Volume 22 No. 9
February 27, 2015
Nothing's gonna stop me now (excerpt)
I just wanna scream out loud
Nothing's gonna stop me now
I'm never coming off this cloud
So move over, move over, move over
You don't wanna mess with me
I know who I'm meant to be
Never gonna slow me down
Nothing's gonna stop me
Nothing's gonna stop me now

http://youtu.be/xeQbpBy6v0A



each day is a gift

The 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud mother-in-law of my best friend, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with her hair fashionably coiffed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.  

 

Maurine Jones is the most lovely, gracious, dignified woman that I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. While I have never aspired to attain her depth of wisdom, I do pray that I will learn from her vast experience.  

 

After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready. As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window.  

 

"I love it," she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

 

 "Mrs. Jones, you haven't seen the room ... just wait."  

 

"That doesn't have anything to do with it," she replied. "Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged ... it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it."  

 

"It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do.  

 

Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away, just for this time in my life.  

 

Old age is like a bank account...you withdraw from what you've put in. So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories."  

 

     ~ Written by Cheri Musick who is a most articulate and attractive Dallas writer. The original story first appeared in the Park Cities People, a weekly Texas publication. When I asked her about the story she said: "I am so pleased that you enjoyed the story regarding Maurine. Her time on earth has ended but her wisdom lives on" ~

 


time to smile

NUDITY 

I was driving with my three young children one warm summer evening when a woman in the convertible ahead of us stood up and waved.  She was stark naked!  As I was reeling from the shock, I heard my 5-year-old shout from the back seat, "Mom, that lady isn't wearing a seat belt!" 


OPINIONS

On the first day of school, a first-grader handed his teacher a note from his mother. It read, "The opinions expressed by this child are not necessarily those of his parents."
 

 
KETCHUP
A woman was trying hard to get the ketchup out of the jar. During her struggle the phone
rang so she asked her 4-year-old daughter to answer the phone. "Mommy can't come to the phone to talk to you right now, she's hitting the bottle."
 
MORE NUDITY
A little boy got lost at the YMCA and found himself in the women's locker room. When he was spotted, the room burst into shrieks, with ladies grabbing towels and running for cover. The little boy watched in amazement and then asked, "What's the matter, haven't you ever seen a little boy before?"
 

 

POLICE # 1
While taking a routine vandalism report at an elementary school, I was interrupted by a little girl about 6 years old. Looking up and down at my uniform, she asked, "Are you a cop?"

 

"Yes," I answered and continued writing the report.

 

"My mother said if I ever needed help I should ask the police. Is that right?"

 

"Yes, that's right," I told her.

 

"Well, then," she said, as she extended her foot toward me, "would you please tie my shoe?"

 
POLICE #2
It was the end of the day when I parked my police van in front of the station. As I gathered
my equipment, my K-9 partner, Jake, was barking, and I saw a little boy staring in at me. 'Is that a dog you got back there?' he asked. 'It sure is,' I replied. Puzzled, the boy looked at me and then towards the back of the van. Finally he said, 'What'd he do?"
 
ELDERLY
While working for an organization that delivers lunches to elderly shut-ins, I used to take my 4-year-old daughter on my afternoon rounds. She was unfailingly intrigued by the various appliances of old age, particularly the canes, walkers and wheelchairs. One day I found her staring at a pair of false teeth soaking in a glass. As I braced myself for the inevitable barrage of questions, she merely turned and whispered, 'The tooth fairy will never believe this!'
 
 
DRESS-UP
A little girl was watching her parents dress for a party. When she saw her dad donning his tuxedo, she warned, 'Daddy, you shouldn't wear that suit.' 'And why not, darling?' 'You know that it always gives you a headache the next morning.'
 
DEATH
While walking along the sidewalk in front of his church, our minister heard the intoning of a prayer that nearly made his collar wilt. Apparently, his 5-year-old son and his playmates
had found a dead robin. Feeling that proper burial should be performed, they had secured a small box and cotton batting, then dug a hole and made ready for the disposal of the deceased. The minister's son was chosen to say the appropriate prayers and with sonorous dignity intoned his version of what he thought his father always said: 'Glory be unto the Father, and unto the Son, and into the hole he goes.' (I want this line used at my funeral!)
 
SCHOOL
A little girl had just finished her first week of school. 'I'm just wasting my time,' she said to
her mother. 'I can't read, I can't write, and they won't let me talk!'

 

BIBLE  

A little boy opened the big family Bible.  He was fascinated as he fingered through the old pages.  Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible.  He picked up the object and looked at it.  What he saw was an old leaf that had been pressed in between the pages.  'Mama, look what I found,' the boy called out.  'What have you got there, dear?'  With astonishment in the young boy's voice, he answered, 'I think it's Adam's underwear!'  




EDUCATIONAL & NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES

VNAA Annual Conference
New Orleans, LA
April 20-22, 2015

FOR MORE INFO  

CAHSAH Annual
Palm Springs, CA
May 19-21, 2015

FOR MORE INFO 

NAHC 2015 Financial Management Conference & Exposition
Nashville, TN
June 28-30, 2015

FOR MORE INFO
 
NAHC Annual
Nashville, TN
October 28 - 30, 2015





 
Newsletter Archives
THOUGHT PROVOKING QUOTES
"I've learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances."   - Martha Washington

"The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up."   - Mark Twain

"A true friend is one soul in two bodies." - Aristotle

"Tell a person they are brave, and you help them become so."  - Thomas Carlyle

"There is only one passion, the passion for happiness."  - Denis Diderot

"The best way to predict the future is to create it."  - Peter F. Drucker

"There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy." - Ralph H. Blum

"What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness." - Jean Jacques Rousseau

"It's not how much we give but how much love we put into giving." - Mother Teresa

"The road to daily happiness is not hard to find; it's what we do for others that brings us peace of mind." - Unknown