Mrs Justa and impressions

I look at this barn and I think about our lives. Isn’t that just like me to do that ???

How are our lives really when we look at them totally? I believe that often when people hear about others lives from afar some may think how marvelous it must be to live a certain lifestyle. It is easy to  visualize the lifestyle of never having to worry about if you have enough money for anything, you know you do, so if you want something you just buy it.  And the houses in our minds are mansions, with super shiny hard woods floors, patios, pools, game rooms and media rooms, many cars to choose from. We end up visualizing material things, and a lifestyle with no worries. But if you were to get real close to that life… would there be holes in the images? Would there be things lacking that you never imagined could be? Kinda like when someone says they have a barn on their property, I think for many of us, instead of this dilapidated barn we would envision one like this.

I have come to realize that the world seems to idolize the things money can buy more  then the people in the world. We see a good life as being one where everything is as perfect as this barn.

But life is not like that. We need to focus on the people, on what we can do for others, on how we can help,others out.

I do not think I have ever had a perfect life but I have not been ashamed of any part of my life either. I am more like the first barn. There are boards missing, but a strong foundation. I have a silo full of dreams and memories. I have floors that creak but stand firm.

I believe that I have lived a life of what you see is what you get. I do not pretend to be anything I am not, and I do not impose on other people. I try to be fair but there are times I have imperfections, such as my less then perfect barn picture.

How about you? Do you pretend to have the perfect life, every line straight, every window painted white, and all the boards neatly next to one another? Or do you realize what imperfections you have? Are you ashamed to show folks your inadequacies? Are you willing to find ways to get better? Do you have some “missing boards?” Are you giving the impression of a perfect life? And if you are, who are you really fooling?

Do you have a strong foundation in your life? One that can hold up your sometimes rickety self? How about a strong roof over you? One that will keep you in check. Keep you from going way materialistic, way phony, one to keep you focused on a purpose in life, and will keep you grounded?

If you do, you can always fix the missing boards in your life, you can fill in the cracks. For just as this barn stay strong and steady no matter what the weather,  you can stay strong and steady on your journey through life. Have a good day, a good night…

Love always, Mrs justa….

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Mrs Justa and another grandchild is on the way :)

Technorati Tags: blessings,grandchildren,life,thankfulness

I am using this photos to share the joy that we have at Grandchild number 3 getting ready to bless us in this crazy world we live in Yep we are going to have 3 grandchildren in less then 6 months from now. It is very exciting.

Life always gives us the unexpected and sometimes it takes us for journeys we had never envisioned ourselves going on. Life can be fun, life can be challenging.

I look at this photo and I see the fireplace that my mom had been so proud of having put in. She had he one living room wall ripped apart and it was on Thanksgiving that it had been under construction. With Tony the contractor assuring her everything would be done.

But I see my own dream …. come true…. our own special daughter-in-law, who happens to be pregnant and is such a blessing to us. I think every parent of a son wants their child to marry someone that would be like a daughter and would treat you like a parent. From the in law jokes that I heard growing up and stereo typing that goes around, I wondered if I would be an in-law joke too. But I think I am not one of the typical “In Laws”… at least I hope I am not LOL  Amanda  is a really good person, and a great mom, she loves Jeff and seems proud of him, and she is nice to me and Mark to boot. Hey who could ask for anything more.

I see Brandon Jeff and Amanda’s precious little boy , and Marks and My grandson. Grandpa holding him and loving him and Brandon taking in all that is around him, knowing he is in safe caring arms.

I see Mark, a man who has put up with me for 24 years, through different phases in my life, he really lets me do whatever I want and he loves me.

Ya know…. I remember when Jeff was little and I wanted to make sure before I moved on to my reward that he would find someone , have a family of his own and a loving wife , who would have a family that loved him as much as I do. I felt bad when ever Jeff would ask me why he never had a brother….

Well he does, Amanda’s brother and Jeff are like true brothers. They have known each other for 17 years now and being Jeff was always wanting a brother, a best friend becoming a brother-in-law is a dream come true. … well it seems like his life has come to be better then I had envisioned it to be. A son and wife he cherishes, a family of his own so he is not ever going to be alone, a job he loves, a good head on his shoulders, and Me and Mark who love him too.

This is Thanksgiving weekend… and I continue to be thankful for all we have. Love always, Mrs Justa.

 

Mrs Justa and the day after

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My bro and his wife changed things around this year and they had the table across the living room and the couch moved into the dining room area. This was nice , as it gave more people ability to get in and out from the table without too much hassle.

They have a coal stove in their opening for their fireplace and that made it really warm in there, but I think it went pretty well. Heck we could sweat off the calories we were consuming while we were consuming them .

