I Am So Blessed

Today has been one of those struggling days. Not feeling the best, still on shaky ground from the flu stuff that evidentially is hard to get over.  And yet, people have blessed me beyond words. It isn’t just that people send me gifts, it is they send me things with my health in mind. It shows they really stop to think about me and to find something that will really help me heal.

I received a couple of packages today. A friend sent me this angel with moldavite crystal on it. Moldavite is supposed to have healing qualities. It is so pretty and I cried when I opened it.  Some have sent me things for healing and it always touches me in a way I can not explain.

Another friend sent me a box with several things in it, but for healing, there was Holy Water, blessed at the shrine where the Blessed Katrina is and little saint plaques like the one blow. Also, the stone heart was blessed. I am so touched that my health and my healing are important to people. It brings tears even now.

With all the medical, Christmas is a little tight for us, but it is not upsetting us. Son and I are just so thankful to have our home and our family and family of choice. What more could we want for Christmas?  Well, seems Mama wanted to make sure we had Christmas dinner, so a box arrived today with a spiral ham, a green bean casserole  and a sweet potato casserole all frozen and ready to go in the oven Christmas day. Plus, two bags of bean soup mix to use with the ham leftovers.

And then to top it off, son loves my braids. I love my hair long but it is so hard to take care of. So, I had the top and sides layered and am taking the part around my neck..and letting it grow long. I can keep it braided when I don’t feel like fooling with it, or leave it down when I want long long hair. So, son brought me out two feather extension things to put on my braids. He said he was going to put it under the tree but just wanted to give it to me today.

Now, how can I not feel blessed.   God is good all the time and I have terrific people who love me and who want to see me get through all the surgeries and stuff. So many of you are praying for me daily and let me know and that means so much to me. I believe in prayer. Thank you all…for your prayers and your love and your thoughts of and gifts for healing.

All I can say is that operating room is going to get mighty crowded cause I will be carrying all of you with me in there. And they better know that I am going to be asking to have my family bracelet, stone heart, crooked cross, moldavite angel  and all  with me.Those doctors just better move over because with all of you, all the prayers and all the healing things….it is gonna be a tight fit.

The greatest thing you can give someone….is love and caring.

Highway Angels

Never worry about numbers.  Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you.  ~Mother Teresa

Tuesday started off beautiful. The sun was shining and a gentle breeze and it was actually even balmy feeling with a high of 65. We took our time getting ready for the trip to Pueblo to see the eye doctor and finally son, Jack and I were all loaded into the van and headed north.

We were just chatting away when suddenly this strange smell seemed to fill the van. At first we thought it was the vehicle that just passed us and then son lets out a yelp and says “oh crap…it is us. we are overheated” and whips the car off the road. When he opens the hood, steam and antifreeze are flying everywhere.

We both are standing beside the van trying to figure out what to do. We discovered the overflow hose was off the radiator but could not figure out why more water was pouring from underneath. I was standing there propped on my crutches trying to find something positive about this situation and the only thing I could think of was “thank God it did not happen on the day I go to the Heart Center in Colorado Springs for the heart cath.

I believe that there is an explanation for everything, so, yes, I believe in miracles.  ~Robert Brault

Traffic is blaring by us, the wind almost knocking us down. Some vehicles honking in irritation that we are pulled off the side of the road. The dirt from the highway is blowing on us and we are standing there almost speechless for we just have no answers about what to do and can’t seem to get our bearings on this when we look up and a large white vehicle pulls off the road behind us and pulls up behind the van.

He who only gives when he is asked has waited too long.  ~Sunshine Magazine

We look up and see two men get out and approach us and ask can they help. Soon, son and the two men are digging up water from bottles they all have and putting in the radiator.

I asked the men who they were and the older man gave us his card. Turns out our angels are a Preacher and his son from Trinidad. The Preacher’s wife saw us on the highway and called them and told them we were out there and they came to help us. Amazingly, God puts the right people with us at the right time. When they left, he handed me his card and wrote his phone number on the back and said if we still had trouble to call him.

