Good Morning!!

This is the view from my Living Room window. My rose bushes have thrived well this Spring with all the cool wet weather we have had, then with the hot sun the past few days, they are HAPPY!

So am I!! I love roses, and have replaced a few bushes because they do not do well. I think the remaining bushes heard that they will be replaced if they don't make me happy!!

That's what I did with my husband.....I replaced him because he didn't make me happy!! I think the word got around because the guys sure aren't banging my door down!! HAHAHAHAHA
Ah well, with my work, my Church, my family and AA I am busy and happy!
I wish everyone could be happy. The world would be a much better place!!

I smile because I am your friend!
I laugh because there is nothing you can do about it.

Before marriage the men seem so macho and in charge.......

But after marriage we know who wears the pants in the family!!!!

I got this in an email today and thought it was hilarious!!

It was HOT today!! Upper 80's. For here it is unbearable because nobody owns air conditioners in their houses. I Think I will invest in one before long as the Summers are getting hotter and my tolerance is getting shorter! Tommorrow will be hot again and Monday in the 90's!! YIKES!!! This is before the 4th of July??? Unheard of in thse parts. I'm afraid of what August and september will bring!!
Hope everyone stays cool!!

Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician.

Well I came home tonight and dinner was made for me and for dessert I get a weight watchers 1 point lemon cake for my AA birthday!
How good can this get?

"I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance."
Maya Angelou

Well I have been B-U-S-Y the past few days.
I won't get into details, but a friend of mine from Church found herself needing a place to live. A friend of hers has an old camper tht fits on a truck out in the woods, and she had been staying there for three nights. No electricty, water or toilet. I told her if she helped me clean out my spare room, that she could stay there until she could get on her feet. We looked at the room and I think we both were thinking that it might not happen soon. A bunch of us helped her move her things from her apartment and put it in a storage unit on Saturday. After Church on Sunday I went home and looked at my room and started moving things around, tossing out boxes, rearranging things, and called the manager of the storage units and asked how much a small unit would cost. She said $17.50 for a 5x5. I have a big work table I got from a store close out, and it is 4 1/2 feet wide, and I have boxes of stained glass materials. So I paid for two months and decided to store it away until I can find someone that can use it or sell it.
In two hours the room was cleaned out except for my two walls of shelves. There is room for her queen size bed and a dresser. I opened about a third of the closet for her. Now she has a safe warm place to stay that has electricity and running water and a flushing toilet.
I told her she can stay here until she finds enough work to support herself and save some money to move in a new apartment. She said it might be a few months, but I said that is ok. We both talked about setting boundaries and to talk things out if things were bothering us. And my number one rule.....let me know where you are and about when you will return. I like to know if I should just go to bed or wait up for her. It is just courtesy for each person in a household to let each other know what the other is doing.
Tonight Brian and Chris came over and brought a cousin Tabitha and Brians sister Paula. They are getting so tall! Chris will be about 6'5" when he is through growing. I think he is about 5'10" now and he is only 12! Brian is about 5'5" and 11 years old. The girls are 14 & 15. We were sitting here and talking and Brian was cutting up and we all laughed until we cried (or peed our pants).
We were asking how many kids are in his family and he said they have a younger sister and maybe a brother on the way. We all looked at him with questioning eyes and he said "Well I can hear mom at night..." then he shut up and we all burst into laughter!
Well I am getting tired and ready for bed.
GOD is good!

"I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life."

Oh yeah, it is nineteen years ago today that I took my last drink!
The longest day of the year....Happy Summer Solstice!!

Happy Fathers Day!

I miss my Daddy!
We had a simple life growing up, we weren't rich by any means, but we were a happy family.
My father was a jokester and always had us laughing.
He never abused us kids (but I sure got my spankings when needed).
He was my hero.
I love you dad, and miss you terribly!
If any of you have a father or mother alive, hug them and tell them you love them.
You might not have the opportunity again.

