Manic Monday

The word this week, Mo tells us on Manic Monday homepage, is:

fountain

The fountain of youth comes to mind, so I am going to give you a short list of things that might come in handy if you wish to live as if you have found the fountain of youth.

- a good hair dresser
- for some, a good wig
- yoga classes
- a great plastic surgeon
- a membership to a gym
- a dentist that does veneers & other cosmetic dentistry... and gives dental discounts
- lots of moisturizer
- your own personal trainer
- a very healthy diet
- a bucket full of money


This is a photo I took in May 2008. It is a fountain in the duck/goose pond at the park. It would be rather, ummm... icky to swim/bathe in there after years of ducks, geese & swans in there, however, you might find it helps with the quest for youth. After all, the Ogopogo looks quite youthful and he's very old. :o)

I wish you luck finding the fountain of youth... and the fountain of joy.
Have a wonderful week.

Manic Monday

The word this week, Mo tells us on Manic Monday homepage, is:
Pop.


I had several good ideas, then Reba stole them on me, so I must start with something 'fresh'... or maybe not so fresh.

Maybe I could talk about Pop getting a tie or one of those pressure washers for Father's Day, though I don't have a Pop/Dad anymore. Hmmm, Oh! I know:

In Canada, or at least the area where I live, we say 'pop' for what I believe people in the US say 'soda'. So, Coke is 'pop'. I am proud to say I have not had any in a fairly long time. No, I don't remember exactly when it was though I do know it was on a Thursday this spring.

I used to drink a LOT of pop, mainly Coke. For awhile I drank Diet Coke, thinking it better than drinking too much sugar, then upon learning of the extreme dangers of Aspertame, I switched back to 'real' Coke and drank it for many years. At one point, I drank at least 6 liters every day. Yes, you read that right... at least 6 liters. (1 liter = just a smidgen over a quart, 1.057 quarts to be exact). I also craved to chew ice!! It was so bad that I had a real hard time not chewing the dirty ice in the rabbit dishes in winter while doing my chores (at that time I was raising show rabbits). I broke several teeth and my dentist told me to stop chewing ice though I could not do so, and I even totally froze my tounge different times. I still have some occasional pain in the tounge that I think is related to the damage done back then. I was having 'health issues' that turned out to be severe chronic iron deficiency, and when this was discovered I was put on mega doses of iron suppliments as well as some treatments that didn't work, eventually leading to my having a hysterectomy. I litterally was bleeding to death each month, my body unable to rebuild its iron supplies quickly enough, due to endometriosis and a fybroid.

I did some research on the internet and discovered that if you have severe chronic iron deficiency, there are 2 major signs and you will have one or the other.... cravings for chewing ice or chewing dirt. I'm kinda glad mine was ice, lol.

After getting that under control I dropped right down to drinking a lot less pop... maybe a litre or two of Coke per week. Major improvement!! However, I did continue to drink Coke & other kinds of pop (never Pepsi, thanks) in various amounts over the following years.

In January of this year, very over weight, I decided to join TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly), and to cut even further back on the pop. About 3 - 4 weeks after joining TOPS, and having no Coke at all in that time, I was diagnosed as Type 2 Diabetic. Since then, I have pretty much stayed away from all kinds of pop, except for one day.

Our TOPS group meets on Thursday mornings and they always say "Thursday is a free day", so you can have some goodies to eat that day that you don't allow yourself on other days. At one point I was really craving a Coke!! I wanted to kill for a nice ice cold Coke. I managed to not give in, and promised myself that if I held off, I could have one on Thursday. So, I did! It wasn't as cold as I liked them, though it was right out of the cooler at the gas station where I fueled up the truck. It tasted rather good, though not as good as I remembered it. I bought a 591ml bottle (500ml is 2 cups) and only drank about half, then felt I'd had enough. By bed time that night I had drank the whole thing, and felt it was pretty 'big' to have taken that long. That is the last time I drank pop of any kind, and I must say I do feel pretty good about that. I kind of wish I knew now what day that was, so I could say 'my quit date was', like I can say 'the last time I smoked a cigarette was October 3, 1988, so my Quit Day or Smoke Free Day is Oct. 4. Wow, over 20 years smoke free!! I wonder if some day I can look back and say "Wow, over 20 years pop free!"