The men tell us to follow them and they will get us to Pueblo and to Checkers to get some of that sealant stuff. So, we get there and son puts it in and it still does not stop leaking. The men hated to leave us but son told them he had to get me to the doctor.

We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another.  ~Luciano de Crescenzo

At Checkers, son poured in the seal stuff and they stood there watching to see if the leak stopped. But, unfortunately …it did not.

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.  ~Winston Churchill

They filled up the radiator with water and son and I  went straight to the doctor’s office about a mile or so away….across from Walmart. After I come out, son goes across the street and buys gallons of water to try to get us home. And just as surely as the Lord provided us with help when stranded today, we know that He will give us the knowledge and a way to get this van fixed so that we have it for Colorado Springs next week. I believe God knows our needs and He provides for them.

Faith can move mountains, but don’t be surprised if God hands you a shovel.  ~Author Unknown

And, the drive home was probably the longest drive I have had in a while. It took us two hours to go 40 miles for we had to stop about every fifteen minutes and pour in gallons of water, so that the engine would cool down. But, we did make it home and as son pulled in the drive way and turned off the engine, you could hear the sizzle of the hot water as it sprayed out.

At the point where hope would otherwise become hopelessness, it becomes faith.  ~Robert Brault

A big thank you to our Highway Angels and to the Preacher’s wife for seeing us in distress and sending them to us. In this day and time…I know that only the Lord could have arranged that. It is just not something you see happen very often anymore….people-complete strangers-stopping on the side of the road to help someone. It is very faith inspiring.

Thank you from our hearts.

I expect to pass through life but once.  If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.  ~William Penn

Oh I Do Believe In Heaven

You know we hear about heaven and yet it is something that we just have faith in. Well, I have posted these on my cloud blog and on here before and they are just my absolute favorite of my cloud pictures.

These three pictures are not altered or touched up. The only thing I have done is change the overall size as these pictures are in the clouds but so far away that you can not see them without zooming in on a picture of the clouds to a place the size of a green pea.

I have not created the images you see in the clouds nor enhanced them. But I love them. The first one is the very first time I saw a face in the clouds and not only did I see a face…I saw a house or cabin.  The larger picture has the head of what appears to be a young child….a boy.  The smaller circle shows a cabin or house.

The second picture I think is a man’s head…profile looking down from the top of the picture.  I was sitting just looking and there it was. I love finding these for it just says to me…yes there is life beyond here.

And this last one is a person with a hat on. The strange story on this figure is I have taken this figure’s picture two or three different times on different days….same hat and coat. Also, appears to be someone else with a hat in the smaller circle. Clouds do NOT make the shapes like these.

Here is another shot of the man showing him walking.

I love when people tell me they see their loved ones in these pictures. And I love that these pictures are there for us….in the clouds. And I loved that when Mama was here, she looked at my cloud pictures I have on the other blog and she could tell me what it was and I did not have to tell her.

Seems like I am not the only one that sees faces in the clouds. Check out this link. Click on link and then click the “NEXT” button to right of the cloud photo and keep clicking to see each one.

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/featured/33-creepiest-clouds-on-earth/1515

Yes Virginia, There IS a Santa Claus

I am so overwhelmed today and so filled with gratitude that I am finding words hard to put together. I am sure some of you that know me well are saying “her not be able to talk?? Impossible”.  I can talk, it is I just hope to make sense when I say all of this.

The coming weeks are stress filled for me and for son with all of this critical medical facing me and yet some very special people with  huge hearts decided to make this easier. I only hope one day I can pay forward what they just did for us today. We were struggling to figure out how to get to Colorado Springs and where we would stay as there is no way I could have the heart catheterization, spend the hours required after in the hospital…after driving two hours to get there..and then drive two hours home. And we didn’t know what to do about Jack for he is a special needs dog that people do not want to have to take care of him for he requires special food, a special bed and really watching over and we didn’t have the money for a specialty clinic.

And out of the blue, a dear friend told me that they were getting us a motel room for not one but for two nights so that we could drive up the day before and I could rest. Traveling is really hard for me…even two hours. And they wanted me in the best shape possible to have the heart stuff done. I could not find the words to say what my heart was feeling. Words were not enough to express the gratitude and love I felt in my heart.

