Choices

This little story was sent to me in my email. I've heard variations of it before, but that "John" was used as the guy's name made me think of my brother John. This story his of him. Exchange "Super-Duper" for every "If I felt any better I'd be twins." and it's pretty much my John to a 'T'.

John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, 'If I were any better, I would be twins!'
He was a natural motivator.
If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, 'I don't get it!
You can't be a positive person all of the time How do you do it?'
He replied, 'Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or ... you can choose to be in a bad mood
I choose to be in a good mood.'
Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or...I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.
Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or... I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.
'Yeah, right, it's not that easy,' I protested.
'Yes, it is,' he said. 'Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood.
You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life.'

I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.
After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.
I saw him about six months after the accident.
When I asked him how he was, he replied, 'If I were any better, I'd be twins..Wanna see my scars?'
I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

'The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter,' he replied. 'Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or...I could choose to die. I chose to live.'
'Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?' I asked
He continued, '..the paramedics were great.
They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man'. I knew I needed to take action.'
'What did you do?' I asked.
'Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,' said John. 'She asked if I was allergic to anything 'Yes, I replied.' The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Gravity''
Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.'
He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude... I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything .

After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

I'm scrapping again today. But I know today will be harder than others because I'm working on May-August 2007. John's death and funeral will be included in there. With the World Series going on, I keep looking for the commentary by John on each team and their respective play.

Who's In Control?

Get a cup of coffee and sit back and listen.



Have a God-filled day.
As hard as it is, I'm gonna let God chisel at me today.

"Only Losers Get All A's"

Something happened the other day that has me thinking. After dinner, the Imp brought Hubby a certificate she'd gotten at school that day for earning Principal's Honors. But as she gave Hubby the paper, she was downplaying the whole thing verbally (I'm really to old to care much about certificates, I do what I do, and so on) while begging for affirmation by the mere act of mentioning it at all. While she said she didn't care, Hubby (and I from the other room) her heard screaming "TELL ME I DID GOOD!" Kind of interesting. Of course, Hubby being the great guy he is, told her he was proud of her hard work, etc, etc. Then the Imp came to find me and went through the same spiel. And as she's telling me she really didn't like the honors assembly and being called out in front of everyone for grades, I wondered why intelligence and hard work are scoffed at by teens. The Imp shared with me that as they were passing out awards, (starting with honors and moving up)the Imp's friend stated that only real losers get straight A's. (Not realizing that the Imp was one of those "losers.") Yes, there is some jealousy in the statement, but there is also a truth that teens tend to view their high achieving, well-behaved peers with a sort of contempt. I guess the underlying idea is that if you're achieving and not getting into trouble you are some how 'selling out to the establishment' or some such nonsense. The Imp is far removed from the stereo-typical goody-too-shoes. First and foremost because she is simply not a "yes man" kind of person. She follows rules and works hard because she's calculated the cost/benefits of such. Hubby and I work to tip the scales in favor of hard work and good behavior, but I can see her calculating how much work is required to achieve the desired result and she has decided on more that one occasion that doing what she wants now is worth it, even knowing there are negative consequences she'll have to endure. The comment by her friend really hurt her. And while I don't think it will change her behavior, the memory will weigh in when she's assessing the cost/benefit of future decisions.

Hubby has been on a Men's Retreat all weekend. So Friday night I had some girl friends come over to scrap. We scrapped until midnight. It was so much fun. The camaraderie was a real mood booster and we had chocolate in many forms, which is always a plus.

The Singer, wanting to leave a relationship drama developing between two of her friends and a boy, came home for the weekend. The Imp is enjoying having time with her sister. I've enjoyed some alone time, but am looking forward to Hubby coming home this afternoon.

Massage Therapy

Spent yesterday "spring cleaning" my bedroom. I always get a burst of energy when it cools down. I love when the high temps are in the high 70s or low 80s. Not to mention the air has been very dry. To go outside and breathe in the crisp air, puts a in my step. So yesterday, after transplanting the last set of my onions to my garden, I wiped down the walls of my room, vacuumed the curtains, cleaned off the ceiling fan, and just gave my room a good once-over. I also dealt with that stack of "stuff" that had accumulated in the corner. So last night going back to my room felt good. That Hubby noticed my efforts, made it all the better.

