Today I'm thinking about how sometimes no matter how many changes we make, things stay the same. Or not. Or they actually do change, but WE don't. Or maybe we change, but nobody else does, so everything still feels the same.
Or, we look in the mirror and can't BELIEVE how much our faces have changed, or slipped, or krinkled, or gotten so "tired," or -- WAIT a minute: that new lip plumper really DOES plump my lips, but now how do I de-plump my eyelids?!
Then again, I am 62 years old, and my brain often plays tricks on me. For instance, my brain often mailfunctions and convinces me that I am becoming more forgetful when talking about
Peace and grins,
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 Today's Message
[NOTE: No, that was not an error at the end of my above greeting. It was my humorous (or not, you be the judge) attempt to illustrate how sometimes I not only forget what I'm talking about, but I forget I'm talking!]
We are in the throes (also the throws, as in We throws away!) of a remodeling/redecorating upgrade (read mess). We've been living in the torment since shortly after the new year began. Yes, we occasionally catch a glimpse of what the lovely Final Outcome will be (no more plaster dust up our nostrils, furniture piled sky high or newspaper on the windows), but until then, we're acclimating ourselves to CHANGE.
You might find this hard to believe (or not), but at long last I've parted with my circa late-eighties waterbed. Doing so is what ignited this onslaught of remodeling. If you read this post to my humor travel blog, you already know that my travels is what ignited my desire to say adios to the waterbed. When every bed in every hotel is more comfortable than your bed at home, it's time for a change. But next thing George knew, not only did I have a new bed, we were knocking back walls in the kitchen, and then, in an attempt to create a Great Room (well, Great Room feeling) out of the living room and dining room--why have a formal dining room when all you do is walk through it?!--we were knocking back walls there, too.
In the midst of crashing down plaster, ripping out the carpet and going with hardwood floors throughout, we (read me) also began making changes to the way we arrange things in our kitchen cabinets. But no matter how much we strive to make changes to the exteriors of our lives, in our brains, some things stay the same.
Case in point: for DECADES we've kept bills and miscellaneous "important" documents (train schedules, a few maps, banking hours etc.) in a wicker doodah (always referred to as such) housed on the bottom shelf of one of those kitchen cabinets. And for DECADES, this setup has not been altogether convenient. The location is good (near the wall calendar and heartbeat of the house), but the actual placement and space between the top of the wicker doodah and the shelf above it is too short for us to get anything in and out of the wicker doodah without scraping our fingers, knocking things out of the cabinet, or ripping the papers. For DECADES we have used this dumb system.
But I ask you, since we've undergone such extreme changes as to remove the formal dining room table from what we (read I) are now calling the Extended Living Area, aka Great Room, put the kitchen table in the Great Room, but not centered it, so that there is room for a chair and the TV and a table with a couple lamps, WHY on earth would we want to keep the dumb wicker doodah system in place? Let me herewith once again refer to the We throws away! portion of this missive!
But here is what won't change: our referral to the "wicker doodah," even though it no longer exists! I mean, how ELSE can we refer to "that area" as other than "where the wicker doodah used to be"? "That area" is now uncluttered, cleverly laid out with easily accessible folders and a removable tray, plus separators so that everything has a slot. . . . It's WONDERFUL! But frankly, "that area" is "where the wicker doodah used to be," and there is no getting us around it, even though we now boast about our Great Room, which, since we have a small house, is really not GREAT, as in HUGE-O-RAMA, but nonetheless, it's our Great Room.
So, yes, today I'm thinking about the fact that sometimes, no matter how many changes we make to the exterior of our lives, our brains strive to remain the same. The proof remains in the space where the wicker doodah used to be.
But here's the Good News: Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2 NIV) Now THAT, Dear TwinkleGrammers, is an interior rehab that can change your life forever! Doo-dah, doo-dah DAY!
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TwinkleGrammer PET Survey Says
Oh, how I LOVED reading about your pet tales/tails, including a story about a donkey and another about a GIANT turtle.
In case you're wondering which brand of pet ranks the favoritest, it is the DOG! (Hurray for Kornflake, my big red dog. Also, a Beagle won the Big Dog Show, so hurray again for Kornflake because he's a hound, too!)  As you can see, he's very excited about the win.
