MY KIND OF SEASON

I love Autumn. I love the "Indian Summer" days early in the season that are sandwiched between cooler weather. I love the way that one tree will burst forth with color against a sea of green, surprising you and calling to her sisters, "Autumn has come!" And the slow following of those sisters, one by one, turning in their green for yellow, red, brown, and orange vestments.
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I love the smell in the air, the crispness, the earthiness. I love the sound of crackling leaves. I love the swirl of the wind accompanied by dancing leaves that later turn to gusts and gales, sweeping it's dancers into a frenzy of motion.
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I love the warmth of the sun against the briskness of atmosphere. I love the rain, sometimes gentle, sometimes fierce and biting. I love the first frosts that paint the landscape with magic.
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I love Autumn. I am so glad God thought of it!
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Image taken from here.

E-NUFF IS E-NUFF!

I don't go crazy when someone wishes me Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. I recognize that there are other people celebrating other holidays around my Christmas. Perhaps it is just the craziness I see increasing around the whole God and Christmas and tolerance for everyone but those who share my faith. Like the political commercials and mailings that we are all getting so weary of.....I have had E-NUFF! I am tired of it. That prompted me to send the following email to the chairman of Home Depot:
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"Dear Chairman Blake:
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Before you read the rest of this, I want you to know that last year, I spent probably $3000 - $5000 on home remodeling projects at Home Depot.
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I just learned that Home Depot will join the ranks of stores deleting "Christmas" from their advertising. That makes me so sad. There is nothing wrong w/ the word Christmas.
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I mean seriously, the calendar says "Christmas" not "Holiday" on December 25th. The government recognizes "Christmas" as a legal and paid holiday. How confusing would it be for employers to say that "New Year's, Easter, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Holiday" are paid holidays?
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While I respect your right to determine your advertising policies, I will exercise mine to select the companies and vendors I will make my purchases from. And yes, I will choose those who aren't afraid of Christmas.
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So, Home Depot. It was good doing business with you this last year. And since we will probably be parting ways, let me take this opportunity to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!"
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Maybe I will really get radical and refuse to purchase any of my holiday gifts or holiday decorations from stores that are not selling Christmas gifts.
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Hmmmmmm, Rachel, it could be a pretty lean year for you, girl. Sigh............
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POSTNOTE: I KNOW, I KNOW...CHRISTMAS ISN'T JUST ABOUT THE GIFT GIVING...I AM JUST TRYING TO MAKE A POINT!!!!!

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Image taken from here.

SOOO TIRED!

I hardly got any sleep last night. The sound of my mom choking woke me up. I rushed to her room and said, "Mom, were you choking or coughing? Are you OK?" "Coffee? I don't have any coffee."
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A couple of hours later, this loud buzzing noise took me to my mom's room again. I couldn't figure it out, but it stopped when I got there. I have no clue what it was. But she was OK.
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A couple of hours after that, my mom screamed, loudly. I ran to her room. "What's wrong?" "My cat!" "What happened? Did your cat bite you?" "No, I rolled over on my cat." Now, my mom is very immobile once she is in bed. Two people have difficulty rolling her onto her side, so there is no way she could have rolled over onto her cat. She was probably dreaming. "Go back to sleep, Mom. Your cat is OK."
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A bit later....whistling. She whistles for her cat when she is in bed. Over and over. And over. And over. I got up and went to her room. "Mom, no whistling today. We need to get some sleep and have to be up in an hour. Your cat is OK. She is right under your bed."
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We have a caregiver come in twice a week to give her a shower. We have been discussing bed baths because some days my mom is pretty shaky. She fell two weeks ago transferring while getting a shower. I listened from my room as I got ready for work. The caregiver had to repeat instructions constantly while my mom transferred from the wheelchair to the shower chair. "Ahh," I thought. "This isn't a good sign."
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My mom has been more confused and forgetful. A few weeks ago, she asked me what 30 plus 20 was because she couldn't remember. When we got home from our recent weekend trip, she asked if we were moving back in. Later she asked if Rachel was my daughter. I told her she was. "So, then I am her grandmother?" "Yes." "Does she know I am?" "Yes."
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In some ways, this development makes it easier to care for my mom. I think because I have very few expectations. My mom's health has been declining for over 20 years. Our responsibility for her care has increased with each year. Before that, my parents' divorce zapped alot of her parenting energy. In many ways, our roles were reversed long before her health problems. And somewhere in the mix, I was just a kid who wanted my mom to be my mom. And she wasn't. It wasn't all her fault. In her sudden vault into single motherhood, I am sure she did her best, but in her efforts to be a provider, we lost our mom and our friend. I think...no, if I am to be honest...I did resent that loss and the responsibilities for her care. So, in a strange way, knowing that she "can't" be the mom I wanted or needed, has made my load lighter.
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My reverie was interruped by the care giver. "Good job! You did awesome! You trusted me and look how easy things went. You got right up off that shower chair. You really made my day!"
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While my daughter and I are dragging today after a nearly sleepless night, my mom had a good day with her shower. I smiled. "Thanks, Lord," I whispered, kissed my daughter good-bye and went to work.

