...across the room to make a decision....

I think it is natural for us to evaluate our lives from time to time and make changes as we grow, change and learn.  Who has not at one time or another quoted Ecclesiastes 3:1 "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven."

Even our reasons for doing something can change.  Lately I have been thinking about my reason for starting this Blog.  My very first post was as follows:

I've been wanting to do this for a long time and tonight I finally took the plunge to set up my own Blog!  For the most part I consider myself to be a rather private individual and yet I seem to sense this desire within myself to make contact with whoever is out there and share whatever I have to share about my life's journey.  I will give it a try.  It is my way of 'walking across the room' to your corner of the world and starting a conversation just to see what might become of it!  Right now, it feels like I'm in a very big room and therefore this start is quite enough for tonight!

May this be an inviting space to be!

Until recently I've been alright just writing and posting and checking to see if anyone left a comment and how many were looking at my blog.  What I am trying to decide is whether I want to continue posting like this for anyone to stop by and read, or if it is important to me to make contact with those reading my posts in which case I would turn this into a private blog.  Decisions, decisions.  I need to give this a little more thought and will also let all my readers and lurkers know if or when I make any change.

One thing is for sure.....I do not like anyone trying to sell anything on this blog and please know I have no idea who the people are who are trying to do this.

...across the room to outsmart a cat...

Occasionally I am privileged to look after a friends cat when she is away and this week is a week I get to be so privileged!

That's the culprit, I mean the cat, in the picture, acting, I mean giving me that best friend, pet me kind of look.

I have to admit I do not understand cats.  Dogs are so expressive.  Cats, not so much!  They CAN be.  If they want to.   Not in that waggy tail, tongue hanging out the mouth, licking everything in site kind of way.

This cat goes to the back door when I come in the front and fully expects that I will hurry sufficiently to open the door in a timely manner for him to check out the neighbourhood.  He takes his sweet time getting out the door (apparently I need to learn a little patience!) and then disappears.  When his owner is home it's usually a twenty minute absence but when I'm waiting for him to return it could be twenty minutes or if one hour strikes his fancy then no amount of calling will bring him back sooner.   It doesn't matter that I'm wearing out my shoes running back and forth to see if he's decided to saunter home yet.  He comes when he wants to come.

I don't know why I'm always so glad to see him at the door when I go to check but my heart just sings when I see him there waiting for me to let him in.  It just means he's safe and I can sleep at night!

Once inside, once again, at his own pace,  he looks up at me and I understand instinctively what he is saying.  "There's a space on the couch for you to sit so I can lay down beside me so you can pet me and scratch me for as long as I need you to" and I once again, do exactly as He dictates.  Sometimes I like to take a break which he interprets as reneging on my supposed commitment and that results in some type of bullying tactics.  If getting his head under my hand and butting it into action doesn't work he jumps up beside me and butts my chest!!  He even tries purring sweet nothings in my ear when he gets really touch deprived!   Arching his back, purring, pressing against me and licking my hands are his way of expressing himself and for the most part I think we understand each other.  OK, I understand him.  He does not get my schedule one bit!!

So once again today, he called the shots, came home after an hour or more, I did my duties as his cat masseuse and when he raised his hind leg straight up in the air and started cleaning THAT anatomy I got up, went home and will be back in the morning for some further abuse!

Man do I love that cat!

...a walk across the room for a poem....

In Creston after a 600km day of riding.....

Is it crazy,
all this biking?
Always playing
never working?
Backyard messes-
ants galore
moving sand
we just ignore!
Outdoor projects
to be done
Just a minute!
There's the SUN!
junk drawer clutter
dust on bookshelves
neglected closets
just don't matter.
Summer fun
must be embraced
I hear his Harley
Is this a race?!!






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...across the room for an immediate reaction....

I don't often get into politics but tonight I listened to President Obama deliver his speech at the Democratic Convention and found myself overwhelmed with compassion for him and his role as president of the United States.  I have to admit he is easy to listen to as a speaker!  Hearing some of the contradictions is a reminder of how difficult it must be to lead an entire country!  I cannot even imagine the magnitude of the responsibility of such a thing!  What an undertaking!  Bless him for doing it.  I was reminded again as well that we need to pray much for him as well as for the American people as they decide on who their next leader will be.

