45 Life Lessons

This was written By Regina Brett The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio --

To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.
It is the most-requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolls
Over to 70 in August, so here goes.
1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.
17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.
18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.
38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd Grab ours back.
41. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
42. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
45. The best is yet to come.
46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
48. If you don't ask, you don't get.
49. Yield.
50. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Paris for President!

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

The Great Obama

The Trailer...It's Finally Here!

On the Rebound

Before we moved, we (o.k. I) thought seriously about having Caleb put down. He would often fall down and not be able to get up and he slept a lot -- even for a dog. The vet told me to give him fish oil pills. They seemed to help a bit, but not much. The poor guy got pretty bad this spring, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Sniff, sniff. Someone at church told me to try glucosamine tablets. I decided to give it a try. The bottle said it would take a few weeks to kick in.

I almost gave up hope and thought about finding a vet up here to have him put down. Then I noticed some improvement. He started walking further and easier on our walks and wasn't sleeping so much. He seems to be improveing daily. Now he will even put Scruffy in his place again. (Scruffy had been making a bid for alpha dog.) The only downside is he barks like mad again when someone comes to the door. Now if I can only get him to use the doggie door....

Back Online

Well, we finally got the phone, internet and tv hooked up this week. Yea!!!! All that was left was to hook up the router for wireless access. It should have been quite simple to set up. But naturally it wasn't. After hours trying to get it to work on my own and hours on the phone with Sam, we finally got a pro in. Naturally being the cheapskate that I am, I didn't want to pay someone to do a "simple" job. After all, I reasoned, if Christy could do it, so could I. (No sibling rivalry here! hee hee) Mike's computer wouldn't work at church, so he called a repair guy. It was a quick, simple fix, so Mike brought him over to the house. He had the computers all on a secure network in less than five minutes. Sigh.

I can only console myself with the knowledge it is all Comcast's fault. They set up their modems so they will only connect to the first thing they are hooked up to -- the computer. So when I hooked it to the router, it wouldn't work. The repair guy reset the modem and we were up and running. One has to wonder why the Comcast guy didn't bother to tell me that when he saw the router on the computer. Do you think it has to do with the fact that they will set it up for you for a rather substantial fee? ;^)

Moving thoughts

Well, we finally got moved. I really hate moving. I hate packing. And then it never all fits in the truck, so we have to do two trips. Good grief. It's time to purge!!! I'm not sure that I like unpacking any more than packing. You have to find places for all the JUNK you moved. Sigh. That's what I get for living in a family where half the members are pack rats.

On the upside, the new parsonage is very nice. I have a crafting area, Mike has his drums set up, and the kitchen actually holds all my stuff with room to spare. The biggest plus is that the windows open!!!! Woo hoo!

Four more days until I have internet, tv and phone service. Thank-goodness for libraries, DVDs and cell phones. (Why do spell checks always want to capitalize "internet"?)

Wouldn't You Know It

We have had our typical Northwest spring. The weather has been nice and cool. Jackets have been necessary in the mornings and Jeremy is still living in sweats. So now that I am down to crunch time on packing it is going to get up into the 90's and will probably break some records. Oh, the joy!!!

The good news is that I should get the kitchen and dining room today -- hopefully this morning. I've told the boys their rooms have to be done before they go to the lock-in at church tonight. My biggest challenge will be the laundry room, a.k.a. the dumping room.

If all goes according to plan, we will have everything packed up Monday. That will leave me Tuesday to do some cleaning, take the beds apart, etc. Of course, it never goes according to plan, but I guess we'll get moved in the end.

House Hunting

So, I was sitting on the couch
"working" on the computer (i.e. not packing) when my attention was drawn to the door. At first I thought hummingbirds had come to get nectar from the flowers hanging on the wall outside. The two plant holders are faux birdhouses, complete with a holes for the doors. These two cute little birds had flown up to investigate, one to each house. They had seemingly found the perfect houses. Beautiful flowers camoflauged the doors and the houses looked quite roomy. There was just one snag. The holes were blocked by the wall behind them. Once they found out they coudn't get in their door, they switched houses to test the other. Too cute!

A couple more weeks...

Just a couple weeks until we move. Did I mention I hate moving? Well, actually, what I hate is the process of moving -- packing, getting the truck, people to help, and unpacking. I love living in different places. In fact, when I live somewhere more than three years, I get itchy feet and am ready to move on. It is fun living in different places. Each place has it's unique qualities. Lynden will be interesting since it is a Dutch town and is so close to Canada.

I've only been to Canada once. We took a road trip just so I could say I've been there. It could be interesting taking the boys over the boarder. I'll have to take their birth certificates and proof of citizenship papers. Mike still has his passport. I think I'll get the special Washington State drivers licence that allows us to cross the boarder without a passport.