Not many people reach out in this day and time to help those that are going through tough times and stressful medical times. And unless you are there, you can not begin to know the despair of wondering will you have to do this in the hardest way possible?  How will you manage? What will you do about this or that? And they understood the tears and despair I was feeling wondering what to do with poor Jack, who would not understand being put in a vet kennel, even if we could have afforded it.  I had cried many tears trying to figure this out.

And then my dear friends Sassy and BOS just blew us away with their love and generosity and gift of the motel. But they didn’t stop there. They wanted to assure that the next few days were joyful, as stress free as possible and full of memories for son and I with such serious medical things about to happen. So, they sent son to the grocery and told him to ask for the manager. And the manager told him he had a gift card for him to buy Thanksgiving dinner.  All son could manage to say was “Really???”  “Really???” and I blubbered til I was going “he he he he” like a little kid does that has cried too much. Son came home with bags of groceries containing a big turkey that will provide sandwiches after the day is over and fruit and juice and pie fixings and all sorts of goodies. Oh my!

Our FIRST Thanksgiving in our new home and what a joyous day it will be filled with delights to fill the senses with memories galore from the wonderful smells that will go on with the turkey cooking and other foods and of course my special pumpkin pie that son will help me make but also with the wonderful Christmas lights son put up. Now there is a memory in the making for sure. Add to that wonderful holiday music and of course messaging and talking to loved ones and this holiday will go down in the hallmark of fame for the best ever.

And these two special people took us from having the heart stuff and the kidney surgery in the forefront of our lives to having this wonderful day of Thanksgiving right there in front of us..real and in 3-D.  Talk about a change of focus. And the stress of what is coming has moved back a few steps with the motel reservations and the joy of the love of these two people has stepped front and center and the encompassing love has transformed our lives right now.

All day, I thought about the  little girl named Virginia who asked the newspaper man was there really a Santa Claus. And his reply contained this line:

“Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy.”

You can read the whole story of Virginia’s letter and the editor’s answer here:

http://www.newseum.org/yesvirginia/

Oh yes, there is a Santa Claus AND there are Angels on earth, and the love and generosity and devotion of these two special friends have etched on our hearts in a way that no words can explain. We have a picture of Sassy out side last year at Christmas with a Santa hat on and that picture flashed before my eyes so many times today with the love Sassy and BOS bestowed on us.

And so, I raise my glass in THANKSGIVING and say:

THANK YOU Sassy and BOS from our hearts. We pray the love and goodness you did today comes back to you ten fold for you certainly deserve it. We LOVE you.

The Simple Things In Life

What joy it gives me to be able to do some of the most simple things. Today I made my grandmother’s rice pudding again. It is so easy and so many have asked me for the recipe, so I will put it under the picture.

Mimi’s Rice Pudding

2 cups cooked rice

1/2 stick butter or margarine

3 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

nutmeg

Grease casserole dish. In a large mixing bowl, melt your margarine/butter first. Then add sugar, milk vanilla and salt. Taste to see if sweet enough for you and if not add a little more sugar. Beat the 3 eggs in another bowl and then pour into the milk mixture and mix well. Add the rice and again mix well. Pour into casserole dish and sprinkle with nutmeg on top. Bake at 350 degrees for an hour or until the knife comes out smooth and clean.

Just be ready for the house to be filled with a wonderful aroma.

I woke up this morning and Jack and I did our morning walk in the back yard checking out the veggies. Jack cracks me up. He has to smell all the flowers. This picture he is smelling the butterfly bush.

I brought in yellow squash and tomatoes. Sure am enjoying the tomato sandwiches. While I was out there, I was taking pictures of the clouds again. That has become a project of mine now and I love it and I love the excitement you all seem to show over the pictures.

Then I worked on a sister blog for this one and am going to all the dream pictures on it and nothing but dream pictures. I will still put some on here but will have the link on this page so if anyone wants to see the other pictures.

I love this one. The person looks like they are sitting on a chair or stool. This was so far away that I did not see it until I zoomed in on the pictures checking each one.

