Hi everyone –
I had my cast removed yesterday and the most beautiful weather (sunny and 70+) in the valley to celebrate! Doctor said all was OK and now we just wait for 6 more weeks for the bones to heal. I’m in a splint and can remove it to bathe and while sitting very still! No physical therapy at this time. He thinks possibly I won’t need PT at all as I have been exercising my fingers and have gained almost all mobility back in the fingers. The surgery scar is downright scary – so I am ready for Halloween this year – I’ll just hold up my arm and scare all the treat-or-treaters! Will let you all know more after Thanksgiving!
[sister-in-law]
Friday, October 31, 2008
pictures from my brother in OR
We are finally getting the actual acrylic installed for the new solarium.
Also some bay photos from last week when we were still having beautiful weather. We have had more pelicans this year than any previous year.
Also some bay photos from last week when we were still having beautiful weather. We have had more pelicans this year than any previous year.
Naming the sheep
The following story comes from Julie Helms in Christian Reader "Lite Fare":
My husband and I, with our two daughters, operate a small sheep farm. One day a non-farming friend asked,
May the fact that your shepherd knows your name give you comfort this day.
My husband and I, with our two daughters, operate a small sheep farm. One day a non-farming friend asked,
How can you bear to slaughter those cute little lambs?My husband explained,
We don't want to get emotionally attached to the ones we plan to eat, so we don't give them names.Not satisfied, the friend probed,
What about your kids?Myhusband quickly replied,
Oh, we name them!While very few of us are personally familiar with sheep and shepherds, the relationship between the two is one of the most powerful images in the Bible used to describe the relationship between Christ and his followers. The loving care shown by shepherds to their flock, and the willingness of sheep to utterly depend on what the shepherd can provide offer a glimpse of our personal relationship with the good shepherd. While it may seem to be a small thing, our name plays a significant role in that relationship.
He who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. (Jn 10:2-3)"He calls his own sheep by name." Though there are many disciples of Christ around the world, we are not just "one of the masses", not just a number. We are intimately known and loved by the good shepherd. He knows us by name. It tells us not only that he cares about us, but that he plans for his relationship with us to be a lasting one.
May the fact that your shepherd knows your name give you comfort this day.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
unbearable
Many hymnals have a hymn called "Gladly the Cross I'd Bear." It seems that one week when the church secretary was typing the Sunday bulletin, she asked the pastor which hymn would come just before the sermon. He replied with the above-mentioned hymn. The following Sunday the bulletin read: Hymn No. 134: "Gladly, the Cross-eyed Bear." - Donald Leininger
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
five wonders of my world
my granddaughters
SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD
I heard about a group of Geography students who studied the Seven Wonders of the World. At the end of that section, the students were asked to list what they each considered to be the Seven Wonders of the World. Though there was some disagreement, the following got the most votes: Egypt's Great Pyramid, the Taj Mahal, the Grand Canyon, the Panama Canal, the Empire State Building, St. Peter's Basilica and China's Great Wall.
While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one student, a quiet girl, hadn't turned in her paper yet. So she asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list. The quiet girl replied, "Yes, a little. I couldn't quite make up my mind because there were so many."
The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help." The girl hesitated, then read, "I think the Seven Wonders of the World are to touch and to taste, to see and to hear . . . " She hesitated a little, "and then to run and to laugh and to love."
It is far too easy for us to look at the exploits of man and refer to them as "wonders" while we overlook all that God has done, regarding them as merely "ordinary." May you be reminded today of those things which are truly wondrous.
"I will remember the works of the LORD; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will also meditate on all Your work, and talk of Your deeds.....Who is so great a God as our God? You are the God who does wonders." (Ps 77:11-14a)
Praise be to "the God who does wonders"!
- alansmith.servant@gmail.com
SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD
I heard about a group of Geography students who studied the Seven Wonders of the World. At the end of that section, the students were asked to list what they each considered to be the Seven Wonders of the World. Though there was some disagreement, the following got the most votes: Egypt's Great Pyramid, the Taj Mahal, the Grand Canyon, the Panama Canal, the Empire State Building, St. Peter's Basilica and China's Great Wall.
While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one student, a quiet girl, hadn't turned in her paper yet. So she asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list. The quiet girl replied, "Yes, a little. I couldn't quite make up my mind because there were so many."
The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help." The girl hesitated, then read, "I think the Seven Wonders of the World are to touch and to taste, to see and to hear . . . " She hesitated a little, "and then to run and to laugh and to love."
It is far too easy for us to look at the exploits of man and refer to them as "wonders" while we overlook all that God has done, regarding them as merely "ordinary." May you be reminded today of those things which are truly wondrous.
