51.   Don't interrupt

52.   Never buy a beige car.

53.   Over pay a good babysitter.

54.   Never apologize for being early for an appointment.

55.   When you go to borrow money, dress as if you have plenty of it.

56.   Eat a piece of chocolate to cure bad breath from onions or garlic.

57.   When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask "Why do you want to know?"

58.   Always put something in the collection plate.

59.   Buy a used car with the same caution a naked man uses to climb a barbed-wire fence.

60.   Be an original.  If that means being a little eccentric, so be it.

61.   Don't cut corners.

62.   Remove your sunglasses when you talk to someone.

63.   Show extra respect for people whose jobs put dirt under their fingernails.

64.   Get a car with a sun roof.

65.   Don't accept unacceptable behavior.

66.   Leave a quarter where a child can find it.

67.   Do a good job because you want to, not because you have to.  This puts you in charge instead of your boss.

68.   Never type a love letter, use a fountain pen.

69   Pray.  There is immeasurable power in it.

70.  Send a letter or card to a friend via mail.  It's nice to get something besides bills in the mail.

 

 

Those are just a few of Mr. Brown's observations.  Anyone have anything that they think should be added?

Last Saturday while watching TV, I found a little coffee table book that Alvena's mother had.  It was called Life's Little Instruction Book and was written by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.  He states in the foreward that he began jotting down some personal observations for his son, Adam, before he went off to college.  The first list contained 511 enteries.  He mailed a new list every 2 years which his son had published. 

 

I liked what I was reading and decided to share a few of his observations with all of you.

 

1.   Compliment 3 people every day

2.   Have a dog

3.   Watch a sunrise at least once a year

4.   Remember other people's birthdays

5.   Over tip breakfast waitresses

6.   Have a firm handshake

7.   Look people in the eye

8.   Say "thank you" a lot

9.   Say "please" a lot

10.  Write "Thank you" notes promptly

11.  Don't waste time learning the "tricks of the trade" instead learn the trade.

12.  Stop blaming others.  Take responsibility for every area of your life.

13.  Never mention being on a diet

14.  Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring & integrity, they think of you.

15.  Admit your mistakes.

16.  Demand excellence & be willing to pay for it.

17.  Whistle

18.  Hug children after you discipline them.

19.  Give to charity all the clothes you haven't worn during the past 3 years.

20.  Eat prunes

21.  Ride a bike

22.  Make it a habit to do nice things for people who'll never find out.

23.  Use the good silver

24.  Plant flowers every spring

25.  Be the first to say "hello."

26. Drink champagne for no reason at all.

27. Read the Bill of Rights

28.  Never use profanity

29.  Never cheat

30.  Use credit cards only for convenience never for credit.

31.  Give yourself a year & read the Bible cover to cover

32.  Remember people's names.

33.  Learn the capitals of the states

34.  Wear audacious underware under the most solemn business attire.

35.  Never deprive someone of hope; it might be all they have.

36.  Pay your bills on time.

37.  Turn off the TV at dinner time

38.  Strive for excellence, not perfection.

39.  Take time to smell the roses

40.  Return borrowed vehicles with the gas tank full.

41.  Choose work that is in harmony with your values.

42.  When complimented, a sincere "thank you" is the only response required.

43.  Praise in public

44.  Criticize in private

45. Have impeccable manners.

46.  Keep a daily journal.

47.  Keep your promises

48.  Take good care of those you love.

49.  Don't gossip

50.  Never give a gift that is not beautifully wrapped

 

To be con't

I do not have OCD nor am I anal retentive.  Have you ever heard the saying "organized people are just too lazy to look for things."  So in all good conscience I must consider myself to be lazy.  I do not like to have to search for things everytime I want to use them or need them, hence, I ALWAYS put things in the same place.  So when something turns up missing, I am at a loss.

 

I tell you this because the strangest thing happened to me just this afternoon.  I opened the drawer where I keep my purse, opened the pocket where I keep my car keys and pulled out....nothing.  They weren't where they're supposed to be.  Pant pocket?  Nope.  Desk top?  Nope.  Oh God!  I've locked them in the car?!?!?  I've NEVER, ever, ever, ever locked my keys in the car before...  Crap.  No use putting off the inevitable, I better go look.  They're not there!!!!!!  Maybe the fell down between the seat??  You'd think I would have noticed that but obviously my world is not spinning properly so you never know.  Good thing Steve is skinny and my back slide window is open. 

 

Nope, they're not in the seat, they're not under the seat, they're not in the key holder where the 15 other sets of keys that I have are kept.  They're not in my pocket, they're not in the drawer where I keep my purse, they're not on my desk, they're not on Steve's desk (though I have no idea why they would be but hey) They're not in the bathroom.  WHERE THE HELL ARE MY KEYS?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?

 

Of course, in the front office in the drawer where we keep the payroll checks.  How silly of me.  Such an obvious spot.  A drawer I have not even been in today!!!!!!!  or have I??  At this point I've begun to question my sanity. 

 

Keys found, relief.  Until I get to the bank and can't find my deposit!!!!!!! 

 

Deposit on my desk. 

 

I'm now going to organize my office so that I can release my frustration.

 

 

Well finally after months, and months, and months of waiting, I finally have pictures!!!

 

For those of you who know me and have been asking to see my new house, I have included photos of the interior and exterior of my new house.  There are pictures of my girls that I talk about so often and of course, pictures of my niece. 

 

I hope to be taking more soon.  Those disposable digital cameras don't take too bad of pictures.

 

I think I shall get another and start snapping away again.

 

 

I was thinking to myself the other day while walking, why do people have garages?  They don't park their cars in them.  They're always parked in the driveway.  9 out of 10 houses will have the cars parked in the driveway.

