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Gratitude

I downloaded an iPhone App today called Gratitude Journal. It's a rather simple App, basically just a souped up version of iPhone Notes.

Everyday, you list 5 things that you are grateful for. You can go back and re-read previous days' lists, and you can email the list to yourself. You're not limited to 5 gratitudes, and you can actually right down anything. When you're done, the app closes by displaying a perky little saying.

Gratitude Journal is only 99 cents. I'm thinking in this current economic mess that we're in, the more positive thoughts we can pump into ourselves and remind ourselves, the better.

My entries today were
1) Sleeping late
2) A relaxing morning
3) 3 healthy meals
4) shopping at a consignment store
5) getting a nice run in

Of course, it's easy to be grateful on the weekends! I wonder what my 5 gratitudes will be on Monday!

Westward bound

This summer, my sister and I are going out West. We are thinking of western Montana or Wyoming. Montana has Glacier National Park, which is lovely, I hear. Wyoming, of course, has Yellowstone. We'll probably spend 5-7 days.

Have you ever been to either of those states? If so, do you have any great memories? Places to stay? Things to do? Good restaurants? If so, please let me know! I'm definitely open for ideas!

Thanks!

It all adds up now

I have had a really hectic month at work; every task has been so much of an effort to complete! Very little has gone right.

Last week, I realized that since the New Year, I haven't been reading the Bible much at all.

I have started reading the Bible daily again... and amazingly enough, work has been going much better!

Hmm... when will I learn for good that staying in touch with God and his word will make things in my life easier to handle???

Recap of our weekend with the girls

We had a super time last weekend with Elise and Caroline. They are so much fun and so funny! Well behaved too! Some of our highlights are:
1) Roller skating - It does come back after all those years, although I did stay in the slow lane.
2) Mexican food - We ate at our favorite, La Parilla, on the Marietta square. And Charles' brother and wife joined us too.
3) Church of the Apostles - I used to go there, and I love the music! The girls have a good Sunday school class that teaches the Word.
4) Waffle House for brunch - This was Caroline's idea, and I'd forgotten how good that food is!
5) High School Musical 3 - Those HSM movies are so upbeat and the message is positive.
6) Walking the dog - Their dog is a good walker.

I think the girls liked playing with our iPhones, taking a bubble bath, dressing up for Sunday school, talking to Charles and me, riding bikes at the park, looking up info on the web about HSM 3... and we discovered that there are plans for a High School Musical 4!

When I was a little girl

This weekend, Charles and I are taking care of my friend's children. They are age 10 and 7. We'll stay at their house for two nights! We are looking forward to it, because these are just the cutest little girls, and they love us!

We are going to see a play on Saturday and roller skating Saturday night. Charles was trying to think up more interesting things to do with them on Sunday. (This is an excuse for us to have fun too!) He was asking himself, "What would I have liked to do at that age?" It got me thinking, and here's what I came up with:

1) eating candy (That was the best!)
2) playing with my dolls
3) playing with my sister and our cats. (At one time, we had at least 13! We fed them Christmas dinner one year!)
4) watching Gilligans Island
5) reading "big" books such as Nancy Drew, Little House on the Prairie and the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary

What about you? What did you like to do when you were in the 7-10 age range?

A heart to heart talk

There's a radio ad circulating on our air waves sponsored by a certain church denomination. It's really touching with the theme being what teenagers would talk about if they could have a heart to heart talk with their parents. Some said they would talk about dating, the other sex, and things such as "what I'm going through". Others said that they would "just talk". A few were kinda funny; in fact, one boy said he'd talk about sports with his dad!

It got me thinking... if I could go back and have a heart to heart talk with Mama, would would I ask? Here's what I came up with:

• What was it like when your mother died and you were only 10 years old?
• What was it like to go live with your aunt and overhear her daughter speak harshly about the situation?
• What was it like to marry a husband who traveled so much in the beginning years?
• What was it like to lose your identical twin sister at age 27?
• What was it like to move from Memphis to middle Tennessee with 4 children and a husband with a new job?
• What was it like to go back to work after your youngest entered kindergarten?
• What was it like to raise 6 children?
• What was it like to retire and get your life back?
• What was it like to become a widow?

Mama and I had the best of relationships. (She was perfect!) However, because she was so unselfish, most of our conversations were about me. Looking back, it makes me realize that she had a world of feelings of her own, and I wish I had pulled some of them out of her.

What about you? What would you go back and ask your parents?

My New Year's Resolutions

This year, I'm going to:

1) come home from work earlier
2) not worry about work so much
3) be more social
4) stay in better contact with friends
5) have more fun

I worried so much about work and life in general last year. I remember once waking up with my heart pounding over a stupid project at work. And, the only thing I have to show for all that worrying is two big wrinkles on my forward.

2009 will be different!