"I will remember the works of the LORD; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will also meditate on all Your work, and talk of Your deeds.....Who is so great a God as our God? You are the God who does wonders." (Ps 77:11-14a)
Praise be to "the God who does wonders"!
- alansmith.servant@gmail.com
Monday, October 13, 2008
Coping with Work - Phase 1
You are listening to Stevie Wonder.
(Your first day at work and all is fine and great. Your coworkers are wonderful, your cubicle is oh so cute, and your boss is the best.)
Coping with Work - Phase 2
You are listening to HOUSE music.
(After a while you are so busy that you are not sure if you're coming or going anymore.)
Coping with Work - Phase 4
You are listening to Hip Hop.
(You become bloated due to stress, feel sluggish and suffer from constipation. Your coworkers are too cheerful for your liking and the walls of your cubicle are closing in. You have started thinking 'WHATEVER' about your boss.)
Coping with Work - Phase 5
You are listening to GANGSTA RAP.
(After more time passes, your eyes start to twitch, you forget what a 'good hair day' feels like as you just fall out of bed and load up on caffeine!!)COFFEE!!! MUST HAVE COFFEE!!!!
Coping with Work - Phase 6
You are listening to Techno (on 'something')
(AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You have built a makeshift door on your cubicle to keep people out, You have a dartboard with your boss¢s picture on it in your cube, and You wonder why you are even here in the first place...)
Thursday, October 9, 2008
random thoughts from the i-net
However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results. - Winston Churchill
Lots of folks confuse bad management with destiny. - Ken Hubbard
I was getting my hair cut at a neighborhood shop, and I asked the barber when would be the best time to bring in my two-year-old son for his first haircut. Without hesitation, the barber answered, "When he's four." - Thomas Ellsworth
Lots of folks confuse bad management with destiny. - Ken Hubbard
I was getting my hair cut at a neighborhood shop, and I asked the barber when would be the best time to bring in my two-year-old son for his first haircut. Without hesitation, the barber answered, "When he's four." - Thomas Ellsworth
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
sticky situation
SIN WILL TAKE YOU FURTHER
The following "urban legend" has been around since 1999:
A Vermont native, Ronald Demuth, found himself in a difficult position. While touring the Eagle's Rock African Safari (Zoo) with a group from Russia, Mr. Demuth went overboard to show them one of America's many marvels. He demonstrated the effectiveness of "Crazy Glue"... the hard way.
Apparently, Mr. Demuth wanted to demonstrate just how good the adhesive was, so he put about 3 ounces of the adhesive in the palms of his hands, and jokingly placed them on the buttocks of a passing rhino. The rhino, a resident of the zoo for thirteen years, was not initially startled. However, once it became aware of being stuck to Mr. Demuth, it began to panic and ran around the petting area wildly making Mr. Demuth an unintended passenger.
"Sally [the rhino] hasn't been feeling well lately. She had been very constipated. We had just given her a laxative and some depressants to relax her bowels, when Mr. Demuth played his juvenile prank," said James Douglass, caretaker. During Sally's tirade two fences were destroyed, a shed wall was gored, and a number of small animals escaped. Also, during the stampede, three pygmy goats and one duck were stomped to death.
As for Demuth, it took a team of medics and zoo caretakers' to remove his hands from her buttocks. First, the animal had to be captured and calmed down. However, during this process the laxatives began to take hold and Mr. Demuth was repeatedly showered with over 30 gallons of rhino diarrhea. "It was tricky. We had to calm her down, while at the same time shield our faces from being pelted with rhino dung. I guess you could say that Mr. Demuth was into it up to his neck.
Once she was under control, we had three people with shovels working to keep an air passage open for Mr. Demuth. We were able to tranquilize her and apply a solvent to remove his hands from her rear," said Douglass. "I don't think he'll be playing with Crazy Glue for a while."
The first time I heard this story (and thought it was true), I remember thinking, "What in the world was Mr. Demuth thinking????" Lest I be too harsh and critical, though, I have to remember all the times in my life when I have "attached" myself to something sinful. The results were just as disastrous, and I have often found myself wondering, "What was I thinking?" The truth is, I really wasn't thinking at all.
That's the very nature of sin. We "attach" ourselves, thinking we can always quit whenever we want to. We don't even consider what the consequences will be. I appreciate this quote by an unknown author: "Sin will take you further than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay and cost you more than you want to pay."
I almost didn't use the story above because of it being so disgusting. But then I realized that it is nothing compared to the disgusting things that sin leads us to do in our own lives. Perhaps we need to be reminded every now and then of just how disgusting the results of sin can be.
"But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death." (James 1:14-15)
To what (or whom) have you attached yourself?
