Summer Blog Challenge

I am not, as you may have noticed, an assiduous blogger -- some of you miss my posts and some could care less. But it is time to catch up. My dear friend Fonda has issued a challenge... a "Summer Blog challenge". I thought, this would be as good a time as any to start blogging again.

Our first topic... WHAT SAYS "SUMMER" TO YOU?

Summer means so many things for me. One of them to say the least is sadness. Every time around this year, for the last 13 years, I have been reminded of that fateful day when Paul passed away. The pain of losing him is gone, but in a strange way it's still there. I still miss him. I don't think I will ever forget the day I found him laying unconscious on our front-yard. I never thought I would lose him like that, so suddenly... so abruptly. Even though his death certificate says July 14, 1997; In my heart and mind, he died July 13, Sunday.

I am grateful to God for the many blessings He has given me. My life with Paul, a beautiful daughter, and now my life with Doug. Thank you, Lord!

In Loving Memory

Paul Rene Saunders
May 5, 1959 - July 14, 1997

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints."

~Psalm 116:15

I could not stay another day,
To love, to laugh, to work or play;
Tasks left undone must stay that way.
And if my parting has left a void,
Then fill it with remembered joy.
~ Shannon Moseley, “Don’t Grieve for Me”

LIFE IS A THEATER - Invite Your Audience Carefully!

Not everyone is healthy enough to have a front row seat in our lives.
There are some people in your life that need to be loved from a DISTANCE.

It's amazing what you can accomplish when you let go of, or at least
minimize your time with, draining, negative, incompatible,
not-going-anywhere relationships/friendships.

Observe the relationships around you. Pay attention.
Which ones lift and which ones lean?
Which ones encourage and which ones discourage?
Which ones are on a path of growth uphill and which ones are going downhill?

When you leave certain people do you feel better or feel worse?
Which ones always have drama or don't really understand, know or appreciate you?

The more you seek quality, respect, growth, peace of mind, love and truth around you...the easier it will become for you to decide who gets to sit in the front row and who should be moved to the balcony of Your Life.

"If you cannot change the people around you, CHANGE the people you are around."

Remember that the people we hang with will have an impact on both our lives and our income. And so we must be careful to choose the people we hang out with, as well as the information with which we feed our minds.

We should not share our dreams with negative people, Nor feed our dreams with negative thoughts.

It's your choice and your life... It's up to you who and what you let in it.

~Author Unknown

Burrowing

It’s hard to write, when there is so much you *don’t* want to write about. Too many things to think about and plan for. All I want to do is curl up in bed hoping everything will be done and fall into place. Alas, I must get up and get on with life!

Change

I decided to change the look of my blog. I'm not sure how long I'm going to keep this design. I think it's a little busy for my liking. On the other hand, I love the new look on my Project 365!

I do like that this design is more personalized. See the little sticky notes on the side? :)

Technologically Speaking

 I just finished reading my friend Fonda's blog post and it got me thinking about the Internet, social media and this whole technology thing.

Where was I technologically speaking, 10 years ago? 15 years ago? Maybe even 20 years ago. Let's see...

I remember Paul's cellular phone, it was so big that it has it's own bag and it needed to be plugged in the car for it to work. I remember him having a pager for work and I thought he was all that (this was before we were married). In those days, only doctors have pagers!

If I remember correctly, I got my very own cellphone in 1996 or 1997. It was gigantic candy bar style cellphone compare to the size of the phones now a days. I know it was a Nokia, because I remember thinking what a strange name and that it would be great to invest in the company if I had the funds to do it. I wish I did!

In 1998, I created my very first website called "What's Up?" (very creative, huh?) when I lived in Rockford, Illinois. I had to learn and teach myself HTML, back then you had to know how to write HTML code to publish your own website. Not so anymore. I remember one of the members of my family being upset because I had posted DD and my pictures on the world wide web.

It's so strange to think how far we've come, technology speaking. We have the internet at our fingertips, we blog, we twitter and facebooking is now a verb! We can surf the internet, send email, take pictures and even make movies with our cell phones.

I wonder what's next? What about you? Do you remember your first cellphone or computer?

25 Random Things About Me

By now you’ve undoubtedly been tagged at least once for that “25 Random Things About Me” Facebook note that has spread across the social networking sphere like some kind of self-revelatory virus. Love it or hate it, its rapid proliferation is unprecedented in social networking’s young history — Facebook reports that nearly 5 million notes were created by its users during the week of January 26 through February 2, which was more than double the amount from the previous week and more than any other week in the company’s history.

But still, no one seems to be able to get to the bottom of who actually started it, or why Facebook users are suddenly so enamored with this particular means of sharing both intensely personal and highly mundane details about themselves with hundreds of friends and acquaintances in their news feeds. “We don’t have specific data on the types of Notes users are creating, but we think this growth has a strong correlation to the sharing of the 25 Random Things About Me Note,” wrote Facebook spokeswoman Brandee Barker in an email message. “Other types of content, like photos or news stories, have spread rapidly and widely on Facebook, but this is the first time I’ve noticed a Note gain such distribution.”

Complete story here.

So, should I post 25 random things about me? What about you?

In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb

February has come and gone. It has been a very mild winter, but I have heard that March is known for coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb. I'm hoping it will be a lamb this year. I hope we don't get any snow since I've already started taking down the plastic insulation over our windows. Apparently, this winter has been the least snowiest on record.

My spring flowers are starting to come up, I'm excited to see the bulbs I planted last Fall growing. I mentioned to DH I needed to get my tomatoes and other vegetable seedlings I want to plant this year. But, he is not as enthused about it as I am. He has put in for a couple of bids out of Washington so we are kind of up in the air right now. Regardless of were moving or not, I will have my tomatoes, eggplants and herbs this year!

I started going to a work-out class called Zumba on Tuesdays and Thursday... very fun fitness program! I have much to do as far as "Spring Cleaning" goes, I'm editing a lot of our stuff in our house. So much to do!!!

Project 365

Just wanted to let everyone know that I'm doing this project this year. I invite you to visit and encourage me to keep-up with it!

No turning this day around!

You definitely can't turn this date around. Apparently it’s only the second palindrome day of the 21st century, meaning that if you flip the day over it reads the same: 01/02/2010 or 01022010.

Palindrome days, at least in the long run, are rarer than visits by Halley’s Comet, which swings by the green planet once every 75 or 76 years. Yes, the last palindrome date wasn't that long ago, on Oct 2, 2001 – 10-02-2001, but the one before that came a full 620 years earlier, on Aug. 31, 1380, in the year Charles VI, the French king, declared no taxes forever.

The next palindrome day, which will be the third out of 12 in the 21st century, will be on 11-02-2011. The 36th and last palindrome date of this millennium will occur on Sept. 22, 2290. The next one after that will be Oct. 3, 3001. A bit spooky to think of, that.

Happy 2010

The old year has gone. Let the dead past bury its own dead. The new year has taken possession of the clock of time. All hail the duties and possibilities of the coming twelve months!
~Edward Payson Powell