| When Life Stinks, Find Your Joy! |
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| Issue No. 23 |
February 6, 2009 |
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SEND ME JOY! |
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Kelly Epperson
PO Box 2324
Loves Park, IL 61131
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CLICK HERE to Subscribe to JOY!
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February is the month of love.
I have a new love. His name is Blake. He's six, and quite a remarkable little boy. Read my column about Blake and his mom here. Their journal is at caringbridge.org (website:blakeproctor).
(I'm now looking into becoming a wish granter for Make a Wish Foundation. Wings, wand, and fairy dust must be put to good use.)
Go give someone a hug.
Words to ponder:
Ask yourself, "How long am I going to work to make my dreams come true?"
I suggest you answer, "As long as it takes."
~ Jim Rohn
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Joy = Music |
Lyrics to live by:
Everybody needs respect, just a little bit
everybody needs a chance, once in awhile....
Everybody needs to touch, ya know now and then
everybody wants a good good friend
Everybody wants to be closer to free...
"Closer to Free" ~~~BODEANS
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| Joy = Love |
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"I have been astonished that men could die martyrs for their religion -
I have shudder'd at it.
I shudder no more.
I could be martyr'd for my religion
Love is my religion
And I could die for that.
I could die for you."
~~John Keats
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| Joy = Chocolate |
Eating chocolate is a good deed!
Chocoholic Frolic
Feb 19
Clock Tower Resort, Rockford, IL
5:30 pm Social Hour
6:30 pm Chocolate Extravaganza
$25 ($20 tax deductible)
Benefits The Arc (serving people with disabilities)
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| Joy Droppings |
| What brings me joy lately?
* Caramels that give me calcium
* Night splint for plantars fasciitis
* Wearing a tiara or court jester hat while driving around town
* Everyone who honks, waves, gives thumbs up or peace sign
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| Joy = Wisdom |
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The minute you settle for less than you deserve,
you get even less than you settled for.
-Maureen Dowd
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| Joy = You |
H-A-P-P-Y B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y TO
Randy J, Machesney Park
Darren - 40 - Darren - 40 ;)
Abe Lincoln
Saint Valentine
And HB2 Betty Friedan (1921-2006), born in Peoria, IL. Her name ring a bell? She wrote The Feminine Mystique in 1963.
JANUARY BIRTHDAY WINNER = Nita Lasky!!!. Fabulous prizes - vacations, cash, cars - are not on the way. However, a lovely little joy gift is: a quotable magnet (I'm stuck in a rut) and a JOY postcard.
(New JOY seekers/spreaders: Let me know your bday. At the end of each month, I draw a name and one birthday person gets a joy present in the mail.)
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| Joy = Books & Movies |
Book Pick This Week = Using Humor to Maximize Learning by Mary Kay Morrison
Flick Pick This Week = Hamlet 2
Not a mainstream movie. I predict maybe 1% of you will like it. :)
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| Quote Junkie |
"The sweetest joy, the wildest woe is love."
Pearl Bailey
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| Joy=Speaking Gigs |
Feb 13 - Lost Art of Love Letters, Center for Learning in Retirement
Feb 18 - Lost Art of Love Letters, Rock Valley College
Feb 16 - PROGRAM SPEAKER, ROCKFORD NETWORK OF PROFESSIONAL WOMEN
Feb 18 - PROGRAM SPEAKER, NATIONAL ACTIVE AND RETIRED FEDERAL EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION
Feb 27 - PROGRAM SPEAKER, HI-TWELVE
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| Joy=Joy |
"Money is not the key to happiness, Jim. You know what is, joy."
(Thanks, MaryJoy.) |
| Joy=Great Ones |
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"There are three kinds of men:
The ones that learn by reading.
The few who learn by observation.
The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence and find out for themselves."
~ Will Rogers
from Tammi S, Oswego, IL
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| Joy = Never Give Up |
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"Don't get discouraged;
it's usually the last key in the bunch that opens the lock."