The following "urban legend" has been around since 1999:
A Vermont native, Ronald Demuth, found himself in a difficult position. While touring the Eagle's Rock African Safari (Zoo) with a group from Russia, Mr. Demuth went overboard to show them one of America's many marvels. He demonstrated the effectiveness of "Crazy Glue"... the hard way.
Apparently, Mr. Demuth wanted to demonstrate just how good the adhesive was, so he put about 3 ounces of the adhesive in the palms of his hands, and jokingly placed them on the buttocks of a passing rhino. The rhino, a resident of the zoo for thirteen years, was not initially startled. However, once it became aware of being stuck to Mr. Demuth, it began to panic and ran around the petting area wildly making Mr. Demuth an unintended passenger.
"Sally [the rhino] hasn't been feeling well lately. She had been very constipated. We had just given her a laxative and some depressants to relax her bowels, when Mr. Demuth played his juvenile prank," said James Douglass, caretaker. During Sally's tirade two fences were destroyed, a shed wall was gored, and a number of small animals escaped. Also, during the stampede, three pygmy goats and one duck were stomped to death.
As for Demuth, it took a team of medics and zoo caretakers' to remove his hands from her buttocks. First, the animal had to be captured and calmed down. However, during this process the laxatives began to take hold and Mr. Demuth was repeatedly showered with over 30 gallons of rhino diarrhea. "It was tricky. We had to calm her down, while at the same time shield our faces from being pelted with rhino dung. I guess you could say that Mr. Demuth was into it up to his neck.
Once she was under control, we had three people with shovels working to keep an air passage open for Mr. Demuth. We were able to tranquilize her and apply a solvent to remove his hands from her rear," said Douglass. "I don't think he'll be playing with Crazy Glue for a while."
The first time I heard this story (and thought it was true), I remember thinking, "What in the world was Mr. Demuth thinking????" Lest I be too harsh and critical, though, I have to remember all the times in my life when I have "attached" myself to something sinful. The results were just as disastrous, and I have often found myself wondering, "What was I thinking?" The truth is, I really wasn't thinking at all.
That's the very nature of sin. We "attach" ourselves, thinking we can always quit whenever we want to. We don't even consider what the consequences will be. I appreciate this quote by an unknown author: "Sin will take you further than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay and cost you more than you want to pay."
I almost didn't use the story above because of it being so disgusting. But then I realized that it is nothing compared to the disgusting things that sin leads us to do in our own lives. Perhaps we need to be reminded every now and then of just how disgusting the results of sin can be.
"But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death." (James 1:14-15)
To what (or whom) have you attached yourself?
M$
The residents of Silicon Valley are more confused than usual after a billboard campaign by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society of America.
One of the ads uses the slogan "MS: It's not a software company" exploiting the fame of a certain company to draw attention to an altogether worthier cause. Requests to comment on the campaign have been met by a surly silence by Microsoft which doesn't relish the association of ideas, but is painfully aware that it can't afford to appear insensitive over such an issue. Seasoned IT professionals will have no trouble telling the two MS's apart.
One is a debilitating and surprisingly widespread affliction that renders the sufferer barely able to perform the simplest task. The other is a disease.
John Habkirk
Website Manager
squiffy@msrc.co.uk
uga2008Oct6
One of the ads uses the slogan "MS: It's not a software company" exploiting the fame of a certain company to draw attention to an altogether worthier cause. Requests to comment on the campaign have been met by a surly silence by Microsoft which doesn't relish the association of ideas, but is painfully aware that it can't afford to appear insensitive over such an issue. Seasoned IT professionals will have no trouble telling the two MS's apart.
One is a debilitating and surprisingly widespread affliction that renders the sufferer barely able to perform the simplest task. The other is a disease.
John Habkirk
Website Manager
squiffy@msrc.co.uk
uga2008Oct6
chuckles
A guy walks into a bar and there's a horse serving drinks. The horse asks, "What are you staring at? Haven't you ever seen a horse tending bar before?" The guy replies, "It's not that. I just never thought the parrot would sell the place." q.marsha1945@AUSTIN.RR.COM uga2008Oct7
~~~
"There are two divergent opinions on how best to treat you," the doctor told the old perfesser. "I'm convinced you need a triple bypass. Your HMO says all you need to do is rub this $14 tube of salve on your chest." q.Paul Benoit uga2008Oct7
~~~
A young lady visited the government matchmaker for marriage and requested - "I'm looking for a spouse. Can you please help me to find a suitable one?" The marriage officer said, "Your requirements, please."
