The Sexiest Man Alive

According to People Magazine Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is the Sexiest Man Alive! – in 2016.


I was in Barnes and Noble Christmas shopping the week this hit the stands. (Sorry, Josie, didn’t buy any books for you!! I can’t keep up with what you’ve read!)

Anyway, I’m one of those customers who read the covers of everything that is in the check out lines! So, when I noticed this edition of People I thought to myself “He is nice to look at!”

Then my thoughts continued -  0f course they did, you’re thinking!!

We all know – or I hope we all know, once we’ve reached a certain age – for some it’s much younger than others – but we have an understanding that the package doesn’t always tell us  what’s inside.

The Sexiest Man Alive?? I think my idea of sexy and People’s idea of sexy may be two different things.

(I apologize to my readers who are uncomfortable with my use of the word sexy)

For me:

The sexiest man alive is the man who makes me laugh. The man who cares for me and is not ashamed to let others see it.

A sexy man is a man who loves God and follows Him first and unconditionally.

He’s the man who works beside me in our church and volunteers with me, we serve together.

He is caring and kind.

He is a man of integrity and high moral standards without being judgmental.

He is a man who makes me feel good about myself.

He is sexy because he lets me show him how much I care for him.

He is sure of who he is and loves life.

The sexiest man alive has absolutely nothing to do with how he looks, really. Because if he is all these characteristics  – he is the most handsome man there is! or as People states it – “The Sexiest Man” – to me!

Disclaimer: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson actually may be all these things – if so, Kudos to him – then he really is the sexiest man alive – to his wife!!

Normal

I have a twitter account – and I’ve posted on my blog before how much I enjoy it. HERE is the post!

One of the reasons I have felt so comfortable with twitter is because many of my friends from face book don’t have a twitter account. I’m more open with my comments on twitter. – However, I did uninstall twitter on my phone during the elections. I decided I like people – “my friends” more if I don’t know how they believe or what they believe or who they believe in.

Okay, so sorry – I’m rambling. Back to the purpose of my post. Normal.

Today I tweeted:

Believe it or not, I usually shy away from the dramatics. I dislike posts that are begging for someone to ask “what’s happening?”  or “what’s wrong?” but from my post today you probably can’t tell that I shy away from these dramatics.

Well, I forgot my dear friend Deb S. has her twitter account set to get notifications of my tweets!!! I love that girl!!

So she immediately sent me a text asking about my tweet.

I guess I thought mourning would lessen over time. – and I guess it has some – it’s just I thought I would be more “normal” in my emotions, in my life by now.

I am still depressed, I am still at a loss as to what to do with my life. Good grief, I’m 63 years old – why don’t I have things figured out by now??? It’s just really so frustrating to me.

I’m sure family and friends are tired of hearing me say “I think I will…. “ Then I never do and nothing changes.

My daughter's reaction to my comment -
"I'm going to do one of three things - I'm going to sell everything and  move to New York City, or I'm going to get a tattoo or I'm going to sell everything and buy an RV and live in it." 
Her response? "WHY on earth would you live in an RV???"  
REALLY? This was what she was worried about??

And trust me - these aren't the only ideas I've come up with.

I still have to DRAG myself out of bed most mornings. I still wake up during the night and have a hard time getting back to sleep. I still procrastinate all the things Randy did and now I need to do them.

I am at a loss. Literally. I am longing for normal and I don’t want where I am right now to be normal.

So my dearest Deb!!! – this is the exclamation of my tweet!!
I love ya, Girlie!

Gilmore Girls Revival

 In October of 2000, I still had one child at home. He was a Freshman in High School that year. I worked in my Beauty Shop and went to Jonathan’s (aforementioned child) sporting events and lived in a small town. (much smaller than Stars Hallow.)

When I finally at some point in the next 7 years came across Gilmore Girls on TV – for some reason I just never got into watching it regularly.

Then, Netflix picked it up in October of 2014 and it became an overnight sensation with a whole new group of fans! - Me included!

In 2015 I started watching it. I thought I started watching it because my Grandgirl (14) was watching it – but  I have discovered she is watching it now for the first time. I know I started watching it because some “young” person was watching and I wanted to see what they were watching. But this time around after the first couple of shows I was hooked.