Unknown Author
from my Pal Mally,
Malcolm Perkins,
Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England
www.witty-wedding-speeches.co.uk
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Joy = Obligatory Sales Pitch |
I know, I know. I need to get pics on the website. I need a virtual assistant!
the book - When Life Stinks, It's Time to Wash the Gym Clothes.
the cards - gorgeous south of France
the shirts - C'est Bon
joy*us
If you need a writer or a speaker, I'm your gal. |
| Joy =French Lesson |
Mieux vaut tard que jamais.
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| Joy= Inspiration |
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Ever heard of Hans Augusto Reyersbach? How about H.A. Rey?
Born in Hamburg, Germany, Hans lived near a zoo, which he visited often. He loved to paint and as a young man, he designed circus posters. Later working in Rio de Janeiro with his brother-in-law, he changed his name to Rey because Reyersbach was hard for Brazilians to pronounce.
In 1935, Hans and wife Margret went back to Europe. Being Jewish, they couldn't go to Nazi Germany, so they settled in Paris. The Reys started writing a book called Cecily G. and the Nine Monkeys. One monkey was special and the Reys thought he should have a book of his own.
In June of 1940, they discovered Hitler was about to take control of Paris. Hans constructed two bicycles from spare parts he found, and on the morning of June 14, the Reys biked out of the city with some food, warm coats, and five manuscripts.
One of those manuscripts was Curious George.
The Nazis took control of Paris that afternoon. Hans and Margret biked for four days until they reached the Spanish border, and then they sold their bikes for train tickets to Lisbon. Over the next few months, they made it from Lisbon to Brazil, and then eventually to New York City. Curious George was published in 1941, and the Reys wrote and illustrated six more Curious George stories.
{Thanks to Writers Almanac for the info.}
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| Joy= |
Cindy Lynn O, : My joy was finding an espresso machine at Thrifty Boutique for $6! I'm one joyful woman this week!
Kathie M, Bradenton, FL: Joy = Roses!
Murl H, Rockford, Newly Retired: I am enjoying not having to get out into the snow until I want to!
Sue L, : This weekend was the Buddy Holly - Big Bopper - Ritchie Valens event - "50 Winters Later" at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa. with Bobbe Vee and many other "old" favorites!
Allen P, New Milford: Joy = saying EX-Governor Blagojevich.
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| Joy =Peace |
Last week's video of dancing in Liverpool Station was a big hit.
My joy readers are the best. Gale K sent the video link to all her friends with the statement, "I think there'd be no war if we all danced in public."
Love all, serve all, save the planet.
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| Joy = Rock the Vote |
What rocks the Rock River Valley? Cast your votes online. My fave places fit more than one category - and I voted that way - think Beefaroo and Anderson Gardens - both work for a great first date. :)
Voting ends Feb 15.
;-)
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| Did you know... |
"The exclamation point first appeared in print around 1400 and was known until 1700 as a "mark of admiration," .... Some scholars believe it derives from the Latin Io (meaning joy). Io, the theory goes, might have been rendered with its second letter under the first, thus producing an exclamation mark."
Feel free to call it a joy mark!
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| Ireland Trip... |
For those interested in going to Ireland June 12-21 with me and PJ and Helena Francis (the real Irish folks), we are having $ meeting late February. Details coming soon. And for those who cannot make the meeting and/or not local, I will send you the info. Many people wanted to go, but we think the reality is that maybe 25 people will actually go.
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...tune playing at the moment....
you'll be the prince and I'll be the princess,
it's a love story
baby just say yes..............
Love Story by Taylor Swift
(It's official. I am a teenage girl.) |
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I went to Barrage at Rockford College this week - a "high-octane fiddle-fest" - gloriously enjoyable. A FUN concert experience. And I learned that joy works in mysterious ways.
Due to a mix-up with the waiting list, I was without a ticket to this sold out show. Due to a chance encounter with a joy reader who recognized me from my column picture and the Womanspace catalog, I was gifted a ticket. Little joys are big joys. Thank you, Deb Dietz (and friend Kathy), you made my night.
joyfully,
xx kelly
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