TFTD

I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to the light I have.--Abraham Lincoln

It is not crucial that we always be right, only that we be honest.

We do not have to be winners or high achievers so much as we have to be real human beings.

Conquest is not as important as connection.

We do not always have to compare ourselves and be better than the next guy.

We can exchange......... and appreciate.

Yep. MOON sand......

You squish it and smoosh it and stuff it in mold thingies... AND it doesn't dry out.
AND you can get it in colours and everything!
AND it feels really, really funny so you laugh alot when you're smooshing and squishing....

AND.......

I can make COWS and FENCES and BARNS!

:-)

(yeah, yeah......g'head......laugh. Secretly, I know you wanna smoosh and squish, too! LOL)

'Sweetie'......*gak*

Right.

We had school on Friday--I think. I SEEM to remember seeing the teachers....
Now, we didn't have school on Wednesday or Thursday, thanks to the 14 inches of snow and craziness with it blowing all over the place...
Yep.....we DID have school on Friday! I remember the kiddos being THRILLED to go and get away from me. LOL

No school today.....blowing/drifting snow....
AND we're getting upwards to 6 inches tonight with winds.
I'm thinkin'....no school again tomorrow.

The roads were icky today. I'll give 'em that. I'll also give 'em that if this keeps up, the kiddos will be going to school til mid-June!

*sigh*
Roads were icky.......so the appointment got cancelled.
Yes---AGAIN.
But I was referred to the physician in town for, what I thought was a twisted/sprained knee.

Yep.....the double fisted doer of shots in the rearend doc saw me.
The good news--I didn't deck him. It was close, though.
NOT cuz he took my foot and knee and twisted and shoved--though, I must say that did NOT feel good AT ALL.
He kept calling me 'sweetie'......ME....
Ummmmmm.....I don't ever remember him referring to me as 'sweetie' before.....ever.
And I'm pretty convinced he won't be callin' me 'sweetie' again. (think he took note on the chart, truth be told....)

"This is gonna hurt, sweetie....I know, I'm sorry.....hang in there....."

Doc--gotta tell ya, you keep this up and I'm gonna deck ya.....

"I know, sweetie....it hurts and I'm sorry for that....."

Not as much as YOU'RE gonna hurt if you keep callin' me 'sweetie'.......

Yup.

ON the chart, I'm convinced....
The good news is.....it's not my knee.
Hamstring, apparently.
It went 'pop' twice whilest he was calling me 'sweetie' and wrenching my leg around.

The bad news?
He 'suggested' I stay off of the leg for a couple days and befriend ice, take anti inflamnatories and see if that doesn't help make it much more doable to walk on it.
A couple days....*sigh*
I did ring into work and let them know I'd be needing that office chair with wheels in case there wasn't school and everyone got snowed out.......again......


They told me they'd tossed it in the trash.
The little liars.....


Methinks they're just trying to MAKE me take a couple days from work....

It was 'suggested'....not ordered.
:-)

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

Mel's reality..... ;-)

Welcome to this gloriously flawed and wonderfully imperfect day! (OH YIPPEE SKIPPY!! *muttering* I can hardly WAIT!) (obviously needing MORE COFFEE.....and less fairy reminders.......*muttering*)

You probably will not have an opportunity to save the whole world today. (thank GOODNESS for that...my calendar is chalked full of STUFF that needs done today--there's no room for 'saving the world'. LOL Oh, wait.....I think I can squeeze that in between 3-4 IF I can be quick about it!)

But you can surely brighten your own corner of it. (*reminder to self* Buy 60 watt flamey lookin' lightbulb for the dining room--more than one cuz when one goes, several go!)

Most likely you will not get everything done that you had wanted to do. (okay.........between 3-4, since saving the world isn't gonna happen, I can work in the year-to-date financials I've failed to get done......or.....I could NOT do 'em, close the office door and play with my Moon Sand!---that'd be funner!)

Yet you can definitely make some real and lasting progress. (Right.....*penciling in Moon Sand for 3:00!)

The people with whom you come in contact may not all appreciate or understand you. (RIGHT! C'mon......it would take a whole LIFETIME to come to some 'understanding' about Mel...LOL....expecting that to happen would be silliness.....)

Still, you can have a positive effect on some of those lives. (NOPE---NOT sharing the Moon Sand and you can't make me! I know that trick......ain't workin'.........)