Description online:

“Set in a storybook Connecticut town populated by an eclectic mix of dreamers, artists and everyday folk, this multigenerational drama about family and friendship centers around Lorelai Gilmore and her daughter, Rory. Lorelai owns the town's bed-and-breakfast, the Dragonfly Inn, with best friend/chef Sookie, and contends with weekly dinners with eccentric, well-off parents Richard and Emily Gilmore (who always have something to say about their daughter's life). After high school, Rory attends Yale University but frequently returns to Stars Hollow to visit her mom.”

I’m not sure what attracts me to this show. The characters are so well played – I love the town of Stars Hallow. I often say "I want to live in Stars Hallow." The show is funny (and I love to laugh) it’s sometimes sad. And I often get irritated when the people make mistakes – you know, kind of like real life people. At those times I will admit, I talk to the TV!! (grands will attest to this wonderful attribute of mine!!)

The writer is Amy Sherman-Palladino and I think this woman is one of the most talented writers EVER for television. She has a quick wit, knows more about pop-culture than is normal and is funny without being silly. Is serious without being dramatic – well, her writing is just LIFE.

No matter what I put in this blog – I will think of a dozen things later I would like to add. My older grands told me one time I should do a vlog reviewing this show because I am such a fan.

An average TV script has 53-60 pages. Palladino wrote 77-78 pages for each episode. This is one of the reasons the actors talk so fast. This also kept them from having the opportunity to  ad lib. They stuck very closely to the script to be able to get it all in.

The music in the show is some of my favorite, in fact, on Spotify I have a Playlist dedicated only to music from Gilmore Girls!

But the actors. They are the best. They took Palladino’s writing and did more than their best with it. Great Actors and Actresses. The chemistry on this show is some of the best I’ve ever seen on a weekly show.

I hesitate to talk about the actors because I will invariably leave someone out. So I will only mention the Mother and Daughter duo.

Lauren Graham plays Lorelai Gilmore – the Mom. She is a single Mom who came from a very wealthy home but wanted to be independent and raise her daughter on her own and she did. And she did it very well. She raised a very balanced and beloved “Rory.”

Alexis Bledel plays Rory – the Daughter. She starts out in high school in the show and is very level headed. She’s not perfect, she makes mistakes and doesn’t always handle them the way we (her fans, the viewers and parents) would like. But the show gives some excellent opportunities to talk to the young people in your home about decisions they make and consequences for their decisions. 

I have now watched every season several times. And I am so very excited that Netflix has done a revival which will be aired on November 25th!

Netflix has a fabulous marketing Department!!

One day in October there was a Luke’s Diner Day and about 250 coffee shops all over the US turned their shops into Luke’s Diner for a day.

We had one here in Wichita!!

      

So on Friday the day after Thanksgiving, my oldest granddaughter and I will be in front of the TV watching 4 episodes – 1.5 hours each of “A Year in the Life” a Gilmore Girls Revival.

Lot’s of snack food, comfy clothes and just a day in Stars Hallow!

I even got some Red Vines!!

The Moon

Have you been looking at the beautiful moon?

6:30pm, November 14, 2016

Caldwell One Stop

Every other week I make a trip to Oklahoma to visit my Dad!

We always have lunch, I read the Fairview Republican, look at the Atwood’s Ad, and he gets a farming magazine from New Holland that he usually has an article ear marked for me to read. All this reading while watching Gunsmoke!

It is really a very relaxing day for me. Most of the time it is for him, too. But every once in a while he has something he wants to be outside doing and I can tell by his restlessness when he is ready for me to leave.

He doesn’t like for me to come on unscheduled visits. Ever since I remember he has been a man of order. A man that sticks to his schedule and he wants me to do the same! So I do. Most of the time. If something is happening in one of our lives that I must miss a week – then I don’t make up for it the next week – we just wait for my regularly scheduled visit! We both do better with this schedule!

On my way to Oklahoma, I usually stop in Caldwell – it is exactly half way from my house to Enid. I stop at the One Stop and sometimes I get a bottle of water – and I always use their restroom facilities and ALWAYS eavesdrop on the farmers who are there for their morning break. (or gossip-fest) whichever way one views it.