WHO THE HECK IS GOSH?

Last night I had the television on in the background while I was doing some things on the computer. A new series, Life on Mars, came on. I was half listening until I heard a familiar tune being sung by one of the characters.
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"Rise and shine and give Gosh the glory, glory...." sang a young woman.
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I stopped to pay better attention. Yep, there it was..."Rise and shine and give Gosh the glory..." I was offended. This was one of the stupidest things I have ever seen anyone do to avoid using the word "God". Listen, I don't expect non-Christians to love my God. I don't expect non-Christians to act like Christians. I don't expect non-Christians to embrace Godly characteristics and values, but COME ON! "....give Gosh the glory?" Why couldn't they have sung "Rise and shine and give ME the glory, glory..." or "Rise and shine and give LIFE the glory, glory..." THOSE would at least have made some kind of sense.
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What's next? Gosh Bless America? Gosh bless you? In Gosh we trust?
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It leaves me wondering.....WHO THE HECK IS GOSH AND WHY DOES GOSH DESERVE ANY GLORY??????

FORGOT ONE PHOTO

I forgot to include this photo of a bridge that Rachel took while we were camping.

MY LIFE OVER THE PAST FEW WEEKS

I took Rachel to her first book signing a few weeks back. The author was Brian "Head" Welch, formerly of Korn. He was a phenomenal speaker-had the capacity to make a person feel like he was speaking one-on-one while he kept the whole crowd engaged. Buy his book. It is a remarkable story of a life transformed. Buy his CD for your kids. They will love it!
Our company had an open house at our new facilities in Grand Rapids. The building looked great. We got to meet some interesting people and wonderful customers. And a co-worker and I got lost in Lansing for about an hour on the way home. The state police were routing people off the e-way and since it was dark and late anyways...we got lost. But with the help of our dispatch staff, we were able to find our way home. The very next day, Rachel and I left for a camping trip in Indiana.

My friend, Sandy, drove her class A RV by herself for the first time. She also parked it. Didn't she do a fantastic job backing it into the camp site?

This photo and the following photo's were taken by Rachel.

Since I was so tired from the previous couple of weeks, preparing for the open house, I decided we weren't staying in a tent. Instead, Rachel and I stayed at the Potawotami Inn. It was great!

We sat around the campfire, laughing and talking. We went on a hayride, the kids went on pony rides, we celebrated a couple of birthdays. This is an annual trip and I always look forward to it.

This is one of my favorite shots...looking up the trunk of a tree.

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Somewhere in these past weeks, the following Quote of the Day happened:

"She marches to the drum of a different beat!"

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This past week, I participated in the launch of Time Out at Richland Bible Church. It is a group for single moms. The women from this church just showered so much love on the women who came.

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This past weekend my friends' daughter got married. It was in the outdoor chapel at Sherman Lakes YMCA open air chapel. The wedding was fun, the setting perfect. I have never seen a bride and groom enjoy their wedding as much as this couple. This was also Rachel's first time being a bridesmaid. It was a simply wonderful weekend...filled with family, with love, and community.
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So, I am back at work today. I think life is returning to normal and I will be around much more often. I will spend the rest of the week getting caught up on YOUR lives and happenings!!