Check back in 20 years!!

Have a great week!!

Manic Monday

The word this week, Mo tells us on Manic Monday homepage, is:
Shower

If I had one of those nice camcorders I could show you what my days are like. You would get to see where I shower at home, and where I shower at the Rec. Center pool. Yesterday you would have seen a small rain shower with lots of clouds and thunder. You would not be seeing me in the shower, nor would you see a wedding shower or a baby shower as I've not been to either in quite some time. Oh, another thing you would see is how people shower each other with love at my Spiritual Centre, the smiles, hugs, kind/wonderful/supportive words all are so powerful & healing.

Happy Manic Monday to you all.

Manic Monday

The word this week, Mo tells us on Manic Monday homepage, is:
Shine

There are a few things that come to mind when I hear/read the word shine. Some of them are as follows:

- the last while, other than today, we've had a lot of sunshine around here. It went from unusually cold temps to unusually hot temps in the space of under a week. Toasty! After such a long, cold winter/spring that just wouldn't quit, it has been wonderful to have hot, sunny weather to enjoy.

- if you have zits and use acne treatments your face could clear up and that would likely make you shine.

- John Denver's song... "Sunshine On My Shoulders"



- with summer upon us here in the beautiful Okanagan Valley, there are a LOT of classic & antique cars/trucks out & about on the roads. They have all been given a wash and a shine before going out on the road.

- last Sunday, May 31, I was out on a Memorial Ride for a friend who passed away last fall. There were about 40 motorcycles all riding together. There was a lot of shine on these bikes as we rode down the roads in the sunshine. Needless to say, I took a LOT of photographs that day. The best of them are posted on the internet and you can see them here. We rode 246 kilometers that day, and it's the first time in many years that I've been on a bike, though I used to ride a fair bit (always on the back). I'm sure there must have been some major shine in my eyes, and I know I was grinning from ear to ear all day. I still feel the joy of the ride whenever I think of it. Not only did I love being 'in the wind' again, I also enjoyed meeting some great new friends, and being reunited with some long ago ones.

- I've been cleaning my home and bird cages, etc. One could say I'm putting a shine on this place.

And with that, I will bid you ad____, ad_____..... hmmm, I'll just say "Good night".

Happy Manic Monday!!

>>> Three Word Thursday & Manic Monday <<<

This week, the Manic Monday work is swing.

Due to migraine headaches, I didn't get my Three Word Thursday post finished, so today I am finishing it as part of Manic Monday. (Can you say "multi tasking"?)

Three Word Thursday #13

Each week, Quilly gives us three words to write into a story. Oh, they're not just any words, not words you'd hear/see ever day. Nope, these are obscure words, endangered words. Before we can write to these words, we have to find them on the internet so as to find out their meaning so they can be used properly. This week's words are our choice. We get to use minimum 3 words from past TWTs:

comity
[kom-i-tee ~ noun, plural -ties]
1 - mutual courtesy; civility.
2 - Also called comity of nations. courtesy between nations, as in respect shown by one country for the laws, judicial decisions, and institutions of another.

perspicacious
[pur-spi-key-shuhs]
having keen mental perception and understanding; discerning: to exhibit perspicacious judgment. Archaic. having keen vision.

jibber
[Jib"ber]
A horse that jibs.
jib
1 - to move restively side wise or backward instead of forward, as an animal in harness; balk.

2 -to balk at doing something; defer action; procrastinate.

3 - a horse or other animal that jibs.

fracas
[frey-kuhs; Brit. frak-ah]
- a noisy, disorderly disturbance or fight; riotous brawl; uproar

mellifluous
1 - sweetly or smoothly flowing; sweet-sounding: a mellifluous voice; mellifluous tones.
2 - flowing with honey; sweetened with or as if with honey.

Bart was a very peaceful, perspicacious man who, having done years of study on the matter, believed that we all create our own experiences in life, both good and bad, simply by what and how we think. Therefore, when a fracas broke out at the wedding he was attending, he silently melted into the shadows of the darkening woods, choosing to go for a walk rather than getting involved with other people's issues. Some people may have judged him harshly, calling him a coward, or a jibber, and Bart knew that was 'their stuff', and it was up to him to live his life as he chose... and he chose peace & love.