But you'll also see that more pets sleep in beds than do not; Alfred Hitchcock did serious damage to our psyches; and you might end up wondering if your pet makes your friends nuts.
To view the interesting survey results, click on this link. You'll find fascinating stats about all kinds of things. Please feel free to check it out, even if you didn't participate.
Since only stats, not the typed answers, are available to you, as usual, I'll herewith share some of my favorite responses. ------------------------------
A few of my fav and most thoughtful recaps about your FAVORITE pets.
Our beloved German Shepard, Sargeant. He was the most loyal dog ever... even jumping out of closed windows to scare away would be burglars!!! He was also a good judge of character on the boyfriend scene of our daughters!!! He passed away in 2006 at the age of 10, and we miss him soooo much!!! mothermoonie
My cat, m-n-m. She is the queen of the house. And she is my baby. No one but myself is allowed to touch her (her rule, not mine). She lets me know if something is unacceptable in her world. She also is the best watch dog, better than our dog which is a Doberman! dtfranzel
My favorite pet was a cat named Smokey. I loved her so much. She was a gray persian cat. Smokey was part of our family for 14 years. When my mom died, Smokey was so lost. My mom took such good care of her. I made it my job to take the best care of Smokey so she wasn't sad. I would go to Kentucky Fried Chicken and buy her roast beef sandwiches. Smokey loved them. I knew I had to spoil her like my mom did. Smokey was a very loyal cat! ceneca59
My Potbellied Pig, Hambone Frankenswine. He was totally hedonistic, loved his belly rubbed, and had to have his own way about everything. He was the hit of the local parade and I took him with me to the Renaissance Faire as part of my costume. LOL He was sweet tempered and very curious, and when he wanted something, he went through metal walls to get at it (dog food in the storage shed). dragongourd
My kids got an electronic dog last christmas. I never had to run out in the middle of the night becuase I was out of dog food. I never had to take it for a walk at the crack of dawn. My kids walked it and cuddled it and loved it. Then just about the time they were done, those cheap dollar store batteries died, and it lived under the bed until the next time they asked me for a dog. nest5robin
My favorite pet is Tiger Joe, the family tortoise. My grandparents and uncle found him in the desert 43 years ago! I inherited him in 2006. The past 2 years he has gone in to hibernation in his dog house on October 12th. Last year I had to check on him to make sure he was still ok. After bugging him, he finally came out of hibernation in May. He is a very picky eater. He likes iceberg lettuce, wandering jew and rose petals. I got 2 wandering jew plants to suprise him when he wakes up this year! tiger30
My favorite pet was a cockatiel named Ollie. He had one leg due to an accidental meeting with a ceiling fan. He whistled The Andy Griffith Show theme song and the Antiques Roadshow music. Ollie had a great vocabulary. He sat on my shoulder every night, he'd talk for a few minutes then get tucked in and slept until he was put in his cage and I went to bed . leralston
Okay....the very first pet I ever got for myself was when I was 3 or 4 years old. I grabbed a earthworm from our front yard, after poking at it with a stick. I kept it under my pillow for 3 days...my little secret pet. I didn't think ahead...my mom changed the linen on my bed and discovered my pet worm. It wasn't moving (probably due to the poke with a stick!)and my mom wanted to know why I had a worm under my pillow-she had a strong stomach! After that we got to have a pet with 4 legs! jbidinger
Our current dog Lexi who is 15 1/2. She is a sweet mixed longhaired, very sheddy retreiver. She had been our faithful friend through many life events, surgeries, moves and travels. She loves everyone and everyone loves her. We will really miss her when her time is up. But I look forward to finding her hair for years to come as a gentle reminder of our wonderful pet. dchand4546
ANIMALS YOU'D LIKE TO BE:
dog; cat; a combo "...lion with large feathery wings plus head and arms of a human! Too many science fiction books, I guess!"; barn owl; flying kangaroo; monkey, hawk; "dog belonging to my friend Sharon."
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CONGRATULATIONS! This month's Random Drawing Winner (selected from the TwinkleGram list by the Random Number Generator) is:
Cynthia Jacobs from FLORIDA!
Cynthia, I have e-mailed you privately. Please e-mail me back with your snail mail address so I can send you an autographed copy of the latest Dearest Dorothy book! | |