It was nice to gather around the table and share one another’s company. It was nice to share the meal with family and friends. We change each year, as we age it seems there is change in even the adults. It is kinda neat to see that, as one always expects a year to change a child, but adults are often thought to never change to be in a mold.  I found that not the case.

Watching every interact and seeing twinkles or lack of twinkles in peoples eyes, it was telling to me about who has a lot weighing heavy on their minds and who does not.

I found myself feeling sorry for my sister in law, as she was using her camera on her lap top computer to share the living room  with her mom, dad and relatives across the country in Washington. Her oldest son and my brothers youngest daughter were in Washington State with her parents. They all talked and twisted the computers around to share each others environments.

I often say I do not want to move away from here, because of the family I have here, and I tend to forget she has left many she loves on the West coast. Life is strange, we have pulling at heart strings, joys and sadness, yet we all seem to find a few hours to gather together and be thankful. I am going to do a turkey dinner here tomorrow. But for today, I am off to run a few errands, balance the check book and work on a few projects.

My love to all,,,, Mrs Justa.

 

Mrs Justa and Thanksgiving

Do you remember ever seeing this print in school when you were younger, or maybe in a history book.

Well here is a little history for you who may have forgotten. Originally Thanksgiving was a day that President George Washington had set as a day for public Thanksgiving and prayer. The initial Thanksgiving was set for October 3 1789 .

It was not until October 3 1963 that President Abe Lincoln made a proclamation to change Thanksgiving to November 26, 1863 and from then on it would now be the last Thursday in November. This was then passed by an Act of Congress.

Thanksgiving was a way that the people celebrated the fall harvest, and there were years when there was no Thanksgiving prior to President Lincoln proclaiming it a national holiday.

I look at Thanksgiving now and I wonder how many people look at it as just another day off of work, out of school. That instead of stopping and really being thankful for the year that has past and for what ever you have, that instead people are calculating what time they have to go to bed to hit the stores the next morning on the now proclaimed “Black Friday”.

Each year we gather together for a Thanksgiving feast. What ever family is around and usually 2 special friends arrive at one of our homes for the meal, laughter and stories. Oh some of the stories are the same each year, others change. As we grow older, we may not even realize what we are repeating, yet the younger ones I am sure are thinking ( like I did when I was younger) “ How many times do I have to hear this story?”

I remember long ago, when I was a kid, Thanksgiving was at our house always. Mom would get up way before any of us , and start clanging dishes and pans (  I kindly named this as the “Dish Symphony” ) She would do this as she scurried around her very crowded kitchen . She had aprons that she wore, and they had streaks of flour on them before the day was midway through.

She had a black roaster, and she would put the turkey in around 4 AM and simmer cook it. She would boil the neck and gizzards.. a tradition I did not continue… ( those suckers meet the glad trash bag REAL quick. ) And her voice would get a little louder as the minutes ticked on, she would get a little stressed. By the time dinner was ready we were all stressed because she was. Before the meal she would have us all hold hands as one of us would say a prayer of Thanksgiving. ( I hated being the one elected to say it, I always felt mine was so Lame) But the food was good, and I never saw where she hid those gizzards- she musta pulverized those suckers big time. She made an apple pie and a  pumpkin pie… and she did this no matter how financially strapped we were. I remember the clanging afterwards of silverware and dishes and water running, being splashed from here to there as we cleaned up the incredible mess. We had stacks of  dirty dishes and we were hoping the towers they created stayed put. ( She was not a clean as you go preparation type person ) ( Photo from google images)

Mom… I miss you today……and I miss those Thanksgiving day preparations.. Yes even the dish symphony. Happy Memories to all, and have fun creating memories for the younger people in your life. Love, Mrs Justa…..

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Mrs justa and a New Day Has Dawned

A day that has not started, right there, ready to bring light to the world that has been sitting in darkness. We never know what the day will bring, we never know what the events of the day will be. Yet we get up and move on with determination to proceed through another day.

I found this sunrise just simply spectacular. I drive to and from work with a camera in my car and I every once in a while get a moment that just deserves pulling over and taking the photo.

This reminded me of some photos I had seen of Africa- isn’t that funny? I can almost see the zebras, elephants, rhinos and hyenas  walking across the lower part of the horizon.As if there is a lake surrounded by hills, instead of it being tree tops and sky. Ready to satisfy their thirst.

It brought me comfort that morning as I stopped and enjoyed the painting that God was creating in front of my eyes. It brought me thankfulness for the sight I have, so I could witness this birth of a new day.

And most of all, it brought me hope. For how could the day be anything but wonderful after an introduction such as this. Enjoy your day, and know I am hoping you each find beauty in the new days as they come.  Love mrs justa….

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Mrs Justa and the National Weigh in

The ultimate National Health Care Nightmare. I was thinking on the way home about all the ways the government could step into our lives and control us.

Rush was on the radio and talking about how National Health Care would be able to cancel us because of something we put on line, on a blog, or Facebook.

