Long Time Away

Hello out there in cyberland.  It has been a while since I posted.  I have been busy with my volunteer work and tonight I go to a new meeting at the Second Chance Animal Adoption in Norman,Ok.  I hope to start volunteering there helping with all the animals or office work,  what ever they want me to do.

We have had some snow here in Oklahoma City.  Last week 13 inches one day and then another three on top of that.  The snow is pretty, but it can cause accidents.  For example:  my husband being home two days with me,  in the same house,  just the two of us.   I was go glad when he went to work,  I was afraid I was going to accidentally hurt him,  but we survived.  But now we expecting another snow storm with another 8 inches, blowing storm and very cold temperatures.  I hope it doesn't last as long as the other storm.

I found an old high school group photo at my parent's house a few weeks ago and I posted it on facebook,  what a response.  Friends has been emailing me, telling me what a treasure this photo is.  Some had forgotten it was taken and others were astonished at how much we and they have changed.  It is called the aging process.  Also it was sad to see friends in this photo that has passed from us, many were so young.

Cherish each day you have with friends and love ones ( even if they are stuck in the house with you).  My daughter has a new job in a town about 30 miles away and is in the process of purchasing a townhouse.  I will miss her, but like the mama bird...she needs to pushed out on her own.  She is ready to she says, but I think deep down she will miss us or at least Maggie, the other princess in the house (four legged).  But as the cycle of life progresses, we must face challenges...losing friends/love ones....having children become self sufficient adults....losing our youth, but we can with God's help face each challenge with faith and strength.



See Ya later

The Rambling Woman

LOVING LIFE

I went to Texas this past weekend with my cousin,Lin.  Her grandson and his friend went with us.  They are teenagers and eat every two hours.  You must feed them or they get nasty, kinda of like a wild animal. The only thing they eat is junk.  There are exactly 32 McDonald's between here and our destination in Texas.

My elderly parents don't hardly eat at all except about two times a day and it is usually just crackers and cheese.  My cousin and I eat about every four hours and eat a regular balanced meal.  So I have come to the conclusion that eating habits do change.  The young can eat what they want and must every two hours,  the middle age eat sensible, which is what we should have been doing when we were young.  The elderly eat very little and not very often,  either because they don't remember to eat or are just tired of trying to think of something to eat. 

So I quess I will have to wait at least another 20 years before I eat like a bird.  I just hope that I am able to feed myself at that time.

I have a friend who is only 63 and has been diagnosed with dementia.  It is really sad that you work 40 years, raise your family and plan your future and then your future is gone.  It should remind us to not take everyday for granted and live everyday with vigor and appreciation.   Always tell you family you love them, you never now when you won't be able to.


Never take anything for granted, we don't know how long of a life we have or what our future will bring. 

Love....The  Rambling Woman

THE LITTLE THINGS

Now just when you think God doesn't care about the little things in you life, just read this.

I help with a class at our church ESL (english as second language),  I help with the snacks.  We have approximately 40 adults and 15 children.  My cousin, Linda and I fix sandwiches, chips,dip, cookies...snack kind of foods.  We try to do a hot meal once a month.  Most of the people  who attend, come right from work and are hungry.  They may not get home until after nine o'clock at night.  Anyway,  I have been wanting to fix the kids, quesadillas.  They are easy to fix and inexpensive and they love them.  We do not have the use of the kitchen in the church so we prepare food before we leave home, but if I had one of these makers I could use it at the church and the food would be hot.

I always see the Fiesta Quesadilla maker at thrift stores,  you know I love to go thrift shopping.  Now that I want one I can't find them.  Well today my husband Dan and I went to a flea market at the fair grounds.  There was a man there who had three big tables of $1.00 items.  I bought a couple of things then looked around for about an hour at the other vendors tables..  When we got ready to leave I took one more look at the $1.00 table, and did I find:   a Fiesta Quesadilla maker for one dollar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.  I got real excited and started to thank Jesus.  My husband looked and me funny and I explained to him why I was so excited.  It works perfect,

Finding this item got me to thinking...if God care this much about what a quesadilla maker means to me, how much more does he care about the "BIGGER" things in my life.

