Mr. Robot

Shades of blue

I wondered how granddad entertained her during those times that I was gone.
He was kind enough to demonstrate for me.
Ya know--the ol' monster under the blanket, the evil possessed tickle hand-- Oh, and lots of fun food, bless his little heart. French fries and ice cream and fish crackers and cookies that he even dunks for her omg.....(at least I know the poor thing doesn't starve? LOL)

And when I came home from the worksite yesterday--sidewalk chalks! Woohooo!!

I was proud of granddad!

(it sometimes takes a bit of bribery to get him down on the patio...and then a derrick crane to get him up.....LOL)

**Note: Blue feets courtesy of the granddad....caught with chalk in hand.

(yes, I'm tellin'!!! LOL)

Today's Fairy Reading

Our hearts work like a tuning fork. When the heart feels completely in tune with a decision or thought or action in our lives, then we know it is the right one for us. We can actually feel the harmony inside our bodies.

Sometimes what we know deep in our hearts gets clouded over by doubts and questions and other people's opinions and judgments. We need to clear away such clouds and listen to our hearts, for our hearts carry the wisdom of what's good.

Am I in tune with my heart today?

Shhhh.....it's a prezzie.....

Fairy Thought

You can transform your world in an instant by the way you choose to see it. You can change problems into opportunities, anxiety into enthusiasm, and despair into determination.

The quality of what you see depends on the perspective from which you see it. And that perspective is entirely up to you.

Instead of reacting again and again to the chaotic ups and downs of circumstance, you have a more powerful choice. You can choose to live from a constant and unassailable perspective of love.

Instead of fighting against most of what happens, you can choose to be lifted higher by all that happens. From a perspective of love you'll see the positive possibilities in every situation.

The way to live from love is to be completely and wholly honest with yourself. In the pure truth of who you are and what you sincerely value, is the limitless power of that love.

Before you eat them--colour your leg. Duh......

......excuse me Ms. Fairy........

This is your life, not some intellectual exercise.

Yeah, it'd be helpful if I remembered that.....frequently.
I sometimes treat it like a dress rehearsal--like I have an option to go back and reclaim what I miss in the day.
I don't.

I hate Thursdays.

I hate disruptions to the 'norm'.

And I hate looking as sick as I feel on Thursdays.

It becomes evident to the world around me.

I broke my toe--in two places. I'm still hobbling around, no heels, hard sole shoes only--supposedly no yard work or long walks.

Yeah, I suck at following instructions.

"Stepping on the scale is pertinent to a broken toe--how?!"

I'm still trying to forgive the nurse for thinking that was a good idea, or even required.
I'm still trying to forgive the doctor for telling me the good news is I put on a couple pounds.
I don't rightly care to hear that stuff.
It isn't a sign of wellness--even I know that.
It's not even a sign of 'better-ness'.

But there you have it--the source of my grumbling. It's nearly two weeks old now and I'm STILL letting it seep into my day.
WTF.......

It's all murky.
Thursday's just suck.
My brain goes willy-nilly and I just wanna crawl back in bed and pretend the REAL deal is tomorrow......

NOPE.
It's MY LIFE.....ain't an intellectual exercise OR a dress rehearsal.
It just is what it is for TODAY.... this moment......
It's just a small piece of the whole.

It's doable.
It'll pass.

The fog will lift.
Things will piece together and make more sense.
Perspective will happen.

And I'll get to see the bug tonight and get bug kisses......

I can do this moment.

Edges and Rows

Hmmmmmm......

"I'd rather you be the way you are. You're a good Nana!"

I guess in terms of Nana-hood, I do okay.

The sister was kind enough to remind me:

You rock. Our grandmother believed 'children are to be neither seen nor heard'. Don't you remember we immediately got ushered from the front door, through the dining room, into the kitchen and up those stairs to the bedrooms where there was A colour book and about five toy cars? And if that didn't work and we were 'heard'.....we were called for and back down the stairs, through the kitchen, into the dining room and out that door we went.....banished to the park until someone came to retrieve us?

