Scorching the World

I am always amazed when blatant blessings come my way. I am not amazed that God can do it, just that he sees fit to do it to me - actually, us. The most recent blatant blessing is our new roof. We've needed a new roof for many years, but never could come up with the $10,000 for it and every time I talked to Tom about it, he said he also wanted to extend the roof over the patio at the same time, so that would add another $2,000 or so. Tom and I have been making a serious effort to save up for a new roof for the past 3 years. In 2007 my goal was to have enough $ for the roof before I retired at the end of the year. I saved up quite a bit of the money needed my last year of work, but we had so many expenses with our rentals, we used it all up. Man, that was frustrating! When we got our income tax refund in 2008, we planned to use that plus whatever else we could save up that year to get it done, but again, it got used up with expenses on our rental. Every effort to save up for the ro...

Memorial Day weekend started on Wednesday, 5/20 when Tami brought her kids out here. They were to stay with me while T&P worked some extra hours. Golly we love having our little grandkids here. They are so darling. The first thing they did was build a pillow pit in the family room. Then they would jump from the couch into it. Great fun! I tried to load a video, but it took an hour and didn't finish so I gave up. The 3 got in the pool before lunch, swam a little while, got out and had lunch and then got back in again 2 more times before dinner. There is no such thing as water-logged; the swimming suits didn't even have time to dry between swims. That fun repeated on Thursday; its all about the pool. T&C arrived Thursday night (Friday morning) about 1:00 and went right to sleep. In the morning the swimmers, eaters, computer users, and little ones running around all doubled. On Friday, Trina and I got in the pool and just stayed - 3 hours while the kids kept getting in a...

Ok, I've said for many years that I hate funerals. I think everything about them seems consciously planned to evoke sadness and loneliness. The soft music, the quiet reverence, the big casket at the front where everybody gets to look at a dead version of their former loved one, and the abundance of formal flower arrangements with sappy messages on them all seem to be there for one purpose. Even if you never met the person, you feel like crying. So I'm going to plan my own funeral and that way I can die in peace - someday. No, I'm not sick, I'm just opinionated and bossy. So here is my plan. 1. The music has to be upbeat, cheerful, and happy. Classical is good, but it needs to be something like Ride of the Valkyries or Ode to Joy or something else lively and happy. 2. If there are flowers, they need to be informal vases of daisies or something cheerful, and they could have sayings on them like Way to Go, or You Made It, or Ready or Not. 3. The burial can be before the fu...