Showers of Blessings

For some reason....make that many reasons, I have the song, "Showers of Blessings" running through my head today.  As I wind down on one chapter of my life.... 36 work days left....and begin another chapter of my life....retirement; I can't help but think of all the blessings I have experienced in my life. 

I don't mean only the trips and places I have seen and experienced, but the little things that are really so BIG that it causes my heart to overflow with tears of joy!

A loving husband who supports me in my dreams and loves me unconditionally.   

A wonderful family that has stayed close in heart and soul; despite our differences in personality and lives. 

A whole bunch of friends from all phases of my life.... grade school, high school, work, church and our over-55 neighborhood.

A long career in the medical business field, that has changed so much and demands so much from those trying to get and provide medical services. 

A group of staff to work with that are committed to making the patient satisfied, even when they are exhausted and overwhelmed with all the demands their position requires of them.

A comfortable house that is mortgage-free! 

A car that runs safely and isn't prone to break down.

A bank account that allows me to buy the groceries that we need without wondering what I have to leave off the list.... and guess what I forgot to buy today...HEB Candy Bar Classic ice cream! 

I guess that's one of the reasons I am writing these gratitude thoughts is because if I can forget ice cream, I may just start forgetting all these blessings some day.  I hope not! 

New beginnings!

August 13, 1985

After a couple of days of working with the Business Office staff, the CFO wanted to treat me to a night exploring the town.  BUT his wife was nine-and-a-half months pregnant, so he asked a guy in the Purchasing department if it was OK if he took me out-and-about New Orleans.  I said sure!  I had met Paul when he came to California to take care of inventory of the clinic supplies and what was being shipped back to Louisiana for the clinics there.  Paul seemed nice enough and I had no interest in a guy from New Orleans.... remember I was going to find myself a good ol' farm boy in Wisconsin! 

Paul, being ever frugal, broke and single-again, asked the CFO if he could use petty cash to treat me to dinner.  So out exploring we went... Uptown; Garden district; dinner at Copelands; Downtown; French Quarter; Jackson Square; Pat O'Briens; and a walk and long talk on the banks of the Mississippi.  I found him so easy to talk with and very pleasant.  We had a very good time!

We started writing, being friends, visiting each other....he came to St. Paul (where I lived and worked) in December.  What a brave soul!  Not only to brave January weather, but to meet my family too.  Things moved fast....too fast.  In February, our relationship crashed and burned.  In late summer we made up again and in October I visited him in Atlanta (where he had moved during the break-up).  I spent Thanksgiving with my family and moved to Atlanta that weekend.  I have moved across country a few times, so it was no biggie for me.  A new adventure..... in another state and in a relationship too! 

So it was that three years later on August 13, 1988, we married in Ringgold, Georgia. Now you know the rest of the story! 

Thee End??

Twenty-eight years ago today, I thought that my life as I knew it was ending.  The previous week I had arrived at my parents home to stay there for awhile.  My job in California had ended with the shut-down of the 12 urgent care clinics I worked for.  It was my first time being laid-off and since I had spent three years in California; and I was not in a relationship; and I was almost 34 years old..... I decided to move back to Wisconsin. 

These may be all good reasons to think my life was ending, but not me!  I was looking forward to a new life and another change!  I was going to look for a good-ol' Wisconsin farm boy and get myself married! 

Well, before that occurred, I had one more obligation for my previous employer.  That obligation was to fly down to New Orleans and teach the business office staff down there how to follow up with California Medical (Medicaid) and get the companies last dollars for our services in California.  So Monday morning, August 12, 1985, I was on the plane to New Orleans.  Just a week or so earlier, a plane had crashed in Dallas due to wind shear or bad weather.  It always seems to happen that I have a flight booked shortly after some kind of airplane crash! 

So this day there was a nasty storm brewing in MSP (Minneapolis-St Paul) and we took off in it!  The plane was bucking and rolling and the lightning, thunder and rain were torrential as we climbed into the storm.  This is when I thought, "My life is going to end today!"  All I could do was pray, "God, if it's my time to go, it's my time.  I know where I'm going (heaven) and I'm OK!"  I don't recall praying anything other than that, because I truly believed there was no alternative than death. 

Uffda!  Somehow, sometime later, we broke through the storm clouds and continued southward.  Of course, I did make it to New Orleans.  Since then I have flown probably close to 100 or more flights and never once have I again experienced any severe storm like that.  Not even close! Go figure!  Or maybe, pilots are little more cautious now. 

Anyway, God had other plans for me other than "my life as I knew it was ending."  Or maybe, He did know "my life as I knew it was ending."   Stay tuned tomorrow for the rest of the story!  :)

I saw this on facebook yesterday and it hit home!  Haven't we all experienced this type of "chained" reaction?  We feel chained to a job, a spouse, a place, a body, etc etc. 

The truth be told, we can move and break those chains.  Moving and breaking are action words.  However, don't we often react to our chains by doing nothing?  Yes!  We just sit or stand and pretty soon, just like this horse, the shit will start piling up around us and we will be in a pile of shit!  Moaning, groaning, whimpering, whining...."Poor me!  I am chained..."