I love this quote and this block means the world to me. Sometimes we hold back on our dreams because we figure they will not happen anyway, so why bother. Sometimes, we figure they will take too long and we are not willing to put in the effort. But, I look at it this way…I might stumble and I might fall and may end up with scabs on my knees but if I have to crawl on those knees to finish my dream I will.

I do believe in heaven. I do believe that our loved ones are right there with only a small distance separating us. And I do believe that when I see these shapes in the clouds, that heaven has opened just a tiny bit so that they can see us and know we are alright.

This one above is so awesome for I see two faces but the front one is the most distinct. The black is to the back of the person’s head and the other face is down lower and to the front of the profile. It is a profile picture.

Hope you enjoyed. I get so caught up with these clouds that I could spend hours going through them.

Smorgasboard

“You never know how strong you are…

until being strong is the only choice you have”

Have been spending the past few days recuperating from my journey out to see the cabaret. I so enjoyed myself but yes I pay for it. Someone asked me “so you have to decide when you want to do something, if the pain will be worth it”.  My response was yes. But, you know…every day we make choices on what we want to do and how much we are willing to invest of  ourselves. Sometimes we give it all and sometimes we don’t.

I realized that when the crunch is on, my strength grows and I do what I have to do to get the job done. All this with moving, packing, coming over the mountains, living in the motel for seven seeks, in this house while repairing, etc that I ran on full steam to keep going. But there was no choice. I could not lay back and say let someone else do it. Son and I are the only ones we have out here to take care of these things.

Oh I am so excited. Son put shelves in that over the stove cabinet that is always such a waste of space. You know…the spice one where you have all this space above that nothing can go in so you just sort throw all the stuff up there and pray it does not fall out on you each time you open the cabinet.

Above on the right side shows what it looked like before the shelves and below is with both shelves done. Son did such a great job.

It is funny how simple things can bring such joy. This morning my son made something I used to make them when they were little. It is called “old men with hats on”.  You take a piece of white bread, cut out the center with a biscuit cutter, butter both sides and lay in the skillet. Butter the circle you cut out on both sides and put in skilled too. Then crack an egg in each piece of bread. Cook the eggs like normal and flip over so that it cooks on both sides. Then put on plate with the circle on top of the yoke. And old man with his hat on. I often wondered if my boys remember things I did when they were little and son just showed me out of the blue that he did.

Yes yes, those are my bites out of the right one.  It was good and evoked many wonderful memories. I was a single mom and enjoyed my boys so much. We were poor but there was a lot of love in our house.

This morning I thought I would try the elastic exercise bands I unpacked. You know, the kind with the handles on each end. I thought..hmmm this would be a great way to stretch my leg muscles and help these tight muscles. Well, being so stiff and stove up, I could not reach my foot. So bright me decided to crank up both ends of the hospital bed until I could reach my foot. Things were going well until I decided I needed to let the bed back down. I did capture a picture before all the fun began.

And then the fun began. Brightness here decided that two feet in there instead of one would make the exercise even better. Oh my. Suddenly I found myself feeling like I was holding a run away mule in my hands as I rolled all over the bed, looking something like a cross between the “I’ve fallen and can’t get up commercial, the “where’s the beef woman” and a granny trying to jump rope laying on her back and got hung.

And I could not let go as I was afraid the dang thing would snap back and slap me in the face and I could not get my knees to unlock. Finally, I got brave and let go of both handles at once and it flew across the room and hit the wall between me and the living room making a resounding thump.  I quickly threw the rest of them after it. Son came to the door and said “you ok?”   I smiled sweetly and said  ”sure son. I just found the exercise straps and thought you might want them so threw them at the door for you.”  He picked them up and walked out and I buried my face in my pillow and laughed.

And now, the most awesome video that shows I am not the only one that sees the faces in the sky. A friend sent me this and said she thought I would want to see it.  You will have to copy it and paste into your address spot.

http://www.weather.com/weather/videos/news-41/top-stories-169/wow-a-face-in-the-clouds-21520

And now for some more pictures. Sometimes they are so far away, I see the shapes of their bodies, sometimes I see the faint images of their faces and sometimes it is clear as day  like the little boy was. And sometimes, they are not there. Enjoy.