This got my imagination going as I was sitting in Wegmans waiting for my prescription for my sinus infection. It was a 45 minute wait, so it gave me much time to people watch.

I was envisioning scales at the prescription counter and all the cash registers. Depending on your height and weight , would depend on what you were allowed to buy.

There were MANY very heavy people with carts full of junk food, sugar sodas, candy. A very very large person getting a gallon size bag of medications. All to make it possible for maintaining the bad habits of life. Now imaging if you go up to the pharmacy, step on the scale and they determine how many months you will be able to get these meds before you are expected to be the “ideal body weight”  Then you go up to the register, you step on the cart, and the computer on the register figures your BMI ( Body Mass Index) and if it is too high…. well it refuses to scan items that would be not healthy for you.

Now lets go further, limited sized clothing, slowly being less available for "Super size" – so the government will no longer let anyone manufacture clothes that are greater then Ideal body weight size. Then my sinus filled mind swirled further to drive in restaurants weighing your car and you in it, then determining what menu you can order from.And you would be marked, so you could not go to another restaurant with paint that wears out in 24 hrs.

Each scale you stand on is like the one on Biggest Loser- and lights up your weight for all to see, to gasp at, or to applaud.

Maybe once it is started there will be a neon light programmed in your forehead which lights up your weight all the time, everyone approaching each of us sees our weights and we see theirs…. and changes each time you go to buy anything.

Health insurance, well they will determine your premium based on your health status. My mind was going through all these scenarios. Phew, my antibiotic was done, and I got in my car and played

music on the radio to take me away from the scale government program.  This is all non fiction.. FOR NOW!!!!!!!!!!! So tighten your belt, and cut your portions. Ya never know what is coming from the government next. ( And maybe I should buy stock in scales!) Love to all, Mrs Justa….

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Mrs Justa and panic time… Monday is tomorrow

Monday is right around the corner and sometimes Mondays can really be crazy.  It sometimes seems like Mondays are relatives  to the Full Moon. Last Monday I could not find my car keys, that NEVER happens to me, 99.9% of the time I have my keys in my purse. My car does not have an ignition switch for a key, so I never have to take them out of my purse. But if they are not in my purse or on my person, when I push the button on the door to my car, it will not unlock, and if the doors were unlocked to begin with, then when I push the button to start the car the dash flashes “NO KEY”

As I am standing outside, running too close for comfort to get to work on time, I felt myself want to panic. Where could they be??

The Monday before, I am driving into work on route 690 and traffic is going 2-5 mph tops for 6 miles. For no reason !. No accident, just everyone hitting the brakes because someone else did, and for 6 miles we are all wondering what the heck is going on. AHHH…

I have times when I drop stuff, or if I have to run into a quick store the cashier has the need to share her whole life’s story to the person in front of me. Or that one pair of pants I want to wear I can’t find on the hangers, or the alarm clock does not go off. The list goes on and on.

I am not really looking forward to tomorrow. For some reason it feels like we did not really have a full weekend. It was filled with different events, we did get to see our niece who is in the Navy, and just flew back home from Washington State to pick up her car and drive back to Washington, so she can have her car… we went out to breakfast with our friends Saturday morning, and all the house chores were done, another niece stayed with us Saturday afternoon,night ( and we watched a really good movie “Gifted Hands”) and her dad picked her up this morning early… I went to church, ironed and finished laundry this afternoon, went to Wally world a couple of times and got groceries at Save A lot… and then this evening we went to Jeff and Amanda’s house, got to spend some time with them, take some photos, we had pizza and wings and shared talk and laughs with them, Brandon, “Sarge” and his two young adult kids. As I write it down, it sounds like we did a lot this weekend.. but I feel like it flew by without us. SO I am glad it is a 3 day work week. The three days will be VERY busy.. but then 5 days off!!!

I hope everyone who reads this had a good weekend, stay safe, Love to all, Mrs Justa …. alias Cindy

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Mrs justa and Spring is coming… RIGHT !!!

My daily theme now is “one day closer to Spring”

It makes the dreary days of cold weather, darkness coming sooner at night, and snow and ice a little more palatable and it reminds me of the flowers in early Spring……

 

Snow is pretty, but I like it on weekends and always

in a Currier and Ives painting .

 

My mom had  Currier and Ives book that I remember looking at many times in my youth. It represented a Happy World to me. Old times, when horses were the means of travel and there was smoke swirling from the chimneys, I could almost smell the wood burning in the fireplaces and envision hot chocolate simmering with melted marshmallows on the top, and people gathered around pianos singing carols. Moms in long dresses.

A time when family meant something different. A family needed to be there for each other. They worked together. If it was cold. there was firewood you would have to cut down yourself and haul and split for winter heat. If there was a need for food, you hunted the meat, fished for seafood, and harvested your crop.

