Time management and the ducks

Check this out. I found this little gem on Pinterest. It's an alarm clock that forces you out of bed, to kill the alarm you must swing your legs to the floor and put your weight on it. Why in the name of all that's good would anyone want one of these?

Technology is everywhere isn't it? From garage door openers to the programmable coffee maker and remote controls that run everything. Seriously, you could sit down in a rolling chair (who needs to walk?) and slide from one end of your home to the other turning on the ceiling fan, answering the phone, turning on the television, fireplace and never getting out of your seat!

Since that clunky old bag phone I proudly carried many years ago, the convenience of knocking out a few important calls while in route or receiving a call to pinch hit for school pick up when young moms are covered up or not feeling well, is indeed priceless. Without technology this would be a missed opportunity, right? I for one, could kiss the guy who first put a alarm and auto-start on a coffee pot. #sheerbrilliance
Waking in the morning from the smell of coffee ALREADY MADE is one of life's greatest pleasures. It's like starting your day on vacation every day. Pure heaven.

To say that life is often hectic, is an understatement. When you are saying "things will settle down after the Holidays" then you look up and it's June, something is wrong. Life it seems is getting more and more out of hand and I notice, we are allowing it.
I often think about when we were young married and had all this free time. We would sit and discuss what to watch on television, mull over current events or just sit and laugh together.
These days we spend fifteen minutes looking for our chargers, [one of us can't seem to keep up with HIS charger], return emails from the day- because we were too busy during the day, grab a quick dinner and fall into bed hoping for a good nights sleep to possibly begin the next day rested. Are you tired yet? All this activity makes my brain tired.

I'm not talking about the kind of tired where you walk into a room and can't remember what you were there for. I'm talking more like "whose house am I in and what year is this" tired. 

Then sometimes God just smacks me right in the face. After a lengthy illness my cell phone died. #theblackscreenofdeath Now I must have a new phone, because... well, someone might need me.
I remember the days when we did not run to the phone to see who's calling. You sat around on the porch lamenting over why you ate so much of Aunt Cora's pie while talking with family. If the phone rang it was seen more as an interruption of life than anything else.
I detest the new phone process.
"You should consider upgrading Mrs Crossley, you have rather old phone technology."
~You know what phones are meant to do young man? Make calls. If you will find me another one that does that, I will be very happy.
"Mrs Crossley, with an upgrade you can stream video live and sync your phone to your t.v. and refrigerator"
~Useful I'm sure but no thank you.

I took advantage of technology and ordered my phone online. Now we wait.

I was unplugged for a week... amidst this painful technologically advanced process something important started happening. Peace. I listened to a cd I haven't listened to in a very long time. One of my favorites. Take a listen here. 

Lauren Daigle, Once and for All 

I went through all the old Christmas decor, tossed the ragged and packed away the good. I've been wanting to do that forever. I sent out long overdue postcards. I piled up on the couch and read. Caught myself watching the ducks on the lake behind our home.  Don and I sat on the screen porch in the dark and talked about his day, my day and when the next camping trip may happen. I looked through cookbooks for something new and exciting to cook, snuggled babies and kissed on a six year old while he told me of his day, all with NO distractions. There were no notification knocks of urgency, no constant calls to pull me in... Yes I managed to get to email and work as I needed. I returned phone calls as well but the distractions that happen on a moment by moment basis were gone. What began as an annoyance at not being connected soon became serenity. Those sounds agitate me now. I'm not sure if it's my age, recent losses or the state of this world but the desire for peace and quiet far outweigh the desire for connection.

I have a shiny new phone now. Guess what? It makes calls even though it was made back in 2014. [Apparently, people can hardly wait to pay massive amounts of cash to have the newest phone technology, only to be upstaged in six months by the next new phone.] Good luck with that. I have no plans of adding all those distractions back to my life. I may be missing a few things as they happen but I think I will muster through.

If it's important, I urge you to use your words and contact me or maybe not? You may be leaving distractions behind as well. Technology is great but there are limitations to it's usefulness.

If you need me, I'll be on the porch watching the ducks. 

Thursday Thoughts with Buttons... Mornings.

