(visit conversiondiary.com for more!) 

1. Insanity

Not the type you might expect from me. ; D  Asher and Alannah started the Insanity Workout 60 day program last night.  I watched. <g>  I considered joining. Still on the fence although I am back on the working out wagon after getting off track with the sicknesses last month. From what I can see this is super high impact and I am not sure it won't spell insanity for an autoimmune arthritic.  (wow, doesn't that sound decrepit? Someone grab my lap robe please….)  So will watch and see.  Will say the diet looks superb. Sort of a South Beach kind of thing. 

2. Da Bears

Overheard the funniest exchange at the Exchange this week.  A man in uniform was walking in as a man in a Bears coat was walking out.  The officer, recognizes the man,  gasps audibly, and says "Sgt So and So??"

"Hi, Sir!" says the Sgt.  

"Sgt., you're a Bears fan? I can't believe it!" he exclaims in shock and dismay.

"Yessir!" he replies. 

"Why, Sgt, I was born and raised in Wisconsin!" as if this explains his utter inability to comprehend what he sees before him.  (Coming from Wisconsin myself, I can tell you it does.)

"Well," says the Sgt ever so softly and sincerely, " I knew something was wrong with you, Sir."

I snorted and scooted on past. ; )   You might need to live in IL or WI to really appreciate this however.

3. Caddyshack

Just as the big snowfalls hit last month we noticed a little mound of dirt by the stoop.  We figured out it was a molehill and I made a mental note to learn something about moles before spring.  Well I learned something.  Snow does not phase moles.  The snow has melted and in its place are over a dozen molehills. Eeks.  

It seems it is forbidden to kill them because they are "part of nature". (like the GRASS I say in retort but whatever…)   So our job now is to "discourage" them from inhabiting our yard.  I thought two small dogs and a group of extra loud kids would do the trick.  After all, that combo discourages a lot of other things. You know, like company. ; o    But not so far.  Open to any and all suggestions.  Fire away!

4. Movie Nite

We watched Freedom Writers the other night.  First good movie I have watched in I don't know how long.  I am generally offended or freaked completely out within a half hour.  I made it through this whole film however and was really impressed.  It reminded me of Marva Collins' Story. The power of a determined teacher is an awe inspiring thing.  

5.  Do your ears hang low? 

His used to.  These are the ears I promised you last week.  Gizmo's paperwork says Papillon but we did not believe it since he was a long haired droopy eared doggie when we met him.  But he was a matted up mess a the time too.  When his mats were shorn his ears popped up erect like that scene in Dumbo when he stands and stretches and whhhhaaaapppp they flap out, prompting the other mama elephants to chortle and shake their heads.  Yeah.  It was like that. Who knew what was under all that hair?  Who knew their vertical potential?  

In all honestly I was horrfied initially.  But he is such a sweet animal and I am starting to get used to his Beverly Hills Chihuahua look.  He even sports a black I Heart You rhinestone collar.  I decided to celebrate his appendages for this week's Fence Friday.  I give you The Ear As Artform lol:

6.

this week's lovely links:

My friend Barbara is talking laundry and I am listening, as I do when Barbara talks.  She has been a lifesaver helping me get up to speed with our mutual school program this year.  She is doing a little series on how best to care for our clothes.  This is a topic I am newly interested in. We had well water for years and a septic system so our clothes took a bit of a beating without bleach and the all the minerals.  I am now revisiting my laundry care and choice of detergents etc.  Looking fwd to hearing more.

Humble Pie is a new fave blog of mine.  Love this house.  Love her writing.  

7. A kiss from me to you, says Abbie Rose.  This is for Daddy…

fuzzy but funny (and honey I did take down the Christmas decorations after this was taken I promise!) 

Mwah!  Have a fabulous weekend. : ) 

"Sometimes she said, 'A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance.'  And it was true.  

If you turned up the corners of your mouth, you just couldn't help smiling!"  - A Lion in the Box 

(oh how we loved this book!)

Debi Pearl once shared a story where her husband mentioned the "pretty clerk down at the general store."  For the life of her she could not recall a 'pretty' woman working there. All she was aware of was a rather homely, heavy set woman.  When referring to her by name her husband said, "Yes! that's the one!"  She was puzzled by this but when they visited the store the next time she noticed how the woman was always laughing and smiling and her enthusiasm was infectious. So infectious, it was, that it transformed her into a most attractive, engaging person despite her natural physical attributes, someone whom people flocked  around and whose presence brightened the room.

She paused and took note.  One of those pondered in your heart moments.

A fascinating post script to that story was that some time later they ran into the same woman in the grocery store, ranting at her daughter, her face twisted in anger and disgust.  When her name was mentioned the husband could not believe it was her. The very same?  Yes, it was.  In her agitated state she bore so little resemblance to the bright and sunny woman they had come to know he could not even recognize her.  

I think of this story often lately. Everyone is beautiful when they smile. Smiles turn wrinkles into happy exclamations – for which I am eternally grateful lol.  They draw those around us in and warm cold hearts. Even our own. 

I have come to realize that a smile does not have to depend upon everything going well. It does not need to mean that we approve of all that happens around us. It does not rely upon the behavior of others nor the accomplishment of our goals, nor the happy resolution of our problems.  Rather it is a vote of confidence. It is a salute to the One who works it all for good no matter. It is a gift to others.  It is a gift to ourselves. I am determining not to be stingy with smiles.  They are free after all and tend to multiply as we give them away.

The world always looks brighter from behind a smile.  ~Author Unknown

(Shown above are mitts knit by the gypsy. LOVE love LOVE them.  Thank you for making me smile!  Sending you back a smile of your own from a happy little mug from my childhood.) 

Brendan stayed up late tonight, alone with his mama, much the way his journey into this world began six years ago.  He started up the stairs a while ago.  Down he came before long, announcing that he just couldn't sleep. The truth is, I couldn't either.

His Daddy is travelling tonight, as he was that other night six years ago. I don't sleep as well when he is gone and, especially this night, my head is full of remembering and forgetting and humble awe. 

  "Just one story, please mom?"  he asked.  So we read together while the house slept.  These lines linger with me:

"Mr. Herriot," he said, "do you ever feel that sometimes when unexpected things happen, they were meant to, and that it works out for the best in the end?"

"Yes," I said. "I often think that." - Blossom Comes Home, James Herriot

Our girls are off on another adventure today. Allen took them to the train station early this morning. It was a late night before and we were a little foggy headed all around.  The girls grabbed lunches and bags and I handed him his to-go cup and a slice of toast and off they went. 

Later when he returned home he stopped me and said while driving home he had looked at his cup and thought, someone had gotten up before him, made him coffee and sent him off fed.  It occurred to him he had not thanked me for that. He worried we might take these little things for granted.  Even if they happen regularly they are no less wonderful. 

He does his own wonderful things – like figuring out train tickets and handling early morning rides so I don't have to.  As do our kids. And our friends.  How often do we stop to tell them?  To consider how those little acts of love lighten our load and brighten our days?  It's not a unique problem….

 ¹¹ Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy^[a] met him. They stood at a distance ¹³ and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

 ¹⁴ When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

 ¹⁵ One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. ¹⁶ He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

 ¹⁷ Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸ Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

If you have a pack of thank you notes tucked in a drawer someplace, pull one out.  Tape it to the fridge. We don't need a program.  Just a little reminder. It helps "make us well".  

Today is a very good day to say, Thank You. I will start.  Thanks to you all who have popped in to say hello or drop a note in my box.  It means the world to me. God bless. : ) 

(someone else who is very grateful for her cuppa – Tess and her cocoa in the kitchen in Garmisch)