Blown by the Wind

It was a lovely Fall day as the Mom and preschooler were shopping at the store. Wendy wasn’t really interested in shopping, for Mom had said she wouldn’t be buying any toys today!  So Wendy  dragged along beside her Mom with a pouty face,  counting down the time. Looking down at the floor, but then she smelled something sweet. She looked up and was excited to see a table full of chocolate chip cookies and the person behind the table was handing them out!  She urgently tugged on her  Mom’s sleeve! Smiling at her Mom handed Wendy  a cookie,  along with a purple balloon!! They were handing them out as well. Suddenly Wendy felt a lot better about having to go shopping with Mom.

As they walked out of the store her Mom told her to hang on tight to the balloon, for it was windy. Wendy tried, but to her disappointment the balloon freed itself from her tight fist and sailed away!! Tears started to come, but her Mom quickly soothed her as they walked back in to get another balloon.This time her Mom held it on the way to the car. As they drove away Wendy said, “Mommy where do you think my balloon went?” The Mom responded with , “I wouldn’t know, the wind can carry it far, but maybe it went to another little boy or girl, to make them smile.” Wendy smiled to herself at that thought; as she held on  tightly to her purple balloon.

A few miles away Madeline was sitting in her backyard, on her son’s swing. She would make the swing go every now and then, but mostly was only sitting there as memories of her son rolled down her face. She buried her face in the soft, stuffed toy that she was holding. It had been her son’s favorite stuffed animal. A jackalope! All of  his friends had envied him, for none of them had a jackalope. It was unique! Unique, just like her little boy. OH how she missed him so!

A few moments later, she jumped as something lightly touched her shoulder. She looked as a purple balloon fell into her lap. Looking into the sky she wondered if the balloon had come from a group of balloons that had been  let go, but No, she didn’t see any traces of other balloons in the sky. Gazing at the balloon, she had to smile, for purple was Connor’s favorite color! She smiled at the memory of his laughter, as he played with a dozen purple balloons that had come in a BIG Balloon Bouquet from his grandparents for his birthday.

Grabbing the string from the balloon in one hand and the Jackalope in the other she walked back into the house, thankful for the little reminder of her son’s smile. She set the balloon free in the house, as she let it float around, feeling his love surround her.

 

Dewey’s Secret Treasure

Dewey stretched as  he woke up. At first he thought it was Tuesday and was glad, for that meant his curious mind would be put to rest about something. At least he hoped it was by Tuesday, possibly could be Wednesday, but no later! Yes, he had heard that saying, “Curiosity killed the Cat”, and he wasn’t real fond of it! What do they know, he thought. If it wasn’t going to be Tuesday  then a lazy Saturday was second best. Not that any day was a real hard day for Dewey. His tough decisions consisted of either laying  on the couch,  or stretching out  in his sunny spot on the patio. Whether he roamed out to the unknown for adventure, or stayed  home blessing  his servants with his  company. They did need reminded at times that he was the one in charge. With decisions like these he really couldn’t go wrong.

As those thoughts coursed through his mind, he glanced beside him at his treasure.  Dewey  loved what he had found, when he was out  on his adventure, about a week ago. He really wasn’t sure what it was at first.  He only knew it was so  SOFT and that is why he enjoyed laying next to it. He made sure to treat it with the UTMOST CARE , for he didn’t want anything to happen to it! Its face was so cute, and he could see in its eyes that all it needed was Tender, Loving,  Care. The eyes were a fiery  red;  a rare color for a rare animal. Yes, Dewey had  found out that he was the proud owner of a very rare treasure. He had  heard his man servant call it a Jackalope! His man servant had said that while waving his arms wildly around. Dewey wasn’t quite sure what made his servant’s hands move when his mouth opened. Something apparently unique to humans, and he might never understand it. He did see other humans move their hands while talking but their movements appeared to make more sense;  unlike his man servant, who only  waved his hands about in a nonsensical way. Oh well, whatever makes him happy.