I attribute my energy-burst to the weather, but the fact that I had my first-ever, professional massage on Tuesday, probably didn't hurt. It feels decadent to get a professional massage.


But my neck and shoulders have been tight and painful for some time. Hubby will rub out the knots when it gets so bad I have a hard time turning my head all the way. In the past his rubs would get me feeling A-one. Recently, however, it seems I was simply 'holding on' between back rubs. So when I got a coupon for a lower cost first visit to a massage place, I finally decided to go. The masseuse kept asking, during my 50 minute massage, if she were rubbing too hard or too deep? NO! It felt wonderful, in the same way stretching out a tight muscle feels good. It hurt, but it felt therapeutic. Yesterday morning I woke up to a very sore back. It felt as if my back were bruised. But I much prefer that feeling to the tightness. I signed up for once a month massage sessions for a year. By purchasing them this way, I save about 25% per session. It's a luxury, for sure. But I think I'll be getting great bang for my buck.

Alls Well and World Youth Day

The Imp is better and the flu has left our house. At the risk of tempting fate, I'll state that Hubby and I were spared. It's been over 5 days since the Imp got the flu, so I'm hoping we're in the clear...at least for now.

Last week seemed to go on forever. With the Imp being sick, it seemed even longer. It's not like she was really much extra work, it was the emotional tax of keeping a close watch on her. 'Worried that with her asthma, the flu would really knock her out. She's gotten the flu shot for years and I'm not sure she's ever had the flu before. I made her take nebulizer treatments when I heard the slightest of wheezing. She said they always made her feel better. She slept... a lot. But it was obviously what her body needed to fight off the virus. She was back to normal by Sunday.



The Imp has been invited to go with the Salesians group to World Youth Day in Madrid, Spain in 2011. I'm pretty excited for her, and somehow we'll manage the finances. It always seems to work out for us when it's for a good cause.

The Singer wants to go to WYD in Madrid, too, and is trying to get a group from USF to go. It's pretty gratifying and heart-warming to see your children get excited about attending a religious conference. The Singer went to a Respect Life conference over the weekend and is still 'high' on the good feelings like when you come off a retreat.

The Imp's former grade school has been making the news for various reasons.
Strong women keep the faith: Under the eye of Rome, American nuns soldier on - St. Petersburg Times
Women of Faith
Student Raises Fund for Fallen Officer
It only reaffirms that it was a good decision to send her to Villa Madonna when we did. The eighth grader sponsoring the car wash is not an unheard of thing from Villa students. Students have gathered goods for our military overseas, raised funds for children with illnesses and even the Imp sold wristbands "Strike Out ALS" to raise money for John's SMDF. There is a spirit of giving and watching out for others that is pervasive at the school. Needless to say I have no qualms sending the Imp across the ocean with these kind of people in charge.

H1N1

Well, the flu has arrived at our house. Is it H1N1? Don't know. And according to our pediatrician's website FAQs about the flu I don't need to know...just treat the symptoms.

6) If I think I have the flu, don’t I need to have a flu test?

The flu is now wide-spread, and there is no need to test. The testing was initially done to determine if the flu was spreading and where.

