Lessons in life continued…..

After living in that house in Skaneateles, my parents rented a home in Spafford. At the time my sister Karen was in high school and my sister Pam and I were in elementary school . I remember the bus ride from the house to Skaneateles to this house was about super long. In this picture there is a small window on the left of us, that was the bathroom window. I remember that bathroom window because I remember some mornings running into the bathroom and not coming out until I saw the bus go by. That did cause a tad bit of disappointment with my mom because we didn’t have a second car, and I chose to have to go to the bathroom on days when my dad was gone for work.

On most days mom was aware of my little urgent need for the bathroom. I really didn’t like school for so many reasons, but in the winter it was worse. It was a challenge some days to get to the bus in the winter. We got ALOT of snow, huge amounts. We had a long steep driveway, and in good weather it seemed like forever to a young child, but add a super slippery driveway and it got new meaning to challenging with all the snow. I look back now and realize that Spafford helped me learn to trust in things I had no control over. Let me explain.

This is the driveway now, it is the same steep driveway I remember, just the house is now updated a lot. So our bus driver would always pull to the foot of the driveway, turn on the blinkers and we were supposed to get down to the bus as quickly as possible. The bus driver realized we were having trouble when the driveway was super icy. Sometimes we would have a woman bus driver instead of the man I wasn’t too fond of, and she would have the bus aide and herself stand outside the bus, she would let us know when she was ready and one by one we would sit on our book bag, holding onto the sides of it really tightly, and slide down the driveway, hoping she would catch us, because if not we were going under the bus. Fortunately we didn’t have to do this on too many days, as sometimes we could carefully walk down on the very edge, but when the edge was not an option we totally trusted her, trusted that we would get caught. This is a blind faith, a trust in something I had no real control over, it was fun in a scary sort of way. Neither of us ever hit our heads on the bus, so it was a win win. Getting back up to the house after school was a different challenge, but we did it.

I also remember that this house taught me about being able to make the best use of the land, and canning. Being we didn’t have a 2nd car, my mom and dad put in a garden. it provided enough veggies for canning. Mom had a shelf in the cellar with canned vegetables, pickles, and tomato sauce and pasta sauce. It also was the house where my older sister, Pam and I carefully would walk down to Fesco’s farm and get fresh milk in rather heave aluminum containers that we had. I remember the milk very fresh, kinda warm…., it was how we got our milk.

I also learned that I could do what I felt was impossible. We weren’t allowed to ride down the long driveway for obvious reasons, but I learned to ride my bike on the grass in the back of the house. That was kind of tough keeping my balance on uneven grass, but I tried and tried, and mom and dad would encourage me not to give up, I learned I can do things I put my mind to. A lesson that has followed me through the years.

I also remember learning about obeying my parents when they told me to stay put. We had a dog whose name was Whitey. She was a large whitish collie, she was a really special dog. Very very protective of us as we played outside, and we tried to keep her tied up on a chain/ leash. Well this one day I remember dad asking where Whitey was, we all started calling her name, we went outside, and called her name. All of the sudden dad seemed like he heard something and he told us to go inside, and he got our neighbor, and started to walk down the road. I snuck outside, and leaned against our fence, watching curiously as my dad and Mr Call walked towards the road. From what I could see, they went to the side of the road, and I watched them lean over a white mound on the edge of the road. Our neighbor then pulled out his gun and shot at this mound. I realized it was Whitey he shot. I ran inside, screaming and crying, I couldn’t understand what happened. I also realize looking back that I really should have just listened to my dad and stayed in the house. The end result was our dog was dead, but I would not have seen all I saw. It was terrifying. When Dad came back to the house, he and Mr Call had Whitey in their arms. Dad said he was sorry I had to see that, and that was why he told us to go in the house. He told us that as we called Whiteys name, what he heard was the sounds from Whitey crying. Dad said someone hit her with their car and she was bleeding , she had lost a lot of blood, and they knew she was not able to get to the vet. To try to help us deal with it all, dad asked if any of us wanted to come out and see where we want to have her buried. I did go out, so did Pam and Karen, and we buried her under the tree she loved to lie under. We didn’t live in the house for too long after that, between the winters, the distance to school, having the one car and the walk along that road for milk, our parents found a rental in Skaneateles , in a different area than the first scary house. I will share that in a different post.

Life brings up so many lessons, some we don’t even realize what they are until years later. But each one, they help to create the adults we become. I think some of the things I learned in Spafford, faith in what I could not see me being able to accomplish, listening, obeying, trust, loss and attempting to redirect the sorrow…..I think they have helped me as the years have passed.

I hope you have some happy moments, create some pleasant memories, Until later, Mrs. Justa alias Cindy

 

Money, Wants, Needs, and Budgeting

I heard a commercial the other day on the radio. The “actors” on the commercial were supposed to be a husband and wife. The jest of the commercial was financial doom and gloom. The man was saying the mortgage was due, all their credit cards were maxed out, and they had no money for the bills they had. Well, the wife pops in with this sunshiney voice stating her relative just contacted a certain company after being in the same situation, and within moments this great lending company sent her relative $5000.00. Well, the husband is thrilled and the commercial ends as they are about to contact this lending company.

That commercial in itself really bothered me in so many ways. Firstly “all their credit cards maxed out” means they try to make minimum payments and with interest rates on credit cards being what they are, they will have a horrific time paying them off. On top of that they are adding yet another loan to the pile of huge debt, as I am sure this lender isn’t planning on just giving them 5 grand and forgetting it!.
The very next day, I am introduced to a pop-up ad for this incredible wallet, one that “will carry all your cards in one place”. LOOK AT THE NUMBER OF CARDS THEY HAVE, let alone the multiple $100.00 bills . This even fumed my frustration over the commercial trying to entice people with built-up debt on top of built-up debt, that it’s okay to get whatever you want cuz you want it, not because you need it.

I remember growing up, we did not have much money. Mom did her best to afford our necessities, and she could stretch a recipe to feed 7 people by adding rice or pasta to it. Chocolate chip cookies were a scavenger hunt to see who got a cookie with more than one chip. But we survived, we didn’t have the biggest, best things, we wore hand-me-down clothes, and we did not have huge expectations, but we had each other. She tried to teach us to live within our means.

As I grew up, and became a mom, then a single mother, I was so thankful for that upbringing. I did the best I could, I would tell Jeff when we went to the store that all the toys were there for him to touch, but leave them for other kids to touch too. He was okay with that. At Christmas time I would give him the Sears catalog to choose the one gift that was special to him. It wasn’t a punishment, it was a way to get to the next day. We didn’t travel a lot and when we did, we took a cooler, slept at people’s homes when possible, and enjoyed the scenery.

When Mark and I met, we didn’t make a lot of money, we each had a child, and they each learned how to have fun without all the expensive wants, and yes there were times when we had to decide which payee might be paid a week late. We made it through it. As years passed we realized that looking at the checking account or savings account before spending anything was not enough, we needed to name each dollar with a job. As he got into being an owner-operator, that became even more important.

