Home Is Where The Heart Is

As of 4:00 PM EST Friday, Melody became a Stay At Home Mom...... Home may be where the heart is, but a Mom is the heart of a home. I know that it isn't going to be an easy adjustment. I don't know of a time that Mel hasn't worked. When I first met her she was working for a florist doing arrangements. I think she was working there when she sent the beautiful fall arrangement to me at my work? They were so beautiful as was the thought behind it, but the arrangement had a wee bit of golden rod in it and it was closing my throat to where I was just barely able to breathe. I still have to smile when I think of that. I fixed it right up though by taking the golden rod out of the arrangement. It was still a beautiful arrangement even without the golden rod ......

From being a florist she went to work in the office of a lumber company. I used to tell people that my daughter-in-law was a lumber jack. It took a lot for her to change jobs, but this meant more money. In the winter I worried about her driving the distance to her job because I know she was nervous about driving in the snow. She did it though and became a valued employee.

Again it was difficult to make a job change, but the pay, benefits and experience of a new job offer couldn't be ignored. Right around the time that Riley was born Mel went to work in the city auditors office making sure that our emergency service responders received their paychecks. Now Mel can put all those other hats in storage for a while and take out the Domestic Engineer hat and wear it for a while. I know the children will be so happy to have her home for them. I hear people complain about staying home, saying that it gets boring, but I know from experience that there is always something that needs doing if you look for it. I can also speak from experience that being a stay at home Mom can be very rewarding. Congratulations Mel!! I know that you will love having the time to do those things that you didn't have time for when you were working. I have no doubt that you will be one that loves your new job!

I am pretty sure that just about everyone reading this post can relate to the story I am about to tell you and recall an experience while shopping that fired you up and caused smoke to spurt out of your ears. I have suffered being run over by other peoples carts without even a whisper of an apology. Yet, I smiled and hobbled on down the aisle. I have been prepared to get in the check out line only to have people actually run with their carts to jump in front of me. Yet I smile and take the place behind them. I have stood in line patiently waiting while a little gray haired woman (or the occasional man) count out the price of their groceries in coins from their coin purse. I again smiled and waited patiently because I remember my own mother doing this before. I have smiled and been patient, as well as forgiving in most cases of this sort, but our last trip to the grocery store was the "I Can't Believe This" moment of all moments. It was busy time of the day to begin with and only two registers were open for check out. We were third in line with a cart full of groceries that was half unloaded on the conveyor belt. The lady at the front of the line had a fist full of coupons. With the economy like it is a person has to save where they can. The register wouldn't accept one of the coupons because she hadn't bought the item. Everything comes to a sudden halt. The cashier explains to the lady why her coupon was rejected and at the same time calls for someone to go get what the woman wanted off the shelf and bring it to the register. We wait and waiting meanwhile more people are lining up behind us. I turn my attention back to the front of the line only to find that Coupon Lady has disappeared. We all just continue waiting. After a good 15 minutes the grocery employee returns with the Coupon Lady's item. Still we wait because Coupon Lady is still out there some where. By this time we are closing in on 25 minutes waiting and the line behind us is still growing. I start standing on tippy toes watching and finally I see her coming in our direction. I am feeling relief that this ordeal is almost over. How wrong can one person be? Well let me tell you............ Coupon Lady didn't even look in our direction, instead she dashed down another aisle. I am just guessing here, but I believe she must have decided she needed to do a little more shopping. When Coupon Lady reappeared at the register she didn't come empty handed. To answer your question; No, I wasn't nice about it. Yes, I complained just like everyone else in line. The bottom line is that everyone has their breaking point. Evidently mine is when people go off to finish their shopping after the cashier has started ringing up the items in their carts.

May Your Greatest Treasures Be God's Blessings !

