Love is...

As a young wife and mother I always wished I could have stayed home full time with my children when they were younger. I know the women's lib movement would tear their hair out hearing this but even today now that my kids are older I really think this is the best career ever!
I was blessed because my Sweets and I passed in the doorway coming and going with our kids. We found a teen age babysitter who was very responsible so if our days overlapped she would watch the kids until the other parent got home! Our kids were always happy and healthy in their own home. It was the best situation we could afford!
So if you can bake cookies instead of having a career, just do it! I think your kids will appreciate your sacrifice, although they might not show it until later in life.
Recently my Sweets celebrated a birthday! Our middle daughter bought him a book titled "Why A Daughter Needs A Dad" (100 Reasons). It is filled with photos and simple verses about being a father to your daughter. Our middle wrote her own thoughts on sticky notes and placed them under the other quotes. It really made us both feel wonderful that having one of us always available to talk with her in difficult situations was a tremendous blessing.  She felt that we were always there for her no matter if she was having a good time or bad! We were glad we could be there for our kids when they were younger and now they can be there for us as we get older!
This little Love is...is tiny so I hope you can read it ok. Then you can visit Marydon and share your Love is...with all of us.
Now let me announce the winner of the Love is...Wild Ride Book filled with Love is...to use for your very own participation in the weekly Love is...
Drum roll! Kim B. is he winner of the giveaway! Woo Hoo!

I have always LOVED those too. I have a little plaque that I picked up at a thrift store. They are sweet as can be. I would LOVE to win the giveaway. Thanks for the bible verses on Love too. Have a wonderful day. Kim xx

July 10, 2011 6:00 PM

This is the comment Kim B left regarding this giveaway! Congrats Kim! Get a hold of me with your address so I can send the book out ASAP!
Thanks everyone and stick around, I will be doing more giveaways!

He's Got the Whole World!

"In Him all things consist" Colossians 1:17

I have been thinking about the Lord and how he sustains our entire universe! As a young child I learned the song "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" and had it sung to me many times as a youngster.  I sang it to my own children and grandchild when they were small.  In Catholic school, a girl one year younger than me always portrayed the Christ Child during the All Saints Parade (November 1). Her mother made a beautiful costume which consisted of a while velvet cloak trimmed in fur and she wore a gold crown on her head! In her hand she carried a small replica of the world. I thought about it than and I still think about it today, how in the world does He manage it all? He is so amazing.
Think about the stars in the sky. "He counts the number of stars; He gives names to all of them." Psalm 147:4

But aside from keeping the cosmic system in order. He also sustains us. He makes sure were are never alone and is always available for each one of us.  He "gives life and breath to everything, and He satisifes every need." Acts 17:25.

He is an amazing God and He is readily available for anyone willing to turn their heart toward Him.
I hope you will stop by Charlotte and Ginger's . I hope you will join this wonderful encouraging post each week.

Lobster Bisque

What to post for Pink Saturday! I love pink so it was easy showing off lots of pinks I have around the house! I think the summer sun bakes a persons brain! I can not think and I am posting later on Saturday.
Before I continue my Pink Post please accept my heartfelt apology. I was suppose to draw the winner of my Love is...."A Wild Ride" book last night. But that trip to the dentist turned into a horror show! His hygienist was angry because I have a tongue that refuses to stay put. When someone is angry and trying to force a metal plate and x ray film into my mouth while I was sick with bronchitis and I gag so violently that the whole thing shoots out of my mouth twice! I would think you would say, hey this isn't working! Instead she continued to berate me and try to force the stupid thing inside my mouth belly aching that my tongue was driving her mad! They called the doctor in and instead of saying sorry to me he comforts her! Then they talked about growing up in the 70's and all the old furniture the doctor acquired from his folks to fill his house and the hygienist should borrow, blah,blah blah. for her 70's party she is planning! She finally stabbed my gums repeatedly with her dental tools trying to clean my teeth! I am never going back there! She talked indignantly to me and acted as though I was stupid! I was so upset.  Then had the nerve to use up my entire dental benefit for a cleaning and had the nerve to say I would have to come back another day because we ran out of time and the front desk said I would have to pay $78 out of pocket for the cleaning! If that was not bad enough I could not eat and today my teeth are so sensitive I could scream! My gums have bled for nearly 24 hours.
Because of this horrendous experience I was sick with a migraine and was unable to draw the winner! Again I am so sorry. I hope you will forgive me and come back by nine o'clock (MDT) to see who the lucky winner is!
Now I want to calm down and share a wonderful recipe with you. I hope you will try this delightful soup sometime. It is pretty in color, pink and it tastes divine! They serve this soup on the salad bar at Texas de Brazil!

