Thursday with Erma

"No one appreciates how a woman must fight for her life from hour to hour.

The risks involved in preparing a meal alone are mind boggling.

A year ago September, I was taking frozen Mexican dinners out of the freezer.

One slipped out of my hand and I was nearly crippled by a frozen enchilada."

Erma Bombeck

Yet another reason to avoid frozen dinners! ;-)

Thursday's with Erma

"Once every three years I have sauerkraut for dinner.

Once every three years my husband has sauerkraut for lunch.

It always falls on the same day."

Erma Bombeck

Smile and enjoy your day!

What are you waiting on?

Most of us have motivational issues.

I'm just as guilty as anyone. I've been waiting on motivation to sweep my house for two weeks now, and the week before that I was at the beach. If I don't hurry, the dust bunnies are going to take over my little world. (There's one lurking under the couch that is as big as a baseball - I saw it the other day and jumped!)

What am I waiting on? I'm not sure, but it sure would be great if a maid snuck in one night to do it for me! LOL



What is your issue? What are you waiting on?

Many years ago, I was a Mary Kay consultant. It's true...I carried around those pink bags that you see in "Fried Green Tomatoes". I received a ton of training & attended many motivational seminars while a consultant. Much of it I still use to this day.

One of the things that sticks out in my mind is the saying "You can't wait for all of the stop lights to turn green before going."

How true is that? Can you imagine waiting until all the lights change to proceed each day? But, many of us do.

Take this as notice - It's okay to be stopped at a red light. It happens. Get over it and be ready to go when the light turns green!


Okay, okay! I'm sweeping today...promise! :-)

Thought for the day...

It's been WAY too long since I provided one of these. So sorry. I promise I'll do better in the future - bare with me!

"True wisdom lies in gathering the precious things of each day as it goes by. "

Now, scurry off and gather your precious things for the day...

Oh! And have a wonderfully peaceful, joyful weekend!

Memories and Regrets

I was over at my Mom's last night and happened upon one of my sisters' high school yearbooks. We're three years apart, with her being the oldest. Her last year in high school was my first. The yearbook that I found laying out was from her Senior year. Naturally, I picked it up and started leafing through it.

I'm not a person that leans toward sentimentality, so this is not something I do often. Honestly, I only owned this one particular yearbook and threw my copy away sometime back. High school was not my favorite period in life. I was a rebel to say the least and my interests led me in other directions, but that's another story!

Browsing through these pages brought back so many memories. About half of the people pictured had been in Middle school with me and many attended the same Elementary school, as well. Some I hadn't thought about in years and a few I still see from time to time.

As these memories came rushing back, I was struck by how vivid they were. Some seem like they occurred just yesterday. The reality is that my freshman year was 19 years ago! That hit me like a ton of bricks - almost 20 years have passed since I began high school. I have officially spent more time on this earth as an adult than as a child...ouch! I'm old!

When did this happen?

Where did the time go?

What have I achieved?

Where is my life going from here?

The truth is that I'm not sure when it happened. Honestly, I feel like I was running around without a care in the world a few months ago. I can see the results of my life daily in the lives of my children but, what about the rest?

Have I achieved the goals I had set for myself in school? Not really. I veered off track quite early by becoming a teen mom at age 15. Before that time I was sure that I would be a world traveler and possibly take over the world one day. (As you can tell, I didn't lack confidence!) I always felt that I would be financially set by age 30 and ready to live my life solely for my own entertainment.

The reality:

• I haven't been outside of the U.S.


• I lost the confidence I once had somewhere around 18, settled for less than I should've many times over, and only recently regained this strength - through the grace of God.


• I'm in my early 30's and am far from being financially set.

Am I disappointed? A little. I wish I'd had the strength and courage long ago to continue on the path of my dreams. I wish I'd taken more time with my family and children to enjoy life along the way.

However, I've discovered that I've grown through these experiences. I no longer care about big houses, fancy cars, or plush living. I just want to be happy, healthy, and have time to serve others!