As Bart walked through the woods, he listened to the sounds of the animals ending their day, and other animals just starting theirs. Being in tune with nature brought joy to his heart and soul. Suddenly, he heard something that was just as beautiful as the wild creatures, yet different, a mellifluous sound that caught his attention and called to him to follow it. As he entered a clearing in the woods, he saw a most alluring young woman, sitting on a swing in the dusky light. She was softly singing a song he'd not heard before and she had the most wondrous voice he'd ever heard.

She sat there on her swing, singing and watching him as he observed her, in the ever deepening dark of night. Feeling as if under a magic spell, Bart crossed the grassy clearing, unsure if he walked or floated, until he stood beside the woman. Still singing her song, she looked up at him as their eyes met and held for a time. Then, in a natural comity, born of the magic, he stepped behind her and ever so gently began to push the swing, moving her forward and back... forward and back, as the notes of her song continued to float off into the night.

Eventually, the song came to an end and the young couple moved to sit together on a blanket not far from the swing. Maggie shared her bountiful picnic with Bart as they sat and talked the hours away. After eating fried chicken, potato salad, sausage roles, cheese sandwiches and a most glorious peach pie, Bart was stunned when Maggie washed down pills with her wine... what she claimed to be the "best diet pills", even offering him some for "desert".

Suddenly, there was a clap of thunder and the sky seemed to break right open, dumping a heavy rain down upon the earth. Bart started to help Maggie pack up the picnic only to have her tell him "Oh, don't bother with that, the maid will come for it in a while."

"It was nice to meet you Maggie," Bart said as he stood there with rivers of water running down his face, the magic spell now totally broken, "and I had best be off now, back to what's left of the wedding." With that, he walked back into the woods in the direction from which he had come.

The Week Fourteen words will be: quiddle; uxorious; glabrous

The word for next week's Manic Monday won't be revealed until next Friday.

Manic Monday

Our Manic Monday word today is trip!!

Granny and Grandpa Freeman were taking a trip. They were going down across the line to view some horses they might be buying, to ad to their ranch stock. This was their first trip this year, and the first time they'd taken a horse buying trip across the line. They were both looking forward to it, though neither would admit it to the other one, they each just acted as if it was a thankless job they 'had' to do.

"Grandpa, did you go down to that insurance office and get us some travel insurance?"

"What the heck you talking about, woman?" he questioned her. "We haven't ever gotten no special insurance to go on a horse buyin' trip. Why would we do it now?"

"We have never gone across the line before either. When we're traveling around here we don't need special insurance, but to go 'cross the line we do." She matter-of-factually informed her husband of 40 years.

"Well I never heard such foolishness," he scoffed. "Now I want some more of those pancakes, Mother," he changed the subject.

Granny got up and went to make him some more pancakes. She knew after all these years that that her husband's bark was worse than his bite. It was their way of talking to each other, and yet they loved each other dearly. It had been a good choice she'd made all those years ago when he'd gotten on his knee and begged her to be his wife, and she'd said yes to that young cowboy in those tight jeans and fancy boots. She knew that he was happy with the match too. They liked the same things and got along just fine. Oh yes, they talked a little tough with each other, and they loved each other. In the last 40 years they'd never even had a fight, and they'd always had each others back when the chips were down.

"Here's your pancakes, Old Man." She put the plate down on the table in front of him. "After breakfast dishes are done, I'll go finish packing our stuff so we can be on the road by 10am. I'll pack a picnic lunch for us to eat on the road."

"Yup, that would be good. As soon as I get back from the insurance agency I'll hook up the horse trailer and be ready to hit the road when you are."

She hid a smile behind her napkin, and suspected he did likewise behind that coffee cup.

Now, you are invited to visit Manic Monday, and it's other participants.
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Manic Monday

Our Manic Monday word today is waffle!!

As AliGail finished eating a waffle for breakfast, she heard the phone ring. Answering it, she heard her friend Mike at the other end of the line. "I just thougth you'd like to know that I heard William Shatner is thinking about running for Premier of Canada!" She was overjoyed with this idea, and hopeful that Shatner would jump into the run for Premier.

