Just Stuff!

I love stuff.  Not as much as my mom....but I still love stuff.  I learned Sunday at church that stuff is something you need to give to God.  I am at the Emmaus Walk....and hopefully when I return home on Saturday night....I will be a whole lot lighter.  I am planning on leaving a lot of "stuff" at Camp Alimisco.  Thanks Trina for making sure my posts were up for me.  See you all Saturday with some totally awesome pictures of God's miracles and wonder!  Have a wonderful Friday!

What Matters Most to You- Things, Stuff, or People?

I got an email yesterday from a blogger buddy of mine and we talked about broken necklaces. I have a baggie full of pieces of a lovely turquoise, ivory, and silver necklace given to me over ten years ago. I loved this necklace...my grandson...while loving on me...broke it. I had it fixed....my granddaughter was playing with it one day and broke it again. I had it fixed a second time....and then I hung it on my desk drawer at school and broke it again. When it broke this time I put the pieces in the baggie and put it in my jewelry box. I have not missed the necklace...so obviously I don't need it. If I find someone who makes jewelry....I will probably give them the pieces so they can make something equally as beautiful out of it. The broken necklace story though reached back into the bowels of my memory storage bend and found a whole lot of "thing" stories I thought I would write about today. In priming myself for this post I went to dictionary.com and looked up the definitions for the words things, stuff, and possessions. I think it is important that we all understand just exactly what I am talking about. Things were defined as: a plural : possessions, effects b: whatever may be possessed or owned or be the object of a right c: an article of clothing dplural : equipment or utensils especially for a particular purpose 5: an object or entity not precisely designated or capable of being designated . Stuff, not to be confused with the white cloud-like substance in a teddy bear is defined as: 1: materials, supplies, or equipment used in various activities: as aobsolete : military baggage b: personal property. And Possessions were discussed as: 2: something owned, occupied, or controlled : property. To cut to the chase, all of these words refer to items one owns or possesses. How important are things to us? Well...to some they are very important. As a child when it got close to Christmas time my mom would make me clean out my toys and dolls and take them to the Salvation Army in preparation for the new stuff Santa would be bringing me. I never quite understood that concept....but followed her orders and would rid myself of toys, games and dolls I no longer used. (Now, the funny thing here is that my mom forgot this lesson too...she is the biggest pack rat on the face of the earth. If you can save it she does. She does not understand why I would want to give stuff away...I tell her, "because that is what you taught me to do." I have to remember...she is a few cards shy of a full deck in her reasoning skills.) Anyways, One year I donated my entire Barbie collection to my four younger cousins(an action I have kicked myself many times for....do you know what those things are worth????). The point here is that someone else needed something I had and since I was no longer using it I gave it away. I have always done that. I can't tell you the number of things I have donated to the Salvation Army over the years or just given away when someone's house burned or they were down on their luck....the whole fact is...I GAVE! Past tense-because somewhere between there and motherhood....I forgot that skill. When I graduated from college my now ex-husband gave me a crystal apple. I loved it. My oldest daughter was playing around in the house one afternoon....something I had told her numerous times not to do...and the crystal apple was the casualty of her carelessness. It shattered into a bazillion pieces. I came into the room...surveyed that all humanoids were ok...saw my apple...shattered on the floor...and became a screaming banshee. If I live to be 100 I will never forget the look on my daughter's shattered face. I realized in that brief shining moment...that things are not as important as peoples feelings. It was a great experience and object lesson for me. I play guitar. I love my acoustic guitars. I have a beautiful black one that my parents gave me for my birthday one year and a student dropped it and dinged it one day at school....he was mortified. I looked at him and said, "hey, accidents happen and it is just a guitar." Now don't get me wrong....I don't want people deliberately breaking my stuff...but accidents do happen. I also have a gorgeous red acoustic/electric guitar that Frank gave me for my birthday one year. I fret over it all the time...but believe me...if I had to chose between it...or Frank...or one of my kids. I would be at the front of the guitar giveaway line. People come before stuff! There is nothing I possess that is worth more to me than any one of the people I love. That was a hard lesson for me to learn. It took me a while to get that one down, but once I got it down...I had it. The moral of this post: No matter how special something is to you...it is just that...a thing...and you cannot or should not value it above another person's feelings. Have a wonderful Sunday!

44 Things About Me

My friend Laura tagged me on facebook with this little lovely....and since I was drawing a blank today about what to write...I thought what the hay...here is something good....

TYPE IN ALL CAPS SO YOU CAN BE AN OBNOXIOUS ARSE, TOO!