Dewey had never heard of that before, but considering that he was an above average cat he soon recognized the special abilities this Jackalope had. When the servants weren’t watching,  Dewey and his new friend would race in the yard and Dewey always ended up losing. Probably from eating wayyyy too much lasagna! The Jackalope was skilled at climbing trees with Dewey as well. It was like there was nothing his new friend couldn’t accomplish!  This was why Dewey made it his goal to take care of him, for he found out that they can live to be 100 years old! He didn’t really know how old that was, but it sure sounded like a LONG time! He thought his servants, especially the man one, was pretty close to that age.

When the stars would come out at night and all was quiet at the house Dewey learned that his friend had another talent. The Jackalope could hum! See how amazing they are!  He didn’t do it when the servants were around, only for Dewey. He would hum, as Dewey would purr. When a  full moon was  shining bright, the humming could get a lot more intense.

Well enough thinking, it was time to wake up his new friend. They needed to get going. Would it be a day of adventure of new discoveries, or just the adventure from moving from Dewey’s bed to the couch?  If they did move to the couch, Dewey would remember one thing. He would be sure to take his Jackalope friend with him, when he went to eat some treats. The one time his Jackalope was stuffed full of all the popcorn he had eaten, (that is special jackalope food) that Dewey had let him stay on the couch. He came back just in time to see his man servant give the Jackalope a little toss out of his way! Well Dewey sprang into action and swatted the man with his paws as he hissed. That was the last time that happened. The man had learned to treat the Jackalope with the respect he deserved; but Dewey wasn’t taking any more chances.

With that thought the 2 friends raced out the back door to go lay in the sun and dream! They wondered  what the day would bring!

Friday’s 6 word stories!

Good Morning! Happy Friday! I decided to do Two, 6 word stories today. No special reason, just figured , why not 🙂 Enjoy and as usual, there is more than 1 meaning behind these stories. Do you identify??

Innocence like baby…..or Cunningly Calm ?

       

Bubble gum fun…til bubble bursts! (Splat! in your face :))

 

What are your Footprints?

Last night I was going back through some of my Friday’s 6 word stories from a year ago. I found one that said, “What footprints are you leaving behind?” So what do your footprints look like? What will people say when you are gone about the path you left behind? Was it a path of cheer, encouragement and love towards others? A path of a giving heart, of valuing people more than things?

I read a quote that said something similar to , “No one ever stood up at a funeral and said, She had such a lovely couch!” It’s so true! When my brother died, he didn’t leave a lot of possessions behind, he wasn’t who he was because of what he owned. Lines and lines of people didn’t come to the funeral  because of all the great things he had. They came because of who he was! They came because of his footprints of kindness, love to so many. It didn’t matter if you were young, middle-aged or old, he related to all. We got letters from the young and the old at how he touched their lives with his compassion, humor and zest for life. I am sure I repeated this before in a post, but felt like it bared repeating again in this crazy rat race that we have today!

Life is not about climbing the ladder to success as far as your salary goes. It is about climbing the ladder to success of how you develop your spirit within you. Are you leaving footprints of a bitter, contentious spirit or of a loving, giving one? A strong, fighting spirit, no matter what comes your way, or do you give in to the curve balls that are thrown your way in this journey of life? Not saying you never fall down with the weight of circumstances, hard things do happen, but its how we handle those times that will leave a impression on those left behind.  Falling down is fine, as another quote says that I always have loved. “Our friends give us wings to fly when ours are too broken.” Thank goodness for friends and family who do that! That is another important part of the footprints you leave behind. How many wings have you given to others to help them fly?

No one is perfect, not even my brother; tho he did have a perfect little sister 🙂 Ha Ha! I am kidding!! No, we can’t be perfect, but it doesn’t mean we don’t strive to be the best we can. Strive to leave a smile on others hearts when they think of you;  for that my friends is what people are going to remember. How did you make their heart feel?

Thank you to the ones who have left a legacy behind that have inspired me, to the ones who inspire me as they tread through life today. The ones who have  definitely made  my heart smile! The size of your bank account means diddly squat if you have never left a smile on someone’s heart by touching someone else’s heart with the love from yours.

A different kind of Knight!