"Finally, someone worth voting for", she said. Well, at least he couldn't possibly be any worse than the other choices on the ballots of recent years. Could you just imagine Captain James T. Kirk of the Enterprise being Premier of Canada? Or would it be Denny Craine, the somewhat crazy lawyer on Boston Legal? Most likely it would be someone else... the really Bill Shatner. AliGail thought Captain Kirk would have looked drop dead gorgeous in a tuxedo, and maybe Bill Shatner still would look good too, for a man his age. Things would be fun in the Parliment Building in Ottawa, if nothing else. Hey, Bill has a good connection with the USA, too, having spent many years of his life down there, working as an actor, and all these years he has stayed a Canadian Citizen. "I think William Shatner may well make a very interesting polition," AliGail said, "and maybe even a great Premier. If he does run I will enjoy hearing about his plans for our country."

AliGail was not into politics at all, so for her to even think about listening to a politian's speech is very strange... to look forward to hearing one is unheard of.

"If he does run, and if he has an even half way good platform, I will not waffle in my support of William Shatner as our next Premier of Canada!! Who knows, I might even volunteer to help run his campaine in this area. Who knows, I might even get to meet him and maybe even get invited to visit his ranch. Can you imagine? Me, riding horses with William Shatner?"

AliGail was obviously of the belief "Dream Big Or Stay Home!




Now, I encourage you to go check out other participants in Manic Monday... but only after you comment here. Thanks!!

3.... 3.... 3 Memes in ONE

The highlight of this weekend was a surprise 60th birthday party for my friend, Andree. It was a very nice time, and Andree was very happy to have family and friends surrounding her. This, as I'm sure you would guess, is a balloon from the party.

These 'fake' flowers were near the wood stove at the birthday party which was held at a lodge in the mountains, on a ranch, about an hours drive from here. With the yellow flower, it begs to be included in Mellow Yellow Monday.

Today, after soooo many days of clouds and gray weather, it was a total delight to have blue sky and sunshine break through to visit us... even if it was cold enough to freeze your _____ well, lets just say it was very cold with low temperatures and a wind. To celebrate such a beautiful day, I took this photo from my yard. You can see the snow, the lake, the mountain, a neighbor's barn, and yes, lots of blue sky.

To learn more about these 3 memes, or to visit other participants, please click on the logos above.
Have a wonderful week, everyone.

Manic Monday

I started out to write a short little 'something' for today's Manic Monday post. Well, somehow it got really long. I don't blame you if you aren't into reading a long post as I am not always into reading long ones when I surf to memes. Sooooo..... I decided to delete what I'd written and put something short. But deleting is not easy to do (I'm sure some of you might understand this while others will say "just hit the delete button"). What I've decided to do is make a short one and still leave the long one for those that choose to read past the flowers.

Save
Alice's
Life
Economically

Send donations to help with crisis related bills!

LOL

I trust that, at this time of year, most people will talk about Boxing Day and Boxing Week sales that they attended and bought great stuff at.... or not. I'm one of the not. I didn't even attend one after Christmas sale. "Why?", you might ask. Well, let tell you. Part of it was that I was too tired, part that I just didn't care and didn't want to venture out into those terrible crowds, and part of it was that i already spent a lot of money and must spend more in a 'non-sale' type way.

Before Christmas, I read a flyer in the news paper, one I don't usually read, and found some things I decided not to resist. There was a great sale on laminate flooring, so at 69 cents a square foot, I bought 720 square feet. At the same store, they had a great set of cordless Ryobi tools on sale (18 volt drill, 5 1/2" circular saw, hand vacuum, flashlight) with battery and charger, all for $69. Yup, I bought a set. Add taxes to those and it came to over $600 which I felt was well worth it as I've wanted new flooring for 18 years now, and the circular saw for many years too.

I also decided to buy myself a new printer as the other one died and untimely death. Forget now what I paid for it, but it wasn't a great deal. It's only a Lexmark, not high end but will do great for now. Got it at Canadian Tire on sale for somewhere around $40.

At Staples, they had a sale on digital cameras. Having already bought myself so much I just couldn't justify buying me more.... so my 'kids' bought me a Fujifilm digital camera, 10 mega pixel with a 12x zoom and all sorts of other good features. Gotta love that!! (For those of you that don't know... my 'kids' happen to be of the dog, cat, budgie, parrot, rabbit and chinchilla variety, not human though some think they are, and all are smarter and better behaved than some humans I've met).