Once in a while I even stop at the newspaper rack pretending to peruse the papers while eavesdropping. – I have no pride when it comes to listening in on others conversations at the One Stop! After all, it’s a public place – it’s a public conversation.

Usually as I walk passed these men, they nod and say good morning. They are very polite. – after all, most farmers are.

Sometimes they are talking about “red haired women.” I believe the consensus is that they like them!  Usually it’s about farming, rain or equipment. I love it. I was raised by a farmer and his wife and it is in my blood.

Not that I’ve always wanted it in my blood. In high school if I thought a guy even looked like he was going to be a farmer – I wouldn’t date him. (he’s a very wealthy farmer now!!!) But I watched the struggles of that life and I guess I never had enough faith in myself to believe I was strong enough to become a farmer’s wife.

Which, I guess the joke is on me because I wound up being married to a preacher…..  figure that one out!!!

Anyway, I feel at home in the One Stop. I enjoy trying to figure out where they are going with a conversation. I enjoy “reporting” the conversation on social media!

So I guess, I am really trying to make connections with my roots while listening to the farm lingo and actually knowing what it all means!

To fill in a bit – I didn’t marry a farmer but in the early ‘90’s when we moved back to my home town, I did start helping my Dad during harvest. He taught me to drive the combine – which was my favorite harvest job and he also had me drive the wheat truck to town when my brother would come to drive combine after he got off work.

I enjoyed it. I was proud of being able to do it.

Then when I met Randy – he loved it that I was a “farm girl” and he was proud of the fact that I did drive the combine.

So – all that to say, A big thank you to all farmers! And a big thank you to the farmers that visit the Caldwell One Stop so I can share on social media all the awesomeness that is farming!!

journaling

As I’ve mentioned before, I have many journals.

• A journal of lists
• A journal where I write happenings and feelings (I have several of these from over the years)
• A journal that holds my favorite quotes(I have 2 of these)
• A journal where I list books I’ve read
• I use a journal to keep track of Book Club reads and Book Club information
• An art journal for journaling sayings, quotes and verses
• A Bible for art Journaling

Lot’s of journals.

Well, I’ve been noticing on Pinterest there is a great interest in BuJo.  Bullet Journaling and that of course caught my attention.  : )

I’ve been doing some research and it seems as if I do it correctly – I may be able to cut myself down to only one journal at a time. I’m going to look into this further – experiment a bit – and I will let you know what I find out!!

"Stuff"

I am teaching a summer Bible Study on Daniel by Beth Moore.

Many truths have been brought to mind over the last 5 weeks and I’m sure many more will come to mind over the next few.

I’ve always had an interest in simplicity but haven’t always succeeded in accomplishing it as well as I would like. But, I have led a fairly simple life when I think about it. In working on my study today, Beth Moore brings up the subject of luxurious living. And since I am a professional rabbit chaser – this subject has taken me to simplistic living.

And I learned early on – simplicity doesn’t always mean simple living! I lived for 9 months one time with no running water… My life was anything but simple!! – and NO that wasn’t overseas! So going off the grid like I’ve seen on my cable TV is not at all appealing to me….

Anyway, today my study brought to mind living simply and how “stuff” really can have control over us and control us – just by their upkeep.

Here in the USA we have a tendency to believe we must have necessities. Yet many of our necessities are just “stuff” that takes up space and time. (I'm trying NOT to think of the purses in my closet...)

{Pastor Brad is planning a sermon series this fall on simplicity – and I am really looking forward to it.}

My biggest problem with “stuff” is the history that comes with my family. I have some of the most beautiful heirloom furniture that has been passed down from generation to generation. This is truly “stuff” that I wouldn’t want to give up. Each piece has such a history – such a story to tell.

So, in choosing how to simplify – I know I must be smart – more importantly I don’t want to have so much “stuff” that it controls me. – Like my dear husband used to say about buying a car – if you can’t walk away from a sale – you are in big trouble! So don’t have so much stuff that you can’t walk away - should God ask it of you.

We are a people that live in luxury.  Dear Readers, you may not feel as if you live a life of luxury but we do. Comparably speaking. We have running hot and cold water, electricity, many of us have cable TV, phones, most of us have vehicles or at least access to public transportation. Most of us have a roof over our heads. – and I could go on and on about our grocery stores, our access to medical care…. We truly do live in luxury.