“earnings“/ CC0 1.0

We started out using Excel and creating our own budget, but for the past decade or so we have utilized a budget plan created by people a lot smarter than us. Any money we have has a name. We budget for the upcoming expenses, estimating what the monthly bills will be, what groceries will be, etc. It is so much more comfortable to know we have planned for an upcoming bill, than it is to realize the money just spent should have been saved for the mortgage, groceries, electricity, a quarterly or annual bill, or whatever comes up.

I wish there was that type of education earlier in life, through the schools, so as we got into the financial world as young adults, that we understood the importance of money, saving, investing, and budgeting.

It infuriates me that advertisers try to get us to spend money on things that are foolish, or unnecessary. Oh I know that is how they sell things, by exposing people to various products, but there are so very many things that people don’t have the money for, so many things that can just be thrown on a credit card, and the seller is happy, yet one can end up at the end of the month like that ad I heard…. credit cards maxed, no money for bills.

My point for today is to not be swayed by the glitter, the newest gadgets, and the enticing “must haves”. Be wise, be careful, and appreciate every single dollar you have, let it work for you, not against you. Teach your children to save a portion of their allowances, their wages, and invest in something that can quietly build in the background as they age, so that when they are 60 or 70, they have financial security. Teach the difference between wants and needs. It is so very important.

Until later, Mrs Justa… alias Cindy

 

Downsizing- Moving On In Years

These last 2 plus months have been interesting in so very many ways. For the past few years, Mark and I have had numerous talks about life and the end of life. One moment you are a couple, and the next you are a widow/widower. It happens like a light switch, married/ alone.

As we had our discussions, we also looked at our home, our life, and our tasks of being a homeowner. Do we “age in place” or do we sell the home and move somewhere else? The conversations went in all sorts of directions, but the base of each was we didn’t want to leave one of us left with a house on an acre, in a snowbelt area of New York, and have the broken-hearted one trying to figure out the next steps, along with having the incredible task of upkeeping the property as you figured out what next.

We hadn’t made any distinct choices yet as to what to do, but I kept looking at my 500 record albums that have been moved and lugged quite a few times. After some personal serious soul-searching on my own, I made a decision to look at my record collection. That record collection brought me through my early teens, through school, relationships, and happy and not-so-happy times, and here I am thinking, what would happen to those records that meant so much to me, when I die? The records meant something to me, and really so many moments and memories were memories to only me, so I went on a search for someone who would appreciate them. Mark asked me a bunch of times if I was sure I wanted to part with them, but I knew it was the right thing to do.

I found a man in East Syracuse who runs a record shop, he had very positive reviews from various customers so I called him. He was really excited to meet us and the albums, he went through each album, and commented on some like they were an old friend to him too. He really appreciated the various albums I had. I felt like it was the right time and the right thing to do. Instead of a dumpster, they are with someone who will help them live on.

After the records were gone, we continued to talk more about life, the future and what did we want. We went back and forth with various thoughts..did we want to keep the house, and travel in the colder months? Did we want to move out of state? Or did we want to sell the house and stay local? It was towards the end of April we took a giant step. We decided to take a chance and talk to a real estate agent. She came over, she was amazing, she LOVED our house and felt it would be loved by others seeing it. So we quickly followed hints of taking personal stuff down from the walls, (pictures of us and family) and we moved pictures around that were more general.

The house was shown for 2 days, and each person wanted a chance at buying it. Within a week, we signed papers and the downsizing began in full force. Our son and his wife and kids came over and helped take away some larger things from our garage, and some exercise equipment, they helped out a huge amount! They were able to utilize some of the things and sell some of them.

Mark and I were making a number of daily trips to Thrifty Shopper ( Rescue Missions Store) and donating items. And in between we started a mission for finding an apartment. So many were unavailable or available in 2 months. We found one, every single thing fell into place. We were able to rent the apartment mid-month, so we could move boxes of things into it before our scheduled move at the end of May. We rented a U-Haul van for a day and we loaded boxes in that. We loaded our Honda CRV with boxes, unloaded them at the apartment, and made another trip. In 2 wks we had put 1100 miles on our car and we had the ability to organize the apartment in steps instead of one moving day.

For us it made sense. We love the apartment and the fact that you can turn the key and not worry about when the lawn needs to be mowed, weeding the mulch, or shoveling the mounds of snow. Some people say they will never leave their homes, and that is okay, but at least for us, when one of us passes, the other won’t have a home to deal with.

I am thankful every day when a new day begins, God is good, life is good, even when there are trials. I have faith that everything happens for a reason, we may not understand the whys, but there are reasons we may see much later in life. This apartment just happened to become available right when we needed it, the new owners of our home ( I understand from our real estate agent) are super excited with the house, it all fits together.

So treasure each moment, for each breath, as each moment is a blessing. You never ever know when that moment is the last.

Until later, Mrs Justa alias Cindy

 

A Few More Travels, Still There’s No Place Like Home

We have taken a couple of trips since my last post. In August we ventured off to Williamsburg VA and this past 2 weeks we went to Sycamore Lodge in NC and ended with a return trip to Williamsburg before coming home.

Some people seem to love being away from home alot, me—notso much . A week is doable, but being gone two weeks was different. I felt almost down and out by the time we got back home. I was so glad to have gone where we went, and we had a nice time, but once reacclimated to our “normal” life, I am so glad to be home too.

The Sycamore Lodge part was kinda unique. We rented the “Artist Cabin”. It was centrally located to the various amenities of the campground. We could see the pool and hot tub area from the front of the cabin, to the right we could see the corn-hole, horseshoe, and shuffleboard area, and from the back deck we could see the lake. We were nestled in the wooded area, tall pines all around, on a part of the road that was like a half circle.

The inside was quaint and comfortable, it was a cabin initially built in the early 1900s as a loft apartment type cabin for the landowner’s daughter. Since then it was renovated into a 2-story 2-bathroom cabin. In looking at the various parts of the cabin, the second-floor bathroom was the top of the stairway to the loft initially, the walls were narrow because the stairway was converted into a bathroom. Downstairs the stairway has been converted to step-up bookcases.

The lake was beautiful, there was a walking path around it that was enjoyable. The pool and hot tub were very well kept and comfy, and the entire area was taken care of immaculately. There was a laundry house on site, so that was convenient also.

The second leg of our journey was to Wyndham Kingsgate in Williamsburg VA. It is another place where the staff tries to have everything very clean and comfortable. In August we went there and stayed in a one bedroom, this time we were in a 2 bedroom. We found that the Colonial National Parkway was the absolute best place to travel between Jamestown and Yorktown.

Yorktown won our time on both trips. It is such a quaint yet interesting area. The beaches we not crowded, there were walking paths, a free trolley that stops at the various historic places, and everyone seemed so friendly. On this most recent trip, we took the auto-narrated tour of the Yorktown Battlefield. It is amazing to travel back in time and realize the importance of the history of the area.

