift of finding joy everywhere and of leaving it behind them when they go. ~Frederick Faber

I would like the above quote to be what people say about me. I want to find joy everywhere and leave it behind me when I go. Today I didn't do that.
I was not "positively" mom when I came home and snapped at one daughter for not watering the obviously thirsty dogs and the other for asking to attend a far away track meet on Saturday to watch the remnants of her team compete. I told my husband the beef stew he had prepared this morning smelled "interesting" instead of thanking him for making the meal before he headed off to work where he provides for us. I felt so grumpy and tired, and it showed.
The funny thing is that I am less patient with my family, the ones I love most. Those people I would be an empty shell without.
I try hugs, smiles and cheer to encourage those that aren't smiling, outside of my home. I don't do nearly enough of that in my home. I consider all attitudes contagious. I want to leave people better off than when I found them, to share the Light. That should go for my family as well. I need to let them know how much they bring me smiles, cheer and happiness.
I often think of the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" and how George Bailey, in wishing he were dead or trying to kill himself, has no idea how many lives he had touched in a positive way until Clarence, his guardian angel, shows him. I want to be positively touching lives-so many that I don't even realize how many until God shows me... I've definitely got work to do! :) I hope you have positive people and light in your lives today, and always, Dear Reader.

Monday, May 16, 2011

48 Hour Book Challenge

Thought this was a great idea! Not sure if family commitments will allow that weekend, but am willing to think it over. My two daughters will love this, I'm sure, especially if it gets them out of their weekend chores! :) I do have a lot of things I'd like to read... How about you? Are you up for a 48hour reading challenge??

Also, Molly, I have had tea today and am feeling better after tea and rest! :)

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Sunday

Today my husband worked (and worked, and worked...) on that dirt pile, spreading it out around the yard. He should sleep wonderfully tonight... and complain of a backache the rest of the week! :) I tried to help a little but I hadn't slept all night last night, so I felt the illness settle in. My husband chased me back inside. I took a bath this evening in my favorite I-have-a-cold remedy: Then, my husband made this "Max and Erma's Tortilla Soup" recipe. Delicious! Not exactly like the restaurant's recipe, but wonderful! Helped clear out my head... let me say it's not good for you, but sure tastes good on a cool, rainy evening! :) We missed church and life group this evening which floods me with guilt, but my husband kept reminding me that I was sick! He said no need to share germs-that's how I got them. :)

Other than that, not a lot to report-I haven't run, read, paid bills, organized or done laundry this weekend. I have done a lot of blowing my nose, coughing, checking on the husband's progress, whispering since I've lost my voice again, drinking water/sprite/juice, and napping. I hope your week starts off wonderfully and you stay healthy this week! :)

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Dirt pile



Since having our porch put onto the front of our house, we have been in need of yardwork and landscaping. We have killed the grass that is left (read: weeds), got a load of topsoil, since our home was built in a new subdivision (at the time) they left very little dirt, and the grass hasn't grown well, at all. Anyway, we got a load of topsoil, and today my husband used a rototiller and turned up all the existing dirt/dead grass. It was quite an undertaking! He also turned up my garden's soil and I planted vegetables today! Now it is raining... good for my veggies, but not the mud yard! :)

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

20 photos in 2 minutes

Becky Higgins' post a few days ago talked about "real life: home office". I know I love to organize my home office, but cannot always control the clutter/paper mess as it enters the room. She posted that we should take 20 photos or so, in 2 minutes. 20 photos took me closer to three minutes, but I captured photos I liked.

Here is the shelf where I keep all my school files, information I have already documented, copies of timecards, etc.


Colorful thread, to hand sew or sewing machine, I just like how the colors look


Inspirational items taped to the door: names of God/Jesus through the Bible inserted into www.wordle.net and a quote from a dear friend: "Worry often gives small things a big shadow.-Swedish Proverb"


The shelf above my desk with scrapbook magazines, journals, books to finish reading and my two favorite willow tree angels-well my only two. :)


This is where I sit-my chair and mac


My mom/parents got me these two containers-the big basket holds papers, embellishments, in plastic sleeves and the container with the green lid has hanging file folders that hold sets of matching papers and embellishments.