Shine All Night

As a Christmas gift Chris, Melody and children gave me a ticket to the 'Shine All Night Tour' featuring Trace Adkins and Martina McBride. Melody remembered that attending a Martina concert was on my Bucket List. I'm glad that she has a good memory. Melody and her friend Kate are fans of Trace so this was a win~win ~win concert. We went early so we could eat at this really wonderful Italian restaurant, Buca di Beppo before the concert. They serve the food family style in large bowls that you fill your plate from. The food was delicious and abundant.

Trace's performance was really outstanding. Our tickets were for the 3rd row center. The only way that our seating could have been better would be if it was right on the stage. The stage was high enough that if we had sat any closer I wouldn't have been able to see. Did I mention once that I am not short, but we'll just say that I am Fun Sized. Even in the third row we were up close and almost personal.

There was a group in front of us on the first row that spent pretty much all of the performance on their feet. I don't know what they were saying, but at one point between songs Trace asked them if they realized they weren't watching television, because he could hear what they were saying..... lol

I was quite impressed with Kate and Melody. Not once did I have to restrain them from trying to climb up on the stage and neither of them threw underwear on the stage. There was a little gal about 3 years old that had a poster saying that she wanted a kiss from Trace. Trace had her passed from row to row to the stage and she received her kiss. I know there had to be some envious big girls in that audience.

WOW!! I hardly know where to begin when I write about Martina. She is every bit the person I thought she would be. She was one with her audience...... Not in the least did she act as if she was above any one. It was more than obvious that she has not forgotten where she came from. All of which puts even more meaning to the words of her songs. When she sang 'Love's The Only House' you felt the sincerity of every word. She is just a little bitty thing with a big voice that filled that arena.

At one point Martina sat on the edge of the stage and sang a few songs. Mingling with her audience and being more on an eye to eye level with us. She kept us all amazed and waiting to see what would come next. She disappeared briefly while we were being entertained by her band. Out of the floor of the stage arose a blue crescent moon and there was Martina sitting on it. The moon carried her to the back of the floor seating area to another stage where the moon lowered and Martina stepped onto that stage and sang a few songs for her fans that were seated there.

Did she climb back on the moon and ride it back to the front stage? No, Martina walked among her fans back to the front stage touching hand to hand with all along her way.

I had an amazing night that I will never forget. Thank you Chris, Melody and children for my Christmas gift. Kate and Melody only added to how special the night was for me. Thanks girls, I would go any where with the two of you.

For a little while that night I was able to take my mind from the grieving of my heart over Buddy. Trace gained a new fan that night and my admiration of Martina increased twofold.

May God's blessings rain down on you.......

A Hole In Our Heart

~ February 19, 2010~
Buddy went home to the Angels.

My sunshine doesn't come from the skies,
It comes from the love in my dog's eyes.

~Unknown Poet

In his grief from the loss of a dog, a little boy stands for the first time on tiptoes, peering into the rueful morrow of manhood. After this most inconsolable of sorrows there is nothing life can do to him that he will not somehow be able to bear.

~James Thurber

Thorns may hurt you,
men desert you,
Sunlight turn to fog;
But you are never friendless ever,
If you have a dog.

~ Douglas Mallock

Until one has loved an animal,
A part of one's soul
remains unawakened.

~Anatole France

I talk to him when I am lonesome;
And I am sure he understands.
When he looks at me so attentively,
And gently licks my hand;
Then he rubs his nose on my tailored clothes,
But I never say naught there at.
For the good Lord knows
I can buy more clothes,
But never have a friend like that.

~W. Dayton Wedgeforth

It was a Sunny February afternoon 2009 when we went for a little ride and found our Buddy living in a home that was just barely fit for habitation. Buddy had been advertised in Freecycle and it was a win win situation for Buddy and us. Buddy found a new home and we found a wee critter to love and care for.

Little did we know that this little furry critter was going to walk into our heart and take up residence there as quickly and completely as he did. Buddy came complete with his own baggage. He was very skeptical when it came to men. He just wanted nothing to do with them. Of course J.D. wasn't going to just let it stay that way. Little by little he won Buddy's trust and his love. At some point in Buddy's life someone must have hurt his feet because he was very protective of them. He loved to cuddle with me and it wasn't long before he allowed me to gently pet his little paws as he laid with me or as he sat on my lap at the computer. When J.D. tried to pet his feet Buddy would let out a very slow and low growl that sounded more like a purr. Eventually though he allowed J.D. to pet on his paws without the purr.