Lobster Bisque
1 cup chicken broth
2 medium slices of onion
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of all purpose flour
2 cups of milk
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 pound of cubed crab meat
1/2 teaspoon of Worchestershire sauce
pinch of cayenne pepper
Directions
1. In a small frying pan add 1/4 cup chicken brother with the onion. Cook over low heat 5- minutes
2. In a medium stock pot add the butter until melted, than add the flour whisking until gently blended into a creamy mixture.
3. Gradually pour in the rest of the broth whisking until mixed well. Add the rest of the ingredients and whisk until well blended. Heat to near boiling but do not boil as the milk will curdle.
4. You may serve inside a hollow bread bowl. Serve immediately.
Serves 4, Calories: 241 Total fat: 8.9g Cholesterol `07 mg.
Now visit Sweet Beverly and all the wonderful participating pinkies!

Good Morning...I Have Been Thinking

I have missed two days of walking! I am sad! :(
I have a summer cold with bronchitis! Yuck! How I caught it I am sure I know. Have you ever been forced to work with people that do not respect you? They touch your things like rotten little kids with no manners! You can wash your hands and use tons of sanitizer on your hands and phone but....if they won't leave you alone they can make you sick! Literally!
So I am off to the dentist in about an hour attempting to get my teeth cleaned! Have you ever stuck a stick thru your eyeball? That is how I feel when I go to the dentist. They make you pay all the money for your services up front like a house of ill repute!
 But I am up front too! I ask how many children the dentist has. Then I proceed to tell them that they need to know up front that I will not, let me repeat it twice, I will not pay for their children's college educations! I am funny that way!
Then you have to go out into the world and be surrounded by mean girls and disrespect and hatefulness. You see, many of you know I attended Catholic school. From K to 11 I was under their command. So I learned to get savvy and smart and that is why I have such a B I G opinion on things today! I am an outta the box kinda girl! I hate when people try to make me do things their way only! I like a bright and fresh perspective on life and work. I am very good at what I do. I have worked in the medical field since 1983! I kissed no ones toes in the process. I feel like you can not do a good job if you are constantly blowing your own horn and kissing up to the person in charge! When I attended Catholic school I made many life long friends. You have a special bond with these people. The popular rude girls will always be that way. The jocks and the geeks and the loners too. But I was never hateful or mean to any of them and therefore I can not tolerate mean people!
When I worked in the medical school I made fast friends. Ladies many years older than me. One of them Bea and I still connect. She is 81! She taught me to demand respect from the doctors. When I left the medical school for a different job on campus I was told by people interviewing me that they asked for references and were always surprised what that group of doctors said about me. They said if I came back and worked with them then would give me a bad reference so I would not leave them. It is called camaraderie. People you can trust, you can count on in the rush of life and work tumbling over your head! People that care! Wow! What a word! Caring! Lacking sorely in this world today. I went to work in the hospital in the Admissions Dept. as well as the emergency room! Talk about getting life experience. That is why things rarely bother me! I have heard them all! I made some of the most wonderful friends. Silly girls I still talk with today although one moved back to her stompin grounds in Texas! Another to Nashville! One still at the hospital! Another helping her hubby with their appliance business. That is friendship! Great times, sad times always helping each other in those difficult situations and laughing your pants off with them when times are terrific! The ins. co. Yikes! What a place, ranks up there with politicians and bankers, sleazy, corrupt mean and wicked! But the people stuck working there with me always had your back! That is team work.  Kindness and consideration. Words and actions sorely lacking today.
Now I am in a place where you can not get anyone to help you out. No watching your back! More like middle school with bullies! Whispering! Hatefulness! Acting like evil! I have a plaque someone gave me from the days at the ins. co. It simply says "How will I ever fly with eagles when I am stuck working with turkeys?"
I am thinking perhaps a change will be in store for me. Why? Because so many of you have taken risks and succeeded! My baby will graduate in May 2012! God willing if I am there at his side I may think about making a change for myself!
I have been a good person, working diligently without any succeed. Making the same money I had made in 1999! Yet times have been good and it is extremely difficult working around non believers and making me feel so hopeless there. I tend to lash out when I am cornered and I hate it! I hate being an untrue Christian. I want to live my life for the Lord. I do not want to worry about ridiculous things like reality T.V.  or inappropriate magazines littered around an office that should showcase  a professional atmosphere. I want to go somewhere that I can work hard and be treated with dignity and respect. Somewhere that someone will have my back!