Each morning the first thing we do is go where the "Flyers" are. I wear a leash where my hooman doesn't get lost. Oh, I do something she likes before we go out. It's called "sit?" I put my backside on the floor and for some reason it makes her so happy. She rubs my head every time and tells the Old Gray One I'm smart.
Hoomans do not take long to train, you have to be consistent and patient with them. My hooman wears this raggedy old housecoat outside, so embarrassing.  I hope no one sees us. It's early though, I think we are safe.
I do my relieving quickly but it's all the smells that get me. I mean seriously, do you smell all this stuff?  Someone was here since last night. Who was it? Was it the Flyers? I do not trust those Flyers, they sit in the trees and seem to be mocking me. They won't talk to me. They go up high where I can't watch them. [Just thinking about them makes me mad]

Smells, all the smells... HOOGE smells. They were in OUR yard and hooman seems not to care. I'm at a complete loss as to why? She even seems to like the flyers. What for? They don't bring you a ball or anything? I think they are useless.

I have two hoomans and the Old Gray One is slower, his legs seem to not work well in the mornings. It takes him longer to get up and get ready to go outside. I keep hopping around to see if he knows how to hop but he never does it. [I do not think he is very smart but he's cute and friendly] I get my ball for him too and drop it off the bed where he can fetch it. He fetches well. I tell you, so easily trained!

The flyers made me hungry this morning and we go in again. My hooman wipes the bottom of my feet where I'm comfortable. She gives me crunchy food in a shiny bowl and cool water out of the big box in the kitchen. I love cool water. Hooman takes her brown water from a machine and my ball to the outside room and she throws it for me until I sit down beside her. It's going to be a good day.

Thursday Thoughts with Buttons

When my daughter was only a little girl of four or five she begged for a cat. As parents we did our level best to avoid, deter and try to get her interested in other things (for many years.) Finally when she was  thirteen I could justify being a cat-less household no longer. There came a delicate little Siamese named Topaz, a tiny little kitten-gentle, good natured and playful.
In her later years she became "our" cat when Danielle went off to college and she made the move to our bed to sleep under my arm each night. She resided with us until her passing in 2005, at the age of 16. Along the way we gained a husky Maine Coon fellow who relentlessly traded barbs with Topaz. Then came another cat.. who finally passed away in early 2015.
We were (are) for the first time in ages a strangely "cat less" household. Cat toys still occupy little nooks and crannies around the house. One day there will be an awkward conversation around my casket.
"There's something in the casket, see it? It's beside your mom's arm. It's fuzzy"
"Oh, that's KittyWitchens Ladybug. Mother played fetch with him and the Ladybug. It was his favorite." 

I can't seem to discard those little trinkets just yet, it's like those hand prints your children made at VBS when they were small. Still have all those too. I can never decide where to store them but I have them.
I find it a fascinating part of the human condition, don't you? It's a $2 ladybug but it tells more about how much we need and were designed for love than we care to admit. Our brain rejects something for so long, because of what all sanity and reason tells us will be a huge headache in our life. There will be vet visits, cat litter to be cleaned out, behavior issues, extra work and we all know who ends up doing all the care when animals are in a household.
Then your brain ceases to work rationally, your heart takes over at the first sight, snuggle or purr of that little kitten and. . . you now own a cat.

I will admit it feels a little odd that we are cat-less these days. It's hard to mess with perfection, they were three of the very best felines ever and to be completely transparent, it took far too long to stop thinking of them. I can't even entertain the idea of another. We've spent the better part of thirty-seven years with our cat friends.

Life marches on as it has a way of doing and we have another"furry friend" of a different color! I have spoken of him before, his name is Buttons. [Short for Benjamin Button] Buttons is a ball of love and happiness wrapped up in a complex little Mini Schnauzer. He was a gift from a neighbor who loved the dog but had no time for him, with his busy schedule. On that January evening almost two years ago, he became ours and I will forever be grateful for him. He loves us both, nearly losing his mind when his dad pulls in the driveway but he is clearly MY dog. I'm not quite sure how it happens, an animal choosing it's human. Buttons hasn't eluded to any kind of system in choosing a human but I'm thinking it can't just be random? I don't know, maybe this is a subject we should explore further at another time.
Buttons is very vocal and has impressed upon me, his need to feel more involved with the day-to-day running of things. He feels since he's just turned two, it's time he contributed to the blog.

Buttons will not be tackling politics or heavy duty issues because frankly he doesn't care much about those things. He will discuss subjects closer to home- dirt, other dogs, human friends, choosing  happiness every day, home remodeling and has current fascination with creatures that fly.

Look for Buttons first contribution to the blog tomorrow. 

I'm thinking about those bones.