So when you think God doesn't care about the little things in our life just remember the story of the Fiesta Quesadilla maker.


Later

GOOD WEEK

Well, it has been a good week.  Retirement is getting better everyday.  I am starting to get in the groove of not having to do something all the time.  Yesterday was kinda of a do nothing day.  My daughter and I did go and do a little grocery shopping (Alidi's  Food Store....which I love).  and then to Penny's for her. I haven't bought any food items at Walmart in over a month and my grocery bill has gone way down. 

Working at the Master's Market (church's food/clothing pantry) is really so much fun.  I thoroughly enjoy it, I work mainly in the clothing area, hanging, sorting and helping people find clothes.  I come away from there satisfied physically,mentally and spiritually.

We went to see True Grit tonite.  It is a great movie. 

I will be glad when the weather get warmer,  I really need to paint.

Well that's about it for this week and today.  Oh yeah,  I did make homemade bread the other day.  It was pretty good.

God has really been good to me, I can't wait to see what is next.


Chow for now

LAZY DAY

Not much going on today.  Went to church and had lunch at home,  scrambled egg and biscuits.  Watching The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.  (you know there isn't much on tv)   Snow flurries outside, a little rain and wind,  cold...cold.   Surfing the net, visiting facebook and blogging.  I think I am getting into this retirement thing.  If I had to go to work tomorrow I would be doing a dozen different things today, but I can sit back and relax. 

Well I think I might just take a nap, A NAP ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON !!! whoa this is something I haven't done in years.


Later

VOLUNTEERING

Today was my first day volunteering at our church's outreach center, MASTER'S MARKET.  I helped with this ministry about 20 year ago when it was in the infant stage.  Then life, family and work got in my way.  Well now that I am "retired", I am back in the ministry.

The workers at the market are wonderful and they really work.  I am the youngest at 55,  the next youngest is probably 60 and then 75 plus after that. 

It is really sad to see the people who come in, no jobs,food,clothing.  Children without shoes and warm clothes.  These people are sad and despondent and we or the counselors I should say really do a great job encouraging them. 

I am tired, but a good tired and yet I am exhilarated.  can't wait until Friday when I go back.

CHOICES

A friend of mine wanted to give me some home-made goodies.  She lives at one end of city and I live at the other, so we agreed to meet in a certain part of town, the "rich" part of town.  As I made my way through the neighborhood of this "rich" side of town, I noticed the upscale houses, manicured  lawns and  the over priced vehicles parked outside these home dwellings. The occupants of these homes were outside walking their dogs, visiting with other neighbors and were actually taking down Christmas decorations. All seemed normal to me.

As I sat waiting for my friend to arrive in the parking lot of the trendy grocery market, I thought about the three men that I had met the other day, living in "tent city."  Their homes were not upscale, they had no manicured lawns or any type of transportation, yet they visited with their neighbors, my friends and me.   They had a dog to play with and walk.  They had no Christmas decorations, just a grocery cart, boxes, plastic jugs and empty food containers,gas cans and other objects that were thrown on the ground and had been there for sometime. 

Then I thought about where I lived probably like where most of you live.  Neighborhoods that consist of the three bedroom, two car garage, privacy fence and the nice lawn that you labor every summer to make nice.

How do we get to these places where we live,  what choices did we make that allowed us to reach these humble abodes.  Did the rich people work hard, did they forget about others, sacrificing their family for their careers or is the wealth inherited.  The men living in tent city, what choice did they make, to give up family and careers to live on the streets.   Then what about me, what choice did I make to live like most people, the middle class life.

It really doesn't matter, we all have to make choices.  Sometimes we make the right decision and other times we just messed up.  But the one choice we need to make is how we treat others, simply loving each other as Christ like as we can.  Whether you live in the upscale part of town, living in a tent or just being middle class you need to treat everyone as your neighbor.  Remember the golden rule "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Remember we are all the same, people trying to get by in life the best we can.