Oh yeah--I do remember that.....

I remember what there wasn't.

No sidewalk chalk.

No bubbles.
No noisy, flashy toys.

No ABC food.
No story reading.
No windy uppy toys.

No paddling in the pool.

No messy pop-ice....though I do remember those 'push-up' orange sherbet thingies in cardboard tubes. And yeah, they got ate at the park cuz we were given the change to stick in our pockets to buy them during our banishment.

She was a thin lipped, stout woman--with this 'thing' about her that frightened even me. NOT always an easy feat, that's for sure.

Huh.

I must be doing okay.

The girl says so!

(And just for the record-- I didn't slip her twenty bucks to say it either!)

Today's Reading

Today can be a day full of excuses and regrets, or it can be a day full of progress and achievement. The choice is completely up to you.

Plenty of times during this day it will be easy for you to come up with a good excuse for not giving your best. Yet even though you may come up with the world's most well thought out excuse, of what value is that to you?

When you feel an excuse coming on, remind yourself of something. This is your life, not some intellectual exercise, and every action taken or avoided affects the quality of your world.

Painted Circles

*polishing nails and looking smug*

When it's late and you're watching lightening bugs.....and himself says "we barely got to see the bug this past weekend"....

.......and you whine about feeling sad and cheated.....

..........and you carry on a while and talk about summer slipping away and the bug not even getting to paddle in her pool AT all cuz of some stupid flood cheating her.....

......he says things like "Go on then. Call and ask if we can have her for the weekend--and pick her up Friday, NOT Thursday."

But sometimes they have trouble finding a babysitter on Friday....you know how that goes. And then it's running back and forth and dropping off and picking up. Gosh, that's a lot of work for them just for a day and a bit without a bug!

"Fine....Thursday then...."

And you can paddle in the pool with her on Friday cuz she'll wake up all happy and ready to play!

"Really--Thursday then. I agreed already."

AND maybe I can get the afternoon off and it'll be sunny and we can colour with CHALKS!

"THURSDAY then. Better ring her tonight with the question--they could have plans you know."

Yeah, yeah.....none that I can't manipulate them around.
I mean, it worked on him. LOL

<-- gets the bug for the weekend! AND gets to pick her up on Thursday. LOLOL

Yup.

I'm goooooooooooooooood! :-)

TFTD

It's not the troubles that trouble you. It's the way you react to them.

What if you could choose not to let the troubles get to you? What if you could work your way through them while remaining positive and joyful?

Life's difficulties do not need your help. They are plenty difficult on their own, without you adding to them.

So make the choice not to add to them. Acknowledge their reality, deal effectively with them, but don't allow them to pull you down.

Things that make me happy

....cotton candy on a stick.

....huge sandcastles.

....bug candles that make mosquitoes go other places besides ON ME.

....freshly picked sweetcorn......YUMMMM!!

....brilliant, silent sunrises.

....the bat whitecup! :-)

....reminding people it's less than 100 days til Halloween!!!!!

Reading for the Day

There is nothing else that can expand the human soul, actualize the human potential for growth, or bring a person into the full possession of life more than a love which is unconditional. -- John Powell, S.J.

A garden tended by loving hands reaps succulent fruits. Our attention to family and friends, when offered lovingly, likewise reaps rewards for all of us. Our efforts are not soon forgotten by us or our loved ones. Each loving act we express finds its home, in another's heart as well as our own. The decision to love someone unconditionally is simply made - and yet it takes daily persistent effort. How quickly we forget the promised benefits. Each day a gentle reminder is needed. "I will love wholly and nurture the fuller development of someone special." This one commitment, carried out, guarantees two vital, growing souls.

*sighing AGAIN*

Really.....it ain't suppose to look like that. The grass oughta be green. Trees shouldn't be mud gray half way up 'em. And what's up with the tire?!

THAT ain't suppose to be there.

And that ain't a tire swing either.
My poor little park is a mess.

A HUGE mess.

I dare say it needs a good rain to wash off the mud.

Yeah, right.....like rain is a good plan about now?!