When I rose this morning, the sun was up. The ground was damp from early rain, the birds were singing and the ducks are squawking on the lake. The puppy was clambering to go outside, hopping and jumping around me. There is coffee to be made, bills to pay, calls to make and clothes to wash. Today is inauguration day in America and as happens every election, some are not happy about this day. I totally get you and I truly sympathize. I felt the same way eight years ago as we elected a man to the presidency who had just over two years experience in the Senate. That day, I was not happy. My discontent had ~not one single thing~ to do with the color of his skin or his character, as I knew nothing of this man. It was rather his lack of experience that bothered me. Mind you, I'm not a fan of career politicians either. My hope was for someone fresh and inspiring, bringing dignity back to the office. Someone full of great humility. Someone to stem the tide of utter chaos that is becoming a daily occurrence in this country. A person who could bring this fractured nation together. I respect the Obama's for the loving, family unit we see. I'm as sure as I can be, they are genuine. Their beautiful girls grew up right in front of us, reminiscent of the Kennedy, Carter and Reagan children I watched grow up during my adult life.
If you want to blame anyone that our choices were slim to none..look in the mirror. We have a generation of people that cannot function if the power goes out. They do not talk to each other.[Look around any restaurant when you are out] Oh yes, they text and snapchat but they have little use for the english language. They speak in emojis. The average american watches more than 5 hours of television each day. 2-11 yr olds watch 24 hours a week. Most adults in America can't tell you the three branches of government but they know the name and age of every Kardashian. Masses of people take their daily news from social media and are offended by everything. Remember watching SNL? Did you laugh at people?

I was not pleased with my choices this election. My choice of candidate was out in the early rounds. He is smart, soft-spoken, well educated, grew up working hard to achieve his goals. Thoughtful about the words that come from his mouth and looks to God for guidance. I really was encouraged but he wasn't shiny, flashy enough, his ego wasn't big enough. You see, I believe babies are babies at the moment they are conceived and are infinitely more important than protection of the tufted titmouse or the spotted owl. I think we have way too much government spending and elected officials who set one standard for the people they represent and quite another for themselves. Did you know, there isn't a single congress(person) using Obamacare? Are you shocked? You should be.
As we've watched this election progress and watched the entire system lose it's collective mind over Donald J. Trump throwing his hat into the ring, it begs the question why? Is it possible for the first time in a long times someone was tampering with the good thing they had going? Democrats and Republicans alike went "insane" at the thought of this man in office. Personally, I thought it was a joke or a ploy to place a candidate Trump preferred forward. Late in the game he would withdraw placing "his" candidate in the correct spot for the win. As this soap opera progressed it became apparent, it was not a joke. It's January 19th, 2017 and our president-elect will take his oath of office in a short time. Mr Trump was not my choice, not by a long shot. However, I am an adult and will accept and respect the process used in our country, as I did eight years ago. Something important too, I will give him a chance.

My God says I cannot be double-minded. As a believer & follower of Christ, I have a constant, compelling desire to live fully for Him. I can't condemn a man and pray for a man at the same time. I must put aside my feelings(it's not about me) and pray. I did it for eight years for another president, I can do it now. I do not know what the future holds but I know the same god that parted the sea, feed thousands with leftovers and healed the blind, can take care of this country.

There's a song that really touches my heart co-written (Michael Farren) and sung by Lauren Daigle. It's called Come Alive (Dry Bones). Its the story of Ezekiel [Chapter 37:1-14] and the valley of dry bones. God brought Ezekiel to walk among the dry bones. God shows Ezekiel a dry and dusty place where death reigned and all hope was gone, except, He is God. What it must have been like for Ezekiel being led back and forth across that place with the hand of God upon him. "Can these bones live?" poses the living God. Ezekiel knows only God has the answer.. God told Ezekiel to prophesy into the dry bones,
4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

God called up an army that day, His people.

It's been an awkward, uncomfortable feeling of taking sides and constant protests and malcontent for more than a year. The hate and fear is palpable. Fear of what's to come and safety for people who feel they aren't seen as equal in the eyes of the law. Change is required.

There are a few things I will not do. I will not allow social media to manipulate me. I will not read all the fake news stories forwarded to me. I will temper my time on social media, because it isn't productive or important for my life. Even if we suspect the stories are fake, it is salacious and intriguing. Before you know it, you forgot the details but it's taken up residence in your head (and mine) and wrecked our thoughts.

That is the intended purpose, to incite you. Recognize the difference in "incite" and "insight."

Lauren Daigle's commentary on this song is spot on. We are called not to judge (it's not our job) but stand in the gap for those in need and most of all, to tell others our God is bigger. I have peace knowing the battle has already been won, the ending has been written and God is on His throne. I hope and pray God's people will respond.
Today, I will pray because that's all I can do. Pray for this nation and it's new leadership, for us to lay down our verbal and emotional weapons and take up the cross.