Another scorcher of a day here, only 10am and close to 90 degrees. It is pretty to look out at the bright sunshine tho. I was sitting here laughing about a incident that happened last night that my dear daughter of course had to share on Facebook. Just another typical incident in the life of me. I told her how she really needs to be appreciative that I keep life so exciting! Anyway that made me remember about another incident a few months back that I don’t think was ever shared on here and I needed a idea for today’s post so here you go. Enjoy the smile and the little lesson that comes with it.

I had stopped at Sheetz, which is a gas station/convenience store, that serves good food as well as slushies. We have one close enough to walk to and my daughters have made good use of it over time. Unfortunately this day I was not at the one that was within walking distance of us. I was only  planning on making a quick stop for a quick bite to eat and be on my way. The food was made quickly and I got in my van and started it up, sputter, sputter, cough, cough and it dies! This had not been the first time it had happened, we had been  having intermittent problems with it refusing to start. Was hard for the mechanic to find, for of course it was working well when we would take it there. Sometimes we could sit and wait and it would start again, but this time NOPE! My one friend said how I should have talked nicer to it and maybe it would have started, Ha Ha!

I popped the hood and grabbed the jumper cables and thought OK, do I need to go up to someone and ask or should they be able to tell that by me holding jumper cables in my hand with the hood open, may suggest I need help?? I was going with the latter, but no one was coming. Now there was a older teen sitting at a outside table munching away on his sandwich with his ear buds on watching me. I guess he was wondering if I really knew what I was doing, but he made no statements, just kept watching. I am not sure what exciting thing he expected to see happen. But he was a curious onlooker like the car right next to me. Yes, you heard right the car right next to me! Perfect position for me to hook my cables up to. He was busy eating as well with his windows rolled up and just watching. I was beginning to think there was a hidden camera around somewhere. Cars kept zooming out of the parking lot as I stood there and I decided that obviously people weren’t getting the message, so I would go inside and ask for help. I kept the jumper cables in my hand as I walked in. They were fairly new cables still in the plastic. Remember that fact.

I walk in the store and it was busy. Long line of people waiting at the register. I asked someone for help and…..a employee comes up to me and informs me that I cannot sell jumper cables there!! That they don’t sell jumper cables there and I can’t come in trying to sell some!! I was struck speechless as this whole line of people in front of the register are looking at me. I turned around shaking my head and just had to laugh, for as my friends say, “Only you….this kind of stuff only happens to you!” It is so true!

I exit the store thinking over my options. Earbud guy was still sitting at the table, I figured why not ask. I went up to him and he politely took out his ear buds and I asked for help with the cables. His response…”I walked here, don’t have a car.”  I thanked him and noticed that the sandwich eating guy in the car that had been next to me was gone, so he wasn’t an option. Then I spied it. A man sitting in his car smoking a cigarette with tattoos up and down his arm that he had resting on the window. Being that at this point my options were really limited, for I was NOT walking back into the store again, I walked up to the guy.

Not only did he get my van running again, he was so very polite and nice. Yes, Mr. Tattoo guy had come to my rescue. Remember your “hero” doesn’t always appear in shining armor riding a white horse!

Tuesday’s Thoughts!

Good Morning! Well honestly, if you want the truth I am writing this at 11:30pm. The house is quiet, for yes its time to be sleeping, BUT….lately my sleep patterns have been off. So I decided that if I am up I should  be useful. Today the quotes will revolve around Love and Friendship.The most precious things that money can’t buy! ❤

1.

2.

3.

4. 

5. Ha Ha! I do this to my husband a lot. I get so caught up in the fictional characters in the books I read. My patient husband just shakes his head as he says, “They aren’t real!” Well no duh! I know that, BUT in that moment in time as I am reading, they are VERY REAL! 🙂

7.

8.Yup, I married him ❤

9.

10. True love and devotion 🙂

And you all get a bonus feature today. Yesterday in my post about the Beach Boys I forgot to include a song that I really liked.. I love the chorus and the message fits well with these quotes. Enjoy and have a wonderful day!

Music Monday

 

Good Morning!! Yesterday my husband and I spent the day with close friends that we hadn’t seen in a while and had a great time! Friends are priceless for sure!