Feeling all happy and great about the above, I looked forward to Christmas, until... Yup, until.

One of my dear Chinchillas got sick just before Christmas. After $400 in vet bills (no sale here), 4 trips to another town to take her to the vet that deals with 'exotics', and a lot of nurturing and nursing, she passed away Jan. 2.

One cold night my pellet stove broke down. I do have a furnace too, thank God, so I'm not cold, but with 3 ton of pellets sitting in my carport I am not happy to be spending hoards of money on natural gas.

Next day I discovered I had a broken water pipe (main one) under my home. For 4 days I could not get a plumber to come out to fix it, they were just too busy fixing other broken water lines because so many had frozen up and broken with record breaking cold temperatures in this area. Then, my older brother came up for Christmas and stopped in to look under the house. He exploded when he saw the flood and the damage that was happening. Having been a contractor in the next town over before he moved away, he knows people that know people. He has the connections that I don't. He got me a plumber in short order. He had to 'pressure' said plumber, but it worked... and so did he. Not only did the plumber come out the morning of Christmas Eve, but he charged me a lot less than my brother had figured I'd get hit with. Also... it turned out to be a hole due to age of the pipe, not breakage due to freezing as we'd assumed it would be. Hey... maybe that was a 'sale'.

When I was taking Cherry Chinchilla to the vet for her second, or was that third, visit there, my truck broke down. I had to get a friend to drive me to the vet while my truck was in the mechanic getting fixed. it sometimes pays to use the same mechanic all the time as I got better than a sale that day... he didn't charge me, said it didn't take much to fix the truck, so "Merry Christmas & Happy New Year".

I do want a good sale on glass bake ware though. When doing some Christmas baking, my glass pan I use for making Bread Pudding blew up into a million little pieces in my oven. I also need a good sale on rechargeable batteries for my new camera. As sale on key cutting to replace the ones I lost over the holidays would be great too, but I don't think they have that kind of sale.

And now, enough of this.... it's time for me to go do some cleaning to make putting down laminate flooring possible in an overly cluttered home.

Happy Manic Monday.
Remember, we will never have another First Manic Monday of 2009 again!!

Visit Manic Monday to see other posts &/or to join in the fun.

Christmas Song #22 & Manic Monday

Today, the Manic Monday word is tree. I have chosen a video from YouTube. On December 1 I committed to posting a Christmas Song every day until Christmas, and tonight I am combining that commitment with the Manic Monday meme. This is a very nice video as well as a great piece of music. So far I've managed to keep the songs to "off the beaten trail" type songs, in other words, they are not Christmas Carols, and mostly songs you don't hear too often. I chose this video for its trees.

Christmas Canon - Holdman Studios Glass Tree - Song by TSO

Everyone is encouraged to leave a message, and anyone with a Manic Monday post is invited to leave their link on Mr. Linky.



I wish you a Merry Christmas!!

Manic Monday

Each week, Mo ( It's A Blog Eat Blog World) gives a word for us to post about in any way we choose. This week, with Christmas so close at hand, the word/theme is Candle.

Candle Light

Flicker, flicker,

Little Flame

On the candle

Declaring your fame.

Flicker, flicker,

Little light

On the candle

Throughout the night.

Flicker, flicker,

Little fire

On the candle,

Can you get much higher?

Flicker, flicker,

Through the night,

On the candle

You bring such delight.

Flicker, flicker,

Never the same

On the candle

From which your life came.

Alice Price

December 14, 2008.

Copyright

Manic Monday - Colorful

Each week, Mo ( It's A Blog Eat Blog World) gives a word for us to post about in any way we choose. The word this week is colorful.

I find that this time of the year, fall or autumn, whichever you prefer to call this season, is a very colorful time of the year. There are of course all the pumpkins (orange), squashes (various colors, all together in the bin at the produce store), not to mention the many colors of the leaves on the trees, or by now, mostly on the ground. I really do love fall with its cooler temperatures and all it's various colors all about me. If it wasn't for the fact that winter is on its heels and the length of the days is shorter by the minute, it would be a real challenge to decide whether my favorite season is fall or spring. After all, spring is when winter is finally over and there is all that new life everywhere... flowers in beds, animals in fields, longer days. The new flowers are, well, colorful, as is the green of the fresh new grass, and some of the new baby animals can be seen as colorful too. Ahhhh.... I love spring.