Traveling in winter meant an open sleigh and a warm blanket on your lap.And bartering was in place of money often.

I think people were tougher then. But were they tougher because life needed them to be?

A time when men were slaying bears and deer and women were hand making clothes. Children respected their parents or got a whipping if they did not. The kids had chores and they needed to participate in the day to day existence. It seemed what life was supposed to be like. And for us it is saved in these paintings.

As I looked at all these paintings , I tried to imagine being in them. I would examine each painting and see lots of things. Like in this last one, did you notice the person with his head against the tree? I would try to make stories in my mind for each painting.

To live in that time, I do not know if I would be tough enough to have lived then. I like going to the grocery store and the 24 hr Walmart for the things we need. I like having a car with heat, and having city water. However, I admire these folks who lived back then and I thank the artists for capturing their life. May you have a peaceful weekend. And thanks to google images I was able to bring some of these paintings to you. Ahh, I smell the dinner simmering in the crock pot and I hear the furnace getting ready to click on… yeah I am thinking I was meant to live in the late 1900s and early 2000s   Love always, Mrs Justa…

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Mrs Justa and down to the bare bones

It is Thursday night. It is funny because I do everything so I can get ready to watch this TV screen and get involved in programs with a bunch of people pretending to be something they are not, on sets that pretend to be somewhere they aren’t. But I love Thursday nights.

This TV is a 27 or 28 inch set, and in real life the picture looks really nice. But to a teen or 20 year old, I bet it is like what I used to refer to as a “grannies TV”. Once it goes we will probably go with a flat screen, but right now this is a really nice picture and it fits in the entertainment center, and we watch it maybe 8 hrs a week .

I think Jeff and Mark got it for my birthday back in maybe 1995. Jeff and I went to pick it up and we had to take it out of the box , while we were in Walmart parking lot, so we could slide the TV in the back seat of our Acclaim. And let me tell ya, this sucker is HEAVY!

I find it fascinating that there is a way for a signal to come through a cable and end up with all kinds of entertainment on the TV screen. The wonders of technology. Just like the computer and this blog. Here I am, a nobody to many, sitting here writing thoughts, feelings, and with the click of a button, folks could read what I wrote around the world!

Do you not find that amazing??

And how about the telephone, really, think about it. You have a wireless phone, with some funky buttons, you press them and in an instant you are clearly speaking with someone from miles and miles away.

I am totally freaked out when I look around and think somewhere along the way, someone had to invent everything we use. The chair I am sitting on, the bottle for the water I am drinking, the clothes I am wearing, the material to make the clothes. And what did people do before there was material? Did they all wear fig leaves? And if they did, there are many folks who would need a lot of fig leaves.

The pen, the ink, the floor, the carpet, the wall, A toilet, and outhouse. Underware, shoes. Electricity, gas lines, furnaces, stoves, ..every single thing you touch… someone had a dream…

I am really glad that God gave each of these millions of people the inspiration to follow a dream. The ingenuity to follow ideas, and the creativity and vision to see it from the beginning to the end.

And I thank God that I was not around before anything was invented !. I am not tough enough for that life. Are you?

Love to all, the Pondering and Thankful Mrs Justa.

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Mrs Justa and the heavy head

This looks so comfortable, so cozy, so peaceful. I have this dang sore throat, sinuses that feel like there is cement in them,  and feel like cuddling under a warm blanket and taking a snooze would be pretty nice right now.

My teeth are hurting, so that is telling me it is probably a sinus infection. I may try to get to doctors tomorrow if it does not lighten up.

I really hate feeling crappy. And work issues are really keeping me busy. I do not believe that I am contagious, I think this is just an internal issue, inflaming my sinuses. I am really glad I do not have the symptoms of the Swine Flu !. Man the folks at work who have had it, and people I know out of work have had their ever luvin butts kicked!

I have been in a training class at work for management development, And this is like a college course. We meet one full day a month for 6 sessions. December is without sessions, so it is going till March 2010. The information and projects are really involved and the ideas are great, but I feel overwhelmed with the amount of work that is needed for this class. Life goes on, people issues do not stop, changes happen every day in the world of health care and the anxiety of the plans for reforming health care are disconcerting. Why… because people are moving in directions that sometimes make no sense. There are quite a few talking heads that do just that, flap their jaws and unfortunately some of them have the power to create changes that can bring us down.

All this stuff gets stuck in my brain as I try to weed out the good from the bad and try to listen carefully to changes that are necessary and how we can implement them with the same amount of people. I love what I do, and I guess I just need to always dissect things so I understand them better. Once I understand , then I find the challenge of creating processes rewarding once it is done. Someday the processes will probably be done automatically through computer hardware data entry and tweaking the programming… but right now…we are shown where we need to get, and find out how we can make it work.