Last night was Birthday night at my 'Bluebox' AA meeting.
We meet in the recreation room of the Southern Baptist Church and we keep all our supplies in a big blue cupboard so that is why we call ourselves the Blue box group.
I got my nineteen year chip last night. I took a friend from Church with me who has as many years sober. I was roasted by alot of the people there that have been there about as long as me. Two were people from work. One had called me last year asking for help and he has been goin for 8 months now. It was rather humbling to hear everyone talk about me like they did. I have alot of friends and support in AA. I also have alot of friends and support in Church. I am so very very blessed to have found sobriety when I did. I cannot imagine what my life would be like if I did not take that turn in the road 19 years ago! I'd be dead by now I'm sure!
God had other plans for me that is for sure, and I feel Him working in my life!!

This morning a friend from Church called me in desperation. She is moving from her boyfriend. They have been together three years but not married. She did not like living like that so decided it was marriage or bye bye. Sometimes we get the answer we don't want. She has been living in the woods in an old camper for two nights and I didn't like the situation so I cleaned out my spare room somewhat and told her she could stay here until she could get on her feet and save enough money to get her own place. I have been planning on cleaning out that room for years, and got the push today! She can put her queen size bed in there after I get rid of my stained glass supplies. I haven't touched them in years so it is time to let someone use it that wants it. Well maybe I'll put it all in a storage unit until I decide what I want to do with it. I think the storage unit is about $19.00 a month, so it is reasonable before I make a rash decision and give it all away. I haven't touched the stuff in about 10 years, but I can guarantee you if I give it away I will all of a sudden want to make all this 'stuff'!
I hope everyone has a great Fathers Day!

"I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one."

Thursday yuckies

This is a closeup of the big volunteer poppy in my back yard. It is so pretty.
I am home from work today with some kind of bug. I have a slight fever and sore throat and cannot get enough sleep. So back to bed I am going!

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.

Hump day tomorrow!

I was out in my backyard yesterday pulling some weeds that have found a way to grow on top of my gravel!! Behind one of my Lavender plants is this beautiful double oriental poppy! I have never planted poppies, so some bird flew by and deposited the seeds!! I just hope the druggies down the street don't find them and pick the pods for opium!!

Well speaking of drugs, this is my catnip plant that I planted a few weeks ago. I have to put a cage around it to keep the cats out!
<Well speaking of druggies, here they are acting like nothing is going on. just walking around the yard sniffing rocks! Yeah, right!!

Well lookie here, what do we have in the catnip?? Looks like some cat decided to make a nest in the plant!! Yep!! That rascal Elliott!! I'm sure Punkin talked him into it! I could not sleep last night so I got up around 4:00 and went to sit at my computer, and I sat right on that cat! Now I am not small, so you'd think he'd howl!! Nope, I didn't even wake him up!! I jumped up and turned to pick him up and he was all limp!! I thought oh no, I killed him!! I shook him and his head was lolling around, then all of a sudden he blinked his eyes and looked at me and said "Yowl" then he started purring! The danged cat was high on Catnip!!
Sheesh, and here I couldn't sleep!! Maybe tonight I'll make me some catnip tea before bed!! I'll let you know how it works.

Police in Oakland CA spent two hours attempting to subdue a gunman who had barricaded himself inside his home. After firing ten tear gas canisters, officers discovered that the man was standing beside them in the police line shouting, "Please come out and give yourself up!" WHAAA????

Disaster planning

My job can be very exciting at times. One of the fun parts of my job is to visit Paratransit applicants.
When someone signs up for Paratransit here in Island County I read the application, assess the disability then visit them to interview them personally. During the interview process I am still assessing them and question them about their disability.
Sometimes I just need to travel train them. Teaching people to ride the regular fixed route gives them the freedom to ride the bus at any time. On Paratransit you need to call in at least the day ahead to reserve a seat. Some people live too far from our 3/4 mile corridor to ride the bus, and some live right across the street from the bus stop. Those are the ones I travel train. I love meeting the different people and seeing where they live.
The other day I was driving to one house and noticed this sign in front of their driveway. I see these signs all the time and think nothing of them, but I saw it the other day and thought of so many people that live inland from a coast and have no idea what the sign means. It means literally: Get the heck outa here if you feel a strong earthquake or if the radio warns of a Tsunami approaching!!
Some people live right on a beach here and even though we live in Puget Sound away from the open Ocean, we can get Tsunami's after a strong earthquake.