The events of this day are not all going to proceed according to your plans. (*alerting the news media* Extra extra--read all about it....the world isn't going according to Mel's plans!! Gee....why would I be willing to save the world if it's not going to cooperate and be understanding and appreciative?! Hmmmmmmmph! Ungrateful world.....*muttering*)

Even so, you can create value from whatever comes your way. (Create value......right. Thinking that means take back the bag of returnable bottles we have sitting in the garage.....k...maybe not....LOL....)

Chances are that conditions will not be perfect and circumstances will not be ideal. (Chances are......'cause I wear a silly grin......the moment you come into view......Chances are you think that I'm in love with you......Just because my composure sort of slips.....The moment that your lips meet mine......Chances are you think my heart's your Valentine.......)

Fortunately, there is much you can do with whatever you have. (In the magic of moonlight....When I sigh, "Hold me close, dear,"...Chances are you believe the stars ....That fill the skies are in my eyes......Guess you feel you'll always be...The one and only one for me...And, if you think you could...Well, chances are your chances are awfully good....In the magic of moonlight.....When I sigh, "Hold me close, dear,"......Chances are you believe the stars ..That fill the skies are in my eyes....Guess you feel you'll always be....The one and only one for me....And, if you think you could.....Well, chances are your chances are awfully good.........)

Fairy reality..LOL

Welcome to this gloriously flawed and wonderfully imperfect day!

You probably will not have an opportunity to save the whole world today.

But you can surely brighten your own corner of it.

Most likely you will not get everything done that you had wanted to do.

Yet you can definitely make some real and lasting progress.

The people with whom you come in contact may not all appreciate or understand you.

Still, you can have a positive effect on some of those lives.

The events of this day are not all going to proceed according to your plans.

Even so, you can create value from whatever comes your way.
Chances are that conditions will not be perfect and circumstances will not be ideal.
Fortunately, there is much you can do with whatever you have.

QOTW 2/10

Let's put it out on the table...
....what's on your mind today?

Well---at this very moment in time......

"What the HECK did you do to your knee? Really, it's not suppose to hurt every time you stand up and try to move. And you look really STUPID hobblin' around like some peg-legged pirate trying to avoid pain where there shouldn't BE any pain! And of COURSE it couldn't be the GOOD knee that hurts....HAS to be the bum one....great...just GREAT.... Sheeeeeshhhhh..... You were just going down the stairs with the vacuum cleaner, for cryingoutloud...it's not like this is the very first time you've ever taken the vacuum cleaner downstairs--you've never ended up with a screwed up knee BEFORE! Good grief.....like I need another stupid thing to be wrong or remind me that 'you're not as young as you used to be Mel'. Thanks a whole lot....like I LIKE to be limping around with my knee wrapped up in some stupid ace bandage. I HAVE STUFF TO DO. Sitting around with some 'owie' is NOT my idea of a good plan! Stupid knee.....stupid stairs.... Geeze, I hate when something screws with my plans. And this.......definitely screws with my plans. MAKE IT BETTER BY TOMORROW......or else......"

*sigh*

My knee hurts.
I mean it REALLY hurts.......

........dangitall.......

ROFL

I'm suuuuuuuch a whiner!

Weary....

It's been hard, the last half of this week.

Wednesday and Thursday dumped 14 inches of snow on us.
Absolutely stunning, the drifts and the mounds of snow that surround the streets....we're well over 50 inches of snow in the past thirty days.
Snow means roads aren't passable--which means Mel shows up early in the morning for work cuz Mel is one of the few people at the worksited who reside in the bitty town we're located in.
And Mel, when folks can't travel the roads to GET to work, is one who remains--all day, all evening.....but thank goodness (and thank the few who pity me....LOL), not overnight!

I love snowdays--we have minimal staff working with the kiddos and we have 'get 'em up and put 'em to bed' days.
They're my favorite.

I had two in a row.
14 inches of snow with blowing and drifting......yep.....I had two days, back to back--14 hours long.
Hard stuff for an old woman like me. LOL

Worthwhile stuff--
Good stuff happened in those two 14 hour days.
Hard stuff happened in those two 14 hour days.
Life changing stuff happened in those two 14 hour days.
Not just for the kiddos......but for me.
Lots of tears were shed.
Lots of truths were told.
Lots of fears were tossed out on the table.
And a few hearts can no longer deny that, really.....what you do--MATTERS.


Oh, I do 14 hour days on a regular basis.
That's not a rarity--it's not the norm.

But it well and truly amazes me (once again) how, in two 14 hour days, whole lives were changed......

Please, please, please......
Never, ever let me underestimate the power of showing up.

...a moment of sunset....