This time of year, the colorful is coming to an end, sadly. The leaves are mostly off the trees now, the days are, as mentioned above, ever shorter, especially with the time change we just had. If I had a vote in it, I would vote to stay on Daylight Savings Time all year rather than changing back to Standard Time each fall. However, no matter what ttime we are using, during late fall and winter, we have way, way, way too much gray, and too little to no color. I find it can be a real challenge to get through without going crazy. I really need color in my life. Bright, lively color!! Those days when there is very little light, the sky is overcast with gray clouds, and the ground is absorbing any light and reflection of light, well.... it's really hard to stay 'up', to be in a 'bright' mood. And yet... it is worth the effort it takes when you can walk through a gray day with color in your heart, color in your mind, color in your life.

I like colorful. I like color full.

Here's to color!!

EDIT: I read the comment from Earthlingorgeous, and decided to add some photos of the colorful fall leaves. I took these in October 2006.

Manic Monday - Ghost

Each week, Mo ( It's A Blog Eat Blog World) gives a word for us to post about in any way we choose. The word this week is ghost.

The wild hunt: Åsgårdsreien (1872) by Peter Nicolai Arbo

According to Wikipedia:

"(Ghost) Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend" is a country and cowboy-style song. It was written on June 5, 1948 by Stan Jones. A number of versions were also crossover hits on the pop charts in 1949.

The song is about a cowboy who has a vision of red-eyed, steel-hooved cattle thundering across the sky, being chased by the ghosts of damned cowboys. One warns him that if he does not change his ways he will be doomed to join them, forever "trying to catch the Devil's herd across these endless skies". The song's story has a marked resemblance to the northern European mythic Wild Hunt.

More than fifty different artists have recorded versions of this classic. Charting versions were recorded by Vaughn Monroe (with orchestra and vocal quartet), by Bing Crosby (with the Ken Darby Singers), Frankie Laine, Marty Robbins and by Johnny Cash. Other contemporary versions were recorded by Peggy Lee (with the Jud Conlon Singers), and by Spike Jones and his City Slickers. Gene Autry sang the song in his 1949 movie, Riders in the Sky.

According to Robby Krieger this song inspired the classic Doors song "Riders on the Storm".

I love country music and feel that Johnny Cash, the Man In Black, was one of the 'greats'. I honor him and his memory in this post as I post this video of him singing, and the lyrics below that.

Johnny Cash ~ Ghost Riders In The Sky

An old cowboy went riding out one dark and windy day
Upon a ridge he rested as he went along his way
When all at once a mighty herd of red eyed cows he saw
A-plowing through the ragged sky and up the cloudy draw

Their brands were still on fire and their hooves were made of steel
Their horns were black and shiny and their hot breath he could feel
A bolt of fear went through him as they thundered through the sky
For he saw the Riders coming hard and he heard their mournful cry

Yippie yi Ohhhhh
Yippie yi yaaaaay
Ghost Riders in the sky

Their faces gaunt, their eyes were blurred, their shirts all soaked with sweat
He's riding hard to catch that herd, but he ain't caught 'em yet
'Cause they've got to ride forever on that range up in the sky
On horses snorting fire
As they ride on hear their cry

As the riders loped on by him he heard one call his name
If you want to save your soul from Hell a-riding on our range
Then cowboy change your ways today or with us you will ride
Trying to catch the Devil's herd, across these endless skies

Yippie yi Ohhhhh
Yippie yi Yaaaaay

Ghost Riders in the sky
Ghost Riders in the sky
Ghost Riders in the sky

Happy Manic Monday

&

Manic Monday - Moon

Each week, Mo ( It's A Blog Eat Blog World) gives a word for us to post about in any way we choose. The word this week is Moon.

For more blogs playing Manic Monday, visit the Manic Monday home blog.

Happy Manic Monday!
Happy Halloween!


Please leave a comment... and if you have posted a Manic Monday, please leave your Link so I can pop over to visit you.