I got home from my Tuesday night Bible Study (where everyone was talking about the Swine flu vaccination, because it just arrived here and the public schools are dispensing it) to find the Imp feeling 'yukky'. Slight fever: 100.2. She started to panic about missing school Wednesday...not because of schoolwork (it was a half day and they were taking the PSAT....as she's already taken the SAT it wasn't overly important) but because coach was planning on training new coxswains at practice.
Yesterday, she was coughing and had a runny nose all day, but didn't really run a fever until last night. 100.6. Again she started to stress about missing school. This time it WAS about school work. Group project due next week and planning was to take place during class. And missing academic work is the pits. So much easier to stay up on things if you're there. But she had a fever this morning: 100.0, so she's in bed sleeping still. She slept quite a bit yesterday, too. So I'm the dispenser of TLC. I let her get in my bed yesterday (changed the sheets before Hubby and I went to bed), we'll have to see how today goes.
I'm trying hard to stay well. I can't afford to get sick. Hubby and I have a presentation at our marriage ministry to give tomorrow night and our TEAMS meeting Saturday night. In fact, we're suppose to host our TEAMS meeting, but I'm about to send out notice. People might not want to gather at the 'sick house.'
Planted garlic yesterday. My cucumbers, beans and lettuce are looking good. My cucumbers and beans have flowers on them. Can't wait for the real thing.

Mark Gungor is hosting "Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage" next weekend here in St. Pete. Oh, how I wish I could go. I've seen some snippets of his videos and he really is quite funny. I am a firm believer that laughter is essential to a good marriage. And I mean being about to laugh at yourself...not just the other person. You've got to go the the link above and see the little video. It is sooo funny. Everyone deserves a good laugh. But Hubby is already signed up for a men's retreat, so we can't go. Maybe next time.

Read Sarah's blog about de-mystifying things by teaching her kids how things are made/where they come from. I'm jealous that her son is so interested in knitting. I've tried to teach my girls how to knit and to crochet. They were interested for about 15 minutes. They have shown a little more interest in sewing, and at least know some basics about these topics. When I told the Imp she needed to learn these things so she could teach her children, she told me that was going to be my job! Both girls have shown interest in my gardening (well, appreciation for the fresh food, more than interest in gardening themselves) and have developed decent cooking and baking skills. At least I've exposed them to these things. And with youtube and other internet information, it's getting easier to 'teach yourself' how to do these things. Isn't ironic, that the internet will help people get back to basics?

Critter Free

Our house is officially critter free and all the holes have been covered. I think I can rest easier now. The squirrels scampering across the roof will still have me stopping to listen, making sure it's from outside the house, for a while.

I've spent lots of time at the computer the last few days. I'm creating the display signs for a silent auction. Being persnickety, or obsessive, it takes me quite some time to get it all right. I'll try the title with 20 or more different fonts and different colors, striving for the most eye-catching combination. Hubby just rolls his eyes and tells me he'd have them all done in 1/2 hour. Yep, I'm sure he would...no pics, no colors, no pizazz. We're trying to get people to bid on these things. The pizazz factor is very important.

The Singer has officially changed her college major to Religious Studies, with the idea of going straight on to get her masters and PhD. I hate to be a pessimist, but job/career do you get with this major? Besides teaching Religious Studies at the college level. I think it's a very interesting area of study and she's planning on taking New Testament Hebrew and Latin. But as the mom, I'm a little concerned with her marketability. Hubby even more so. I hear my dad's voice when he exclaims over the very uncertain financial future with this major. And he adds, "I don't want her coming back home at age 27." She's pretty resourceful. I think she'll do alright. Not sure USF is the best place, even at the undergraduate level for this major, but it's her life, not mine.

The weather is still hot. Of course, going into the 60's had Hubby getting out sweaters and jackets. Really! He's under 2 layers of covers, while I've got the fan on. It's suppose to be 92 today. But it does make for good gardening weather. I'm off to transplant some more bean plants. Onions will be ready to transplant in a couple of weeks.

I've got a busy couple of weeks ahead. Am looking forward to Thanksgiving week when Hubby is taking a few days off.

What's That Noise?