Ah well.

Maybe a tire swing ain't an all bad thing?

*sigh*

We're talking.....sorta.......

Whaddaya do when droves of people are coming into town, planes are circling overhead and it's turned into a CNN/Weather Channel event?
Get outta town!

Sheeeeeeeeshhh....like we don't have enough to do without fending off the gawkers?

Yeah, well. We got out of Dodge and went to the river upstream. LOL
Smart people that we are......
Different river--WAY upstream.
At least it was quiet.

*shaking head*

And when we got home--it was equally quiet.
No internet service.
No phone.
No cable......consequently no television for himself who watches the darn thing.

Oh dear--whatever shall we do?! OH. I know!! We can TALK to each other!!!!!

"What a ludicrous idea. We'll put in a DVD."

No....REALLY!! Let's talk to each other!!

"I'll wash the Jeep."

WAIT! I'll talk to you WHILE you wash the Jeep!

"Oh darn.....we're to conserve water."

Which means no dishes! Wooooohoooooo!

"Which means paper plates.....of which we have none."

We do so! We have animal plates and ghostie plates.....we'll use those.

"Oh yes--zebra's and lions and tigers with dividers..... There's a theme here....."

Zactly! AND they have dividers so the food stuff doesn't touch!

"Wonderful...."

AND it's less than a hundred days til Halloween.......so the ghostie plates will work!

"They'd work if it were the day AFTER Halloween."

Wow........LOOK honey--we're TALKING!!!!!!!


Yup.
He put in a DVD

:-/

Again a reminder......

We cannot control forces outside of ourselves. We cannot control the actions of our family or our co-workers. We can control our responses to them. And when we choose to surrender our attempts to control, we will find peace and serenity.

That which we abhor, that which we fear, that which we wish to conquer seems suddenly to be gone when we decide to resist no more - to tackle it no more.

The realities of life come to us in mysterious ways. We fight so hard, only to learn that what we need will never be ours until the struggle is forsaken.

Nummm!

Sun's up--new day!!

And brunch at the fairground awaits.

Himself has been drooling in anticipation ALL morning. *laughing*

All is well!!

The dam--failed with the roads still in tact, water spilling over...
...PROBLEM!!

Road go bye-bye.
*sigh*

That is NOT suppose to happen.

(just in case you were wonderin'....LOL)

And nope--these aren't my photos, dangitall....LOL

All is well.

All is well.

All is well!

*chuckling*

By the time the National Guard arrived the bitty town pretty much had all bases covered. Nice to know they're responsive though.

We're good.

In two days (if there's no rain) it'll be gone and the only evidence will be the mud left behind and the town boiling water and battling mammoth mosquitoes!

Truly--all is well.
And there's nothing like a bit of crisis to bring out the best in people.

People have truly been nothing short of amazing!


:-)

Buds

Another Fairy Reminder

We cannot change our children, our husbands or partners, not even the best friends who we know love us. But with God's help we can change the attitude that has us blocked at this time. A changed attitude, easing up on ourselves, lessening our expectations of others, will open the door to the kind of relationships we seek, the smooth flowing days we long for.

We need not take life so seriously. In fact, we shouldn't take it so seriously. We can measure our emotional health by how heartily we laugh with others and at ourselves. The 24 hours stretching before us at this time promises many choices in attitude. We can worry, be mad, depressed, or frustrated, or we can trust our higher power to see us through whatever the situation. So, we can relax. It is our decision, the one decision over which we are not powerless.

I will be in control of my attitude today. I can have the kind of day I long for.

What's a bit of water......

This morning the dam upstream failed.

That's all fine and dandy--it's a bit upstream. But it only failed because in the past three days that area has gotten over 16" of rain. 10" of it was in one day. That's a heck of a lot of rain.....

Can you say 'bit of a panic'?

Yeah, well--when you're downstream from the failed dam, you might wanna be a bit concerned.

