Storm

A big rain storm went through my area yesterday, flooding the street in front of my house, downing trees everywhere, and knocking out electricity in lots of places. I'm one of the fortunate ones that did not lose electricity.



I had to go out this morning for a fast errand and as I drove down a street in my neighborhood, I noticed cables going across the street in quite a few places. At first I thought they must be for a survey counting cars, or maybe even to check the car speeds. But then I noticed that these cables went all the way from one doorway to the doorway across the street. It finally dawned on me that one side of the street had electricity and the other side did not. The cables were from one neighbor to another, sharing electricity undoubtedly to run sump pumps or to keep refrigerators going. "Love thy neighbor........" took on a whole new look for me today.

Office clean-up

The other day I spent the entire day cleaning up my office - organizing, re-arranging and purging. Now everything has a place and everything is in it's place. Is it perfect? Oh my, NO. The most glaring imperfection cannot be seen from the doorway, but when you sit in the chair and look to your right, there on the floor are all the wires and cables. What a mishmash! Attached to my computer are speakers, a keyboard, a mouse, a USB hub, a label maker, a docking station for my camera, a docking station for my PDA, a laser printer, and a color printer/fax/copier. Then there are the Cable cables - from the cable box to the computer, from the cable box to the cable connection and from the cable box to the surge protector outlet.

Do you think I will live long enough to see a completely wireless system???????

Gifts

Right before I retired, my friend Brenda gave me this Vera Bradley lunch bag. Little did she know that I would use this lunch bag all the time even though I eat lunch at home every day. The bag is perfect to carry in the car to keep my Diet Coke cold. Even on the hottest days, I put my pop between the ice packs in the bag and it stays deliciously cold in spite of the fact that the car is an oven. It is so nice to go shopping, return to the car, quickly turn on the A/C, and reach for my perfectly chilled can of DC.

Thanks again, Brenda!

Sizzling Hot Summer Days

It is a hot humid day. The air is still, without a hint of a breeze. It is the kind of weather that drains my energy, smothers my joy, and can very easily get me depressed. Maybe depressed is too strong of a word. Perhaps a better word would be "blue", or as my Mom used to call it, "down in the dumps."

Instead of wallowing in my mood, I decided to find a few things in my house that reminded me of happy times.

This watercolor painting is made by my brother (now deceased) Ralph - or as he always signed his paintings, Ralf. I love this picture and the feel of Spring it invokes. It hangs at the end of my hallway where I see it all the time. I'm so thankful that I have this picture and I'm more thankful for all the happy memories of my brother. Thinking about times we spent together always cheers me up.




The Iowa piggybank is a souvenir from a boat ride on the Mississippi that I took quite a while back with my sister, brother-in-law, and his mother. It was a delightful trip and my memory of that day is of fresh air, sunshine, cool water breezes, laughter, good food, and a completely relaxing time. Now wait a minute......did I get it on the boat ride? Or did I get this little piggybank on the trip my sister and I made to Garner Iowa to visit the quilt shop, Country Threads? Well, no matter, both trips were great and left me with wonderful memories.

Remembering good times and finding things for which to be thankful always helps to lift my spirits.

Today's Gratitude List -
1. Air-conditioning!!!!!!
2. Good memories
3. Plenty of things to do and books to read