We all have our disasters to plan for. There are tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanoes, or whatever weather zooms in on us. I say zoom because no matter how hard we plan, we are always taken by surprise!
Everyone needs to plan for disasters. Now they are talking about the upcoming avian flu epidemic. If or when it hits, it can be very devastating to the world. I am hearing that 40% of the work force could be out at one time. The flu will kill alot of people and our supplies will be taxed as there won't be many people to deliver them. Here I go again, preaching to people to have a plan!
Plan on being able to take care of yourself for at least a week. I plan on a month. Actually I could probably survive three months or more with the supplies I have in my house.
If you don't know what to plan for, or what supplies to keep visit the FEMA site the Center for Disease Control site or the RED CROSS site.
I keep water, food and clothing close to grab and take with me in case of an evacuation. Actually I just reminded myself to check my van at work. I replenish the food and water supply every year. I have granola bars or the like, and individual water bottles, a blanket, a candle and lighter, flashlights, spare undies (instead of throwing away the old ones, put them in the emergency pack) (clean, of course). And some packets of waterless wipe ups. Of course I have a first aid kit in each vehicle. Now with the threat of an Avian flu epidemic, I also have some disposable face masks, rubber gloves and Vionex wipes. Ya just never know! I just pray I will never need them!!
And don't forget your pets!! They depend on you to take care of them!!

Now please go check your supplies and see if any needs to be replaced!
Hurricane season is sneaking in on us!

God didn’t put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list.
He’s more interested in what I am than what I do.
That’s why we’re called human beings, not human doings.

Good grief, Punkin! My what a long tongue you have! It's amazing how a cat's tongue can stretch while they are cleaning themselves. Punkin's fur is as soft as a rabbitt's, and she is constantly cleaning herself....all but her butt! She can't reach it! HAHAHAHA She doesn't eat much, but she is a roly poly cat.
My friend Chris came over tonight to see me and all he did was play with the laser light with Elliott, and pet Punkin! It is raining today and the kids are bored. One more week of school and Summer begins. I'd better stock up on popsicles!!

I find the news of al-Zarqawi rather disturbing. It saddens me. I don't mourn his death, no way! He was an evil vile monster, but I just feel like the worst is yet to come. This feeling of impending doom seems to grab my heart. I hope it is just the rainy gloomy day.

Tomorrow is Friday and I am looking forward to it!! The training I have been doing is coming to a close and I need to concentrate and fine tune the new route before July 10th. Maybe in September I can take some time off and go somewhere!!

I am overdue, that is for sure! Heck, maybe I'll jump on the Alaska Ferry again and go see the inside passage! Let's see now, I can catch the ferry Malaspina on Tuesday Sept 19 6:oopm, and ride up through Ketchican, Wrangell, Petersburg, Sitka, Juneau, Haines & finally Skagway. I'd then leave Skagway and go back to Haines on Sat 23, at 9:45am, and deboard and stay there until Mon the 25th and board the Columbia at 10:30pm and go to Juneau arriving Tue the 26th at 6:45am. Id then stay in Juneau until Thu the 28th at 1:15pm then catch the Matanuska and ride down through Sitka then to Petersburg arriving Friday the 29th at 1:30pm. I'd stay there until sun the 1st at 3:30am and catch the Malaspina and ride through Wrangell, Ketchican, and finally back to Bellingham on Tue 3rd at 8:00am! All that would cost $734.00 just to ride the ferry, not counting the food. I'd sleep up on the deck under the solarium on the deck chairs in my sleeping bag. Well this was only dreaming, but it sure gave me something fun to do for an hour!
What are you doing this Summer?

"I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow."

CTK Women's Retreat 2006!

I left Friday afternoon around 3:00 to picked up my friends Deb, Alisa, Linda & Diane. Now mind you, I have a Mazda MPV that seats 7 people and a little storage in the back. I told everyone to pack lightly. I guess I should have listened to myself! After I packed my stuff in the back of the car I took up half the storage space. I had to call one gal to tell her she better drive herself as we won't have room for her. I then picked up Deb, and she took up the rest of the back. Hmmm, this is going to be interesting! I then picked up Alisa and she didn't have too much, so we crammed her stuff in then picked up Linda. By the time we got all her stuff in we were on our way. We only had about 20 miles to go to Quaker Cove.