My scrapbook table with an exercise ball to sit on while I work, if I want. :)


Project Life binder (above) and items to go in it (below)



Basket of yarn... I always love the idea of knitting, but I don't get very far and I only know how to "knit" not pearl, etc. But the yarn is pretty... :)



My Sam and Sara box. This is important to me because it holds memories of the two babies we lost. It has things like our ultrasound pictures of them, pictures of our girls painting the nursery with Dad, and condolence cards sent to us.


Messy desk

This picture I loved, bought from an artist on etsy.com and then, when decided on how to redo this bedroom into my office, I used it as my inspiration.



This is a picture of an Australian beach. A dear friend took it. I printed it out on canvas to hang in my laundry room, to invision I was on the beach not in doing laundry, but loved how it looked in here. :)

Inspiration bulletin board



Love this, can't wait to clip up other inspirational things or things I'm working on


my board of embellishments above my scrapbook table


My dog, who isn't supposed to be upstairs, sneaks up while I am working and "protects" (naps ;)) in my doorway.


My mom and dad got me this willow tree angel. I love her. Her tag says "Close to me"-even when we're far apart, you're still close to me/my heart. Isn't that sweet? I love her-my angel and my mom :)).


This angel-the angel of good health-is another of my favorites. My husband and daughters got her for me as a good luck gift before my first marathon in 2005.


There you have it, twenty photos into my office. What does your work spot look like? :)

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Quotes

This week my status updates in facebook have been positive quotes. I thought I'd share a few of them:

"Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine. ~Anthony J. D'Angelo

"Attitudes are contagious. Are yours worth catching?" ~Dennis and Wendy Mannering

If you don't get everything you want, think of the things you don't get that you don't want. ~Oscar Wilde

I had the blues because I had no shoes until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet. ~Ancient Persian Saying

Oh, my friend, it's not what they take away from you that counts. It's what you do with what you have left. ~Hubert Humphrey

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. ~Winston Churchill

Every day may not be good, but there's something good in every day. ~Author Unknown

There are exactly as many special occasions in life as we choose to celebrate. ~Robert Brault

Have loved this quote since the first moment I read it. "A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely." ~Roald Dahl

Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same. ~Francesca Reigler

If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it. ~Mary Engelbreit

Think big thoughts but relish small pleasures. ~H. Jackson Brown, Jr., Life's Little Instruction Book

Every thought is a seed. If you plant crab apples, don't count on harvesting Golden Delicious. ~Bill Meyer

What's been extra nice is that people are thanking me for doing so, that they have enjoyed them, as well. One friend who is a teacher said she shared one with her students who wrote them in her journal and said she'd like to hear one everyday. :)) You never know how you'll positively affect a life. :)

Monday, May 09, 2011

Another Day

Hello! :) I am sitting here, looking at the date, and wondering where the school year has gone! It has flown by! I have enjoyed my job, and the staff and students tremendously. I am still hoping for a classroom of my own, however. I have resumes and applications sent to quite a few places. Wondering where God will put me next fall! :)

My achilles felt a little better yesterday so I ran with my oldest daughter. It was sore, but I had a nice run, nonetheless. However, today when I went out, I only made it about five minutes. I'm wondering if it's dress shoes that I wear to work? Anyway, the pain was excruciating today, so that made me sad. I'm hoping to start the marathon training at the end of this month or beginning of next...

I finished a project-yes, scrapbooking!-this past weekend. I had posted a while back about the albums I had made for the grandparents, and I had made one for my mom's birthday/mother's day, too. From those, I had extra pictures-I ordered too many! So, I made a little 6 x 6, 22 page album with patterned paper and embellishments that matched, glued onto 6 x 6 squares I had cut out from cardboard. Then, I punched two holes in each and tied them together with ribbon. I was pleased with the 1 1/2 hours of effort turning out so nice! :)

I will end today on that note. Look tomorrow for quotes! :) Hope you are well, dear reader, and enjoying sunshine-at least warming your heart. :)

Sunday, May 01, 2011

So Behind

Just got home from a trip to Indiana. Will post more about that later...

Here is the May photo scavenger hunt on Postcards from the PP. I didn't do a very good job with April's list, but am hoping to do better with May. :)

I have completed many organization tasks, see previous posts, but not all of them.

I am taking a little break from running-soreness in my achilles tendon area. Don't want it to turn into something worse... wondering if it's from my dress shoes, need of new running shoes, breaking in the vibrams... not sure.

Had a wonderful Easter/birthday weekend! Saw Mary Poppins on stage and it was Wonderful! :))

That's all for tonight! More details tomorrow!