1. Do you like blue cheese? NOPE

2. Have you ever smoked? YEP, BUT I AM PROUD TO SAY I NO LONGER DO SO!

3. Do you own a gun? NO.

4. What flavor of Kool Aid was your favorite? LEMONADE

5. What do you think of hot dogs? I ACTUALLY DO LIKE THEM. I FIND THEM HIGHLY UNDERAPPRECIATED AS A VALID FORM OF CUISINE. I LIKE BURNED UP GRILLED ONES; BALL-FIELD ONES OFF THE WARMER; LAZY-SUPPER BOILED ONES--THEY'RE ALL GOOD.

7. Favorite Christmas movie? MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET - THE ORIGINAL ONE

8. Favorite thing to drink in the morning? DIET COKE

9. Can you do push ups? NOT IN THIS LIFETIME.

10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? MY WEDDING RINGS AND MY MOM'S RUBY RING.

11. Favorite hobby? WRITING AND PHOTOGRAPHY

12. Do you have A.D.D.? YES...BUT WAS UNDIAGNOSED AS A CHILD.

13. What's one trait you hate about yourself? MY WEIGHT

14. Middle Name: LEIGH

15. Name 2 thoughts at this exact moment? WHY AM I SO COLD? WHAT AM I FIXING FOR SUPPER?

16. Name 4 drinks you regulary drink? TEA, COFFEE, WATER, DIET COKE

17. Current Worry? FINANCES

18. Current hate right now? I DON'T HATE

19. Favorite place to be? SOAKING UP SUN OUTSIDE OR ASLEEP UNDER A FLEECE BLANKET

20. How did you bring in the New Year? WITH FRANK AT THE WILLIAM'S HOUSE IN WAVERLY.

21. Where would you like to go? SCOTLAND, MAKINAW ISLAND, VERMONT, AND ALASKA.

22. Name three people who might complete this? 3 VERY BORED PEOPLE!

23. Do you own slippers? YES.

24. What shirt are you wearing? A GREEN SWEATER

25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? NO! THAT'S TOO MUCH LIKE THE INSIDE OF A COFFIN.

26. Can you whistle? NO

27. Favorite color? BLUES

28. Would you be a pirate? YES

29. What songs do you sing in the am? CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN AND STILL MAGNOLIAS STUFF

30. Favorite girls name: KATHRYN AND AMY

31. Favorite boys name: DREW

32. What is in your pocket right now? NOTHING

33. Last thing that made you laugh? A MOVIE

34. What vehicle do you drive? AN HHR

35. Worst injury you have had? DISLOCATED KNEE

36. Do you love where you live? IT IS OK.

37. How many tvs do you have in your house? 3

38. Who is your loudest friend? AMANDA AND JO

39. Do you have any pets? YEP

40. Does someone have a crush on you? FRANKO

41. Your favorite book(s)? TOO MANY TO LIST....SORRY.

42. Do you collect anything? I USED TO COLLECT LIGHTHOUSES.

43. Favorite Sports Team: BRHS WILDCATS - WHATEVER IS IN SEASON AT THE TIME.

44. What song do you want played at your funeral? KANSAS - DUST IN THE WIND.

Alphabet Soup

I got the letter S for the alphabet game from my friend Trina. THANKS for not giving me the letter X. :) So, now I get to tell you ten things I love that begin with the letter S.

1. Siblings - I took a bit of poetic license here. They truly ARE siblings....just not mine. My son, Eric is 38 and even if he weren't mine I would think he was pretty amazing. My daughter Jenifer, is lovely. She is fiesty and very creative. My youngest daughter, Kathryn is exceptional. She is teaches and truly has a heart for her students. I would want her to be my friend even if she was not my daughter.

2. Soup - I love soup on cold winter nights. I love to find cool recipes for soup and then try them. Worst one ever was a butternut one....I think I read the recipe wrong. Best one was a chicken mushroom I found at a scrapping on Friday night.

3. And speaking of scrapping....I love scrapbooking. I have really enjoyed getting all my pictures put in some kind of order.

4. Silence - I love the sound of silence. It truly is golden. Since my parents have come to live with me silent moments are a premium.

5. Simon and Garfunkel music. I think my favorite song of their's is The Boxer.

6. Surf - I love the feel of the waves crashing onto shore. I love the smell of the surf. I love surfing....yep, definitely a multi task word.

7. Seattle - I love the place. I love the music on the streets, Pike Street Market, the wharf, the Space Needle, the city hum, everything about it. I could live and write here forever....or at least until my next favorite place lures me there. LOL!

8. Still Magnolias - I love singing with these guys. It is so fun to get together and write and sing music. It calms the savage beast that rages within me. When all is not well with my world....singing makes it all right.

9. Speaking of Still Magnolias....I love the movie Steel Magnolias. I love the scene at the funeral where Olympia Dukakis shoves Weezer in front of Mae Lynn and says..."here hit Weezer." It is priceless. How many times in our darkest moment....would we love for comic relief of this caliber.

10. I saved the best for last. The thing I love most that begins with the letter S is my Spouse, Frank - Love the man.....he is an awesome guy.