We checked in and were assigned our cabins. Ummmmm, the first cabin was two rooms and was a log framed shack. There were four bunkbeds in the first room and 6 bunk beds in the second room with a pot bellied woodstove in the center. This looks like a place that belongs in Skagway Alaska at the turn of the century with the gold rush going on. Deb, Alisa and another friend Carol stayed in this cabin.
We climbed up the hill to our cabin. It was alot better! There was a kitchenette and a flushing toilet in there!! Two small bedrooms downstairs (I had one by myself because I have an APNEA machine and need to be separated, which made me VERY grateful that I have sleep apnea) and 4 other gals were in the other room, then upstairs there were bunkbeds that slept 10. My sister-in-law Sherri met us there and she slept upstairs along with Linda and Diane.

The retreat was a success!
It was a bit too rustic however, This is the first Chapel I have seen with a port-a-potty outside! Well I guess it is better outside than inside, huh?


The speaker was dynamic and very enthusiastic which kept our attention! She spoke Friday night then we sang some praise songs then went to our cabins for junk food. Lights out was to be at 10:00 but we stayed up laughing out loud until at least midnight. We got up at 8:00 and went to breakfast and then to the Chapel. The Chapel was across the street and we had to go under the road in a tunnel to get there. We sang more songs and had a service then went to lunch then had a three hour free time. I did not get much sleep that night as I had a queen mattress on top of a double box springs, so I was sleeping in a slant and had to hold on most of the night. I woke up at 4:00 with the worst charlie horse ever, and almost screamed out loud in agony but realized I would frighten the entire camp, as it was like the setting of one of those horror movie murder scenes with a maniac wearing a hocky mask running around swinging an axe! HAHAHAHA dang, maybe I should have!!! HAHAHAHA
I guess I should tell you the entire camp is built on a hill, so we go up about 40 steps from the parking lot to the dining hall, then out and up to the first cabin, then up another hill to our cabin hence, the charlie horse.
Any way, about half of the gals went canoeing, and I took a nap like old women do.
We had dinner at 5:00 (they fed us quite well)!! After dinner we went back over to the Chapel for about two hours and again the speaker was dynamic!!
We then broke for the night and half the gals sat around a campfire, and the rest came to my cabin for facials and pedicures!! Nice!!


Sunday morning we had breakfast at 8:00 then cleaned the cabins and packed the cars and went to the Chapel again. It was raining today so everything started to get muddy with pine needles. My car is a mess! We sang some more, prayed and again the speaker was great. We ended the session at noon and went to lunch, then at 2:00 we came home. By the time I dropped everybody off and got home it was 3:30.
Would I do this again? You BETCHA!! It was very inspiring and we all bonded.

God loves everyone, but probably prefers
"fruits of the spirit" over "religious nuts!"

FRIDAY!!

Ah, Tomorrow is Friday, and that means I will get off work a little early and pack my car and head out for two days and two nights!!
I am going to a Women's Church retreat !!
I have never ever been to anything like this in my life! If someone told me 19 years ago that I would be divorced, sober, attending AA meetings and working for a transit company training people to drive a 35 foot bus for 19 years and playing the Conga drum in my Church, taking Disciple lessons, involved in three Bible studies and looking forward to going to a Women's Church Retreat for two days and two nights, I would've slit my throat! But you know what?
I am LOVING it!!
I asked my little friend Chris to come feed my cats and empty the catbox Saturday and Sunday. There is NO WAY I'd ask Mary Lou to come do it after I couldn't help her paint her house or mow her yard. Nope, no way. Although she would do it without a word. She is good for that. She is always here when we need some help, and I feel bad that I was working 12 hour days and couldn't help her when she needed me!
So as usual, you will not hear from me for a few days. I will be away from phones, television, cell phones and computers!
NANNER NANNER, NANNER!!

God Himself does not propose
to judge a man until he is dead. So why should you?