Though we enjoyed the traveling, our driveway looked so welcoming when we pulled in it after many miles of traveling. I personally don’t think I could ever live the “RV life of living in a home on wheels. There is something about having a home where there is comfort for us, and we can come and go as we see fit.

Our life together is peaceful, we live close to family, close to many scenic areas. We can do a day trip to many walking areas, to a large lake, and go outside day or night and enjoy a country-type environment, yet live only a few miles from a small town.

Traveling to get away is nice, but I definitely know I am not a world traveler, I have no desire to travel to other countries, or to take off for weeks on end.

Nope, I think Mark agrees, a week is nice…. and home is the best.

Until later, stay safe, Love Mrs. Justa. Alias Cindy

• content
• home
• travel

 

Panicking Versus Calm Cautiousness

I looked this up today “Sensationalism” , and per Wikipedia “Sensationalism is a type of editorial tactic in mass media. Events and topics in news stories are selected and worded to excite the greatest number of readers and viewers. This style of news report encourages biased impressions of events rather than neutrality, and may cause a manipulation to the truth of a story.^[1] Sensationalism may rely on reports about generally insignificant matters and portray them as a major influence on society, or biased presentations of newsworthy topics, in a trivial, or tabloid manner, contrary to general assumptions of professional journalistic standards.^[2][3]”

This most recent MEDIA SENSATIONALISM is yet another example of how the media and available internet sources can cause total panic in our lives. It seems to me this past 8 years the media and internet have been more filled with things to fear, things to make our world seem out of alignment, things misrepresented, total disrespect and ways to make us think a certain way.  I try to be aware of the manipulation attempts and stop to find reasoning.

As I see shelves totally empty at a store from people stocking up on hand sanitizer, Clorox disinfectant, and Clorox wipes, I am feeling like the public has succumbed to the intent of the media. It should not take the news sources or health departments to tell us to wash our hands! It should not be a surprise that we should not put our hands in our noses or mouths. We should all be cautious of viruses, of the flu, of people being ill or having something potentially contagious. Not just when bold headlines scare the beJesus out of people, but always. Yes, there is a strain of a virus currently that is causing people to get symptoms similar to the cold, flu, and can adversely affect people who are immunocompromised, young or old. This is not the flu, but the flu can be said to do this too. I am not making light of it, but I am not going to be panicked by it either. Just as cautious as I can be.

I wonder how many containers of these products people have in their home, and how many people will still have at the end of this newest health scare? I am frustrated when people behave like they are the only people that matter. Sad that now stores need to set limits on how much a person can purchase of these types of items because some people have no idea that the world is not there for just them. Because some people have such entitlement blinders on that they are totally unaware, totally do not even consider other people even exist. Me, I personally need to step back from the hysteria and just be sensible.

I personally find peace opening our front door and going outside, taking a walk, enjoying the things in life that cost nothing but time. I have to go outside to see the beauty of a rainbow, the magic of a sunset, the awe of seeing a full moon. There is so much that is good, there are things that we miss when we are mesmerized by things that are not real or things that are blown out of proportion to attempt to rattle our common sense, to instill a sense of panic, to make it feel like we are walking on shaky ground when in fact we are on solid ground.

This is one of my favorite photos. I look at it when I need to be reminded of how precious life is. It screams of total comfort, of freedom, of letting things be, of just loving life.  It reminds me to stop and just enjoy the moments I have. Life should be about feeling more like this.

Yes, there are times of total sadness, times of hurt, and also times of feeling happy and at peace. We need to accept that there are times when we are going to hurt, and other times we are going to wish would never ever end.  Life is short really,  each day should be never taken for granted or wasted. Every day is an opportunity to enjoy something a little more and worry a little less.

Life can be fragile at times, like a bubble. If we attack life with a vengeance, afraid and frantic, we can never appreciate the gentleness that life has to offer. The kids demonstrated this very thing as they both carefully held a bubble, had they panicked, had they attacked it, well this moment would have never happened.

As I close down this post, I hope for calmness to become more a norm instead of “the sky is falling” way it seems at times.

Until later, Mrs Justa alias Cindy

 

 

 

Balance of Life

Life is a balancing act, a balance between good and bad, happy and sad, rich and poor, darkness and light, old and young, pass and fail, truth and lies. The list goes on and on. What made me think about this was the snow and ice.  Snowflakes are so tiny, yet one by one they lay on this slightly pointed post, one by one balancing ever so carefully to create this mound of snow. Everything was balanced in this event to make this happen. Had the wind whipped around, the snowflakes would have lost their hold. When the sun beats down on this, they will change their individual form, lose balance and this will no longer be.

Balancing in life, it is like ice on branches, it is not a guarantee that everything will balance to create beautiful artwork, one that comes and goes in a short period of time. But while it is happening everything balanced out, to make it happen, The right temperature, the speed the temperature went from warmer to freezing, the angle of the branch at that moment.

Life is like that. As we age, we are literally and figuratively balancing ourselves and life. Things we might have been able to do without even a second thought, well they get more thought now. Like walking in the snow, if we fell down as a child, it was laughing and pop right back up, sometimes before anyone saw us. Now if we were to fall, it is sitting there for a minute, thinking if everything feels in the same place now that it was before the fall, looking around to see if anyone saw you, and doing some pretty weird movements and contortions to get up on our feet again. Hence, falling is not an option.

Money and things we purchase, again a balancing act.

Photo by Burst on Pexels.com

Instead of buying something just because, we carefully determine the worth of the item and do we NEED it. We pack up things we know we no longer need or do not use or ever intend to use again, and we respect what we have. We look for the best price and think before purchasing. We balance the item or service and weigh it against reality. We are doing okay with that, it is different though. I remember in my 30s or 40s, we might just redecorate a room because we had not, replace linens, towels, get stuff to get stuff. Now we think about why do we want to do it.

Working around the house, again we balance what our minds think we can do, and what our minds and hearts know is realistic. I have an older brother and he and his wife had been pretty independent with their home and upkeep, yet they came to the realization that having someone mow or plow snow is smarter than trying to do it all. We look at tasks that we might have done without a second thought, and we may determine certain things are best hired out to do. Right now we are still able to do pretty much everything on the day to day things. We hope to be that way for years to come. But things like shaping the cedar bushes, and getting up on the roof, well those are not things we will probably do on our own.

Travel, again this is something we balance, we weigh out the various factors and think about it. We are not worldly travelers, and we have a camp/ travel membership that through the working years was not easy to use some of its perks. Now we can at least look at the perks and when everything aligns, we might take off for a small trip using one of the benefits of the travel type memberships. See sometimes the best options are for places that are not booked for a week in the near future. In the world of employment, it is not possible to tell our work that next week we won’t be working because we are taking off for a few days. Yeah, that would not go over too well. But now, we can, we balance our dollars, we budget some for travel, and every once in a while we might take advantage of these offers.