So I am taking my heavy head, and going to do the schedule for the next month, and then suck down a little nightquil, turn on my mattress pad and snuggle my head in the pillow, and per Mark snore ( I snore when I have plugged sinuses I guess) .  Good night to all… Love, Mrs justa alias Cindy

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Mrs Justa and the Road to Hell

“You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where your are going, because you might get there.”
Yogi Berra

I find this a very interesting thought. If you do not plan, if you just are drifting through life, what opportunities are you missing?

And how many have you missed?

I wonder how often opportunity knocked on my door and I took it for the wind?

Or how many people die with a bunch of intentions, never planned for , so never materialized?

I have aspirations, they tickle my thoughts and leave as quickly as they came in. Things I think I want to do, but never sat down and planned them, so they are visions, mist in the mind of intent.

My mom used to always tell me the Road To Hell is Paved With Good Intentions. I found this photo on google images, and it is titled the “Road To Hell”

Wow, I have a few brick headed in that direction. I need to stop and start planning, putting an action to the ideas of mist.

I have so much I want to do. So many things to accomplish, and yet, I let my lack of control to plan to do them lay down the bricks to the eternal fire.

Things like write a book, make special memories, do a grand mother journal for the grandchildren, compliment people more often, lose all the weight I want to, take more photos, spend quality time with those I care for.

Life it is precious, it is quick, the older I get the faster the days go by, the quicker the wisps of projects come into vision, only to float away.

There is much to do, people to see, treasures to make, other things to sell.

Like a slow moving treadmill, the belt is filled with my good intentions, flopping around and around, and life comes so quickly, I feel at times like my head is hanging out the car window and pylons are whacking me in the face. These pylons are all the things that happen every day.

I am off to start to plan, to make priorities, and set goals…. and before you know it , this smooth pavement on the road to Hell will be torn apart. Wish me luck,, Love to all, mrs justa,,, Cindy

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Mrs Justa and lap of luxury

We got this love seat a few weeks ago. It is nice, reclines on both sides, has a cup holder in the middle with a storage area. Our couch was long, and only 2 people ever sat on it anyhow. The lady across the street actually graciously took our couch, she really needed one. So it was a win win.

But last evening I realized the win win was not for me and Mark! I knew the cat liked to sleep on the couch and suspected Indi also liked the new couch, so I bought a fleece blanket, split it in half and sewed the edges together to protect the seat part of the couch. I am really glad I did now!

This brings me to my thought today… after a day of dealing with a person who can be a real pain in the butt, ( sorry but that is how she can be) —I am envious of the dog and cat. They live in the lap of luxury, an occasional  “ quit bugging me” but in general they are left to their life of Riley existence.

The biggest pain in the butt Indi has  is we won’t play ball 24/7, and Imus maybe that we make him move so we can sit on our love seat. Oh to have their problems….

 

What to play, what to cuddle up on, what window to look out of. That kinda sounds nice!

Well I am off to study for my class tomorrow. A full day of learning… it can be grueling.

Love to all, stay warm tonight- guess it is going in the 20s tonight… Shiver me timbers!

Mrs justa//// Cindy

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Mrs Justa….Life with a purpose

Abraham Lincoln:

And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.

Life, we are all here for a purpose. We may have more then one purpose. What is your reason to be? What will you put into each year to make it the best it can be?

Life, I do not know for sure why I am here. Different times in my life, gave different purposes.

At one point I was the older sister, guiding my younger brothers and sisters through their younger years.  I lived to teach Sunday School when I was a teen, and to babysit . To run a teen center program to bring activities and music to the teens in the Town of Clay.

Then later to make peoples photos the best I could as I worked in photo finishing for 11 years of my life. Yep those thousands of people mailed in  their film to us for 99 cents a roll. And I took such pride to make sure the color and presentation of each photo was like a professional shot.

After that it was marriage, to be the best wife I could be. And then I was here to be a mom. And in that there have been many challenges , but I gave it my best shot.

I think I have been around to try to be the best wife I can to my 2nd husband of many years now, and to continue to be a good mom, and now a grandmother.

I believe I was meant to be a nurse, and tried to make each patient the most comfortable I could in the very stressful days of hospital admissions. Then in the physician office role, I tried to make sure no patient was left not knowing an answer to informational about their lab work, or x rays, I took pride in returning every call . And I took great pride in listening to them as they came in for visits.

I now do my best as an administrative nurse. I listen to the callers, try to help them as best I can. I work hard at managing the people in the department I am in, and try to be the boss I wished I had had in other jobs.

Are there things you do that can make people smile? Make them feel good?

Brandon is so young, but he brings joy to everyone around him. He is fulfilling a purpose in life .

In church I might sing a song every 2-3 months and when we have gone out to karaoke I maybe signed up to sing one or 2 songs. I try to find songs with a message that I feel is important, a song I sing because I feel the song.