Olly Olly Oxen Free

Oh My! I have not been playing alphabe Thursday lately! I don't want to dig up the muck and share so I will try to be nice and share some fun with you! Oh, the bad things happen at work! Yuck! Enough said! My oldest daughter always says "Shut the f..........ront door!" I love it, I will!
Do you remember Olly Olly Oxen Free? As a kid we played so hard and had so much fun ! We were not overweight or inactive. We were simply kids and we played hard! I know times have changed and kids can't be as foot loose and fancy free as we were! But they can still play these fun games! I will give you a bit of history on "olly olly oxen free" and then you can go share with Jenny! She is the outtasight teacher we have at Alphabe Thursday! She is such a devoted blogger and I love knowing her! She can always make you smile and she shares the best things with us!
Olly olly oxen free is a catchphrase! It is used in children's games like hide and seek and when it is called out players who are hiding can come forward and not lose the game! It is thought to derive from the phrase "All ye all ye outs in free". In other words all who are "out" may come in without penalty.  However this may not be the etymology at all--olly olly oxen free is suspisously close to the German phrase of "Alle alle auch  sind frei.  Its meaning is everyone everyone is free.Various calls used for such purposes go by the collective name  of ollyoxalls in some places.
The phrase can also be used to coordinate hidden players in the game kick the can. In this game a group of people hide within a given radius and a "seeker" is left to guard the can filled with rocks. The seeker has to try to find the hiders  without allowing them to sneak in and kick the can. In many areas the phrase used is "All_y  All_y in come free. This is a way to tell the remainder of the players that it is time to regroup.in order to restart the game. The phrase is annouced by a player who successfully sneaks in and kicks the can!

Blue Monday Love is....

Hee Hee! This Love is...is so precious. It is a good reminder of the coolness of splashing around the swimming pool when the temps are rising above 95 plus degrees! Whew! What a cool refreshing way to entertain yourself.
Come join the Love is... fun with all the girls. Stop by Marydon's and check everyone out. Then go visit Sally . We all have been praying and rooting for her since her ordeal with her health began over a month ago! Keep hanging in there Sally and we will wish you a beautiful blue Monday!

We have been working in our two car garage since summer started. We had a wet Spring so we could not get out there. I think by September we can put two cars in the garage! Yea for us!
I found this pair of  blue stems. I think they are so sweet. I think there were four because one was broken inside a felt bag but the 4th one is nowhere to be found.

I hope you like them. I don't know a thing about them. They had tags that said "China" on them but they came off when I gave them a good bath!

Say hello to Sally and come join some blue fun!
Remember to leave a comment and be a follower so you can enter my Love is...giveaway. I am giving away a copy of the sweet little book "Love is...A wild Ride" which has lots of sweet Love is...cartoons to share with all of us!

Pretty Pinks

I love how the pinks reflect the water like a pink mirror at 5:30 A.M. where we walk daily and my Sweets runs! It is so peaceful and relaxing. I thought I would share these photos with you for Pink Saturday. Please stop by and visit Beverly and all the pinkies this weekend.
Then stop by  Charlotte and Ginger's and share some encouragement with them this weekend. Many of us enjoy the blessing of spiritual fellowship each Sunday.
Here are two verses I wanted to share with you today:"He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea." Job 9:8
"May you blessed by the Lord the maker of  heaven and earth." Psalm 115:15