The President quoted Abraham Lincoln who said  "I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had absolutely no other place to go."  Obama said he has often found himself in that place as well and invited the American people to meet him there.   Having spent considerable time today with friends talking about the mysteries of the universe and all that is in it including the marvels of the human body I was saddened to hear him talk about being driven to his knees and at the same time condone the murder of totally defenseless human beings, the unborn through abortion.   How could God possibly be telling the President that it is good to kill even one of these precious unborn children when the Scriptures he supposedly believes teach "Do not shed innocent blood". Jeremiah 7:6 and "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart". Jeremiah 1:5 not to mention "For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mothers womb...Your eyes saw my unformed body.  All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be". Psalm 139:13, 16 and lets not leave out "Your hands shaped me and made me....Did You not clothe me with skin and flesh and knit me together with bones and sinews?  You gave me life." Job 10:8-12.

I fail to understand some of  President Obama's reasoning.  Why is it good to allow women to chose life or death for their innocent defenseless babies and yet he talks about  ending the war so that sons and daughters do not have to  lose their lives fighting for their country?  Who decides which life is worthy of saving?  Where does it all eventually end?

The promises of God are sure and my prayer for America and my country Canada is to heed the promise of God in 2 Chronicles 7:14 "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land".

There is hope and a future for our countries but we will have to change our ways and start seeing all our political correctness for what it really is so that God can forgive us and heal us.

i

..across the room to deal with bad days.....

the flowers I gave myself today :)

I often hear people talk about having bad days and it always makes me wonder why they don't do something about these bad days so that the entire day doesn't have to be labeled that way.  Then along came today!

Due to an upcoming medical procedure it was necessary for me to go on a liquid diet for the past two days.  Juice is not something I care for at the best of times.  A piece of fruit is so much more enticing to me than liquid that tastes like fruit.  However, there seemed to be a limit as to what I could and could not drink and juice was on the menu for me!  It didn't work though and my tummy rebelled against it as well as the chicken broth I wanted to drink.  Long story short, I ended up having mostly water, coffee and tea for two days.  Needless to say, by this morning I felt a little weak, hungry and just a tad grumpy.    Things did not go well for me in the kitchen as I prepared my husband's bag lunch and I ended up having to wipe down some cabinets, fridge and floor.  I had errands to run as well as a visit to my hair stylist and my deadline was noon.  Since I was tired of making my own coffee I went out of my way to pick up an Americano at Starbucks and realizing I was ahead of schedule decided I would get to the salon early and perhaps page through a few magazines to help me explain what I wanted done with my hair.  I realized the door was locked when I almost broke my nails trying to yank it open with my cell phone in one hand and coffee in the other.  I yanked again (just to make sure!) knocked  on and looked through the window where I saw a group of stylists sitting around chatting.  Immediately my temper got the best of me and when they finally opened the door twenty minutes later I was about to bite someone's head off!  However my stylist is young enough to be my daughter and besides, I like her and she apologized, explaining they were having a staff meeting.  I still felt a little grumpy though and when she indicated which station she wanted me at I told her I would like to use the rest room first (I DID after all drink almost an entire Americano! and besides, maybe she wanted to know what it feels like to wait!).  I guess I was still seeing red because I walked right past the rest room towards the back of the salon so she had to call me back and point me to the right door.   I nearly had a heart attack when I opened the door to see someone occupying the room and I wondered what would go wrong next.

On my way home I had one more stop to make at the local supermarket.  First things first though because by now I was ready for another Starbucks break.  This time I ordered a blend I hadn't tried before and when she handed it to me and said "I hope you like it" I answered "I hope so too!"....not a reply I would normally make.  But what was normal about this day?!  I collected what I needed and proceeded to the EXPRESS checkout.  Delightfully there was NOBODY ahead of me but of course by the time I wanted to pay there was quite a line up.  I used my debit card, or tried to, and the machine would not accept it.  We tried again, and AGAIN and finally she said "It wants you to go through the motions and then it will reject it!"  

"That's ridiculous" I thought to myself.  How does SHE know what the machine wants from me?  Eventually I timidly proceeded while she rolled her eyes at me!  TEMPER!  "What business does SHE have rolling her eyes at ME when this is all the machine's fault?"  I could not believe my eyes.  I'm sure had I been able to make eye contact with the person behind me in the line up my mouth would have wanted to sarcastically tell him "and they call THIS the EXPRESS lane!"  Leaving the check out counter I slowly made my way to the exit all the while trying to decide how I should handle this rude clerk.  Go back and give her a piece of my mind?  Talk to a supervisor?  I decided to let it be and secretly hoped the next person would straighten her out but good!!

As I drove home I realized how this interruption in my diet had affected my mood, actions and tolerance level and I decided that I would start over again.  I found a bright orange vase, stuck some pretty flowers and baby's breath into it and allowed it to be my reminder for the rest of my day at home.  A reminder that even when I don't feel completely wonderful I can choose how I act and react.  This day was also a reminder to myself how important it is to be good to myself by eating properly, exercising, and getting enough sleep.  It's so simple really but maybe often we create our own bad days?