I asked the girl that we got Buddy from what kind of food was he eating and she help up a small plastic bag with a handful of the small milk bones in it. Not only did that change to a good nourishing dog food, but Buddy learned that if he begged real sweet and put on a pitiful little face that just about anything that he wanted in the way of food would be shared with him. Buddy didn't just receive love, he gave the love back. Any time that the grandchildren stayed over night, Buddy was up in the middle of the night checking on them and even jumping up into bed with them for a little while just to share the love. Seth being the youngest and littlest attracted Buddy with a special love and caring that he wouldn't give to others. I have to tell you tthe secret that Seth used to win that trust with..... a bag of potato chips. We found Seth on the couch one evening with a full bag of chips on one side of him and Buddy on the other side and Seth giggling as he fed the chips to Buddy one by one. He loved to run and when the boys were here that was always on the agenda.

He was a little ball of energy at times and after J.D. had earned his trust and love, when he was feeling especially playful it was J.D. that he sought out. They played fetch, keep away and hide and seek with the ball. J.D. would wrap the ball up with the bath towel that we kept by the door to dry Buddy's feet with after he had been outside. Buddy would work on getting his ball out of the towel and finally succeed on freeing it. He had played that game just a couple of times and we caught him hiding the ball himself folding the towel over his ball with his nose until it was completely hidden and then freeing it like he did when J.D. hid it. He loved to play rough with J.D. too. J.D. would put on his leather work gloves and let Buddy attack, gnaw, growl and chew on his hands to his hearts content. Yet, he knew that was a game he only played with J.D. and only when he had the gloves on. Yet he was always gentle with me and the children. Over the last few months Buddy had become even closer to J.D. to the point that he was cuddling with J.D. in the recliner when he just didn't do that before.

In the year that Buddy had been with us he had only gone into the road at the most maybe two times. We don't have a clue as to what enticed him to the road on Friday. What ever it was, it would prove to be the last time Buddy would run into the road. I missed my shadow following me through the house and asked J.D. if Buddy had gone out to make some more yellow snow. He wasn't in the house, so we figured he had slipped out when J.D. was bringing fire wood in. J.D. called him a couple of times and when Buddy didn't answer (he always came when J.D. called) J.D. went to the road. I watched as J.D. came down the path carrying Buddy. I knew right then that Buddy was hurt. Otherwise, he would have been struggling to get down and run in the snow. J.D. thought that Buddy was already gone when he picked his limp little body up out of the pool of blood that he was laying in after being hit by a car. When he got him to the house though Buddy moved his eyes when he heard my voice. We wrapped Buddy in his towel and called the vet to let them know we would be bring Buddy in as an emergency. Our Buddy took his final breath half way to the vet's office.

Buddy had my heart wrapped around his paw and he had a sturdy grip on J.D.'s heart as well. No words were needed to know the pain, loss and emptiness that we share over the loss of Buddy. J.D. has always been a tower of strength for me through some pretty difficult times. The death of Buddy brought him to his knees though. I grieve for the loss of our furry little ball of love and my heart aches for the pain that J.D. is dealing with as well.

Buddy, you left a hole in our heart that feels as if it will never be healed. My mind tells me that in time the heart will heal, but my heart says there is no way to heal such a large wound. In spite of the pain that we are dealing with over your death, Boo Puppy, we are grateful that God placed you in our life even for such a short time. We are even more grateful that in the last year of your life we were able to give you more love and and caring than you knew what to do with.

Sleep in peace little one, until we can be together again in another life.

When You Thought I Wasn't Looking

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator and I immediately wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you feed a stray cat and I learned that is was good to be kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you make my favorite cake for me and I learned that the little things can be the specially things in life.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I heard you say a prayer and I knew there was a God that I can always talk to and I learned to trust Him.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you make a meal and take it to a friend who was sick and I learned we all have to help take care of each other.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you take care of our house and everyone in it and I learned we have to care of what we are given.