And I think I was meant to share things with others, like photos and thoughts.

I believe I was meant to take care of my house and not hire out for someone else to do it. In my past I have lived in other peoples homes. I have lived in a home where there were people who did not clean up after themselves at all, and left food and clothing all over the place. Me being in someone else’s home, I could not actually clean their house for them, but the in some of these places, the extended stay there, made me more determined to never leave food or clothing laying around. I often wonder if I was exposed to that environment to see the importance of not existing like that for life.

I think I have other things that are in the plans for my life, plans that are unclear, swirling in front of me yet I can not focus on them. As in this photo , I can see the trickles of things to come, but can’t see the beyond. Plans I am unaware of , yet I try to live each day to the fullest. I hope I can fulfill all the plans that are there for this one life I live.

What is on the horizon for you?

What do you do with this life you have been blessed with?

Do you tell the people in your life your love for them?

Do you thank God for what you have? Do you soul search for your talents and gifts that you can embellish on? Live each day to the fullest.             My love to all, Mrs Justa……Cindy

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Mrs Justa and choices….

Did you every feel like the world and stuff in your life is so huge that you are just a dot in the whole scheme of things?

Did you ever feel that there seems to be insurmountable odds and it looks easier to give in then give it a try? Like this duck in this photo. The massive amount of water, the large waves carrying him to where ever they chose to go, and yet he swims, against currents, against odds and close to challenges. Life can be like this rock to this duck, tempting a terrible fate, yet creating a chance to stand up to it. 

What rocks are in your life? What rocks are at your work?

I have rocks in my life, I have challenges that I do not feel comfortable facing, and some at work I might prefer to avoid.

People, tasks. fears, projects, things that have no guarantees, and a lifetime of moments I can recall where I took a challenge only to feel it was incorrect. And other challenges I took, and am really glad I did.

It is easier to be the ship in the harbor, then the one that dares to sail the seas. So I wonder, what challenges are you not taking, what rock it looking at you and instead of taking the chance of conquering the rock- does the fear of smashing into it keep you safe in the harbor. This wave represents the times I took the challenge. 

 

But this pond, this bridge, this raft remind me of times I let the challenge stop me. This pond may be life’s regrets. The what ifs of my life.

The whys did I do the stuff I did. I went to a class and took the test for Air Traffic controller- I got good grades in it, where would I be had I taken that job? The training was in Colorado. But I jumped, I took the class, and then when the opportunity was there… when I was looking at that rock.. I swam over the waves the other way.

I see my niece in the Navy, and at what a great step this was for her… what if I had faced that challenge when the armed forces were encouraging us to enlist? Would I have still become a nurse ( it was my life long dream to be a nurse… ) or would I have become something different?  

What rocks are in your life that you run away from?

What oceans have you left for the comfort of the ponds of life? May you face your fears, go for the challenges, and make rewarding times in your life.

Love to all, Mrs Justa…. Cindy

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Mrs Justa and a terribly stressful day better by coming home

On a day like today, looking at photos like these makes the world seem okay. This is little Mackenzie, taken about a month ago, so I am sure she looks a lot different now. But this is a little person, faced with many stressors that most of us have not had to face, being born 10 weeks early , less then 3 pounds, and she fought to be. Look at this miracle, look at this precious little child who was held in Gods arms and brought through some tough, potentially dangerous days.

And another sample of a photo of a precious child that erases  all the turmoil or problems is this one of Brandon.

He has a smile that makes all the stuff disappear. Another miracle, hand held by God through 6 weeks of prematurity. Both of these kids could have had so many complications, yet they came through without much difficulty. There were times for Brandon when he had terrible problems with his digestive system, but as time gets further away from those times, well they lessen in the severity of them.

Today is winding down, and my head is spinning from so much that happened today. So many employees with stressful times, and trying to make things work when it feels like you  can not get a breath. I am blessed with terrific employees, and understanding boss, and the ability to laugh when the going gets tough.

I am blessed to not have had snow to drive in tonight, that probably would have pushed me over the edge! I am blessed with a husband who understands me, grandchildren I just love to pieces, children that I admire, and their families I treasure. I am blessed with a large family of my own who I think the world of. So when I add this all together, I am ready to tackle another day like today. Love to all, count your blessings, Mrs Justa…Cindy

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Mrs Justa thanking the veterans….

Thank you to everyone of you who gave your life to make mine safe.

Thank you to every one of you who are currently serving in the military, with the pledge to keep America safe, to do your best to God and our Country.

Thank you to every one of you who signed up to serve your country and dedicated years of your life to that cause.

Thank you to ever one who lost a loved one protecting our freedom.