And this last one is just a beautiful pictures of the clouds as the sun is setting.

Disillusionment

Have you ever had one of those days that something happens that just sucks it all out of you and leaves you disillusioned and with a loss of respect?  That happened to me today. I do not give respect easily. You really have to earn it with me. Same with trust and when something happens that breaks that, it is like suffering a death to me.

It was funny, I had cried last nite and today because I had that overwhelming feeling I get when someone is about to die or has just died that I know or is a loved one of someone I know. I never dreamed it could be the death of an ideal to me…the death of respect…the death of honor. And right now I am so disappointed that I feel as though someone kicked me in the gutt. People I held the highest esteem for, felt were honorable and stood up for what is right. Oh, don’t worry…I will get past it. I will never feel exactly the same again, but I will move past for that is how I am.

Honor is extremely important to me…just like honesty that I have mentioned before…and I reserve my respect for those I feel are honorable people who live by values of mutual respect, honesty…so, if I ever tell you I respect you or someone else…you better know it is the highest honor you can get with me.

by   Micodetutute

R           E          S           P           E           C           T    

yup, that is the name of the game.  Sing it Aretha.

I am so excited. Tomorrow nite we are going to a Caberet performance. I can’t wait and the guys have us a special table reserved with a padded chair for me so I can enjoy and maybe stay a good while. There will be lots of people at the Rio.

I am so thrilled as Leroy found me a kitchen stool to help me when I am in the kitchen. Will take a pic tomorrow as am tired tonite. Have been working on spirit cloud pictures. On our ride home, we saw a visitor in town. We see them occasionally. No one bothers them.

And now for spirit clouds. this is the best Angel I have ever gotten.

I will put the circled version of this one…and see if you see the arms reaching out and faintly see the person. And in the top of the picture appears to be a whole group talking.

And tomorrow I will post more…for the sky was alive today with the clouds.

For now, I need sleep for things always good better in the morning.

♫ ♫ Hallelujah Hallelujah ♫♫♫

   

by  kjerstien

Today has been such a day of contemplation for me. Thinking about the spirit clouds. Looking around the world and seeing so many angry people….angry over what they have no control over. Angry over loss of loved ones, over weather emergencies that took homes and lives, over wars, over politics, over financial matters that cost them  their homes, their cars, their jobs, their families. Anger with no place to go.

And I sit and watch it become an inferno of anger and people turn on people. They sit with others who feel like they do and feed off of their anger and frustration and feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness. What horrible feelings and then it is like trying to swim upstream like the fish against  raging waters and getting no where and the feelings grow and grow until it turns into physical violence.

And it is then I realize that people who are so consumed like this..have lost the one thing that keeps me going…HOPE.  If I did not have hope…I would not still be here. Hope comes in many packages…hope for tomorrow, hope for better things, hope for solutions, hope for love, hope for a way out, hope for a way in…and if we lose that hope then despair sets in but what happens is people find it more comfortable to be angry than to be in despair and so they turn to anger.

When I became disabled, I decided I had two choices…I could lay back and give up and whine about it or I could accept what was happening and find new ways to live. I chose the latter. Why?  Because I am the infernal pollyanna. I can always see a bright side to something. I have learned even in the middle of bad there is good. It was hard when my legs started giving out on me but the good side…was it made me slow down and start enjoying life in bites instead of gulps.

Oh I dream alright. I dream of things for me, for those I love, for the world, for the future, for peace…I dream and dream and many of the dreams come true and some don’t. I dream for people who have lost homes and jobs and families. When we got this house, it was a repo and my heart wept for those that lost it for I know it was a terrible loss.

Maybe I was just born with the compassion switch. I look at others and even when they are ugly..try to look behind to the reason for many times their ugliness has nothing to do with me and more to do with their life and struggling.

And so, I sat here tonite listening to this song above and watching the stars and thinking about our world and how much more can it take of us misusing what is here. We displace wild animals and then get mad because they come to our houses and tear up things or try to break in looking for food. We destroy the land for new subdivisions while many subdivisions are laying fallow dying. What will happen to our world when everything becomes a concrete jungle?