 

Why do we advertise houses and state "lovely 3 bdrm, 2 bth, frplc, new kit, carpets, 3 car garage.  Why don't they just say 75 sq feet of additional storage and paved parking in front?  That's what you end up with.  Everyone and his brother stuffs the garage so full of stuff that they can't get the car in it and then proceed to leave the garage doors up so the entire neighborhood can see that they are rammed to the gills with junk. 

 

Why do they leave the door open to the garage if the car won't fit?  Are they airing it out?  Do they need the additional light because the stuff that's stacked to the ceiling is blocking the light bulb?

 

Another question I have is why on model homes do they plant grass and shrubbery where the driveway is supposed to be?  It's pretty but why not go ahead and pour the concrete?  They'll eventually sell those houses too and then they're going to have to rip up the grass and bushes and replace it with concrete.  It just seems a bit wasteful to me not to mention that someone has to mow and prune until said demolition occurs.  Do they not want people parking in the driveway?  Rope it off

 

Why do we call people who do not eat meat VEGANS?  They eat vegetables and so I would think they'd be called VEGGINS (with a soft g) but I was informed that I was wrong and that it's properly pronounced Vee-gans with a hard g sound.  Why is that?

 

So many curious things to think about.

  

 

While at work last Friday, I received a frantic phone call from my mom.  She said she was on her way to the hospital with my dad. "What happened?  His heart?" ( He had quadruple bi-pass surgery 5 years ago but he's been doing great). " Did he cut an appendage?"  "What's happened?"

 

Apparently the day before they had a plumber over to the house to fix a leak in the kitchen drain.  The plumber, and I'm going to use that term very loosely, as what he was was an idiot.   My dad told my mom what the problem was and told her to just tell the guy when he comes out.  So she did.  Only the "person" didn't believe her.  I mean what would a woman know about plumbing?  My mom in her nicest way (as she would have liked to have slapped him silly for his arrogant, condescending attitude) stated that her HUSBAND had told her what she should say.  He was still unwilling to accept her diagnosis.  After several phone calls to my dad, she finally told him that if he didn't come home and deal with this "person" that she would.  This to daddy means that she's had enough of being nice and Corrine Gray is about to appear and that means DANGER.  (Corrine Gray is my mom's mother and I must say that when she was in a mad the devil himself would not have wanted to take her on.)

 

When my dad finally got home this "person" had already cut a large chunk of the house off and had punched a hole into the cabinet.  You could see the kitchen standing outside!  Daddy informed the "person" that his services were no longer necessary and that he could leave.

 

The next day, the leak not being fixed, daddy decided that he'd just do it himself.  Well apparently the "person" had pulled some wires loose and just put duct tape over the top.  So there's my dad lying in the water with his head in the crawl space under the house.  Now I'm not sure why he needed to move a piece of wood but apparently he was using a crowbar to pull a piece of wood loose and the crowbar cut into the wire.  Now, the main for the house had been shut off but it's an old house and still has some very old wiring.  It appears that there was still current in that wire even though there was no electricity inside the house at all.  My mom had checked before he started working. 

Well you can imagine what live current, metal crowbar and water equals.  My mom and niece heard a scream, she took off around the house, saw what was happening, slammed her palm as hard as she could up against the main breaker switch, and he dropped.  My mom is not a very big woman, 5'6" and maybe 130lbs.  My dad is 6'4" and weighs 240lbs.  She grabbed him by the belt buckle and lifted him up and moved him in the grass.  My niece was frozen.  The entire time my mom said she never stopped praying.  She said that daddy was as white as a sheet with purple lips and ears and the top of his head was bright red.  He didn't move.  She prayed harder.  Suddenly his eyes moved and he took a deep breath.  THANK GOD!!

 

He said he was fine and didn't want to go to the Dr. but she called his heart Doc and told him what had happened and he said that she should take him to ER.  So that's where she took him. 

 

I arrived about 45 minutes later as well as my sister and then my brother-in-law.  He was fine just a few tests to make sure that everything was still functioning properly.  By 5:00 he was home and helping my brother-in-law, Chris, to fix the plumbing problem and Chris (who's an electrician) fixed the electrical problem.

 

It just takes a second to lose someone that you love.  I thank God everyday that he's given me such a wonderful family and I will tell them as often as I can how much I love them. 

 

This is the house that Jack built

This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built

This is the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built

 

This is the dead rat that lay in the dining room of the house that Jack built.

 

The malt is actually Decon and the rat was just a mouse but dead is dead and dead mice should not lie in the dining room.  Casey (Westhighland Terrier mix) seemed to think it was the perfect place to put the dead mouse that she found.  She was quite proud of her find, I just wish she had shared her secret with me a little earlier.  That is not a smell to awaken to in the morning nor should you almost step on said dead creatrue on your way to the laundry room.  Also just a word to the wise, if you should scoop a dead mouse and put it in a Zip Lock bag, remember to take the bag to the OUTSIDE trash before you leave for work.  So much for Zip Locks claim of keeping things FRESH.  I beg to differ with them on that one.

 

This morning Casey was kind enough to bring me a new dead mouse and lay it right next to me.  I'm guessing that she did not enjoy the smell of the last one either and decided it best to tell me right away of her discovery.  Besides, you get tummy rubs sooner if you tell sooner.   I learned yesterday's lesson well as I scooped this one and "zipped" him up and immediately took him to an outside receptical.  I hope no one decides to dumpster dive in the trash for cans or bottles (ewwww).  When I return home tonight I am hoping that Casey has no more presents for me.  

 

Ah the joys of housesitting.