Recap of last weekend.

It's Wednesday, but feels like Friday because of Thanksgiving tomorrow. I'm looking forward to time with family and friends over the next couple of  days.

Thought I'd share a few pictures from last weekend. 

We helped with the monthly meal and activities in a local neighborhood. Our church participates with several groups in bringing a presence of hope and love to this neighborhood.

This picture shows some of the clothes available for anyone who could use them.

Here are the ladies dishing up a homemade Thanksgiving meal.

Rick, below, has a helper handing out hygiene kits.

This is Larry Partridge and me on the porch of a house in the neighborhood that we are going to turn into a kids afterschool clubhouse, and in the evenings have it available for adult programs. It's a longtime dream coming to fruition for our church to have a presence in this neighborhood.

The house needs ALOT of work. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed at this point! Good thing youth groups like to do demolition, becasue we are going to have to start from scratch!

Looking forward to the day!

Today we have 2 things on the docket:

1) Thanksgiving meal and visiting with the folks in a nearby neighborhood. Our church, along with a couple other churches, take a meal monthly to this neighborhood. We hope to show the residents that God loves them, and so do we.

I made two large green bean casseroles to take, but was short 1 can of green beans. These are the times I'm reminded how much I love living next door to my mother! She rescued me from having to fight the grocery store this morning!

2) Chamber of Commerce Bowling Tournament is this afternoon. I think we have about 17 teams of 5 so far! Our team, the Bowling Stones, will annihilate the others. Or at least have the most fun trying!

Meanwhile, on the homefront, Taylor is home from college this weekend. He's going to be working today for us, reading water meters. Rick LOVES it when Taylor comes home to do this!

Here is my favorite picture of Taylor!

Cat Fight

For any of my cat lover friends out there, the link below is cute. You'll have to watch the commercial first, but the news story is fun.

Cat Fight

Sometimes

Sometimes I feel strongly about something, but I can't come up with the words to describe it or share it. Does anyone else get tongue tied like that?

I think that's why I like writing, so that I can work it out in my head and put it down on paper (or keyboard.) And then decide if it describes what I'm trying to say.

And if it doesn't, I hit delete.

Problem is, it seems pretty frequent that I hit delete, and don't say what I want to say. So I'm going to post this without re-reading it. Cause I'd probably hit delete.  :)

Oh, one more thing. I love the smell of books. The whole Kindle revolution is entriguing... but I'm sticking to the paper that I can touch...and smell.  Might sound wierd, but it's true.

So there you have it.

Nothing really.

I've been distracted as of late. Got back from vacation (anniversary trip) and fell into a funk. I always do after a vacation... it's just hard for me to come back to reality after a fabulous trip with Rick.
And I have absolutely nothing to say right now, nothing that is notable. I think it's ok to be quiet - I guess that's just my moment right now.

But for the sake of writing, here's a little bit of what I've been up to lately.

1. Exercise - I've changed up my schedule and am going to the gym at lunch these days. It seems to work my schedule better. Thanks to family for accomodating my lunch-time schedule change.
2. Thanksgiving Journal - Turned my favorite new journal into a Thanksgiving Journal, writing one thing every night that I'm thankful for. It's kinda cool.
3. Lists - Made a list of a few things in my life that I'm not real pleased with. I'm taking charge of the list by tackling 2 of them to begin with. That would be: Exercise (see above) and Developing the Cremains Garden we need at Oaklawn.
4. Scrubbed the shower - Because I always feel better about life when I scrub the shower. Wierd, I know.
5. Reading a "just for fun book" - A modern twist on Sherlock Holmes - not finished with it, tonight maybe. I took it from the stack of library books at my folks house. Wonder if they've missed it yet?
6. Mourned the death of a friend and spiritual mentor. God bless the legacy Royce Riley left behind.

That's all for now.

A Halloween Joke

Thanks to my friend Roger, for sharing this!

A man is walking home alone late one foggy Halloween night, when behind him he hears:
BUMP...



BUMP...



BUMP...

Walking faster, he looks back and through the fog he makes out the image of an upright casket banging its way down the middle of the street toward him.



BUMP...




