....across the room to share Mexico with you....

A few weeks ago I did something I have never done before. Most of my vacationing has been on my motorbike, touring across the countryside, relaxing in a different hotel every night and covering a lot of territory in the span of two to four weeks at a time. This year I decided to join my sister-in-law on a tropical get away to PV, Mexico. Since we had never travelled together and since I had never been to Mexico or any resort, I decided one week would be long enough for me. My husband suggested I book this trip through AMA because if anything happened to me (like the aircraft disappearing into the ocean!) he would get a good amount of insurance! Always the jokester! Everybody won because I hooked up with the BEST travel agent ever. She seemed to understand what I was after and found the perfect package for me. The perfect package was a 5 Star Riu all inclusive resort. Nothing to worry about...everything done for you! I should add here that I have never gone on vacation alone...at least not something like this. I have travelled alone extensively but not to a vacation spot. I've always vacationed with my husband who looks after all the details! That's a loaded sentence, really! I've been so spoiled by having my doors opened for me, meals paid, packages carried, elevator buttons pushed, and the list goes on. In other words, I am married to a real gentleman!

I used the park 'n fly to store my car for the week and got a ride to the airport hotel attached to the airport where we had booked a room for a few hours. We had to be at the airport by 3:30 AM! The next morning as we were getting ready to go through security I realized that I was on my way to Mexico without my prescription sunglasses which I had left in my car. A great start to my holiday! I knew I'ld be shopping for a hat almost immediately!

I am so embarrassed about those poor bell boys! Once they took charge of my bags I forgot all about them. They carried all that extra poundage we had to pay a total of $130 to even be allowed on the plane and I forgot all about the tip! Shame on me! My mind was completely occupied and focused on hanging on to my passport, tickets, carry on bag and purse and not lose my traveling companion.

My husband says it doesn't matter what building we are in, when we walk out the door or get out of the elevator I turn left! For me LEFT is RIGHT! With no one to guide me I cannot tell you how many times I had the two of us taking the long way around to where we really wanted to be! We were given strange looks in the elevator when neither of us selected the floor we wanted to go to. My most embarrassing moment had to be trying to get used to Mexican currency. I insulted a waiter by leaving a miniscule tip, realizing what I did, handing him another bill that only added insult to injury, all the while thinking I was being really generous! SO EMBARRASSING!

If you've been to Mexico you will know that many of their buildings are built without any windows and as few walls as possible. This includes restaurants. Those of you who know me well know of my debilitating bird phobia and my embarrassing habit of ducking and sometimes yelling as a bird flies by me a bit too close for my comfort. You can only imagine my discomfort at the dining room table with birds circling around above me on the fans, sitting on the backs of chairs, eyeing my food, probably wondering when I'ld ever leave and whether I would leave something on my plate for them! Shudder! As I was para sailing two pelicans were circling around me causing me a little anxiety as well! Those birds are bigger than birds need be!

Out of necessity I did learn where every bathroom on the resort was without taking the long way around! Let me just say I was thankful for a good memory!

What a learning experience for me! I must ago again so I can prove to myself that I can learn to be a generous, independent, responsible tourist! It won't be an all inclusive next time. I think I'm just too adventurous for that type of vacation though I probably need the protection and security!!

Muchas Gracias for a great learning experience and a few hours of sun Mexico!

...across the room for contemplation & revelation!

Thanks to an amazing quality cold I brought with me on my Christmas travels I have been worming my way into the New Year inch by inch rather than the usual frantic

start! It seems time has stood still for me. The clock has almost stopped in my achey little world. Since it would not be kind to spread this around I choose to keep my pluggy drippy puffy nose and face in the shelter of my own four walls for the duration. It's not all bad though. For the few minutes every day that my head feels clear there is time for introspection, review and reading. I've even taken time to complete yet another 'get to know you better' form that some friends send occasionally. The questions are rather mindless, requiring little or no thought at all, and so it was with this most recent form.

HOWEVER (you knew this was coming, didn't you?!). After I sent the form back to my friend I thought about my answers and realized something rather interesting about myself. Considering the Type A, rather opinionated, passionate person I am, I found my answers to be quite passive. Not what I would have expected of me! It made me wonder what's happened to me!

OK, I do have a bad cold and the only thing I feel really passionate about is getting rid of it. I have little energy or ambition these days. Still, I don't think I would change any of my answers next week or in a month.