When you though I wasn't looking, I saw you handle your responsibilities even when you didn't feel good and I learned that I would have to be responsible when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw tears come from your eyes and I learned
that sometimes things hurt, but it's alright to cry.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw that you cared and I wanted to be
everything that I could be.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I learned most of life's lessons that I need to know to be a good and productive person when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I wanted to say, "Thanks for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn't looking."

When I find a story, a poem or a quote that I want to share with my friends and it is marked 'Author Unknown' I always try to find out who the author is and pass that information on. The credit for the above tribute was given to the famous 'Author Unknown'. I set out on my search and I found not only who the author was, but the story behind this unknown author.

Mary Rita Schilke Korzan wrote a poem to her mother 24 years ago, thanking her for all she had done as a mother, friend, and role model. She gave the poem to her mother and, a few months later, offered it as a tribute when Mary and her husband were married. So many wedding guests asked for a copy that Mary included one in her thank-you notes.Then began the strange and heartwarming journey of Mary's poem to her mom. Friends passed it on to those they knew. A minister in her hometown couldn't recall who gave it to him, but he included the by-then "anonymously written" poem in his book about loving others. Another author picked it up from there for her compilation of heartfelt works, and Mary finally noticed her poem, now listed as "Author Unknown," in A Fourth Course of Chicken Soup for the Soul, which her husband and children gave her as a Mother's Day gift.With this new book, readers have the chance to experience When You Thought I Wasn't Looking in its entirety and from its creator. This is the special kind of book that reminds us that sometimes the little things we do "just because" mean more to someone than we can ever know. Those little things teach love, compassion, and understanding. In other words, they're priceless.

I hope your day is filled with blessings and remember "When you think they aren't looking, they are learning from what you do and say."

Story of a Challenged Senior Citizen

I thought about the 30 year business I ran with 1,800 employees, all without a Blackberry that played music, took videos, pictures and communicated with Face book and Twitter.

I signed up under duress for Twitter and Face book, so my seven kids, their spouses, 13 grand kids and 2 great grand kids could communicate with me in the modern way.. I figured I could handle something as simple as Twitter with only 140 characters of space.

That was before one of my grand kids hooked me up for Tweeter, Tweetree, Twhirl, Twitterfon, Tweetie and Twittererific Tweetdeck, Twitpix and something that sends every message to my cell phone and every other program within the texting world.

My phone was beeping every three minutes with the details of everything except the bowel movements of the entire next generation. I am not ready to live like this. I keep my cell phone in the garage in my golf bag.

The kids bought me a GPS for my last birthday because they say I get lost every now and then going over to the grocery store or library. I keep that in a box under my tool bench with the Blue tooth [Blue tooth but it's red] phone I am supposed to use when I drive. I wore it once and was standing in line at Barnes and Noble talking to my wife as everyone in the nearest 50 yards was glaring at me. Seems I have to take my hearing aid out to use it and I got a little loud.

I mean the GPS looked pretty smart on my dash board, but the lady inside was the most annoying, rudest person I had run into in a long time. Every 10 minutes, she would sarcastically say, "Re-cal-cu-lating." You would think that she could be nicer. It was like she could barely tolerate me. She would let go with a deep sigh and then tell me to make a U-turn at the next light. Then when I would make a right turn instead, it was not good.

When I get really lost now, I call my wife and tell her the name of the cross streets and while she is starting to develop the same tone as Gypsy, the GPS lady, at least she loves me (after 50+ years I certainly hope so).

To be perfectly frank, I am still trying to learn how to use the cordless phones in our house. We have had them for 4 years, but I still haven't figured out how I can lose three phones all at once and have to run around digging under chair cushions and checking bathrooms and the dirty laundry baskets when the phone rings. It was a lot easier when it was connected to a cord (for the kids out there reading this, yes, there used to be a cord attached to the phone - and we only had one phone in the house! I won't even go into "party lines" but older folks know what I'm talking about).