Yes , life is a balancing act, and we need to accept sometimes it is easy to not be balanced, so move slowly through life, know that we have to have opposites, no matter what the issue is, what the moment is, what is happening. And like those snowflakes fluffy on that post, they are very balanced right this minute, but it is not forever… in a moment things can change.  Rules to life are kinda like driving a vehicle, use your mirrors, stay alert, look around you, do not focus on one thing, take a break and analyze where you are, and know that none of us can predict every second of our lives.

Life holds no guarantees, each day is a blessing, each breath should not be taken for granted. May your steps be well thought out, may you always know the balance happens, life is a balance between opposites, there will be wonderful times and not so wonderful times, the balancing of each is so important, it keeps us in check.

Until later, Mrs Justa alias Cindy

 

 

 

Life 5 months into Retirement

Retirement is a time that I thought of at times, yet never thought it was going to happen. Kind of like when I was in my teens and the age of 50 seemed like a number, a number floating around but not one I would ever get to any time soon, it was WAY off the vision of things that are real and tangible. Now I look at the age of 50 in the rearview mirror of my life. Poof, it is somewhere back there in the dust.

Now it is analyzing, looking at retirement. Oh the visions of what retirement is, and the thoughts of it, some were very much like what it has been thus far for me. For many moments there are things we could do, floating in the air, just waiting for us to grab one and make it happen.

But one thing, one thing that seems to be a “deja-vu” type experience is not having a set schedule where I have to daily be ready for a commitment, for a job. When I was employed, there is a contract of sorts that I made with the employer. Work starts at a certain time, breaks are under certain rules, lunches have to be between a certain time, and work is done at a certain time. The expectations needed to be met, because I wanted to continue to work at the job. I am not complaining about working at all. There was not one employment opportunity I regret, I loved what I did, no matter where it was or the responsibility.

The “deja-vu” type experience I am reflecting on was for those few very years I was a stay at home wife/ and mom. From 1980 to 1984 I had that experience. The first 2 years I was a stay at home wife, and even though I did not work outside the home, I was helping where I could during my hours of being there alone by helping with the continuous home improvements we were doing. And in March of 1982, for the next 2 1/2 years in addition to helping on the house, I was blessed with being a mom of Jeff. Those years were totally amazing, along with being his mom 24/7, I worked on the house stuff too. Life has no guarantees and I was now a single mom,  employment became a necessity for me. See What I found was even though I no longer was with Jeff from daylight to darkness, because I had a job, I needed to enjoy and focus on Jeff in set timeframes. And low and behold, I found our time together was more quality time, more apparent that every second together was a blessing, and never taken as the norm.

In retirement it is the same thing, there are a lot of things on my virtual list, but I do not set a schedule to do them around commitments of work. So I find myself needing to remind myself about doing them more, as time is not the issue it was working 5 days a week. It is weird, it seems like retirement could easily lead to a life of good intentions, a procrastination fertile field.  I am fighting it, yet it is easy to realize it is weeks later and that one phone call or visit to a friend had not happened yet.

Thank goodness I am a list person, and that I have a husband who loves me for who I am, lists and all. I have not a clue how I would be if my list capabilities were somewhere other then in my here and now. I think that what is important changes too. I used to have a list and follow it to a tee, now my list is more lax, and I might do the 7th thing before the 2nd thing.  Like maybe Tuesday will be the day this week we go get groceries. Maybe tonight will be a night to TV binge-watch something, instead of being in a set schedule.

Retirement opens doors too, where we can say what the heck, we look at each other and agree that Weds. the weather looks doable, – let’s see if the kennel has room for Miss Riley, and if so…. heck let’s grab a set of clothes and go check out Niagara Falls, go to an aquarium, the zoo,  the Adirondacks,

visit Marks mom and do an overnight, to enable us to see friends in that area. That is super nice in retirement. As we are not locked into work schedules, and seeing and going places mid-week, well it is less crowded. We do not spend a lot of money, yet we get to do things we normally would not on a weekday. We can take a day trip- go up to a park, or the lake, maybe go to town within a reasonable distance, we can enjoy the deck, we can enjoy talking over coffee with each other without time constraints, yes these things are super nice and appreciated because we have no idea how long our time left is.

My intent to post more, well I am working on that, I am working on photos and digitalizing them right now, so I pop onto a few different projects. Yes, retirement has been a positive chapter in my life, and I feel so fortunate that I am married to a person I love to be with. We can laugh together, talk for hours, enjoy a lot of the same things, and are learning its okay to enjoy different things too. Every day is a new day, every day is a gift really. I will mosey on over at times and throw in some thoughts for anyone who wants to see where my mind is.

Until later, Mrs Justa alias Cindy

 

Life Without a Work Schedule

As I wake up each morning the slate is clean, the sun is rising, the coffee brewing, and this moment is a new moment, one ready for coloring. How will today go? I constantly feel thankful for the moment I am in, as it is a gift, a blessing.

I believe that life needs to be planned somewhat, but there is a balance of living today, and not so focused on tomorrow that today was not really lived. The world is unpredictable, life is unpredictable, and time is very easily wasted.

Mark and I have different likes and also similar likes. We are learning how to balance these in a day to day world of not working. In all my working years I had to have days for special things that were plugged in to stretch chores out and not get slam basted on Saturday. Like Wednesday nights were grocery nights, Tuesday was towel changing day, Thursday was change the sheets day, Friday nights were when I took time to thoroughly clean counters, appliances and Saturday was the floor day. ( Vacuum / sweep/ wash) . And very important to me is Sunday Church service. That left sunsets in some weekday evenings able to chase, and our weekends we had pretty free to do whatever.

Now any day can be dedicated to anything,

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as I am not committed to set hours to fulfill a work schedule. It gives me a sense of AHHHH, instead of having my mind remind me as I wake up each morning what day of the week it is, and what is the chore for the evening.

I LOVE housework!!! I LOVE laundry!!!!, I LOVE mowing the grass and shoveling snow.  It is funny because some people do not understand that at all. What I find myself doing now is feeling kind of unregimented in my schedule and not even knowing what day of the week it is. So in my mind, each day, I may decide to take a portion of the day and do a section of my weekly list of to-dos. Mark does the vacuuming and we are trying to make that on the floor/ dust day. Whatever that day is on any given week. He always offers and says he would do more too, but I truly love the feeling when it is done! So while I am flitting here and there and doing the various chores, he can do stuff he enjoys.

I think often what makes it important to me to make sure I have these things done and I think it is because it is comforting to feel organized and that our house is clean. It is also for me, so important to know that no matter who or when a person was to knock on the door , need to come in, or just arrive as a pop-in visit, that I am not feeling uncomfortable because the house is disorganized or not clean. It is just me.