Thank you to everyone who came back injured, physically , emotionally, and have the memories of things you saw, memories of pain only you know how much you have endured, for us… Americans…citizens of this incredible country we live in. Many who have nightmares of days gone by. Many who came back a little different then when they left.

I watched this man as he sat, his back to the restaurant, eating his hot dog and watching the world go by. It was a very wonderful day, sunny, bright, and not too cold.

His flag waving in the slight breeze, I am wondering what he gave up to make it possible to sit in the open and eat his hot dog. I wonder what happened to him. I honored him for what he has done. Think about it, a veteran offers his own life for people he does not know. A veteran risked their own life for people in another country. Offered to hand over their own time of their lives for their country in which they live. We all have individual amounts of time in our lives. And a veteran gives away that time knowing that time is not every going to be given back.

I truly believe that each person who has served or is serving this country is having extra angels on your shoulder. What a noble thing to do. Knowing to join the service, that you will have weeks of boot camp, beating the heck out of your psyche and your body… and you do it for many reasons. I was thinking about it as I freely was able to drive home on the highway, and go to an ATM, and use a cell phone, and walk around work, and go to a Wal Mart. I am thinking about our freedom each time we turn on a TV station, or listen to a radio station, see a flag waving in the wind, each time I go to church, and each time I get to go to work.

I thank you, each and everyone of you. It is only because of you, that I have the life I have. Happy Veterans Day. Love, Mrs Justa  alias Cindy

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Mrs Justa and SCREAMING

Someone once wrote “Shouting to make your kids obey is like using your horn to steer your car, and…..you get the same results.”

I was in a store with Courtney on Saturday, we ran in to get some stuff for tacos. There was a woman in there with a stroller, 2 kids walking next to it and about a 1 yr old in the stroller.

This woman is screaming at her kids. Move here, move there, don’t touch, “stop crying or I will give you something to cry about. “ Yelling at these kids. Telling them they are going to go straight to bed when they get home, no dinner threats, and taking away toys.

The weird thing is the kids were not appearing to be doing anything wrong. They were kinds dragging their feet as they walked, and even stranger was  the screaming appeared to be background noise to them. To me, I was getting angry at her. I came real close to saying something… ( but didn’t want to get yelled at myself!)))

I hate screaming, never lived with it, never liked it. Am totally uncomfortable around it. My mom was a soft spoken woman who if she said “Damn it” we all grabbed anything that appeared like a dust rag and started dusting whatever was in front of us, or we would straighten out what ever was stacked on the end table near us. It was an instant reaction to do something to please her. There was one Christmas Eve at her house, all of my brothers and sisters were there- we were all in our adult years with children of our own. Mom was in the kitchen, and let out a “damn it”… we all sat straight upright and were each looking for something we could do to please her. We laughed after we realized this response was imbedded in our inner most selves.

My dad was a more hollering type person. But he traveled so he would have us all meet him as he came in on Thursdays nights with the shopping list of things the other kids did wrong while he was gone.  My  mom tolerated, my dad spanked. With his hand, a firm hit on the fanny, one – enough to let us know we needed to straighten up.

We did not live in a yelling environment, so when a voice was raised, we straightened up. If anyone yells at me, I sometimes start laughing out of fear. ( If that makes any sense) I have to really concentrate not to laugh in their face. If I succeed, then the next emotion is crying… because it scares me. I feel my heart flip flopping, I physically feel my body tremble.

But these kids in the store- I do not think this woman’s intolerable screaming phased them. I wanted to reach down , swoop them up, and run out of the store with them. However, I am sure when Mark saw me and Courtney running towards the car with 3 small children, he probably would have taken off leaving us in his  dust.

Life is so short, I say that often, and what we do each day of life when the kids are young, well that is their example for life as an adult. Our behavior is how they see the shadows on the road ahead in life. Our emotions, our words, our actions all become the pavement on their road of life. What example do you set? Are you a yeller? Do you say unkind things to the kids? Or to your spouse, your significant other? Kids watch how we are. They see us as role models. That is pretty big of a responsibility.

Please take a deep breath, go for a walk, separate yourself from the frustration for a minute before you say things you can not take back. And save the yelling, the screaming , for that emergency… not for day to day living. Treat every person as if it the last time you will see them…. How will they remember you? Live in peace. Love to all Mrs Justa…. alias Cindy

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Mrs Justa a mom… a grandma

Life is a circle, life is always turning, We can go to the same place yet it is different.

Same people, different roles.Same leaves, but change appearance.

This photo reminds me of the changing that time makes. Green leaves turned older and curled up and crisp. Cat tails in the middle reminding us that seasons are changing.

This was brought to the surface today when Jeff came over with Brandon. Amanda is home ill with the viral yuck that is going around, she is feeling pretty crappy. Mark and I had bought a thermostat for our furnace and we thought we might be able to install it- heck it said “Easy Installation” but that does not necessarily mean easy for me and Mark. So we had asked Jeff if he could at some time help us put it in, and he said sure, and today was the day. So we planned dinner for the 3 of them, and unfortunately Amanda was not feeling well enough to come over.