The world is just getting too complex for me. They even mess me up every time I go to the grocery store. You would think they could settle on something themselves but this sudden "Paper or Plastic?" every time I check out just knocks me for a loop. I bought some of those cloth reusable bags to avoid looking confused but I never remember to take them in with me. Now, I toss it back to them. When they ask me, "Paper or Plastic?" I just say, "Doesn't matter to me. I am bi-sacksual."

Then it's their turn to stare at me with a blank look.

Note from Jo: I received the above story in my e-mail and as I read it I found myself thinking, "WOW that sounds familiar!"

I had seen a lot on line about Face Book and Twitter and never had the first desire to sign up for either of them. Then one day I get an e-mail from Chris telling me that I need to sign up for Face Book to make communication with my family a lot easier. What is easier than picking up the phone and dialing a number? Especially when you already know how to use the phone. I have to admit that through Face Book I have been able to connect with a lot of people from my past that I had long ago lost touch with...... I am thankful for that.

My daughter signed up on Face Book and was playing all sorts of games. I thought I would try a few of them, but as I read the instructions to one particular game I ended up just sitting here looking at the monitor in total confusion. I did not have a clue. I found one game that I understand which I play most of the time, but that is it.

When it comes to cell phones that is a whole other bag of worms. When our contract ran out last spring we went to the phone store and renewed it and picked out a couple of new phones to go along with the new 2 year contract. I thought it would be so much easier to get one of the Palm Centro phones, that way we could do the whole calendar schedule thing and not only be organized, but up to date and organized. Forget that, when it came to synchronizing everything, I was wandering around totally without a clue. Not only did my schedules of important dates and occasions never make it to the cell phone, but just trying to retrieve voice messages and make phone calls took us months of studying the instruction book and we still aren't using those phones to their full potential.

I thought it was really funny that the Grandpa in the story above had named his GPS too. Ours goes by Maggie and you may not believe this, but Maggie has a real attitude problem. Every time we go south she insists on sending us through Cincinnati. I really prefer not to go through or even around most big cities. We usually go ahead and program the old girl and go south into Kentucky and wind our way over to I-65. When we travel there is usually no hurry to get where we are going because JD is retired and we don't have to be in a rush. Every few seconds she is telling us to make a right at the next road or make a u-turn and on and on. I noticed when we went to Cincinnati for Britt's All State Choir performance resently when we weren't following Maggie's instructions to the letter she was rolling her eyes and being sarcastic.

I remember a time in the not too distant past when any time there was anything electronic that need to be done I was volunteered to do it. Anything from hooking up a VCR or Sega Game to the TV or programming the answering machine and connecting it to the phone. One of the biggest difference between then and now can be seen in the instructions. Then, there was maybe one or two pages with pictures that actually resembled th back of the TV. Now, the instructions come in the form of a book with many pages and very small print. When I get the nerve to look at the back of a TV now, I can not get over the number of little do dads that are back there just waiting for you to hook up at least 15 different items to work with your TV.

It is safe to say that my day of being mistaken as a technical whiz kid is a thing of my past. If any of our children decides they want to buy us something electronic to make life easier for us, they need to be prepared to come out and hook it up for us.

Happy Valentines Day

True love stories never have endings.

~ Richard Bach

You have to walk carefully in the beginning of love: the running across fields into your lover's arms can only come later when you're sure they won't laugh if you trip.

~Jonathan Carroll

I love thee ~ I love thee,
'Tis all I can say,
It is my vision in the night,
My dreaming in the day.

~ Thomas Hood

~ Especially for my J.D.~

Grow old with me!
The best is yet to be.

~ Robert Browning

Happy Valentines Day!

Please remember, it is never too late to live happily ever after....

Silence Is Golden ???

Time is too slow for those who wait,
too swift for those who fear,
too long for those who grieve,
too short for those who rejoice,
but for those who love, time is eternity.