BUMP...



BUMP...



Terrified, the man begins to run toward his home, the casket bouncing quickly behind him.



FASTER...


FASTER...


BUMP...



BUMP...



BUMP....


He runs up to his door, fumbles with his keys, opens the door, rushes in, slams and locks the door behind him. However, the casket crashes through his door, with the lid of the casket clapping.



clappity-BUMP...



clappity-BUMP..




clappity-BUMP...



on his heels, as the terrified man runs.




Rushing upstairs to the bathroom, he locks himself in. His heart is pounding; his head is reeling; his breath is coming in sobbing gasps.




With a loud CRASH the casket breaks down the door.



Bumping and clapping toward him.



The man screams and reache s for something, anything, but all he can find is a bottle of cough syrup! Desperate, he throws the cough syrup at the casket...



and,


(hopefully you're ready for this!!!)



The coffin stops.

Cowboys!

We've been crazy busy after returning from our anniversary trip in Vegas.

For now, I'll just post a few pictures of yesterday's trip to see the Cowboy's.

Rick, Collin and Taylor took on the stadium, and from what I hear, it's still standing! It cost an arm and a leg, but a great memory was created. I hope the boys always remember their first trip to the new Cowboy Stadium.

Gondola ride at The Venetian

A kiss under every bridge... It was the rule!

It's a Beautiful Day

This picture is our view from the room over the pool area. It feels so
nice outside on our patio, and I feel better than yesterday!

Yesterday we dined next to Elvis, then saw him kareoke after dinner. A
pink satin-suited Elvis showed up too. Um, only in Vegas, Baby!

We also caught a close up with Wayne Newton at The Tropicana, where he
is doing "one more show." Right. How old is that guy anyway???

Dogs, money, and others.

I took Roxie to have her Micro-chipped today. In case she ever wanders off and gets lost - some kind soul may take her to a vet to find out if she was chipped... and then we'll get her back.

I love my dog. She's epitomizes unconditional love, she shows us how to live with "gusto" and she is always thrilled to see us! When we walk through the door at the end of the day, she acts like we are the highlight of her day!

So I got to wondering how much money we spend on this dog. I looked at our monthly expenses that are logged into a nifty budget spreadsheet, and was surprised with the amount of cash that goes towards her care. Between dogfood, vacinations, grooming and kenneling, we have spent $566 so far this year. And then the $50 today that I paid for her to be chipped. (GASP!!!)

I'm troubled by this.  In our culture, it's acceptable to drop lots of money towards the care of our animals. For some of us, they are a part of the family, and are treated with the best medical and preventative care we can afford. I'm the worst about it too. I love my doggie with all my heart, and would be quick to sacrifice alot, if needed, to keep her healthy.

Many people will spend their last dime to feed their pet before they will feed themselves. I learned recently about a facility in Henderson County, called the Silver Star Room, that assists with supplying necessities for victims of Elder Abuse.  When they are brought to the attention of Adult Protective Services, there are many physical needs. The Silver Star Room keeps items like blankets, socks, and toiletries readily available for help. Also...pet food is one of the items they keep in stock. Many of these elderly victims of abuse will have given their last bit of food to their beloved pet, choosing to give to their doggie or kitty instead of taking care of themselves.

Isn't that sad?

So here's what I'm thinking... Rick doesn't even know this yet. (Hi honey!) What if, for every dollar that we spent on our dog, we gave the same amount to help an elderly person in need?  From the numbers in my budget, we have spent about $2.00 a day on our dog. To put it into perspective, for only $1.00 per day, we can provide clean water, food, and education to a child across the world.  Think about that! We can secure their future for less than I spend on my pet.

Wow. I just re-read that. It's sobering.

There are so many needs around us. In our own neighborhood, across town, on the other side of the County, on the other side of the world. And it's easy to get overwhelmed, thinking that we can't do anything to help change the world. But what if each one of us did a little bit more than we already do? Just a little bit more. Collectively, we CAN make a difference. I know it, and you know it too.

I'm not sure what that looks like for me and my doggie. But I'm thinking about it... And change cannot occur without thought.

Think, talk, do. See the change.