QUOTE OF THE DAY

Overheard on WJR radio sometime after February 14th (paraphrasing by me):

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Denny McLain: "This has been my worst week ever!"

Announcer: "Why is that?"

Denny McLain: "Because I forgot Halloween!"

Announcer and entire radio audience: "????????"

Finally the Announcer: "Do you mean Valentine's Day?"
Denny McClain: "Yeah, Valentine's Day."

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Me: Any wonder why he is in the dog house? Or could this be a Freudian slip? Perhaps it was the flowers he sent to his wife?

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My imagination just can't stop with this one.

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Image taken from here.

CONNECTED

Tonight my daughter and I stood out on the front porch, eyes to the sky. We were there to see a total lunar eclipse. It was silent except for our quiet exchanges. Our breath swirled misty around us in the freezing cold. Then voices burst our solitude, as front doors swung open up and down the block, with parents and blanket wrapped children joining our revery. I thought about the link that joined us, each family seperate yet connected, to see this display in the heavens.

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My mind turned to another connection. The many of us who were thinking about Arlene and her family. Today was the day that God called Arlene home. I wondered how many of those who were linked to Arlene were thinking about her, sharing these same seconds with me. I also wondered if they were recalling that Wednesdays had become the day we set aside to pray for her. I wondered if they thought, as I was, how God's fingerprints were all over this day, all over this event of the eclipse...just as they were all over the things in Arlene's life that made her special...that drew us to her.

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Connected...in life...in love...in friendship...in faith.

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Image taken from here.

TAGGED

My friend Dave tagged me. (No apologies needed Dave!)

Here are the requests of the tag:
1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five other people.

"What if they are?" he said. "It don't change what you gotta do, Chick. You stay in those cages, work with your coaches, and be ready when the time comes..." from FOR ONE MORE DAY by Mitch Albom.

This is an interesting little book that I got from my brother for Christmas (I just started it...only a few chapters in). It's about a former World Series player who attempted suicide and lives. Albom is also author of TUESDAY'S WITH MORRIE and THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN. My favorite Albom book though was his Bo Schembechler biography. Albom is a sports writer in Detroit and is also known for writing a totally made up column included quotes from a player about winning a game....which might have never achieved any notariety if the team had not lost the game. (I may not have the details correct..it was a while ago and many of us have come to learn that this is not uncommon among sports writers. If Ray Barone did it, we would think it was funny.)

I met Mitch Albom once, before he authored a novel, and was just known as the favorite son of the Detroit sports world. I was a consultant for a long term care management firm and was coordinating a Wheelchair Olympics for nursing home residents from about 9 facilities in Michigan. We held it at Madonna University, which happens to be the school I graduated from. What I remember most about Albom, as I walked around the events with him, was that treated each nursing home resident with as much respect and enthusiasm as he has with professional athletes...perhaps even a bit more. I am not surprised that the man I met at this event is the man who authored TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE.

Dave, thanks for the tag. Unexpectedly, it brought back some great memories!

IF YOU ARE READING THIS, CONSIDER YOURSELF TAGGED!!!! :-)

One more thing...I wish someone would say this about me - "[She] did nothing by half measures and never considered failure as a possible outcome. " It is a quote from a work by my friend, Richard, that is still in progress.

440....

.....the number of unread emails in my personal email.

I'M BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN!

My goal was to rejoin the Blogging World once we launched this huge account at work. The official launch has happened and I am looking forward to life returning to a slower pace.

Nothing too exciting going on with me, but here is the latest:

1. I went to the doc's yesterday because I fell and sprained my leg a month ago. It still hurts. He told me I need more time, keep an ace wrap on it, and quit wearing heals albeit short ones (lol).

2. I just read a very interesting book...quite a sleeper I must say.. ...Christ the Lord, Out of Egypt by Ann Rice. My daughter saw me reading this and said, "Ann Rice...doesn't she write about vampires?" Written in the first person, Rice explores what Jesus might have been thinking and experiencing as a child. Some great historical information is built in. But most interesting to me was what Rice had to say after, about how she ended up writing this book and her research/sources.

3. I feel like I am 100.

4. My office is a wreck.

5. I had my hair highlighted.

6. I was at a 1st birthday party on Sunday and I have never seen such a joyful, exuberant, happy little guy.

7. Having my mom's basement bathroom remodeled. Maybe I will show you some before and after pictures, but can I just say that the "before" was worse than a dungeon? The toilet has been pulled so the floor tiles can be put down.

8. My daughter remains my best friend.

9. I missed reading your thoughts, your happenings.

10. I WILL see you tomorrow!

image taken from here.

THE EYE OF THE STORM

I feel like I have been spinning plates.

A whole long row

Hurry, one is starting to wobble

Run and catch it before it topples....

Then comes the whisper of the Ancients

Through the sands of time

Calling, calling

"Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One..."

The longing starts

Deep and deeper still

"I hear you! The Lord our God.....

The Lord MY God!"

And I step inside leaving the chaos

No spinning plates

No sense of time

I find YOU, the One true God...inside the eye of the storm.

Image taken from here.