Manic Monday - Nuts

First, I want to congratulate Mo, at It's A Blog Eat Blog World. Mo is the creator of Manic Monday, and up until now has been running his meme from his home blog. Now, Mo has started up a new blog specifically as the home for Manic Monday.
Each week, Mo gives a word for us to post about in any way we choose. The word this week is nuts.

My weekend has been totally nuts. Mostly good nuts, but some not so good, though in the end may prove positive.

On Friday, I got a phone call I hadn't expected, and was very happy to get. My dear, long time friend, Cam, was about a half hour from my place and wanted to meet for lunch. Hey, count me in!! Cam lives in the Kootenays, the way I drive about 4 to 5 hours from here. If one was to drive the posted speed limits, it would take... well... longer. Hehe.

So I had a very nice time visiting with Cam, then got a good look at his "new" car. 33 years ago, Cam bought this car in bad need of a lot of restoration work. Just up his alley, haha. Over the years, he has kept his eyes open and collected bit, pieces and parts he would need for the job, then for the last 7 (or was that 9?) years, he has actually been doing the work. Six weeks ago, this 1947 De Soto returned to the road.

Cam drove back to Williams Lake area, back to the property he had originally found this car on, and was delighted to find that the same man still owns and lives on this place. They parked the car back in the spot it had been in way back when and took photos of it there. I guess the man was very happy to see his old car fully restored and back on the road. Cam also drove back to a town near here where his grandfather had lived. He has a photo of his grandfather's De Soto sitting in the driveway and though it was a 4 door and his is a 2 door, he and the people that now live there recreated the scene as best they could, and took photos.

Saturday, I got a phone call from another friend I haven't seen in a few years, and found out he's now married again. They were in town to pick up some of his stuff from storage, then going back to Alberta. We were going to get together for coffee, but it didn't happen.

After I did some volunteer work at the Centre for Spiritual Living, I went riding horses. I think it's about 4 years, maybe a bit more, since I last rode. I've sOO much missed horses in my life, so it was great.

Saturday night, C1 called and said C2, the gal that owns the ranch and horses we'd ridden that day, was suicidal and could I go with her to help keep C2 alive. Of course, I went. C2 has had several animals die this last couple months, due to various different reasons, and is taking it very hard. Now, with her young goat having gotten into grain left out by one of her daughters, it was bloated and dying. She did all she could to try to save it, including putting a big needle into it's stomach to release some of the air building up there. A phone call to the vet was even made and he said there was nothing he could do that she wasn't doing, but it was a very slim chance the goat would survive. I came home about 4am as I had commitments for today. I later found out that the goat died about 6am. C2 held together for a few more hours until she had taken 'dudes' for a trail ride (she does this on her ranch, people come out, pay her, and she guides them on rides), then fell apart. In the end C1 had to call the police to come help with her. C2 is now in custody. Doctors couldn't assess her mental state as she had been drinking wine, so she has to be sober to be assessed, so for a time she's in police lock up, then will go to the hospital tomorrow. On top of all this, she also has big problems with her daughters. Rough place to be in.

I turned my light out at 4:15am, having set my alarm for 8:15am. I woke up at 9:45am and realized I had forgotten to turn the alarm on when I set it. See... nuts!! I'm supposed to be at The Centre by 10am on Sundays for song rehearsal before everyone else starts arriving.... I got there at 10:15am, and I'm nearly 15 minute drive from there. Good thing my clothes were ready for me to get into. I had to go without a shower or breakfast... sigh.
Song rehearsal followed by 10:30 meditation, then a cup of much needed tea.... then 11am service in which I was song leader for the congregation, as always. More tea and short visit with people, then the Board Meeting for about 2 1/2 hours. Picked up a few groceries and a power inverter for my truck on the way home. Got home and, after talking on the phone to C1, and checking emails, I slept for a few hours. Evening of TV & computer.

All day tomorrow must be practicing speech for tomorrow night, the one I used last week to win the Humorous Speech Contest at my Toastmasters Club. I get to represent it tomorrow as the more often you do it, the better you get at it, and I've made some changes to it. I will be competing in the Area contest in the near future. with this speech.

