Think About it Thursdays

Many of us have walls that have become our friends. We literally have a relationship with the walls and hide there any time we feel threatened. The walls protect the trauma hiding behind them. This makes us feel as though we are safe.

Open My Heart, Lord
Kathi Oates

Today's Finds

Looking through the flower gardens and enjoying each one's individual beauty.

So many day lilies.....

Goose necks. One of my favorites and it reminds me of my mom.

Red bee balm. Getting some magenta from a sister-in-law for next year's delighting.

One more find for the day....

A hiding place to pounce on birds, but for today a cool place to nap and enjoy the flowers too.

True Friendship

Thinking about the different levels of friendship. Going from camaraderie to deep meaningful relationships. The give and take.

Will get down and dirty with you. Being accountable to someone and them setting you straight when you need it.

Loves you regardless of how you act or if you are having a bad day.

Will do any request just because......

Having a support system to cheer you on when times get tough.

Can laugh the ugly face laugh with you and it just makes you laugh even harder. Sometimes to the point of flatulence! (What, like I'm the only one???)

Your best friend. By your side and loving you until the end.

And another......!

It's my lucky week! I won a book from suburbankvetch. She had a contest and wallaah!

I don't know how they raided my closet without me knowing, and I am also awaiting my royalty checks from the body double work I did for the cover. Oh well! Thanks again, I am looking forward to doing some long overdue leisure reading.

An Award.... I didn't even have my Acceptance Speech Prepared!

My very first follower who will always have a special place in my heart, has bestowed upon me an award. Thank you so much Jeanette! She is a very gifted writer so check out her blog here.

Think About it Thursdays

This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it.

Abraham Lincoln

A Visit With Friends

A quick trip to visit friends that had moved to Ohio. My two and her four. Yes, she is blessed with four boys!

Enjoying the beach on Lake Erie.

Sea glass! I had no idea what it was until now. Sea glass or beach glass is lost broken glass that has found its way to the sea where it is transformed into frosted gem like treasures by the natural tumbling action of the tides. I was bent over for an hour looking for these tiny treasures. A handful of beauties and a broken back to show for it. The chiropractor visit is next!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Daughter! Nine years old.



The watermelon cupcakes cake with ants and all.

Gotta love the food coloring.

Our first Chuck e Cheese event. Stressful for me with all the chaos. Fun for the kids.

Oooooooooooh.......Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Even a horse, of course, of course....

Fun for young and old(er). ;)

Posing and beautiful!

You are a gift from God. We love you!

Backyard Find!

Do you see what I see?

A Great Blue Heron, right in our backyard!

Is this bird lost? We live right off of a main road in a residential area, but I guess we look like a swamp. This heron was about four feet tall and I assume looking for food. No fish here, but plenty of other critters to munch on.

Magnificent up close. Hope you visit us again soon!

Think About it Thursdays

What is life? If life has a purpose, then there must be a "Purposer", One who brought life into existence for a reason. Further, in creating life, this One would have designed it able to fulfill that purpose.

Brian Lake, Romancing the King

The Zoo

Our local Zoo. It's not much compared to other larger zoos but it is celebrating it's 95th year. I had been many times as a child but my husband has never had the honor. I think the kids went once on a school field trip.
I saw a statistic once that more people are killed annually by wild boar attacks than shark attacks. Makes you want to look twice at that bacon. Vengeance is mine, saith the pig!

Crazy wild bunny rabbits. Don't get too close!

Lenny the California Sea Lion who the zookeeper shared with us was 30 years old. The same sea lion that I came and saw as a child many years ago.....

and now my children are seeing him too. Shall I start singing "the circle of life" song?

The husband illegally feeding the goats chocolate brownies. At this point he asks if there are any exotic or foreign animals at this zoo....

My favorite the camels. A little droopy there.

The love and happiness of great childhood memories being made.

Everybody elses favorite. The wild crazed tigers! Yea they're sleeping. That's what tigers who hunt in the heat have to do during the hot days, rest during the day.

I think an animal escaped. Can I get a cage please?!?!?

Cream Cheese & Jelly Sandwiches

Every kid growing up seems to find a liking for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I was a crunchy girl, my sister creamy. The jelly has many different selections to pick from, but in the end it's still peanut butter and jelly.

Unfortunately for me one sad Saturday, we ran out of peanut butter. All peanut butter gone. None to be found anywhere in the house. So, what's a mom to do but improvise. Hence the cream cheese and jelly sandwiches. Now, to make matters worse we had just returned from the store with a brand new bubble kit which we were told that after we finished our lunch, we could play with.

From bite one, I wanted to gag. It's a texture thing. I bit that thing and it just stuck and would not move. It was just a glob of yukiness on the roof of my mouth that no amount of water could get down. I cried, begged pleaded, but my mom stood firm. (I understand this now being a mom. Once the gauntlet of "because I said so" is thrown down it needs to be followed through on.)

To make matters worse, my sister loved hers. She gobbled hers down and was out the door in a heartbeat. More tears. More gagging. More sadness. She would run in, come on Diane, hurry up. Let's play with those bubbles. Occasionally, I was able to talk her into taking a small bite to help me along, but that was the longest hour and a half of my life. Friends that are close to me know that I am still damaged from the cream cheese trauma. Unless it is incredibly camouflaged and if no one tells me that it's in there, I can eat it hidden. Along with taste, it's a mental thing now too. Another scar of childhood takes it's ugly toll.....

It Takes so Little to Make Me Happy

The laundry room.

I don't need a ceiling....
Sheet rock and screws for walls is enough for me.
Just give me a $15 wire shelf from Home Depot and I am a very happy camper! Me smiling! Thank you husband. (Tide and Bounty promo is free.)