Once you know what's roaming around in your attic, every little noise makes you stop, and wonder if it's a little rat. Rats are nocturnal, so it's 10 at night and I'm sitting in our front room (computer room, sewing room, storage room) typing away and suddenly I here rustling. Now 3 days ago, I'd assume it was a lizard. They get in and then you hear them moving around. They're not my favorite, but I'd prefer them to rodents! So last night I hear the rustling, and I flew out of my chair and out of the room. Somehow I managed not to scream, which is actually quite the feat, as when startled, I've been known to produce a loud, high-pitched screech. Hubby and I have not told the Imp we have rats. She thinks it's squirrels. We're thinking we're gonna leave it at that. So I'm trying hard to not to totally freak, as I imagine the rats moving into our living space from the attic. Hubby, ever my white knight, starts moving boxes filled with material, etc., looking for...well whatever made the noise. I'm in the kitchen on the counter. The Imp comes wandering in and wants to know what's up. When I tell her, she informs me she was digging around in the material earlier and the noise was probably everything settling. As Hubby could find no critter, lizard or larger, I'm hoping that's what it was. But I'm sitting crossed-leg with my feet up off the floor as I type right now.

Scrapping today. It really is such an outlet for me. I have a desire to create, embellish, decorate. Scrap booking allows me to that and I have something concrete and worthy of keeping (as opposed to making doo-dads). I'm working on my 6th book (each book is about 45 pages). Right now I fit a little over a year in a book, but already I'm finding I've less pictures per year as the girls are older. When they were younger I'd have all the school functions (Halloween Party, Thanksgiving Parade, etc) that don't exist in high school. Now I have to get a bookshelf to keep them on.

Critters and Cold Front

I wrote a few weeks ago about the possibility of squirrels in our house. I thought I'd heard them in our attic (a useless space with terrible access and way too hot for storing anything that long term extreme heat will harm). Hubby p-shawed me, probably just wishing it were an anomaly, and not the sound of resident critters. Unfortunately, this past weekend I heard scratching right above me. I was pretty freaked about it as it was midnight. I had a hard time sleeping, kept imagining the critter gnawing right through the drywall and falling on top of us as we slept. I was brave and did not disturb Hubby's sleep (well, I did try to wake him, but when he slept on after me nudging him and calling his name, I figured he really needed his sleep). But the next morning I told him we HAD to call someone to come investigate. After doing some research on the web (which advised that ridding a house of critters and sealing possible entrance points can easily cost over $1000) we picked a company that was given an "A" rating by the BBB. The fellow who came out to our house yesterday (no one could come sooner as they were working on a house with serious squirrel infestation) was very pleasant. He climbed in our attic and said "Yep, you've got some critters, but not squirrels..."

Roof rats! Yek!
After 'walking' the roof and then around our house he found 6 possible entry points. Swell. So he set some traps and returns today to close up the entry points and check the traps. And while it's not costing us $1000, it certainly is coming close. Oh the joys of home-ownership.
I'm sure this story has my older sister remembering the rat issue we dealt with when I lived with her in South Tampa 20+ years ago. We thought she had mice. An empty lot next door was being developed and we were certain some field mice where simply re-locating. So we set mouse traps. The first night we heard the trap snap and then heard the darn rat dragging the trap around for a while. We called a male friend to dispose of the thing. Incidentally, she was trying to sell her house at the time. A few days later I heard another trap snap in the laundry room. I wasn't going to do anything with that thing. But a few minutes later the real estate agent called saying she was bringing a couple by to see the house. Now what was I to do? I called our friend who was unavailable to come to my rescue. At 21 years old, I couldn't bring myself to going too near that thing (especially since it was still moving) so I put a shoe box over the whole contraption in the laundry room and prayed it didn't move while the people were at the house. It was a harrowing experience. One I don't want to relive. I'm not real keen on sharing my house with wildlife.

Yesterday morning was our first taste of fall temperatures. It went down to 68 degrees Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. The Imp claimed she was freezing as she left the house yesterday morning. We hadn't seen 60's since last May. The air was dry and the day absolutely beautiful. I went out and transplanted my cukes, beans and lettuce into my garden. It was great. Today promises to be more of the same. THIS is why I live in Florida. I saw lots of convertible tops down yesterday. It is days like these that make me wish I had one. Highs are still in the upper 80's so life is very good.