My apologies to those who have tried to view the speech video. I don't know what is the matter with YouTube, but will go back and upload it to YouTube again, then bring it over to re-post it to my blog and hope it will work right this time.


Happy Manic Monday. I hope your week isn't too nuts... unless it's that you are eating them.

Manic Monday - Formula

This graphic has been created by Janna of Jannaverse and Jannagraphics.

Mo, at It's A Blog Eat Blog World, is the creator of Manic Monday. Each week, he gives a word for us to post about in any way we choose. The word this week is formula.


I believe I've found the formula for a much better life. Oh, at times I get 'silly' and forget about this formula, but for the most part I do remember at least parts of it. My life, as a result, is soooo much better in soooo many ways, and it is well on it's way to better in all ways. What is this formula? It is way too big to tell in it's totality here, or in any one post. However, a large part of it is the Law of Attraction!! This is a Universal Law that works all the time, for every person, whether they know about it or not, whether they believe in it or not. Somewhat like the Law of Gravity in that way, even if you know nothing about gravity, it is working for you right now... believe it or not.

My mission in life is to help other people to live a happier and more abundant life, to find the increased self confidence and happiness that I have found over the past several years. I think that I now may have the (or at least one of the) formula for this, too. I have just started my own Book Store, online!! I'm really excited about this as it has books that are all about helping people to become happier & to live a better life. Some are e-books and some are audio and e-book together so you can read while you listen, something I find much better for helping me to absorb what is being shared with us. You will also find FREE MOTIVATION for you to read while you listen to the audio. These are worth the visit, if nothing else, and I'm sure you will find some awesome book there that will help you to change your life. No one is so happy and healthy and wealthy that they can't use some more!

Maybe you'll find the formula to add to your life!!

When you change your thoughts, you change your life!!!
This is a scientifically proven fact!!
So, go to New Thoughts, my new online bookstore, and find yourself some very interesting reading/listening.




Happy Manic Monday. I wish you all a great week!!

If you are playing Manic Monday today, leave your link with Mr. Linky so I can find my way to your blog. Everyone, leave me a comment, okay? Okay!

Manic Monday - iron & Opening Doors

This graphic has been created by Janna of Jannaverse and Jannagraphics.

Mo, at It's A Blog Eat Blog World, is the creator of Manic Monday. Each week, he gives a word for us to post about in any way we choose. The word this week is iron.


Jientje at Heaven In Belgium is hosting a photo challenge this week, Monday to Saturday. It's "Opening Doors". Why don't you take a moment to pop on over and check it out.

These wrought iron gates protect the doors into this building. These doors will very soon (we hope) be replaced with nice new ones. When we (the Okanagan Centre for Spiritual Living) leased the 1600 square foot space on the left side of this building, we were told they would be replaced very soon. We were also promised other renovations would be done, but they have yet to be done. That's okay in one way, because we were given a rent free grace period which has now been extended because of this, but on the other hand, it has to be done very soon. On September 19, we are celebrating Rev. Dale Jukes' ordination, and there will be visiting ministers from other towns in BC and Alberta, even the President of International Centres for Spiritual Living, Dr. Kenn Gordon. This is a very big deal for us.

When we agreed to sign a lease for this space, we opted to do our own renovations. Good thing, too, as it turned out. What we had to do is very nearly done. However, there is an entry way through the door straight ahead that is to be done for us, and two bathrooms... to be shared with renters on the other side, once that side gets renovated. Once the bathrooms are done we will remove the bathroom we currently use, and fix up & paint the remaining wall. The drywallers hired for the job have not been showing up, so we just have to keep waiting... then the floor tilers and the plummers for the bathrooms...

For now, you go through the wrought iron gates, in the doors on the left, and you are in the Okanagan Centre for Spiritual Living. Soon we will have our book store and tea room set up in there too.

There are 3 wrought iron grids here, all hand made by a really talented blacksmith I know. They are off the windows and will be back on soon. Just have to get the trim on the windows done, then will put the grids back on them.

There are 2 grids here, also made by Joe, the blacksmith. They were on the windows of the glass door than comes into our Centre. We don't know yet if the new doors will fit with these, but if not I hope we will find a way to alter the grids to be able to put them onto the doors... they are so beautiful.

Tomorrow, my doors will be inside the Centre.