Thank God I believe in heaven and I know how beautiful it is and now I know it is there…just a breath away. And I know others have gone on before. And because I know…it makes this world and all the things going on..so much easier to live with.

Treasures and Memories

We have actually come to the part of moving where it is fun. Enough stuff is done that we can bring five or six boxes at a time and go through them and enjoy what we are finding. Below are treasures and memories. This lamp is son’s and was his grandfathers and he loves it. It is very old but the memories for him are awesome. Oh, if you click on pictures, they enlarge.

 

This is a plaque from the man’s whose house we bought over the mountain and he was actually part of the Chicago Fire department and this was given to him. He gave it to son because he knew son was a volunteer fireman.

And a huge treasure. This is a picture of the actual magazine ad for Ford from 1973. The old picture in the ad is of my grandfather, driving that model T and he was demonstrating how to do a quick oil change on the court-house steps. The two boys sitting up on the ledge are his younger brothers, George and Albert. We actually have the original picture in our picture box. Now what a surprise this was and we found it on ebay.

And this next is one of the most awesome things and part of a dream come true for me. I have said how I literally was stuck in one room on the other side of the mountain and how this home I could not do anything. It is wonderful now. I can be part of the house. Do I get tired? yes…do I stay in my room a lot..sometimes. But I CAN do things if I feel up to it and want to.

The other day I made pizza…son helped and cooked the hamburger to go on it..but what fun that was for me. To be able to be part of the daily stuff.

and my pizza  I felt like the little girl who talks about shake and bake and said “and I helped”  LOL  Those are son’s hands doing the oven part as I am not balanced enough to be around the oven. 
We made cherry Crunch, pizza and blue berry muffins. We try to cook in bulk and make the most use out of having the oven on. Might have disabilities, but I find a way.

I was so excited. I went outside and saw my first butterfly bush bloom. And the plant has really grown. It was one of several that a friend sent me as a housewarming gift and they are all planted in my little fenced in area in the back yard.

And our backyard, which is only area we water, is greening up and looking good. I want to invest in some of those ten to twelve foot tall trees Home depot sells to put in this little area for you can see how dry it is outside our fenced in area.

Here is Rosie out at the Rio. She looks for Jack every time we go.

And to show you our rotten, styling and profiling Jack. When he got real sick couple years ago, and we were told to absolutely not let him get wet, we could not figure out how and I finally came up with a solution and now he will not go out in the rain without it.

And a fun spirit picture.

And lastly, this is the picture that stuck with me from yesterday. All I could do was look in awe and think…this is someone’s son that left this world too soon. I have always believed in heaven, after my experience at the threshold when I had lung surgery, I believed even more and now with these pictures I know there is life beyond here. I think, someone is wondering about their child and I wish I could show them. Is this not the most awesome picture ever. I traced one copy and am putting the real picture below it. Look back and forth and you will see the boy, plain as day. This sweet sweet child. Sometimes looking at these pictures is like those pictures with pictures hidden in them and your eyes have to adjust or once you see, you really start to see them.

Here is where I traced him and below it will be the actual picture.

Now here is the picture without the tracing and NO, I have no altered these pictures in any way. All I do is zoom and crop.

And always remember, what you believe does not have to be contingent on what others believe. Believe what is in your heart and what your heart holds true.

It was a Spirit Cloud Kind of Day

This is just a picture post. Hope you enjoy. The joy I get from taking these pictures is enormous and from having people come up seeing me take pictures and actually see some of this before I get the picture taken.

and if the one above is too faint for you, it was far away and very small, here it is traced

The one below made me think of St. Francis for he has a dog by him and a bird..

Sometimes the “plain” is so far away that it is hard to zoom in and get is as clear as I want. Sometimes, it is closer and I get a full face. It is the most awesome thing in the world to me. And when I am standing taking pics and someone comes over and says something and describes what they see and it is the same thing I am taking a picture of, blows me away.

Hope you enjoyed for this lady is tired and ready to go to bed.