I sent the girl (who'd come to visit the night before) home with the bug. No point in them being flooded in or in a position of being at risk when no one could really make a sane guess as to the amount of flooding that was going to happen. And besides, the fair they'd come to be a part of got dramatically 'rearranged' because of the flooding threat that was gonna happen no matter what anyone did.

Yup--it flooded.
Yup--the kiddos I worked with were out moving people who'd been given 45 minutes to get things out of their home. They were out sandbagging, they were out helping other folks who weren't being evacuated from their homes, but who were clearly going to get flood waters in their homes. Yup, the girl and her fella were lending a hand until I kicked 'em out.

I'm a proud person.
I'm a grateful person.

I'm convinced it coulda been a whole lot worse than it was.
We're flooded...don't get me wrong. But truly, all things considered--all is well.

And the fair still goes on.


I'm a confused person.
And I'm sad cuz it was a short visit with the bug and the girl and the other other boy....
Sheeeeeshhhhhh.
I sent the girl and the bug and the other other boy away cuz of the flood waters but we STILL HAVE THE STUPID TIGERS?!

k.....
That's just wrong...... :-/

Over the moon

Fairy Dust

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.

-- Seneca

*snickering*

Thought for the Day

A life without discipline is a life without joy.

-- Muriel B.

Wait a minute. Isn't joy a matter of doing what we want? Isn't freedom the state of never having to do what we don't want to do? And isn't discipline - which we learned from our parents - the burden of having to do what we don't want to do?

Actually, joy is the freedom to do what needs to be done. And gaining that freedom takes discipline. Why? Without discipline, we usually end up doing what is familiar to us. And our experience clearly tells us that old thinking and old behaviors bring us anything but joy.

It takes discipline to say no when we need to - when every fiber of our being may be urging us to give in again. It takes discipline to stand up and be counted when our pattern has been to fade into the wallpaper and blend in with any situation.

Discipline isn't easy or fun, but it's the best friend we can have. To practice self-discipline is to move through our days with a sure sense that we'll get where we're going.

Milk and Honey

Yummmm!

Gluten free, even! :-)

And MINE!

Today's Reminder

Five years from now, you can look back on today and be overwhelmed with joy, or overwhelmed with regret. Now is the time when you can decide which one it will be.

k.....rawrrrr......RAWRRRRRR!!!!!! (practicing!!)

I woke up yesterday morning and my little world was transformed..... So in the pretty pink of the dawn, I snapped the photo from my patio.
Uh huh....

The quiet of my dawn was broken by a strange, foreign sound.

Snarling ..... and an occasional 'ROAR'.

Ummmmm.......

YIKES!?

k..... County fairs are nice.
HUGE, PEOPLE EATING TIGERS are not.

k.....maybe they're nice under some circumstances--but not when you can sit on the patio and get a closeup photo at mealtime which is NOT appropriate for posting purposes.
NO foolin'......


Needless to say, I had a conversation with himself:

I think we need to call the girl and tell her NOT to come.....I mean, what if they get loose--and they try to eat us?

"If one gets loose I'll be heading for the house in short order."

Hellooo?? What about ME?!

"Well, I assume you'll beat me to the house."

You'd shove me outta the way--g'head......own it.......

"We'll be fine. They're well taken care of."

Excuse me......but what if one gets pissed off and goes beserk?!

"Plenty of people to eat before they get to this house--they'll have a full tummy. You'll be fine."

Well, there's the consolation!
I feel better already!
*rolling eyes*

Seriously.......I'm sure it's a good thing for people to have a close encounter with a tiger/lion. (there's both dontchaknow--LESS THAN A FREAKING BLOCK AWAY!!!)

k...... I'll practice 'rawrrrrr'-ing and hope they get it confused with a 'ROARRRRR' (and think I'm tellin' 'em what's what and how it's gonna be!).

O
M
G

Nice kitties.......

Today's Fairy Reminder

Always, at the heart of your being, you are in control. The emotions you experience are the emotions you create or allow.

Just as you can allow your emotions to fill your awareness, you can also allow them to drop cleanly and completely away. When you've heard what your feelings have to say, you can choose to let go of them.

Ha.......BUSTED!!!!!!!

