Gearing up for the holidays

I need to start thinking about Christmas shopping.   I stumbled across this when I should have been working.

Faced with facts like this, one cannot help but recall the economic discipline's most famous "Bah, humbug!" result: Joel Waldfogel's discovery, in 1993, that the typical $50 Christmas gift is valued by the recipient at between $35 and $43. It is this sort of finding, presumably, that accounts for the popularity of gift cards, which, according to Offenberg, are now the most popular gift in America.

Personally, I like photographs of my kids and grandkids.  They are priceless.

No One is What They Look Like

The other day I posted a picture on Facebook that showed me when I was 19 years old, probably December 1970.  I was a new missionary in Japan at the time, and still had most of my hair.  One of my friends seemed totally astounded that was really me.  At age 58, I look a lot different than I was 39 years ago.

Which got me thinking of a Barry Manilow song from his album Here At the Mayflower called Not What You See.  (You can here a part of the song by clicking on the link above.)  I wonder who the person in the mirror is somedays.....

Here is a link to the lyrics http://www.allthelyrics.com/lyrics/barry_manilow/not_what_you_see-lyrics-42314.html

Sonny, no one is what
they look like
everyone's so much more
Sonny, no one is what
they look like
and we're not what you see
that's for sure 

Cheney to hit the campaign trail

Kind of like havingDarth Vader's endorsement.

Cheney to hit the campaign trail: "

There aren't all that many races where having former Vice President Dick Cheney on your side would give you a boost politically. But in a Republican primary in Texas? Well, that's a different story.

"

I Wish you Enough!

From a super friend.  


I wish you Enough !

Recently  I overheard a Father and daughter in their last moments together at the airport. They had  announced the departure.

Standing  near the security gate, they hugged and the  Father said, 'I love you, and I wish you  enough.'

The daughter replied,  'Dad, our life together has been more than  enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish  you enough, too, Dad.'

They  kissed and the daughter left.  The Father walked  over to the window where I was seated. Standing  there I could see he wanted and needed to cry. I  tried not to intrude on his privacy, but he  welcomed me in by asking, 'Did you ever say  good-bye to someone knowing it would be  forever?'

'Yes, I have,' I replied.  'Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good-bye?'.

'I am old, and she  lives so far away. I have challenges ahead and  the reality is - the next trip back will be for my funeral,' he said.

'When you  were saying good-bye, I heard you say, 'I wish  you enough.' May I ask what that  means?'

He began to smile. 'That's a wish  that has been handed down from other  generations. My parents used to say it to  everyone..' He paused a moment and looked up as  if trying to remember it in detail, and he  smiled even more. 'When we said, 'I wish you  enough,' we were wanting the other person to  have a life filled with just enough good things  to sustain them.' Then turning toward me, he  shared the following as if he were reciting it  from memory.

I wish you enough sun  to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray  the day may appear.

I  wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even  more.

I wish you enough happiness  to keep your spirit alive and  everlasting.

I wish you enough pain  so that even the smallest of joys in life may  appear bigger.

I wish you enough  gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish  you enough loss to appreciate all that you  possess.

I wish you enough hellos  to get you through the final good-  bye.

He  then began to cry and walked  away.

They say it takes a minute to  find a special person, an hour to appreciate  them, a day to love them; but then an entire  life to forget them.

*Only if you wish send  this to the people you will never forget and  remember to send it back to the person who sent  it to you. If you don't send it to anyone it may  mean that you are in such a hurry that you have  forgotten your friends.

Take Time To Live..

To  all my friends and loved  ones, I wish you Enough !

Friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate - Thomas Jones

Dear Prudence Video: Picky About Garbage

How did the Red Cross deliver messages to Taliban hostage David Rohde?

Something that I didn't even know enough about to wonder about. Good work Red Cross!

How did the Red Cross deliver messages to Taliban hostage David Rohde?: "New York Times reporter David Rohde has written a five-part account of his seven-month ordeal as a prisoner of the Taliban. In the third installment, published Monday, Rohde mentions that he and his fellow hostages received letters from their families through the International Red Cross. How does the Red Cross deliver letters to hostages?

[more ...]

Man pleads guilty to DWI in motorized La-Z-Boy

Man pleads guilty to DWI in motorized La-Z-Boy: "DULUTH, Minn. (AP) -- A Minnesota man has pleaded guilty to driving his motorized La-Z-Boy chair while drunk...."

Actually, when a motorized La-Z-Boy chair is mentioned in the article, the drunk part can just be assumed.