I don't have a favourite brand of clothing and I have no place in particular I can think of to retire to when we retire. There is no day on the calendar I am looking forward to more than today and I don't like one season more than the next....I like all four. I can't choose between chocolate and vanilla; hugs or kisses; salty or sweet because I like both and I don't have a favourite day of the week. Out of the sixty questions I just didn't seem to have a lot of favourites or must have's of any one thing. My first thought was "what is wrong with me!" But as I reviewed the questions in my mind I came to the conclusion that I have finally evolved into a more content person than I used to be! And extremely blessed! This year I honestly could not come up with a single idea to help my husband with his Christmas shopping. I don't need anything. It's not that I have everything. Last year I made a conscious effort to curb my spending and I wonder if that constant reminder that I don't need to buy everything I like each time I went shopping is finally making a difference. (Coughing intermission!) All year I came across things I could use but did not have to have and therefore did not need to buy. It was a great exercise for me and I love the outcome!

There are other aspects to contentment and I may just need to do another segment next time.

...across the room to talk about legacy's....

This morning I read a short article by Ron and Gilbert Beers on leaving your legacy. I thought about the wonderful people in my life who are spending Christmas in heaven and how they affected my life ... past, present and future. This article made me think about the legacy that I want to leave. They quote the book of Psalms in the Bible where it says this: "But as for me, I will sing about your power. I will shout with joy each morning because of your unfailing love. For you have been my refuge, a place of safety in the day of distress. O My Strength, to you I sing praises, for you, O God, are my refuge, the God who shows me unfailing love." To me there is just nothing more important to pass along to my family than God's mercy, His unfailing love, and that refuge and place of safety He has been in my life. I want my family to see God as the One who created them and therefore knows them better than they know themselves; loves them more than they could ever love and to see Him as a Father like no other. The article stated: " Many people think of God as being angry and judgmental, pointing his disapproving finger at our sins and failures. In reality, God is both holy and merciful. In his holiness, he calls us to moral and virtuous living; in his mercy he is willing to forgive us, and he loves us even when we fail. The psalmist is rejoicing that he can rely upon God's mercy, which becomes a protection against the destructive forces of evil." I think it is important to think about the kind of legacy we want to pass on to our children, their children, etc. Depending on how we were raised, we might pass along all the disappointments, hurts, frustrations, attitudes and pain of our own up bringing or we can break the destructive cycles of our pasts and give our children a legacy that will help them be whole and equipped human beings. I saw a lot of little children at the front of the church participating in a Christmas production this morning. They were so cute, uninhibited, adorable and talented. I couldn't help but wonder who their mommies and daddies were and what kind of legacy they are preparing to leave their children. Every day, every decision, every reaction, every word and gesture will comprise the legacy that we leave for our family. It's worth a little contemplation, I think.

....across the room to say THANK YOU....

CHRISTMAS! What a celebration! Everybody wants to be in on the festivities and many who don't even believe in the real reason for this celebration get completely absorbed in the giving and receiving of this special season. Personally I am amazed at the way the people of our city get involved to make sure everyone has a special Christmas by donating food and gifts to be distributed by various organizations.

Most of my gifts have been sent by now and I have been the recipient of a few gifts myself by now. That brings me to the reason for this post. Some months ago we sent a wedding gift because we had not been able to attend the wedding. It was a gift of money. A month or so later I realized we had not heard from these people by way of a telephone call or a thank you note. Since we had just received a call from a charitable organization we had donated to six months ago to inform us they received the cheque just that day I began to wonder if our gift had been received by this couple. I contacted them to find out that they did not receive it. A few days later a very tired looking envelope ended up in our mail box. It looked like someone had used it as a coaster for their coffee cup! In fact it looked so bad I had to buy a new card to send the gift again. That is one reason we need to send thank you notes but not the main reason. I don't know how many gifts I have sent by now and never received a thank you of any kind. I'm left to wonder whether the gift was ever received and I can't help but wonder if it was even appreciated. The gift I received yesterday was a good reminder of how much time a friend will invest in finding something really special, wrapping it in pretty paper and sending it to my house. A gift of money is someone saying "I want to give you something you would really like, so here is some money so that you can choose it for yourself". Whether it is a gift of money or a gift chosen by someone I think it deserves to be acknowledged. There is no substitute for a hand written note (everyone loves mail!) but a telephone call is a great way of thanking your family and friends as well!

May you enjoy the gift of giving and receiving and let's all remember to say "THANKS"!

...across the room for my family...

As I was tidying up my kitchen this morning I wondered what I should take off the counters before Christmas to make room for all the extras that always end up on the counter during family gatherings. Then the thought hit me that "this Christmas there will be no baby bottles, formula, soothers, or the DREADED SIPPY CUPS cluttering up my kitchen counter! Our grandchildren have all been there, done that, and they are all GROWN UP! This will all change again for next Christmas (and I can't wait to have a baby around again) but for this year things will be different. I think I feel the same way about my grandchildren as I did about my children. I loved the wee baby stage. They are so adorable and make complete idiots of the adults (remember cooing at the babies to make them coo back, cheering when they poop and laughing at their garbled baby talk?). Then there's the stage when they'll sit alone in the middle of the floor and never go anywhere! There is so much freedom in the very brief stage before they crawl all over the place and end up under the couch fast asleep like one of ours did! The walking and talking stage is always a real highlight even though they wear out the adults as they walk where they shouldn't and talk endlessly, asking questions and making comments about everything in sight. Our grandbabies are ages 3, 5, 7, and 9 so there are lots of conversations on every level and lots of surprise observations from inquisitive little minds! If I had to choose one particular stage of development I just couldn't do it. I love them all. I cannot wait for my house to be filled with noises from these special little ones in my life and I can't wait for the adults to try to get in some semblance of real conversation above all the "noise"!