As a teenager I literally remember if mom knew we were about to have out of town guests arriving in a week or so, it became organization marathon. Being a widow, with 6 children in the home from toddlers to teenagers, and her working a full-time job, she was focused on life and not the house. I do not fault her on it, I just remember how things were, and in my mind made memory post-its on how, no matter what life threw at me, I would be able to avoid the cleaning, washing, organizing and frantic marathon.

Fortunately for me, Mark understands my love for these chores and it just fits our life like a well-tailored suit. He too enjoys a clean house and together I believe it is comfortable for us to be in. Our todays are not obsessed with being locked up in the house cleaning and such, instead, it is in segments, so our todays can have so many open options for what the next minute will bring.

AS I get ready to step into the next moment of TODAY, as the road of today lies ahead….I will grab my shower and off to church. We will for sure go to the YMCA at some point today, and I am about to put a Spanish rice casserole in the crockpot for mid-afternoon. We will have some “deck time” I am sure, and……………. before we know it, the moments of today, those moments not yet filled, will be part of our life history.

I hope you enjoy your today moments, Until later, Mrs Justa, alias Cindy

 

 

Lying

I remember a very long time ago, a time when my mom was helping me each step along the way as she taught wrong and right. At a very young age, I found that I should fess up with the things I had done. At the age of 4 ( almost 5)  is when I remember a lie I told. We were at a new house in a new state. The house sat atop a hill, and the driveway up to the house ( at least in my 4 yr old impression) was like a mountain road.

The driveway had 2 openings, as there was a hill on the property, so if you were coming from one direction, there was an entrance as you crested the hill, and coming from the other direction you could enter the loop driveway before the top of the hill.

I was a child who was blessed with having a stay at home mom. Which also meant I was a child who did not know life being away from mom. It was my first day of getting the bus for kindergarten. Mom had a toddler in the house. So I had the responsibility to walk down the driveway and wait for a bus. We had had a dry run before that day, and I remember mom taking me down the driveway pretending it was my first day. Now it was me and the bus, and my mom watching from a window.

I remember being frightened and scared, but not letting mom know that.

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I was going to get on this bus, and not be with my mom, I remember fighting back tears. AS the bus was seen from afar- way down Rte 20, I remember seeing a tree, a pine type tree. And in a moments notice, my body took off and hid in the welcoming arms ( branches) of the tree.

Mom saw the bus stop and assumed I had gotten on it. I did not. When the bus left, I remember crying, cuz I knew I should have gotten on it, yet I was too scared to. So I unwrapped myself from the protecting branches of the tree, and trudged up the driveway and went in the house.

Mom was not pleased, and I was crying. I told her the bus would not wait for me.

This was lesson one on lying… she kept grilling me in her oh so gentle fashion until I finally went into a sobbing mode and confessed what I did. It was then, once I could absorb her wisdom and lesson in life #5000, ‘ the lesson was that we should not lie. If we are caught in a lie, we end up with people never believing us, or having a less then pure trust of us. ( I have to admit, I did have to be taught that lesson a few times more in my very young years) but I learned that I should always face every situation truthfully and right on.

For this incident, well I delayed my first day of kindergarten by a day. Mom called the bus garage and spoke to someone and explained what I had done,  and mom walked me to the bus stop the next day, a toddler in one hand and a 4 yr old child in the other hand, and she spoke to the bus driver, and from then on. I was a kindergartener bussed to school. The bus driver was so nice to me, let me sit close to the front, as I knew no one and even was new to our house and the town.

Mom was wise, she did trial runs with me, and she felt confident I would be okay, I realize that. I think she herself was surprised to see that all she thought would go smoothly, well I had a plan of my own.

Lesson eventually learned, be honest, be trustworthy, and know that every action has a reaction, every word, every motion, there is a cause and effect. That choices we make are just that, choices WE make. We own our emotion, we own how things make us feel.

So as I am about to enter a new day, a new weekend, I say… Until later, Mrs Justa alias Cindy

 

 

 

Worry

I have heard in the past, actually my whole life, and read this little piece of wisdom this morning on worrying.

We need to focus on the now, for if we are worrying about the future, about things that may or may not happen, we are burning our todays, we are wasting those precious moments on our walk through life.

I can be a worrier, I can be a person who is looking at different scenarios trying to prepare for things that never may happen.

I am much better now than I was years ago, but it is so easy to get sucked into the worry vortex. Now I believe there is a part of life where we need to think about the consequences of actions we do, things we say. So I am not proposing to go charge our credit cards to the max and spend to the max today, because we know on the scheduled billing day of the month that bill will be here.

I am thinking about the worries of things we have no idea even if they will ever come to be.

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There are so many folks who now, (because of the ease of social media, of 24 hr news talk shows, of  podcasting and YouTubing— )not only have they taken the worry talent to a new level for them, but they share the worrying with anyone who hears, reads or sees their public presentation of negative/ worry stuff.

As they predict the doomsday type scenarios, the dark maybes of the future, what they are doing is totally wasting the moments we are facing now. Life is never guaranteed to have no problems, no heartaches, no losses. There is a difference in knowing every moment will not be sunshine and lollipops and rainbows…. and worrying about those moments when the darkness seems to engulf us.

So once again, I am reminded to be still, to enjoy this moment, and stand tall, knowing when the not so good stuff happens, it is just a part of life. Bad times only pave the way to better times. We need to look towards the light, in those seemingly darker moments. Worrying does nothing but rob us of our moments in time, our moments to see the light.                                   Until later, Mrs Justa alias Cindy

 

Lessons Learned

Last weekend Mark got the mower out and hooked the trailer to it. We have a corner lot, and that mean 2 sides of the property are a roadway. The very determined plow folks like to make sure the road is wide enough and that means they sometimes get a little overzealous in widening it, they do this by taking our edges and gouging them into mounds of sand, sod, and ugliness. Fortunately, they came and fixed the worse side.

We went out to handle the side not done. We work together, that way we can complement each other on things we can do and things we can no longer do. Now my part, weel it is not that it is things not to be done, but after a long few months of winter, the old lower back muscles were awakened rather abruptly, and I ended up with a pretty significant lower right back discomfort. The kind that makes one walk like the floor is squeaky and you don’t want to make noise.

The muscular discomfort ( alias PAIN) also makes changing positions rather interesting, had my manuevers from going from sitting to standing, had they been filmed, I think one would think the replay was shot in SLOW Motion. One gets kind of creative the days following an over strenuous activity. Every movement is a result of very careful planning and consideration.

Thursday- was the day it seemed like I was on the final path to being my old self- it still ached to stand for long periods of time, but it was better than Monday for sure.

I got out of bed normally, it was 6AM and went in to get my shower. I was being ever so quiet, as Mark and Riley were still sleeping. After my shower my routine for this week has been to roll on a pain relief liquid, it really works well. I had experimented a few ways in the past couple days- like rolling it into my hand, and then spreading it on the sore area, rolling it while standing up. Neither worked great.