So Jeff came over with Brandon, and about 1/2 hr into their visit he sees me pull some chocolate chip cookies from the oven. He said “ This is like when we used to go to grandmas house.”  I thought for a quick second and said- “And you are at grandmas house”  We both looked at each other and realized, that a transition has taken place – it happened quickly, in just a year- because before Brandon was born- Jeff was coming to Mom and Marks house— but now it is Brandon’s grandma and grandpa’s house. And those chocolate cookies will be in Brandon’s mind as something special when he goes to grandmas house.

26 years from now Amanda and Jeff may have the same transformation that we realized today. It was weird. Jeff was remembering grandma- while I was being grandma. Seasons change , life goes on….. we become different as the seasons change.

Love to all, Mrs Justa — Cindy

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Mrs Justa and tough life

There is a grocery store we shop at that is a bag your own grocery place. Some folks buy bags, some will use the cardboard boxes that the stock people put on the counter as they empty them, some have reusable bags, there is a green container that people can donate bags to  for others to use and some people use them, or some people  take the cart out looking like this.

I have watched people go to their cars, open a trunk and individually put their groceries in whatever container they have in their car.

Today however, I watched as this woman, with a cart filled way above the edges (food and canned goods balancing on one another, and 4 cases of soda on the bottom shelf ) leave the store and head home with this incredibly full cart.

I felt bad for her , as she appeared to not be all there, maybe had some mental health disorder, maybe due to medications. And I felt puzzled that she did not take the used bags people put in the large container and just use them . She was talking to herself and laughing at times as she was in the store, and she had so many groceries in this cart, I am wondering what the heck she does when she gets home ! Individual groceries, carrying them into her home.

She appeared to have flannel or stretch pants on, loose shoes that flopped as she walked, a purse that kept falling off the mound of groceries and dropping in the road, and she had difficulty pushing the very full cart  over bumps and turning it. Her gait was slow, steady, but almost like it was an effort to take each step. Her hair hung below her shoulders and was stringy. I wondered about her life? Whose daughter is she? Is her mom still alive? Does she have any brothers or sisters? Any children? A spouse? A friend?

Here I sit, posting and feeling really sad for this image in my mind of this woman.  Wondering if she lives in a basement level or upper level home. Wondering how many stairs she has to individually carry these groceries. As my washer is cleaning the clothes, sheets and towels changed, the furnace heating the house, the crock pot simmering taco meat mix, a loving husband at my side, a special niece reading in the living room, a dog flopping around with his squeaky toys and wet tennis balls, and a cat nestled in the babies crib..I feel blessed,  and as I am about to wipe down the bathrooms and kitchen, and dust the house, sweep the floors,…I am wondering what she is doing right now.

I lit a candle for her, whomever she is. I am weird ..maybe.. but when I am touched by situations- I light candles for those involved.  She is one person I have lit my candle for today. There are others… but for this post, I dedicate it to her… whomever she is. What a tough appearing life she might have. Love to all, Cindy.. Mrs justa

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Mrs Justa and the HUGE home

How does this even seem possible? Look at this!!! Can you make one of these ??? And if you did how long would it take you. This sucker was HUGE. I mean HUGE! And it was made by bees!.

Bald faced hornets. They are nasty suckers but in retrospect I think I would be nasty too if I had to build a condo this size when I was only 3/4 of an inch to an inch long!! One 68th of an average  human height.

If the bee is 1 inch long and this was at least 3 feet long then this house was 36 times taller then its creator.

So now lets compare that to a person- average person 5’8” If we were to build a home proportionately to this it would be a house 204 feet tall… and now do it in a week, with no tools, ( put those Black and deckers away guys) no saw horses, no deliveries, no nothing but yourself… oh yeah, and it has to withstand all the weather problems and treats… can you do it???

I am amazed, I am stunned. I bet none of them sit on the branch and drink barley pops while they watch others work. They do not have cement mixers, but this looks like it has a surface healing of concrete paste. They must work together as a team.

I have felt like not doing something because I felt it was going to be too tough- these guys can’t hesitate- born, boom, build your home and protect it. And they do not take a long time to do it. We had one of these nests appear in a WEEK!! No tools, no blueprints, no

architectures, just leaves, twigs and mud put together by a 1 inch living thing.

What challenges do you face? Do you whine about the challenge and not do it. I do not think these guys have a choice. It is more a poof… they are born and have to be construction workers from the start.

Weight to lose, a project to undertake, what an inspiration this can be…

How can you not find this totally fascinating, impossible, but real… Life is fascinating..isn’t it?

Mrs Justa

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