Also with this train of thought, I am making decisions about down-sizing. So I often mentally go through my house thinking of what to keep and what to get rid of.

These are just some thoughts I’ve had today after completing my Bible Study. Food for thought. Things to pray about. Even ask advice about.

Some interesting books on simplicity I’ve read:

Living More With Less by Doris Longacre 

Living More With Less Cookbook

Living the Simple Life by Ellen St James  (I notice that Ellen St James has several other books on living a simple life. I may have to get them, also!!)

Simplify: Ten Practices to Unclutter Your Soul by Bill Hybels

I’m certain there are more – but these have been my favorite.

Share with me, if you will some of your thoughts on Luxurious living and Living a Simple Life. I love hearing from you.

TIRED

I'm tired.

I'm tired of not being able to read a good book.

I'm tired of not being able to write.

I'm tired of not being able to blog.

I'm tired of not understanding technology.

I'm tired of figuring out my technology and then "they" upgrade it.
(they being those creatures who fix things that ain't broke)
(wow, this shows my age!)

I'm tired of not sleeping well.

I'm tired of trying to think up things to cook.

I'm really tired of politics.

I'm especially tired of Randy being gone.

I'm tired of people who whine!  : )

Okay. I'm done. I have gotten the tired's out of my system so now I can move on with my day.

Thank you for listening to my first world problems....

Anniversaries!

Well, so, here I am. April 30, 2016.

Five years ago today I married the love of my life!! What a wonderful day it was!

        

I look back over the last five years and with the exception of this last one I can honestly say it was the best of times!

And this past year? I cannot say it was the worst of times because even with great loss – I have fabulous memories!!

Randy and I loved being married!

We loved working together in our church!

We loved working together at Curly Girl!

We loved playing Words With Friends!

We loved reading together!

We loved watching TV together!

He was my biggest cheerleader!

I loved him with all my heart and he loved me with all his heart.

If a marriage can be perfect – ours was as perfect as they come!
Maybe because of our age?

But I believe it was because God brought us together for a reason!
It was a miracle that we met!

Shout out to my brother-in-law Steve who talked me into getting on match.com I will be forever grateful to you for that.

I could get really sappy in this post…. but I’m really not a sappy type of person! (I don’t even like Nicholas Sparks’ books!) But if/when I ever do get sappy you can bet it will be over Randy!!

So, dear readers – savor each moment.

 Hug a lot.

Say “I love you” often.

 Hold hands.

Praise and encourage one another.

 Look for the good in one another.

 Be your mates cheerleader.

 Pray for one another!

Be thankful for every moment you have together!!

My Opinion

I think in blog form.

While thinking, I often begin putting my thoughts into blog form. I have a lot to say. At least, when thinking, I believe I have a lot to say.

Then I come to my computer and it all vanishes.

Oh, yes, I do that – I write down my thoughts. My ideas, so I won’t forget all the important things I have to say.

Then I come to my computer and look at those thoughts, those very important thoughts and ideas and I think – who wants to hear this?


I take pictures in blog form.

While taking pictures I form a caption in my mind.
(which has absolutely NOTHING to do with the rest of this post - I just thought it was important for you to know this. For no reason....)


Years ago – when my 40+ daughter was in high school  I would listen to my heroine Elizabeth Elliot while waiting at South High to pick up this daughter after school. On one of her radio shows (before podcast!)  Elizabeth talked about personal opinion.

This isn’t word for word – just my paraphrase – because as I said – it was a few years ago! But Elizabeth said:

When did we become a society that believes we must have an opinion on everything? It’s not necessary. It is okay to say, “I have no opinion on that subject.” It is also okay to say, ”My opinion is just that – my opinion and I don’t need to share it with others (or the world.)”

Take the subjects you really know about and have an opinion if you wish but unless you’ve done the research – don’t voice an opinion as if you are an expert.

I think of this often when I do come to my computer and click on the little pencil that takes me to Windows Live Writer. I do have a voice. But I don’t have to get on a soapbox about every little thing or big thing. I don’t have to have an opinion on every little thing or big thing. 

My opinion is just that. My opinion. And it means very little to others. Only me!!!

So, this is today’s opinion on my opinion…..

Thank you and good day