Uh huh...took me a bit of time but I GOT 'em.
Photos printed and delivered to the neighbor.....

........anonymously of course!


Try to set up Mr. Bunny will ya......

All's fair in love, war and beet tops......LOLOLOL

Fairy Dust

Those who are mentally and emotionally healthy are those who have learned when to say yes, when to say no, and when to say whoopee!

UH oh....

Himself says we have a 'zoo' in our backyard.
Geeze....just look at that little bunny face.....how could ya not love him?!
Himself mutters cuz I'm forever reminding him to put corn out for the critters.
And then he laughs cuz I start muttering when they do the 'cross over' thing and eat the wrong food..

Anyway....He'd told me the other day he'd watched a groundhoggy guy meander through the yard--I kinda laughed and passed it off as too much sun.
Yeah, well....then I saw him. HOLY moly...he's HUGE!

We told the neighbor--who suggested I not name him and claim him. LOL I have a tendency to do that and they become my 'friends'.....and then he has to put up with 'em......
Like Mr. Bunny (x4!) and Frank the groundsquirrel....who hip-hop/scurry to dine at Mel's place. LOL

Yeah well....
Geoffry the Groundhog.
Day late and dollar short (the Brit did it, I swear!).

"I have one question to ask and I want you to be honest...." was how the neighbor greeted me--and he didn't come bearing gifts of cherry tomatoes either.....

"Who ate the tops off my beets? Your friend the rabbit--or that other one?"

Himself named him, I swear!!

"Someone ate the leafs off my beets...."

Okay, okay....it wasn't Mr. Bunny. And it wasn't Frank the groundsquirrel....

"Go ahead....What's his name?"

Ummmm....Geoffry? ..... Honest--I didn't name him! If I had it woulda been something more like -- Grant.....or Gregory maybe?

Yeah--well....Mr. Bunny sat three feet from us as we inspected the hole at the bottom of the fence that Geoffry Groundhog uses to access beet tops apparently.

Himself says beets don't deserve to be eaten by human beings anyway and that poor Geoffry doesn't really NEED to be trapped and freed into the woods somewhere far, far away.


And last night....as I went to the patio to enjoy my last cuppa coffee for the day...

OH sure... BLAME the rabbit!

TFTD

One comes, finally, to believe whatever one repeats to one's self, whether the statement is true or false.
--Napoleon Hill

Our inner dialogue can have awesome power. It often determines the behavior that defines who we are. We do, of course, have some choice as to the direction this inner dialogue will take. It's as easy to affirm our self-worth with positive messages as it is to tear ourselves down with negative ones. And yet, many of us fall so easily into negative patterns of thought.

As with so many aspects of our life, we become proficient at what we regularly practice. The regular, preferably daily, use of positive affirmations can make such a profound contribution to our well-being and willingness to grow and learn, that it can change the course of our life. All we have to do is develop the discipline to make these positive messages habitual. In so doing, we bring our vision of ourselves in line with God's, Who accepts us completely as we are.

The messages I give myself today will remind me that I am a capable and lovable child of God.

Did I mention....

That we went to the butterfly garden yesterday?

Did I mention we say flutterbys?

:-)

RAWRRRRrrrrrr

This wake up/sleep fitfully/wake up/sleep fitfully/wake up/sleep fitfully/toss turn/fling off the covers and forget it jazz is not condusive to 'rest'.

*sigh*

'Guilty conscience?' would be the question WPIML would ask.
HA.
Well....not that I've recognized--at least not yet.
I will give that I think too much.

This morning it was the clap of thunder that greeted me on the umpteenth episode of sleep fitfully/wake up. So what the heck--I called it a night.

Watermelon!
Ah ha!!

Yeah, well...I doubt it's the watermelon's fault but it temporarily felt good to have something to point the finger at?

k....
I'll get another cuppa coffee, catch what little of day's break I can see from the edge of the storm that we're on and go into the day with plans for blaming the watermelon I had last evening.
It'll give me an excuse to have it for breakfast. LOLOL

Today's Fairy Reading

What happens to us is not as important as how we respond.