"Well, let me see. Needs to be good looking, polite, humorous, sporty, knowledgeable, good at singing and dancing. Willing to accompany me the whole day at home during my leisure hour, if I don't go out. Telling me interesting stories when I need companion for conversation and be silent when I want to rest." The officer listened carefully and replied, "Hmmmm, I think I understand. You need TV set." q.Maurizio Mariotti uga2008Sep23
~~~
"There are two divergent opinions on how best to treat you," the doctor told the old perfesser. "I'm convinced you need a triple bypass. Your HMO says all you need to do is rub this $14 tube of salve on your chest." q.Paul Benoit
~~~
A young lady visited the government matchmaker for marriage and requested - "I'm looking for a spouse. Can you please help me to find a suitable one?" The marriage officer said, "Your requirements, please."
"Well, let me see. Needs to be good looking, polite, humorous, sporty, knowledgeable, good at singing and dancing. Willing to accompany me the whole day at home during my leisure hour, if I don't go out. Telling me interesting stories when I need companion for conversation and be silent when I want to rest." The officer listened carefully and replied, "Hmmmm, I think I understand. You need TV set." q.Maurizio Mariotti
Sunday, October 5, 2008
yet another grandpup report
part two
Sorry but this sounds whiny.
I "slept" 13 hours last night.
The change of seasons messed up my sinuses. They are not happy.
I missed choir this morning. I overslept the alarm.
I am writing this from the master bedroom. Because it is in the back of the house facing north, it gets no direct sun, except in the middle of the summer when the sun is high in the sky. Its darkness suits me today.
My back does not like the cooling weather. Muscle spasms in the right leg are trying to make a comeback.
I am back to the point where things that used to bring pleasure fail to do so. Giving an RCIA presentation a few weeks ago brought back some passion. I need more.
I asked the Kat to marry me and she declined. It is the pup's turn to be grumpy.
The house has overwhelmed me. There is no way I can finish all the projects I have started before I die.
They delivered a load of wood chips last week and placed it on some tree branches instead of in the middle of the yeard.
I have reached the point where I would like to "retire" but, like many people, don't think I can afford to lose the paycheck.
I can only praise the Lord for m chidren and grandchildren. For friends and family. For trees and flowers and animals.
Sorry but this sounds whiny.
I "slept" 13 hours last night.
The change of seasons messed up my sinuses. They are not happy.
I missed choir this morning. I overslept the alarm.
I am writing this from the master bedroom. Because it is in the back of the house facing north, it gets no direct sun, except in the middle of the summer when the sun is high in the sky. Its darkness suits me today.
My back does not like the cooling weather. Muscle spasms in the right leg are trying to make a comeback.
I am back to the point where things that used to bring pleasure fail to do so. Giving an RCIA presentation a few weeks ago brought back some passion. I need more.
I asked the Kat to marry me and she declined. It is the pup's turn to be grumpy.
The house has overwhelmed me. There is no way I can finish all the projects I have started before I die.
They delivered a load of wood chips last week and placed it on some tree branches instead of in the middle of the yeard.
What we have here is a failure to communicate.
I have reached the point where I would like to "retire" but, like many people, don't think I can afford to lose the paycheck.
I can only praise the Lord for m chidren and grandchildren. For friends and family. For trees and flowers and animals.
Friday, October 3, 2008
for my granddaughters
My dad says I am ENORMOUSLY GORGEOUS. I wonder if I really am.
To be ENORMOUSLY GORGEOUS...
Sarah says you need to have beautiful long, curly hair like she has. I don't.
To be ENORMOUSLY GORGEOUS...
Justin says you must have perfectly straight white teeth like he has. I don't.
To be ENORMOUSLY GORGEOUS...
Jessica says you can't have any of those little brown dots on your face called freckles. I do.
To be ENORMOUSLY GORGEOUS...
Mark says you have to be the smartest kid in the seventh-grade class. I'm not.
To be ENORMOUSLY GORGEOUS...
Stephen says you have to be able to tell the funniest jokes in the school. I don't.
To be ENORMOUSLY GORGEOUS...
Lauren says you need to live in the nicest neighborhood in town and in the prettiest house. I don't.
To be ENORMOUSLY GORGEOUS...
Matthew says you can only wear the coolest clothes and the most popular shoes. I don't.
To be ENORMOUSLY GORGEOUS...
Samantha says you need to come from a perfect family. I don't.
But every night at bedtime my dad gives me a big hug and says, "You are ENORMOUSLY GORGEOUS, and I love you."
My dad must know something my friends don't.
-Carla O'Brien q._Chicken Soup For the Kids' Soul_
We all need to be reminded from time to time of that which makes us beautiful. We look for beauty in the clothes we wear or the make-up or the tan. True beauty is found much deeper.
"Do not let your adornment be merely outward -- arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel -- rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God." (1Pt 3:3-4)
- Alan Smith _http://www.tftd-online.com_
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