I'm counting the days!

...across the room into the REAL world.....

As we were raising our daughters my husband and I agreed on some very important common sense approaches to cleanliness and nutrition for ourselves and our children. One was to limit the use of antibiotics if at all possible. Sometimes I felt judged by other people because their kids were taken to the clinic or even worse the local emergency department at the first sign of a sniffle or cough and mine had to suffer through it! Did you know that even if a child feels sick Monday or Tuesday and is looked after at home, by Friday everybody has just had it and they head to walk-in or the emergency department for their instant anti-biotic fix! Nobody is allowed to ruin the family's weekend by being sick! REALLY! You may quote me:) At our house hands had to be washed after bathroom use and before and after a meal. Fresh fruits and/or veggies were served at most meals (we had to have something crunchy to eat at most meals). Don't think for a moment that this was what really happened at our house every day. We were not the perfect family. I'm just saying this was our desire for ourselves and something we wanted to instill in our daughters. That's just a little introduction into what I really wanted to post today which is an excerpt from a book I'm reading. I totally agree with the following written by Danna Demetre in "Change your habits, change your life":

Experts are reporting that many allergies and immune-system diseases have doubled, tripled or even quadrupled in the last thirty to forty years. Some studies confirm that more than half of the U.S. population has at least one allergy. Many researchers suspect the increase may be due to changes in modern living to include the "hygiene hypothesis," which blames growing up in increasingly sterile homes as the problem. Others have pointed to changes in diet, air pollution, and even the rise in obesity and sedentary lifestyles.

Interestingly, the rise in allergies and immune-system diseases are only showing up in highly developed countries in Europe and North America. The illnesses have steadily increased in other countries as they have become more advanced.

This is what health expert Dr. Joseph Mercola says about this issue:

As society in general becomes more "sterile" it is causing real problems for your immune system, which is becoming increasingly unable to differentiate between real threats and harmless things like pollen and dust-bunnies.

Think about it: how many people do you know who carry a bottle of antibacterial hand sanitizer with them wherever they go? Meanwhile, you're exposed to antibiotics, in your food and by prescription, while most of the food supply is pasteurized or otherwise treated to remove both good and bad bacteria.

And this is the key: while everyone was busy killing all of those "germs" they didn't stop to think about what this would mean for the future generation. Children are now growing up without being exposed to the bacteria, viruses, and parasites that have existed throughout the world - even in developed countries like the U.S. - since the beginning of time.

To some extent, this is a good thing. but to children's immune systems, which are not being exposed to bacteria and viruses like they were in the past, it results in an excessive immune response against a routine thing, like a peanut, resulting in allergies and auto-immune diseases.

While "clean living" is certainly a good thing, we must be wise and not take this to an extreme. We also need to stop pressuring our doctors to write prescriptions for antibiotics every time we have a sniffle or a cough. They should not be giving in to these requests, but unfortunately sometimes they do, which results in increasingly resistant strains of bacteria and a much bigger problem for all of us. Don't feel you have to avoid every germ on the planet. Let your kids play in the dirt. Yes, we do need to wash our hands after using the restroom and when in contact with sick people. but that old "ten second" rule for food dropped on the floor not being contaminated is a good one to keep. Our bodies get strengthened by small doses of bacteria. Let's not be afraid to live in the "real" world and leave our hand santizer behind on occasion.

I am no authority on marriage and I speak only from experience and a firm belief that every relationship be it a marriage, friendship, family, etc. can survive anything. One of my great desires in life is to see people work through differences and difficulty to keep their relationship in tact and be strengthened as a person. As I thought about this today here are some thoughts I thought before I ran out of time!!

......my thoughts on marriage......

~great marriages are not made in heaven, but on earth, with time, respect for ones self and each other, understanding, honest communication, mental, emotional and physical support for one another.

~they don't just happen. They have to be cultivated.

~they are worth the effort it sometimes takes to get through the tough times

~can be great fun!

~marriages are forever!

~requires energy

~is not for sissy's

~are designed by God for our benefit!

~have to be based on mutual trust

~can sometimes be exhausting!

~is a gift two people give each other

~marriages are never perfect so don't expect it to be

"By WISDOM a house is built, and through UNDERSTANDING it is established, through knowledge it's rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures". Prov. 24: 3,4