Wake up!  Become alert!  Do something!  Yes, take action.  The first step is awareness.  We must become aware of our chains and how those chains are affecting our lives.  Regretfully, like this horse, we only see the chain...we don't see "ball" (as in ball & chain) so that we can  become aware that the "ball" is really not the obstacle.  It's our thoughts about the ball and our thoughts about the chain.  Hmmm!

Thee Day!

"Oh, what a beautiful morning..Oh, what a beautiful day.  I have a wonderful feeling... every thing's going God's way!"

I sing that song quite often on my drive to work.  It helps put me in the right spirit of things.  As much as I wish I had control over my day... I know that it will go God's way!   I took this photo of the sunrise at South Padre Island last July.  It's one of my all-time favorites.  I had this photo printed on canvas and recently hung it my living room. 

Here's another photo I took the same morning.

This girl went down to the water and started dancing in the waves.  My first thought was, "Get out of my way, little girl, I want to take pictures of the sunrise!"  Then I saw her shadow or reflections on the beach and I quickly shot two photos of her.  I loved the shadows and the reflections on the beach of the sun rising. I had this photo printed on metal, as it has the cool, dark colors and the shine of water.  It looks great!  I entered this photo in a recent photography art exhibit.  Two of my friends like this because it reminds them of their granddaughter Olivia.  So I call this my "Olivia" picture.  Another friend saw this at the art exhibit and asked for a private showing (lol) of my photos so her husband could come and see them too.  She really liked "Olivia," but then I pointed out the similar sunrise photo on my wall and she really liked that one.  So I basically sold that photo right off my wall. 

Yesterday, I was reminded that each day is a new day and new time!  My phone calendar popped up with a reminder message, "Last day of work."  I thought, how did that get in there?  Then I remembered that March 8 was one of my original retirement dates!  I had to laugh out loud (LOL).  I thought that March 8 was going to be THEE DAY that I retired.  But I guess God has other plans for me!  That is the second retirement date that has come and gone.  I have another date in June that I planned to retire, but after my winter vacation I decided to stay at my job longer than June so that I could take a trip to Hawaii (in November).  Oh well, I will keep working for a while longer and that's OK.  Thee day of retirement will come, some day! I will keep you posted, you can be sure of that.

Little Girls

 A couple of weeks ago, we went to the Ranch & Craft Day at a local museum.  Here I am learning how to twirl a rope with Flat Stanley and a cowboy.  We had Flat Stanley visiting us and we thought this would be a fun adventure for him, a way to experience and learn about south Texas.  I had a good time, don't know about him.  Though he couldn't wipe that smile off his face at the end of the day. 

Since I took my camera to document his visit, I found myself taking photos of the kids there.  In most cases, my photos involve little girls.  I am childless, but I did want one little girl at some point in my life.  So it seems I am attracted to little girls.  Here's some photos that I like.

Aren't they precious?  Here's a photo of a young girl tossing a lasso to rope a "bull."  She had a good arm and was successful.

Then finally is a photo of three girls and their brother.  I am not sure they understood English, but their smiles warmed my heart. The little girl on the left was quite apprehensive about this picture-taking scene.  She kept looking to her big sisters for guidance and comfort.  Just what big sisters and big girls are supposed to do!

 

 

 

Cowboys and Cowgirls

Today, hubby and I went to dive-bar!  This is a new place we had not been to before.  I heard about it in January when my cousin (third/once removed) told me about it.  Then last night, one of our neighbors mentioned that he goes to this place for Karaoke.  So we called my cousin and he and his wife were going there today too.  Since we have not seen them this year, we decided to travel about 20 miles to this place to see both our neighbor and my cousin.  As it turned out, two of other neighbors were there too.

One of the songs that singers sometimes sing is "Momma,  don't let your sons grow up to be cowboys."   I thought of this photo I took last week.  How appropriate, a momma and her "cowboy."

This dive bar was dimly lit and smokey, so from a distance I could see women dressed in flashy clothes and tight pants.  I first figured that the crowd was a lot younger than me.  But then I looked closely and saw that many faces had the weathered look of time written all over them.  It reminded me of this photo I took yesterday of a tortoise with their crepe neck line. 

Reminds me of the some of "cowgirls" I saw today.  Oh my, this is the time of women trying to look younger than they are by the outfits they wear.  I guess I'm not much better with my fat arms, tattoo,  and tank top!  Oh well!  Regretfully, we women with our crepe necklines are much like the tortoise in the story of the tortoise and the hare, we move slow and steady.  We may win the race, but we don't get the guys! 

Speaking of guys, my hubby had to get  one of the new phones for his job.   Now he can take photos too!  So what does he show me today, but a photo of me sleeping on the couch....I look terrible!!  All I can say is, it's a good thing we have been married almost 25 years or I'd be single again.  Ugh!  Even I was repulsed.  With that thought, I think I will have a beer!  Ten days until St. Patrick's Day!