But that is a few weeks away. Now I have to pack. These five years in Fircrest have the longest I lived on one house since I graduated from high school. It will be harder to leave here than some other places I've lived. We've been here long enough to make good friends. But life marches on. :^)

Weird News, Good News, Bad News, Good News

The District Superintendent met with the Staff Parish Relations Committee last night to introduce the incoming pastor. Apparently the pastor is a Korean man with a very heavy accent. He is presently serving just a couple miles from here at a church with about 25 people. They have yet to appoint someone to his church. I don't know why they don't make it a two point charge. Most conference will not appoint a pastor to a church within driving distance to their old church so that the parishioners won't follow them. It is an interesting appointment, to say the least.

The good news is that according to the DS, Mike is getting a raise at the new church. Whew!! I'm sure it won't be much, but it surely beats a drop in pay! Hopefully it will be enough to cover our insurance.

The bad news is that the conference is giving us a whopping $1,000 to move. My friend, Charlee, got estimates for a local move and it was $2,000-3,000. Mike isn't supposed to do any lifting, so this makes things interesting. We will have to do the U-Haul for sure. Last night I thought of a couple people we could probably hire to help us. With any luck they have a couple of friends who can help, too.

The final good news is that Mike's latest blood tests shows his cholesterol and triglyceride numbers are all back in the normal range. Yea!!! So if his high blood pressure doesn't get to him, he may survive the stress.

Teresa Goes to Camp

So, we had family camp today at Camp Indianola. It is a beautiful place on the Sound. The boys spent most of their time on the big swing. (See posts below.) I don't think Josh even got down to the beach.

When I go to camp, I make a big impression. The first year I went I was on the beach when all of the sudden a large stream of water came up out of the ground and soaked me. It scared the hooey out of me, and I screamed. Everyone thought it was hilarious. The source of the water was a gooey duck. Gooey ducks are the grossest and ugliest creatures you can imagine. As I told a friend today, they are proof that God as a sense of humour. They are enormous clams that borrow down in the sand and if you step on or near their hole, they squirt you. It's kind of fun to make them squirt -- as long as you know it's coming.

This year some of the kids found a dead mouse near the fire pit. We were standing around talking after making s'mores and someone mentioned the dead mouse. I realized it had been right around where we were standing, so we all looked around for it. I was standing on it. GROSS!!! Of course I had shoes on with treads on the soles. Thank-goodness it was long dead and not a juicy critter. Later the camp cat came around and searched the area. I'm sure he is the one that put the rodent there.

The Big Swing

We went to family camp today. The boys had a blast on the big swing...

Jeremy's turn

This one was good, too....

My Favorite American Idol Song of the Night

Well, the one where the comedians sang back up was funny, but I really liked this.

It Will Be an Interesting Time

Mike was told a couple of weeks ago he was going to be moved. He had no say in the matter. Last week the conference office called to get the contact information for the person at church who would tell everyone Mike would be leaving. They wanted to email the letter to be read at church. Mike pointed out they had not contacted the appropriate committee yet, so they would not be aware of the impending move. To make a long story short, the district superintendent came to meet with the committee that evening. They have no idea who will be placed here. The meeting didn't go well. I'm told she was made well aware of their displeasure. She went off to confer with the bishop who in the end decided the move was on and the announcement was to be made. The church refused to make it.

Church Council met last night and the matter was discussed. It seems that the conference is required to confer with the church and the pastor before making any moves. They did not. The church sent a letter of complaint not only to the district superintendent and the regional bishop, but to the entire Council of Bishops. The today the church contacted one of the leaders of the conservative movement within the national church. It seems our little church may well be at the center of a national incident.

A True Hero

I was reading on the internet about the death of a woman, Irena Sendler, who saved 2,500 Jewish children during WWII. It is a fascinating story. She lost the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize to Al Gore. There's a puzzler for you.

The Sound of Silence

I am here in my house. Alone. No one else is here. It is quiet. No Josh to make irritating noises to see how long it takes me to yell at him -- I mean nicely ask him to quit making obnoxious sounds. No Jeremy to talk incessantly. No Mike wondering why we don't have a certain food item in the house that he hasn't wanted for months, yet wants now.

Oh, rats. I should have known it was too good to last. Caleb just saw someone walking down the other side of the street on the far end of the block. Scruffy feels the need to join in on the barking. Looks like they are scaring the the dangerous trespassers away, though. They are now walking away from the house. Mission accomplished.

The Nap

The boys had a lock-in at church last night. Naturally, they got very little sleep. This afternoon I told them they had to take a break from tv and computer games. I was nice enough to give them a 15-minute warning so they could wrap things up, but Jeremy was not happy to hear this. I left the room and come back in five minutes to find him fast asleep. Now this is a bit of a minor miracle. Jeremy does not under any circumstances whatsoever nap. Ever. He has been like that most of his life.

After about an hour, he rolled off the couch. He stumbled into the kitchen. He came right back in the living room and sat beside me on the other couch. He was very upset and told me he didn’t want to make any tea. Confused, I asked him if he wanted to drink tea. He replied that he didn’t want to make ME any tea. Now I was really confused and wanted to know why he thought I wanted tea. It seems he had a dream that I had told him to go make me some tea. Apparently he was sleep walking. Too funny.