Coal Diamonds

It's 5:30am. I've been up since 4:30am and didn't even start sleeping until after midnight. I just finished cleaning the tub and the floors for the sixth time in the last 16 hours... Hey! Just for kicks, let's see how many times I do it before the 24 hour mark! (It was nine - nine times in 24 hours.) It had been once every 2-3 hours for a while there. By the time I would finish, the dog would have diarrhea again and the vicious cycle would start all over.

#TheCulprit

If this wasn't all so time consuming, I'd tell you about the bizzarro course of events that constituted my week. It's as if God is playing a game of cat-and-mouse with me and I just keep running. Is there something weird going on with the alignment of planets? Any astrology experts out there??

Twists, turns and redirects have been beyond the absurd, well past comical, and into the "oh nooooo" realm. People who have made the mistake of asking me, "How's it going?" have probably been very sorry that they did. LOL - I really could just say, "I'm fine. How are you?" and bypass the need to have to follow up my long-winded answer with something like, "Oh. You meant like, did I find everything ok in the store?"

Actually, the weird happenings have been giving me hope. As strange as it sounds, running around in circles for hours in order to accomplish absolutely nothing has been adventurous. :) I had out-of-town company waiting for me, and left my purse someplace where they locked the building up and wouldn't be back. I hit construction on my way to return something to a store and the navigator sent send me back to the road closure. By the time I finally arrived, I realized that I had forgotten the card it was charged on. At another store, I didn't have the receipt, which would've been fine, but that item wasn't in stock. After a search through the back room and a flip through a big binder, the exchange transaction still wouldn't go through because of a typo by the sales clerk. Russell's two-month-long stay at home turned into a 24 hour scramble and it MIGHT have occurred to me that two-year-olds actually exchange Valentines at school if the water main break hadn't sent me into a tizzy. (Getting the picture?) That's just a few examples.

I could really do without this crazy dog illness though. (She'll be fine.) The first time, she actually had the good sense to go in the tub while Zach and I were out! (I'll spare you that picture.) I thought she was so smart! I swear that dog would've gone in the toilet if she had a stool or a platform to get up there. Anyway, after cleaning and sanitizing four or five times, I ordered Chinese food, mainly to start her "chicken and rice" diet. This was my fortune:

Sigh... They say, "Enjoy the ride!" So,

WHHHEEEEEEEEE! (Who is "they" anyway?)

It's like I'm on a sled. OK, God! Where are we gonna land?

Here's to the roller-coaster and to clean floors!

Love,
 T

P.S.
You can't make a diamond out of coal.

Click here for: "How Do Diamonds Form" on geology.com

Or can you???

No. You can't.

Or can you? #StopThat #LOL #TakeANap #NapsFixEverything #GoTakeTheDogOutAgain #IDontWanna #DoItAnyway #NowImTalkingToMyself #InHashtags #CoalDiamonds #IThinkICan

Sadie Update: She has taken some medicine prescribed by the vet, and is resting comfortably.

Love That Lemonade...

The idea of making lemonade from lemons has surfaced from numerous sources this week.

There was of course the bitterly severe weather and the challenges it posed.  But then there was also the spirit of community and brotherly love it fostered when teams of people pulled together to shovel driveways and push cars and when families cooked at home and spent time with each other indoors. 

Angela and me shoveling after the blizzard...

My homemade seafood gumbo...

There are often lemons in the challenges we face together and individually in our life circumstance that can make us feel less than fortunate.  What ALWAYS follows that particular circumstance will be whatever WE MAKE of that situation.  I was clearly reminded of that truth watching Jennifer Hudson win The People’s Choice Award for Favorite Humanitarian. 

click here for Jennifer Hudson article - "Jennifer Hudson Breaks Down In Tears Accepting Humanitarian Award For Charity Established After Family Tragedy"

As we all search to find our way and try to make sense out of so many different challenging circumstances, I’m reminded…

Perspective is everything.  We can move from “Damn it!  I only ever win a dollar on these lottery tickets!” to “Hey!  I won something!” with a little bit of gratitude.  Even in severe circumstances, we can create something beautiful from what might initially seem hopeless. 

Isn’t it amazing how we can take ANY given circumstance and choose to make something wonderful from it?  Our RESPONSE is what holds the key.  We can respond to anything with love, kindness and understanding.  We can certainly choose gratitude as a state of mind –and from THAT can grow the most precious and powerful inspirations. 

Artwork that hangs in Angela's room...

I’ll drink to that!  LOVE that lemonade! 

From the photo shoot I just had in my kitchen with four lemons, water, ice and a tall glass...

Inspirational selection from Ella Wheeler Wilcox:

“Not long ago there was a great trotting-race at Brighton Beach.  The blind conqueror “Rhythmic” won five consecutive races.

Think of it!  He did not, like a mortal man, shrink back and say “I am blind –that is a terrible destiny –I am cursed by God –I will not try to win the race.”  He just trusted the hand of the Master at the reins, did his best, and won the honors of the season.

We are all blind racers at the track of earth.  The king, the millionaire, the statesman, the lawmaker, the beggar, the laborer, the cripple, we are all in the dark.  The only thing is to trust the hand of the Master, and do our best.

Believe your position is the right starting point for you, merely the starting point.

It is the shapeless block of stone from which you are to fashion the perfect statue.

Or it is the mere mud from which you are to mold the clay image, and later that is to be put into enduring marble.

What is uglier or more unattractive than mud?

Yet think of the glorious conceptions which it imprisons.

Take the mud of your present environment and thank God for it, and make the image of the future you desire.

You can do it –you must do it –you will do it.”

 –Ella Wheeler Wilcox, “The Heart of New Thought” (1903)