Just 40 Days

Best pans ever! Shortly after graduating from high school, I purchased china, crystal, silverware and pans from a door to door salesman! They were for my 'hope chest'!  I remember making payments throughout college.  I used these pans for over 30 years.  I bought others to supplement, but these always hung in for the long run.  Today, I take these to the donation center.  I hope the new ones (Calphalon) last nearly as long.

Saturdays have always been the day to get weekly chores done.  Like cleaning the bathroom, doing laundry and running the vacuum. I used my new Norwex mop and cleaned my wood floors with water.  I must say, it really does a great job! I also used my new dust mitt in my bedroom and the pictures hanging in the hall. I fixed the frame of my old full size bed in the basement as the box springs were not centered on it and was falling through. I went outside and managed to get to poop patrol, before the rain but I never did make it to my morning workout. Unless all those chores count!

Not as bad as it could've been. Yesterday, on my way to the YMCA, I was stopped at a red light in a residential area.  As I was sitting there, I noticed that the person living there was trying to leave.  She had her car in reverse, then changed her mind as the light turned red and traffic was blocking her, she put her car into park.  I was last in the line of cars waiting when a bus came up behind me. As the light was turning green up ahead, I noticed that the car was put back into reverse.  I started thinking to myself, she knows I'm here so she'll waiting for me to move. The car started backing up, and I wasn't moving yet.  It was light slow motion: Really, does she not see me?  Is that car really backing up?!  ----- BUMP!!  And my car moved. I couldn't believe it.  I was in shock.  I rolled down the passenger window and said to the driver as she pulled back up in her driveway; Really?  I mean really?  You didn't see ...

Or just a Sunday Drive I missed by usual exit off the highway as I was on my way to work today.  Yes, I had to work on a Sunday. So I took a Sunday drive through the city. As I followed the river south, snow was lightly falling.  People were walking to the corner store and traffic was moderate. It was before noon. So I drove through town and along the river.  It's interesting that along the river in south Toledo you will see $100,000+ homes next to $30,000 ones.  As you get closer to edge of the city limits, they are all expensive.  It makes me dream to live on the river someday.

Putting on the Irish It's the first weekend in March, time to put away all of the snowmen I decorate with for the winter.  At first, the house looks so bare.  All of those smiling snowmen faces, that make me smile are missing. Looking out the window, the trees are still bare. It's an uncomfortable feeling. Then I change my point of view, seeing beauty in the bareness.  Simple decorations allow for more space.  Space for thought and imagination.  Space for creativity. Space for prayer and relationship. I look around at now, I've added a lot of green and family photos. The green gives promise of new life.  The Irish accents remind me of my heritage. And when I look at all of the faces in the photos that I have displayed around the house, it's a pretty good feeling of love.

The greatest gift we have is our ability to make choices.  Many of us, myself included, take that for granted. A week ago, I decided that I needed to take better care of myself. One of the easiest things I decided to do was to decide to be 'dry' the entire month of March.