Many of us are faced with disappointments and discouraging factors daily. I think what matters the most is how we handle what we're given. Do we let these disappointments drive us off course or do we learn from them?

Where am I going from here? I'm not sure. I haven't attempted to make a plan in over 5 years, which is far too long. This is something I'll be working on this week - my goals, personally and familial. I challenge you to do the same. It's harder to be driven off track if you have a current map of the trip you need to take!

Thought for the day

Photo by: Micha Klein

As promised, here's another bit of wisdom from my mother's church newsletter.

"You have to laugh and find humor in every day."

How true is this?

How many of you have had one of those days where nothing seems to go right and no matter what you do you can't seem to improve the day? I vividly remember many of those days. They never seemed to end. Each one seemed an eternity of it's own, with one miserable interaction after another.

Then, I learned a secret. It's one of the most profound of my life and one of the simplest! You are who you think you are. Isn't that simple?

For those of you snarling at the screen at this moment, let me elaborate. You are exactly who you believe yourself to be at any given moment of any given day. If you awaken in the morning feeling miserable and with a poor attitude you will have a miserably, poor day. If you believe yourself to be a nasty, grumpy old goat you will be.

Conversely, if you awaken each day with a smile, glad to see the day, you will be glad to see the day - even if you awoke with a headache! If you determine to be nice and have a good day at work you will, even if you walk in to a mountain sized pile of paperwork to tackle before lunchtime.

It's perfectly true. Put it to a test if you must. In fact, I encourage you to. Why not start right now? Determine that no matter what happens the remainder of the day to be happy. Tonight, before going to bed, review the end of your day and make note of the difference between a regular day and this day when you made an effort to be happy.

Your challenge for the week:

Find a bit of humor in every day. Smile every morning when you wake up, even if you don't feel like it. Laugh at one joke every day, even if you have to force the laugh.

At the end of the week review your memories. Was this a good week or bad week?

I believe that you'll find this week to have been an improvement no matter what "crisis" occurred. It's all in your attitude!

Thought for the day...

This quote comes from my mother's church newsletter from last month. Her pastor shared a story from an e-mail he'd received. It had a ton of thought provoking statements that I will be sharing with you all over the next few weeks.

This is the first -

We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing.

My daughter recently turned 18. That's a milestone birthday. Although I kidded her for months about being "too old to play", or by telling her that adults "can no longer have fun", I don't personally believe that.

When I turned 18, I wanted everyone around me to see me as an adult. I thought that meant giving up all of the fun things in life and acting "more mature". The truth came several years later in the form of major disappointment in everyone around me. You see, they were adults, but not acting "mature". I resented that. I didn't understand how they could suceed in anything if they had any fun or relaxed.

A few years later it dawned on me that this handful of "immature" people had quickly become everyone that I knew above the age of 18. Was I missing something? Did they know a secret that I didn't? Exactly how were they able to get and keep jobs with these attitudes?

The answer:

I needed to relax. I needed to accept the fact that 18 was not a magic number; it was not the end of "having fun" nor did it mean that life as I knew it was over. It meant that I was in a different chapter, but still the exact same person inside.

It's perfectly fine to have fun, to get on your knees and play with children, to run and jump in the yard, play on the playground, and roll up your pants to wade in the creek. The problems come when you think that you're too good or too mature to do that!

Inspirational thoughts...

Our monthly newsletter from church arrived last week. I thought to share a quote from our note from the Pastor section. Although the thought behind this is preparation for the season of Lent, it's a great idea for anyone, Christian or not!

Fast from fear; Feast on faith

Fast from despair; Feed on hope

Fast from depressing news; Feed on prayer

Fast from discontent; Feast on gratitude

Fast from anger and worry; Feed on patience

Fast from negative thinking; Feast on positive thinking

Fast from bitterness; Feed on love and forgiveness

Fast from words that wound; Feast on words that heal

Fast from gravity; Feed on joy and humor

Imagine the changes in your life if you choose to adopt this way of thinking.

It's never too late to take the first step and the first step is all that holds you back from achieving true happiness and a life of your dreams!