Yep.....freed the fairies....

Instead of focusing so intently on what you can get, consider what you can let go.
Lighten your load and become more peaceful and powerful.

There's nothing you must have in order to be.
Devote some of your life to simply being, and know the liberation that comes.

Remember that fulfillment is knowing the freedom to be all that you are.

Up periscope!

Awwwwwwww.......I couldn't resist.

Ain't he a cute little booger?

*chuckling*

Yeah, right....

The same cute little booger that steals Mr. Cardinal's food......and rips off the corn from the holder to tote it over to the neighbours house......

k.....he's still cute....LOL

Up and att'em

Enough of the whining and carrying on (I'm reserving that for later today when I'm out, trying to move the 16 inches of snow they're 'suggesting' we'll get.....it's only up to ten--they could be wrong....please?).

And just so ya know......This morning's reading fairy wanted to talk with me about long term happiness versus short term gratification.
She's in the bathroom cupboard at the moment......next to the Q-tips.
I'm sure she's content rummaging through the goodies in there.
Hopefully she'll decide to spruce it up in there.
I think I convinced myself since the door closed, the messiness doesn't count.
*shrugs*




Oh......and ummmmmm.... there's another reading fairy in the refridgerator.
I was trying to be 'open minded' while I was waiting for the second pot to finish brewing.
SHE wanted to talk with me about healthy pride and not so healthy pride---I was okay with that.....until she made it about letting people HELP you.
She's now in the butter compartment thingy on the door.





And she's happy about it, I'm sure.
Fairies are into long term happiness.

I, on the other hand, am into a second pot of coffee, 10 inches of the 'suggested snow fall amounts' and short term, immediate gratification.

I'm ALMOST tempted to look at another fairy reminder.
Nahhhhhh.....
I'll time it and see how long it takes himself to 'free the fairies'. LOL
That'll be delayed gratification, right? :-D

Excuse me while I whine.....

*not laughing--definitely NOT laughing*

Right!

So, responsible person that I am--even when I don't WANNA be--drove this morning to go to a clinical meeting.
No biggie--Tuesday's are clinical meetings.
Figured I'd tough out the storm they were forecasting cuz the RESPONSIBLE thing to do would be to shut up and show up and just pull up my big girl panties and get on with it.....even if I didn't wanna.

Meeting ended at two--the appointment was for three......and as I'm getting out the door, walking out INTO the snow to get to the appointment......the nurse rings to let me know the doc has cancelled the afternoon appointments.

Right.
I get to call tomorrow to reschedule.......again......
'Course, I'm smart enough to know the predicted, overnight foot of snow=no WAY will I make an appointment tomorrow. *sigh*
Snow forecasted for Thursday AGAIN.....and Friday--I have a whole host of stuff I have to attend to (LORD knows what the weather'll be doing Friday...haven't even bothered to look......*sigh*)

It really would be funny, were I not already doing the "I don't WANNA be responsible" tantrum.
It's not funny.

Cuz really--I don't wanna be responsible.
I get to be responsible for a lot today--the staff who work for me, the program I run, the kiddos and families--the court and the probation officers who look to me for answers and help......and that's just the WORK part of my life.
Toss on the several people that I sponsor, himself who's incapacitated and 'suffering' as he heals from the shoulder operation, the financial responsibilities, the emotional responsibilities, the physical responsibilities....the list goes on and on and on..... GIMME A BREAK already!

I don't have time to be sick.
I don't have the energy to be sick.
I don't have the time OR energy to do what I need to do on top of doing what I haffta do to get all this added 'ishy stuff' in order.
I have too much stuff to attend to and too many responsibilities AS IS.

(yes, I'm whining....and g'head and ask what I'll willingly give up so I'm less 'overloaded'....and I'd whine about 'give 'em up to WHO?'.....I am my own worst enemy. I swear.....)

k........
Yep. Definitely whining.
Definitely feeling like it's on the edge of 'meltdown'--that stop the world, I'm gonna be a puddle of ICK for a few minutes material.
A few minutes, mind you.
I have too many things I'm responsible for to give myself the luxury of more than a few minutes!

*sigh*

Yep.
WHINING!!

(and grumbling, too, dangit!)

Round two.....

All's well...
REALLY!
(well.......'cept for this huge urge to avoid and run away....LOL) (fight, flight or freeze...that's ME!)

And the appointment was rescheduled for today.
Lemme laugh about that.
Cuz really.......I shoulda scheduled it for June!