Great Service - "I am not God"

Probably all the services I go to are great, but sometimes I am more open than other days.  I suppose that this was one of the open days.

John went to church with me today, but our friend Andrew decided to keep his germs at home and get some rest, so we were on our own.  We were also on time this morning, so John and I got to meet and greet other people from the congregation before the services began.  I got plenty of hugs from some great people and John was greeted and he managed to shake hands.

In our congregation, we have what is known as community prayer.  Typically people stand and join hands during the prayer, but John and I have our own little variation, I put one arm around his should and the other hand close to his mouth in case he decides he wants to participate an in inappropriate moment during the prayer.  He will say 'Amen' if he thinks that the prayer is dragging.

We were alone on our row, but shortly before the prayer started, our pastor came back to stand on the other side of John, and she returned to her seat after the prayer.  It was one of those moments that I remembered that there are all kinds of angels watching over John, some on this side of mortality, and some on the other side.  Rev. Karen of course did not speak to us during the prayer, but it was nice to have her standing with us, reminding me that I am not alone. 

Years ago I was in a group with my youngest brother Joe when the discussion turned to the old saying that God never gives us more than we can handle.  Joe said he disagrees, things do happen to us which are too much for us sometimes, but that God also sends help.

The sermon was titled 'I am not God.'  I had to smile, it reminded me a lot of the discussions I used to hear when I was attending Al-anon. It was nice to have them reinforced with scripture.  I heard more than I had time to digest, so I will have to download the sermon again this week and listen to it again, when I don't have to worry about keeping John under control :)

Vidéo

Vidéo: "The first internet videos of Baby Victoria.

She of course is just totally adorable. Click the link to see the videos!

"

Komando.com, Website for The Kim Komando Radio Show®, Komando Downloads Protect your kids from bad sites

The price is right. We could have used something like that when John was younger and much more curious....

"You can't watch your kids all the time. But you can get a little peace of mind by installing parental control software.

Blue Coat's K9 Web Protection is a good free parental control program. It is based on software that many businesses use. It comes with a list of objectionable sites. But you can customize the list. You'll also get regular updates."

Cost: Free

Link: www.k9webprotection.com

Ala. woman lets daughter ride in box on top of van

When I read stuff like this, I am reminded that there are a hell of a lot worse parents than me in the world.

I have to wonder what the kid was thinking.

Click here to see photos.

Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future..."

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Adult Care Center

I posted a few weeks back how guilty I felt dropping John weekday mornings at his adult care center.  I am feeling much less guilty lately.

John seems pretty happy to be going there in the morning.  I just sign him in and he walks into the main room and hangs up his back pack.  The people there seem nice and very competent.

Quote Details: Sydney Smith: You must not think... - The Quotations Page

"You must not think me necessarily foolish because I am facetious, nor will I consider you necessarily wise because you are grave.
Sydney Smith"

New Toy

Now I can blog from anywhere.


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Sermon: Sense and Sensuality

I enjoyed the sermon today.  I ended up taking John alone to church today, so I was quite happy that he was as cooperative as he was and I was able to concentrate on the sermon.

One of the best lessons I learned about sensuality was from my son John.  When he was just four years old, we took a family vacation to Salt Lake City right after Christmas.  I don't think John had ever seen snow before, so he had to go and investigate.  To completely understand what snow was, John took off his coat and the rest of his clothes and dived right into a snow bank.  Something I don't think would have occurred to me.

Quote from Mother Teresa

I heard this quote from the sermon at church this morning, and I need to blog it so I don't forget it quite so soon.  I had never thought of taking the sacrament (communion) in quite these terms before.

As St. Paul says "I live no longer I but Christ in me". Christ works in me, Christ thinks in me. Christ looks through my eyes, Christ speaks through my words, Christ works with my hands, Christ walks with my feet, Christ loves with my heart. St. Paul's prayer was "I belong to Christ and nothing will separate me from the love of Christ." It was that oneness, oneness with God, oneness with the Master in the Holy Spirit.

Taken from Mother Teresa, Essential Writings 

Miss Manners on Nosy Friends

Great line from Miss Manners. I need to remember it.

"'You're so kind to worry about my private life. But I assure you that your worry is misplaced.'"

Why is it that our memory is good enough to retain the least triviality that happens to us, and yet not good enough to recollect how often we have told it to the same person?

I totally relate...

Francois de La Rochefoucauld French author & moralist (1613 - 1680)