I had a solution. I would bend over and that way my back would be horizontal and not vertical. yeah, that is the ticket.

(Here comes the public service warning ) DO not try this at home, actually, do not try this ANYWHERE. AS I applied the stuff, I was so pleased with myself, I got the area perfect. I stand up straight, yeah I got the spot. I put on my shirt, and start to pull up my pants and a strange sensation took over.

The pain med had run down into the crack of my butt. And that did anything but relieve pain. Oh, I did not feel my back pain anymore because I was quietly trying to not fall over, pants halfway up, and I think I lept a height I had never achieved in my whole lifetime! I mean straight up, like an Apollo launch. Wow, that was not in my plan.

I needed to stop and figure out how to undo this rather intense feeling.

In the end, no pun intended- I did survive, I did not wake up Mark and Riley, and if there is a hole in our ceiling from me taking flight- well we might put a skylight in.

So my advice is, do not, ever, try too bend over and put a roll on pain relief on your back.

Until later, Mrs Justa alias Cindy

 

The Waves of Life

I am not quite sure what it is about the waves, but they are cleansing to me. They are so powerful, they make me realize our problems can be looked at in many ways. They make me remember that my existence is such a tiny part of the whole picture we call life.

We went up to the lake the other day, as the winds were fairly strong and the waves were having a fun time splashing anything that came in their path. The rolling of the waves is neat, no 2 waves are the same, the roar of them, the evolving of them from a thought, to existence, to gone.

As I stood in that very cold wind, with Mark and the seagulls around me , as we were watching the majestic side of life. We watched and heard the water as it brought sounds to normally a much quieter place.

It made me think about me, I am so much like a calm lake, I very rarely make a peep, it is like my brain is swarming with thoughts but they stay there.

I am mostly pretty passive, but also very loyal to my life, my husband, our true friends and family. I am a helper and lend calming hands when needed. Like the calmness of the lake.

There are those people in life though that are more like the crashing waves. Loud, seemingly angry, in a rush, and never stop to absorb the world around them. They preach doom and gloom and basically do not seem to realize the blessings life has provided. They come and go so fast it is like a blur. Those people I feel anxious around, unnerved, and far from peaceful.

That is probably why I enjoy the quiet of my life. I may have bumps along the road, but we work them out. Life is not full of problems, it is how we handle the challenges of life that count. We can be loud and bold, or we can analyze the situation quickly and do the best we can. For in life there is good and bad… the bad and the good of life interchange, the way we handle it is more what is important. This seagull reminded me of that…

There was a pretty big wave coming into shore and it was headed to get me and the seagull in front of me rather wet.  I stepped back. To my amazement, the seagull jumped straight up so it did not get splashed and then went right back down. Like it was on a trampoline.

AS I walked back to the car, I thought about life, and that seagull represented how I believe I need to continue to look at life. A problem comes, it is just that a problem. Take a proverbial leap, and handle the problem and move on to the next minute of life.

Yep… do not drown in troubles, look for the good. until later, Mrs Justa alias Cindy

 

Wrapped Up in Busyness

I find it rather amusing in a sick sort of way the busyness of the world. There are so many agendas in the world, so many agendas people each have, so many lost minutes enjoy life because of them. We become like the busy bees frantically making honey.

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There are a couple commercials that actually do a tongue and cheek approach to that. The one is 2 men sitting on a couch. They are the same guy 30 days different in their journey of life. The one dude is on the couch, dressed neatly, in brighter light enjoying his internet service because he changed companies. So in his “here and now world”, everyone can do everything they want to online, at the same time.

The other guy ( it is the same man but from 30 days prior ) he is in a bathrobe, unshaven, his side of the couch is gloomy, his hair unkept and he is whining about his slow internet service. Out comes his agenda board, it is written on in tiny print, a schedule of when people in the house can have a turn on the internet. An agenda that people are supposed to follow or you miss your opportunity to go on line. When this 30 days back from the present guy hears that the here and now guy has this bigger, better faster internet- he whines about he wants that too.

I look at this in a number of ways:

• first maybe we all need to have a cell phone tray at the door when we come in
• maybe we need to talk to one another instead of being worried whose turn it is
• Maybe we need to pay more attention to the people that are around us
• maybe we need to stop keeping score making sure you get your equal amount of whatever it is

The next one is a lady in bed with a calendar.

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She and her husband are discussing what day he can fit in getting a laceration and stitches. He had to reschedule because that specific say he was thinking was taken by someone getting the flu, and he was out probably a few weeks because there were already scheduled ear infections, coughs and other ailments.  It is an advertisement for the urgent care centers available at anytime day or night, but the sad fact is, in this crazy fast-paced world, we almost have to schedule when we take the next breath. We tend to be so damn busy that I think often we might totally not notice things around us. Or remember what we wore the day before, what we ate last, or how a person looked last time we whizzed by them on our way to tackle the next task.

I say it often, and find it interesting that the commercials just demonstrate in a rather interesting way that maybe we need to slow down a little.

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Do any of us know if last night there were stars our? Or what colors illuminated the sky at sunset? Or with any individual interactions with people yesterday, what were they wearing? Did they look like they were feeling okay?

When was the last time we played a board game with family? Or had a family dinner? Or met with friends for coffee to just enjoy one another’s company? When was the last time we read a book to a child, shared a walk on a shore, strolled down a path in the woods?

The little things in life, the ones we should not have to schedule, we need more of those times.

I am off to start my day, and hopefully tomorrow morning I will be able to look in my rear view mirror of life and see a sunset or stars twinkling, or a  brave flower as it tries to uncover from the long winter.

MAy you each take time for life…. Until later, Mrs Justa alias Cindy

 

What is Unseen

Have you ever been overwhelmed by all the things that appear in front of us, things we can’t “unsee” .

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The touchable, visual things in life. From things that people have, to gestures people do, to what is brought to us via sensationalism by media, TV and movies, many electronic type games and programs.  All these things we can see, they do not matter really. They are in the form of being visual to us, touchable, or within our sites. The materialistic components of life. These things seen are all temporary.

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The list is endless really. And the truth is no matter how endless it is, in the end, there is not a luggage rack on a hearse, there are no storage bins or centers in heaven. We can get so wrapped up on those things seen that we don’t always take time to focus on the unseen.

There are our feelings, our kindness, our hurt, our joy. The unseen things that make us who we are. And the unseen things are not boasted about, they are not to be placed on a proverbial mantel in a touchable form. The unseen thing are what is inside us. How good a person we are inside. Trust in the kindness, goals to be compassionate, kind thoughts that are not smothered my negativity. Faith in today, faith in things unseen.

This is tough to do, because unseen things do not increase attendance at movie theaters, or increase profits for vendors and manufacturers of all the touchable things that surround us.