The external events of our lives are largely beyond our control. We do not choose our parents, our emotional environment, the historical period in which we live, our body type, or the flow of circumstances that shape our experience. These are givens. We do not select them, but we can choose how we will react to them, and in that choice lies our freedom and our responsibility.

Instead of complaining about the hand we've been dealt, we can concentrate on playing it well. This is the way we exercise our freedom. What might appear to be random chance can take on meaning and purpose as we delve for insight and use our deficiencies as opportunities for growth.

Our responsibility is to do the best we can with what we have where we are.
Today, I will remember that the what of my life is not as important as the how.

More Fairy Dust

What are five good things that I have gotten from doing things differently?

I will write these down and refer to them when I'm tempted to feel sorry for myself today.

Daisy Oopsie!

Fairy Dust

Dear G-d, guide me to
Do all the good I can
By all means I can
In all ways I can
In all places I can
To all people I can
As long as I can.

Another sunset....

105 heat index--89% dew point.... It was one hot day.
WHY we pick a horridly hot day to get in the Jeep and go--is beyond me....but we did.

It's all good though. There was no real destination--but go figure we landed where there happened to be a train...or two...or seven...LOL

Funny that I ended up taking AS many photos of the trains as he did.

Anyway--the corn is tassled, the ditches are filled with lillies and black eyed susans....and there were mosquitoes galore.

And lightening bugs.

Once sunset was throughly enjoyed it was the insanity of Mel having meltdowns about hitting a lightening bug or two (bazillion) on the way home.

I'm assured the ones we hit should have listened to their mothers who warned them "don't fly across that road unless you're 12 feet high!".

Ohhhhhhhhh....*sniffle*

k...the trains were way cool.

The sunset--awesome!

The glowing lightening bug guts on the windshield....nosomuch....

Sunset express

TFTD

Our parents may have had a way of instructing that often bordered on shaming us. No matter what we might remember about it, or them, they meant well. Their own experiences colored how they parented us. This pattern was probably played out in our own parenting, too. We all did the best we could. None of us did a perfect job. But now that we have the time to contemplate the past, we might want to consider forgiving our parents if we still harbor any grudges. Or we might want to make amends to our children or other family members if we are able to see our own failings now.

We made tons of mistakes getting to an older age. Some were intentional; most were not. Do we have to redress all of them? Actually, we don't even have to acknowledge any of them. But if we do, we'll feel far better about ourselves and we'll have helped to break the cycle of the poor parenting we might have experienced.

We all have a chance to do something significant in life. This doesn't have to mean inventing a tool or a drug that will help millions of people. It's really quite easy. Smile at a stranger today, for starters. Consider putting aside an old grudge. Apologize for an unkind action.

I can do something really important today. Am I willing to examine how I treat other people?

The watering can condo

Mel Babble......

I do not like when the internet doesn't work.

No.

I mean I REALLY don't like when the internet doesn't work.

Like REALLY.

Hugely.

Vastly........

Tonight's entertainment--between mutterings about the 105 heat index, the broken internet AND the broken cable A N D the broken cellphone service--the toad that I almost stepped on.....that I didn't step on but captured in the watering can after a few good shrieks (joyful ones of course...).....the toad that I tried to free but who clearly didn't wanna leave and was commenting on the nice green plastic siding of his new found home. Yep--THAT toad! :-)

Poor Mr. Toad--himself 'relocated' him.

Yep......*laughing*

It doesn't get much more entertaining than that!!

Fairy Reading for the Day

Despite the fact that many of us live turbulent, chaotic lives;we don't like change. This causes us to seek our security in familiar places, rather than reach out for the unknown that lies ahead.

This may not be real security, however, because familiar places and situations also change. Our resistance to change may simply be the fear of trying something new.

If we find that fear of change is causing us to put up with a situation that's become unsatisfactory, we need to adjust our attitude toward it. While we view change as risky, it may be the necessary route for improvement.
Sometimes we start change by simply accepting the idea that change is sometimes necessary.