As we pulled into our garage last night when we got home a song on the radio came on and yes, we had to stay in the car and listen to it. You know you do that sometimes, right? You have the song on a CD, but you want to hear it at that moment and so you just stay in the car til its done. Well this was a Beach Boys song, we both have always enjoyed the Beach Boys. My husband owns every CD that came out of them. Yes, some of their songs were included on the Love Song tapes he made for me when we were dating. Our girls danced to the songs when they were little. So with my mind on the Beach Boys I thought I would start your Monday off right by sharing some of my favorites.

You can’t help but smile when you hear their happy music. May this keep you smiling all day! And I know we all have our different musical tastes, so this may not be your thing. You don’t know what your missing, but its OK , I guess you can smile once the songs are over and smile the rest of the day knowing you don’t have to listen to them. Have a great day and feel free to share below whether you are a fan or not. Who are your top 3 favorite artists?

 

Yes, when we were dating my first kiss was under the bright, shining stars as the song says 🙂

Can’t forget this song! Definitely a favorite and sometime we will get to Kokomo! Until then I can dream of it at least!

 

With Cherries on Top!

HI friends! Sorry this post is a lot later today, but hey its Saturday right?  Yes, Cherries on Top was meant as a Photo Challenge for this week and I don’t think they meant Pinterest photos, BUT…the theme inspired me. So hope you don’t mind that I bent the rules a little.

This made me think of a memory from many years ago, I was 19 years old. As you can tell from reading my blog posts I love to laugh and I  may have a history of playing a joke or 2 on people, or maybe more 🙂 I only had 1 problem, there were times when I would find someone that matched my wit especially well and trying to get 1 up on them was very hard! This was the one situation back when I was 19, I had been the victim more times than not with this one person and I decided that it was time to do something!

I found my opportunity. We were having a talent show, large group of people. Not a professional talent show, just something for fun. I had schemed and I had my yummy “supplies”. It was my turn and I walked up on stage with a chair and a bag holding my goodies. I announced that my dear friend would be helping to assist me. Of course he didn’t know that ahead of time, but he was a good sport and came up on stage and sat down in the chair. I proceeded to read a poem and made it come to life much to my friend’s surprise! I can’t quote the poem now, but it had to do with sundaes and it included all the toppings, as my friend’s head was the dish. I think you get the picture.The audience loved it!! And before you think I was too mean, believe me he deserved it! I knew he could handle it. He could take things as well as he dished them out!

My plan had worked and I topped it off with a Cherry!! All great things deserve a Cherry on Top. So even if you feel like instead of getting the Cherries you keep getting the pits, don’t give up!! Your day will come, when you can smile proudly!! You never know! You  know what they say about chocolates right?

   That chocolate with the WINNING CHERRY is waiting for you!! Go pick it! 🙂

Friday’s 6 word story

Everyone got the memo, but me!

We all have days we feel like this, right? There was more than 1 thing that inspired today’s story, but I will share one thing. It was yesterday, at the daycare where I work. My co-workers and I were pretty sure that our 1 and 2 year olds got on their toy phones the night before and called their friends. They were  letting them all know to cry and scream as much as possible the next day! Yeah, us adults were totally left out of that phone call!

Which one is it?

This picture reminded me of our Yorkie who been taking guard by our tree for the past couple days now. At one time there was a squirrel up in the very top of the tree and Lilly, our Yorkie was going nuts. Of course the squirrel refused to come down, and Lilly refused to leave, tho eventually she had to give in. When she did the squirrel came flying down. From the top of the tree straight to the ground, THUD! Was up and running in a flash. I think its heart must have been pumping wildly fast.

In spite of the squirrel leaving, Lilly has been convinced that it will come back and is persistent in remaining guard at the tree from Morning to Night. She will come in for breaks of water and food and then be begging to go out again. Open the door, she runs to the shade of the tree and sits and waits. So is it persistence, or vain hope?  I find it unlikely that a squirrel is going to come running right up to her to say “HI”, but the look on her face as she continually gazes up the tree does almost make you feel sorry for her. Persistence can be a very good thing, but thinking she will have to retreat eventually in this situation. Apparently that is not a option this morning tho, as she waited at the door once more for me and is now sitting once again at the foot of the tree looking up.

Keep looking up girl, you never know!  Maybe a blind flying squirrel will land next to you! Hey, you never know! Persistence can pay off at times 🙂