Personally, I can think of a lot of times

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I have wasted precious moments, precious days and years comparing me and what I have or don’t have to others. Why am I not ____, or I wish I could have ____, or how come “they” have the money to do ____. As I look back,   such a fool I was. Because, today,  as I sit here, I realize all the time I spent in the past of doing that, it was precious time never to be replaced again. And so many of the things seen that consumed me- years later are gone, or tarnished, or no longer as they appeared in the past.

Focusing on the unseen, that is eternal. May your day give you times of comfort.                 Until later, Mrs. Justa alias Cindy

 

 

Take Today and Embrace It

Oh boy, after 2 weeks of not feeling like I could do much of anything, I think I am returning to the other side. There is so much illness going around between people with the flu, upper respiratory problems, GI problems; unless I live in a bubble, I was bound to get something.

So I got the upper respiratory issues, the congestion, the cough, the tiredness… once again I thank God I work from home. AS I can trudge through the symptoms and not worry about contaminating anyone at work.

Now I am onto my thoughts about everything from A-Z. As I sit on the proverbial bench of life., I think about life. I was reading some things this AM and one thing came to me over and over again. If we continue to worry and fret about the tomorrows, we miss the todays. No one really knows the future, we can predict, sometimes it is correct. We can look at trends, but who knows where we are in the trend cycles really? At the end of the day, none of us know.

If we were to take notes on the prediction, those “scare the heck out of you, run for the hills and bury your money ” type predictions and now videos on YouTube and such, all the predictors, –and if we were to look back days, months and years later, we would probably find many of the “scare the pants off of us “predictions, were just words in space. Words to encourage us to not trust, words to inspire us to buy things to prepare us for the disaster of life as we know it.

In the end, it will be what it will be. For years I had a bin with the think plastic and rolls of duct tape because as we approached the millennium the world was going to never be the same. Remember the Y2K phrase was the phrase of the day. Build your bunkers and if you do not have a bunker, chose a room and seal it in plastic and duct tape. The predictions were assumptions, people believed them and felt they were helping mankind survive… there were scare tactics were just that. C0mputers would freak out,  causing immeasurable chaos ranging from vast blackouts to nuclear holocaust.  Remember the bunkers, and gun sales, ..and at 1-1-2000, the year changed, the new millennium began. There were probably a few bumps in the road, but we did not need our 25 yr supply of safe foods, or the bunkers.

So as I approach each day, I need to not get so wrapped up in 30 yrs from now and live frugally, yet not carelessly, live to enjoy today, because tomorrow- none of us know what it will be. Know that there is evil, but there is so much more good in the world. The goodness is not the “WOW” factor that media believes we need to see. Enjoy the sunrise, enjoy what you can.

Enjoy what blessings there are, have faith in the good, thank God for the moments you have, appreciate the wonders right in front of you.

The power may click off for a bit, we have candles. The water might have a problem, so we get filters to purify water and some bottled water.

Personally, if the world was to ever come to an end, that would be the end, and the guaranteed 25 yrs of preserved food would be in that sealed bucket, for what reason?

Until later, Mrs. Justa alias Cindy

 

Why….

What have we become as a nation? What have we slowly accepted as okay? What message are we sending to our children? WHY?

Maybe it is okay to be so self-centered, so ME focused, that we trod through the precious minutes of life not caring about the future, not caring about the sanctity of life, love, and the blessings of life. In the world, there is so much good that can be focused on, there are so many opportunities to help others, to protect, to teach, to learn.

I am not referring to everyone, I am referring to what we are easily exposed to in so many places.

I am beyond being able to be shocked until the next time something is thrown in our faces to shock me more. This is a list of just what was presented via news, entertainment – what we can easily run across just by being.

I do not understand why we invest so much time, so much money, so much effort into “marches”  “Demonstrations”  and ‘hateful behavior” —

Yet it is a very small percentage of exposure we get to the good of people, the good of individuals- not government being expected to do for us— but for us doing things for one another- like the ones lending a helping hand, those helping those who need help, working together to help lessen the poor in this nation, providing support for children. We need more helping people to learn about parenting, encouraging marriages to last, enlightening people in the blessings of life, respecting each other.

I hope we can find a more human respectful life, a less judgemental life, and appreciate every second — it will be gone too soon.

Until later, Mrs Justa, alias Cindy

 

 

Putting Life In Order

I remember when my mom passed away, it was not expected at all in our day to day lives. It is not that we thought she would live on forever, but it was more that she was there for our whole lives. So it became a part of life.

She was an extremely private, giving, compassionate and not the most organized person. She put her family first to the point that to avoid us worrying about her, when at all possible, she quietly dealt with her pains, her ailments, and her finances. In many ways her life was open to us, however the framework of it, she kept to herself.

Her death was while traveling in Germany, and her death was a surprise to the people she was visiting and a shock to all involved. So when the storm cloud cleared a tad that early morning we received the news that she had died in her sleep, the searching for information began. We had to represent her birth certificate, her marriage certificate, our dad’s death certificate. We had to present documentation explaining why her name on her birth certificate did not match the name on her marriage license and did not match her passport. And the clincher was we had to get all the information translated in German and sent ASAP to the funeral home in Germany.

Now that in itself was beyond overwhelming because she never shared where important papers were. We also had to find her financial paperwork, what bills she had, did she have any life insurance, the deed on the house, information on all her belongings, and we did not really have time to soak in the pain and loss because we were on a rush timeline to get everything in order.

We did, fortunately, know a friend of hers was a lawyer, and he had some idea of some things,  however, there was a limit to what he had available. Fortunately, she had a will, and that did help alot.

So this leads to our Sunday. I went through our papers, our financials, our personal papers, and I believe I have at least started to get all the information labeled and the information put into an excel sheet- a ledger. It was easier to start this ever-evolving log of our life now than it would be for someone else. I will update it as life changes. But at least, when Mark or I pass on, our information will not need to be the goal of a scavenger hunt. It was one of those good intention tasks that I have thought about for YEARS. and now I feel a little better should I get hit by the proverbial bus.

I may be here for another 30 years– but life— well it has no guarantees.

With that , I am closing, getting really for my day at work.

Love to all, Mrs Justa alias Cindy

 

Life The Way It is

I feel like we have come to the last lap of winter. It is nice to feel that way, as these past few months have been bitterly cold. It is so much easier to stay inside than to go out. It is hard to find time to see sunsets when it sets before the work day ends. It is too cold to be on the deck. Spring is knocking on the virtual door of the future, and I am super excited to know that is about to happen.

I am far from an extravagant person, and often I am so much like a nonperson, as I am quiet, a tad shy, and accepting of most things as they cross my pathway. I realize as I look at my many years of life, that I am a doer, and observer and unfortunately at times a person who wondered why I could not be as _______ as someone else.

Life is way too short to worry about what

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we don’t have and focus on what we do. I say that because we can strive for things, but we need to always be aware that things happen for a reason. In school I wished I was one of the popular crowd, now I look through various encounters with those who I thought had everything, and they didn’t. They were just like me, there was nothing special about them. Oh they had nice clothes, or they were from wealth, or they were always with groups of people, the sports stars talked to them, people invited each other to parties. Their social life left little time to sleep. I guess I put them in a pedestal because they seemed in my brief encounters to “have it all”.