Yep.....yet another snowstorm headed this direction, complete with thundersnow.
Appointment's at three--storm to hit around noon.
I'd ring to change it to earlier--but there's mountains I have to do this morning that simply won't wait. (that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.......)

*shaking head*
What's up with that?!

*sigh*
And hows come I can never talk test results on the phone---EVER.......
*muttering*
Stupid weather......stupid doctors.....
Stupid overactive brain...

*sigh*

(stupid fairies......LOL)

The fairy's point is.....

There will always be a reason to give up, and there will always be a reason to keep going. The question is, which reason will you choose to focus upon?

Your troubles will get the best of you if you give all your time and attention to them. But you always have another choice.
You can give your attention to the positive possibilities.

You can choose to focus upon what's right with life.
There is something you can do in this very moment to create a little bit of positive value in your world.

Though it may not seem like much, just one small positive action can have an enormous impact.

Even the smallest step has a clear and unmistakable direction.

When you choose to take action, you choose to take control.
Don't allow your life to be defined by the difficulties that come your way.

Hazardous driving....

School's delayed.
Now, normally, that's not a huge deal to me--it means I'll get to see the kiddos at the worksite and PLAY! (which makes for a happy me!)

Today it means the freezing rain on the roads are making travel......icky and dangerous.
Oh, how I love a challenge...LOL. Actually, bad weather driving is a pretty null and void issue. Snow....ummmmm...this IS Iowa and we get it. Learn to drive on it or become a hermit for five months. I can do 'hermit' quite easily...meets MY need to have limited contact with earthlings. LOL However, I 'get to' be 'responsible' and I am a workin' person!

Freezing rain this morning--roads are mostly covered.
I don't care how many 'wheel drives' you have--ice is ice is ice and a 4 wheel drive can slide off the curve JUST as easily as a front wheel drive, as an 18 wheeler......
(oh, don't I just SOUND pragmatic and responsible...LOL)

No leaving town this morning.
And this morning is an appointment with the doc.
Or........this morning was SUPPOSE to be an appointment with the doc.
Test results and all that good stuff.......

So.......responsible or avoidant?
*checking*




YEP!



*sigh*

QOTW 2/4

Whose opinions do you trust/value the most? Significant other’s? Parent’s? Friends?

Does it sound wishy washy to say 'different people for different opinions on different things'?

Probably--however, that's still my answer. LOL

I have a difficult time asking people for opinions if they've no knowledge/no experience base to pull the opinion from. Seems like a set up. (for them and for me..)

Opinions about how to live a disciplined, different life today--I'll go to wisepersoninmylife. (there's a prime example!) I have a whole LOT of regard for his opinions on that kinda stuff.

His opinion on what to do with tax refund money, however...LOL......not so much! (that'd be IF I'd earned a tax refund--which sadly looks not to be the case, dangitall!)

Amongst those on the most valued list:

#1 Wisepersoninmylife

#2 Wisepersoninmylife

Himself

The Sister

Friend #2

Dr. Neo-Nazi (LOL....yes, he knows this is what I call him)

Friend #7

Oh, g'head and ask about Friend #1, 3, 4, 5, and 6.......they're invisible, dontchaknow!

( and I don't ask frequently their opinions--though we DO have some lovely chats! )
;-)

*chuckling*

Yaknow, sadly, there's truth in that! LOL

k..........

When we begin to take our failures non-seriously, it means we are ceasing to be afraid of them. It is of immense importance to learn to laugh at ourselves.--Katherine Mansfield

When we no longer fear failure, we are free to attempt greater feats.

We dare to learn more, and life is fuller--not just our own lives, but the lives that we touch.

Tired fingers......

Todays visit--cancelled......

Well, pfooey.......*sigh*

Wisepersoninmylife was gonna come visit today--snow's preventing the journey.
That's good....cuz he doesn't need to be driving in all this.....gunk.
That's bad cuz we probably needed to be having a candid conversation about 'stuff'.
k......that's not a 'probably'....

It's not all bad--I can ring him and have a chat with distance between us meanin' I don't get whapped on the head for thinkin' too much!
He'll be asking G-d to remove my brain again--I can just feel it comin'.


*sigh*
Snow.
Again.

*going to dig out the quilt to work on*
"Idle hands" and all that jazz.....

:-)

How do you go ahead and take action when you don't feel like it?
Set your feelings aside and do what needs to be done.
How do you move toward your dream when you don't think you can do it?
Set your thinking aside and follow your heart.
Thoughts and feelings are powerful and extremely useful, but they do not have to control you.

You can control you.