~ Henry Van Dyke

Silence may very well be golden when it comes to wanting alone time to meditate. Silence is not golden though when it comes to the heart and a silent heart attack. Until about two years ago I had never heard of a silent heart attack. My Endocrinologist (my diabetic boot camp drill Sgt.) had sent me to see a cardiologist for some test after having pains in my chest and jaw. They did a heart catheterisation and determined that the stress test results that had indicated the need for this procedure was a false positive. It was when we were discussing these results that I mentioned my concern about not being able to trust any symptoms I might have in the future. That is when she informed me that as a diabetic there is a very good chance that I would have a silent heart attack instead.

She peaked my curiosity and I did my research to found out all I could on this subject. Unlike your normal run of the mill heart attack, this silent version can cause severe damage to the heart without any signs or symptoms. Due to the lack of oxygen to the heart during a heart attack the heart tissues of that area dies and causes the damage to the heart and in turn the chest pains and numbness to the hand. With the silent heart attack these symptoms may not occur due to the death of nerves around the heart. Nerve damage can be very common in diabetics.

This type of heart attack is often referred to as the 'Silent Killer' because the symptoms are usually so mild they go unnoticed and undiagnosed. Some of the symptoms you might look for would be:

Mild discomfort in the chest
Shortness of breath
Sleep disturbance
Increased fatigue
Prolonged abdominal pain
Heart Burn
Clammy feel to the skin
Dizziness
Nausea

The bottom line would be that even mild symptoms should be promptly checked out.

May your blessings be many and your heart filled with love.

Heart Health Month

Poetry spills from the cracks of a broken heart,
but flows from one which is loved.

~ Christopher Paul Rubero

February is the month when we look forward to Spring being just around the corner. It is this shortest of all months that the 14th has been set aside to celebrate those that we love on Valentines Day. What better time of the year to designate as Heart Health Month.

Many people deny that they are having a heart attack because they are not feeling pains in their chest. Although the chest pains often accompany a heart attack it isn't always present. Some of the signs of a heart attack is a heaviness or pain that can spread to the left arm, neck or jaw. Many people that are experiencing a heart attack complain of shortness of breath. Often during a heart attack you may feel a burning in your chest that too many times is put off as heart burn..... It is better to be safe than sorry, treat it as a heart attack symptom. Some experience the feeling of a sense of foreboding or doom. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms follow your heart to the phone and dial 911. Do Not try to drive yourself to the hospital. The EMTs and Paramedics that will come to your rescue by dialing 911 have the knowledge and tools to keep you alive during the trip to the hospital.

There is a misconception that a stroke and heart attack are the same thing. A stroke is caused by a decreased blood flow to the brain, while with a heart attack the decreased blood flow is to the heart.

A stroke looks very different from a heart attack. Strokes often lead to a weakness on one side, confusion, difficulty speaking and even unconsciousness. Getting medical help as soon as possible could mean the difference between surviving or not surviving a stroke or a heart attack.

As much knowledge as you can arm yourself with about heart health is your best chance to live to celebrate many more Valentines Days with the one you love.

Who Dat.........

What is the recipe for successful achievement? To my mind there are just four essential ingredients: Choose a career you love. ... Give it the best there is in you.... Seize your opportunities. ... And be a member of the team.

~ Benjamin F. Fairless

Any one that missed the Super Bowl Game last night have no idea what you missed. The first quarter ended with the Saints trailing behind the Colts by 7 points. Once they got their collective heads into the game though and started playing like the team they were that took them to the Super Bowl, they took the lead and kept it. As the game ended with a victory for the Saints, the celebrations on Bourbon Street were in full swing. This wasn't just a victory for the Saints, it was also a long awaited victory for their fans, who have stuck with them through the loosing seasons too. The Saints were definitely the under dog going into this game. For some reason when the team with the most strikes against it comes out on top, it gives the average person out there that is struggling to make ends meet the hope they need to keep pushing forward. Congratulations to our Saints for a game well played and a well deserved win.