Now though, I realize that each day is a day that is for each of us, gift-wrapped for us to embrace each minute.  It never comes back, and it is where we are at right now. I am so thankful for being blessed with a husband that truly loves me for who I am. I am thankful for God, and the comfort of faith. I am thankful for the opportunity to be a mom, a wife, a grandmother a sister, and a friend.   Thankful for each time I get out of bed, the ability to ambulate on my own, the incredible family I have, Riley, the ability to absorb the world around me,  to be able to feel, to smile and to cry, to find humor in life and to laugh, and that I have a job that keeps my mind going and helps us build for the days that lie ahead.

I was reading some posts on a forum, and people are boasting about how they have a few million dollars, how they have no worries about finances, one person wrote something about getting advice on how to spend all the money he has. On the surface, they sound like they “have it all”, but do they? I am not going to waste one precious minute of my life envisioning their wealth, their lives. Instead, I am going to treasure each moment of mine. I will never have millions of dollars, I do not know what one would have to do to obtain that. I would say that not having money abound, that keeps my focus more on the gifts we have in front of us.

My “millions” are made up of seconds, minutes, hugs, smiles, silence, being loved, music, singing, writing, reading, creating. With those things- why life is just fine,

Until later, Mrs Justa alias CIndy

 

Thankful For Creators, Inventors, Dreamers

As I got out of bed the other day, slid my feet to the floor, felt the carpet underneath them, went into the bathroom and brushed my teeth with water that comes on by a turn of a faucet, sat on the warm seat of the porcelain toilet and cleaned myself with soft toilet paper, washed my hands in warm water and using a fresh scented soap, proceeded to the shower stall and washed in the heated bathroom, I stopped and thanked God for everything we have.

This got my old brain thinking about times when houses were the outdoors, or if you were lucky you might have a  hut or a cave; when a bed was made by cushioning leaves and brush on the ground, and a bathroom was a place in the wilderness,  toilet paper a leaf, a blanket might be made from branches. Do you know how thankful I am that I am here now !!!

There were no rules, no electricity, no running water, no closets and dressers with clothes bought already made,  no phones, no Walmarts, no Amazons, no Home Depots or Lowes. To see how someone is, you hot-footed to where they were, barefoot unless you created a foot covering. There must have been winters, oh my goodness, how the heck could I have ever felt warm? My husband affectionately refers to me as an ice cube when I climb into bed. ( IN SUMMER and winter) .

I just finished cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms. As I carefully looked at every single thing, soap bars, shampoo that comes out with a simple push of the spout on the top, a refrigerator, cupboards with spices, microwave, oven, washer and dryer, and canned goods, a freezer with food ready to thaw, plates silverware, music playing with a touch of a button, I could go on and on… I am overwhelmed with gratitude and disbelief.

Bottom line is there are so many things I think we take for granted, things that never would be here had someone not had created a vision, an idea. Look at the things around us. Every single thing probably had years of trying ideas until it was perfected. From water flowing to septic needs met. From the clothes on our backs to the pillows we lay our heads on. The environments we live in, the transportation we take advantage of.

It only accentuates to me ever so loudly, that we need to feed and encourage ideas, teach our children, encourage thinking, not to become dormant, we need to stop and be thankful for everything and every breath we take. For many trails and thoughts, many failures and retrying surround us.

AND TO NEVER GIVE UP.  If everyone gave up if everyone did not even attempt to invent, create— well we would live in a world, life would be full of totally different scenarios.

UNtil later, Mrs Justa alias Cindy

 

Not Just a Dog

I have to tell you, I feel bad for those who have never been loved by a dog, who have never loved a dog. For a good part of my life, a dog has helped to make me whole. I truly believe, in my life, no other living being has ever been as faithful, trustworthy, compassionate and loving than a dog.

I have had a number of dogs, various breeds, various sizes. Each and everyone had a personality of their own, and if given attention and watching them, their lack of words does not lessen their amount of communication. They are silly, they smile, they do strange things, they fill the heart and soul with a love that is unmeasurable and irreplaceable.

I have never 100% of the time had a person greet me at the door with so much excitement and joy. Never once was a dog sitting at the door with a scowl, or a “And where were you this late” attitude that I would get from a parent at times. I have never had a better friend, never had another show unbiased acceptance for who and what I am, never felt as whole as I have in the times shared with our dog.

A dog is there when you hurt when you are sick and when you are just being. And a dog protects those who love it, to make sure danger stays as far away as possible.

I feel bad for those people who have never shared the time with a dog. It is so easy to walk past the dog journeys on the road of life, and honestly, it leaves a person without the “inconvenience ” of having a dog. They can pound their proverbial chests and have so many reasons why they don’t like dogs, do have dogs and would never live with a dog.

A dog is not okay to be beaten or abandoned, it is not ok to lock them up and let them come out for meals, they are not JUST A DOG. If a person can not take in 100% of what a dog really offers, what a gift a dog can be, well those people should never have one.

To me, a dog is not meant to be left outside, in a caged area or tied on a chain, why would I have a dog just to make it an outside animal? Some say their dogs have thick coats and love the cold, okay– I think that perhaps those people should put on their own heavy coats and share that outside environment with that dog.

Sure you can live without a dog, and you think you aren’t missing anything because of that, unfortunately, those people will never experience the unconditional love a dog gives. They won’t know the void a dog can fill, for me…. my life has been better with a dog in it.

A dog is a responsibility, a step taken knowing there are costs for caring, feeding, and nurturing. If a person is not willing to give all the care to a dog, they should not make that step. For me, for each dog that has filled my love with so much, there is no price, no amount of money that can match how much better my life is because of them.

I also can say that when a dog has had to die, the void, the soul riping loss ( for me) has been worse than the severe feeling of loss of a loved one. With that being said, a passing of a loved one goes on and on, and it feels like the world should stop as you take it all in.

The passing of a dog, it is different. It is so heart wrenching, and it can be days to not cry at a dog commercial, or looking at a photo or belonging of the dog, yet the footprints in my soul are treasured.

 

For me, I am so thankful to have known the various dogs in my life. Each one has been inside the house, protected from the elements. Each ones short life ( compared to our lives) has given more than I could ever have given back. If you truly watch a dog, you find so many neat qualities, neat personalities, and realize why dog is God spelled backward. A dog is not “Just a dog” and more than a person is “Just a ___”

I am going to get ready to venture into work. Our dog has come in and nudged her nose on my leg to say good morning, she has had her breakfast and gone out, and now she is in sleeping with her dad, watching over him as he sleeps his last little while before araising to a new day. She reminded me how great it is to have her in our home, in our hearts, and a part of our family.

Love to all, Until later, Mrs Justa alias Cindy