Judy's Thoughts Before 7:00 A.M.

Life is full of opportunities. Some come our way. You wake up one day, and there they are. You just have to recognize them and say, "Yes!"

Some we have to create. All it takes is a little desire, vision, courage and action.

Sometimes the roads we travel are roads we never, in our wildest dreams, considered. But, before you know it, miles are made one step at a time.

The road leads to the future whether we are on it or not.

Not To Worry

Hi everyone! I am just signing in to let you all know that I will be blogging again very soon. So many things have been happening that I have been turning left and right and back and forth and around in circles. For a girl who typically prefers the frontage road approach to life, it feels like I am and have been, on the super highway of life as of late.

Does anyone know where Hollywood is....or Ireland?

Funny How Others Teach Us About Ourselves

I was talking with my friend, Joe, this morning. I was telling him about two of our grandkids, Josh and Amelia, staying with us the next couple of nights. I told him about washing sheets and getting beds ready. Amelia's bed is ready to go. But, the bed Josh has always slept in has been turned into a toddler bed for his little cousin, Kallsen. This presents a dilemna. Where will Josh sleep? Josh has slept in that bed since he was a little boy, but at 16, he is now the size of a man. So, I am making up the other twin bed in that room, (Sarah's old room..Josh's room...now Kallsen and Joseph's room too). I am also making up the bed in another bedroom, (Adam's old room...Christopher's room..Adam and Sara Beth's room too).

I said to Joe, "I wonder where Josh will decide to sleep?"

As in any other good story, Joe laughed and said to me......"I am starting to understand you. Another would make up a bed...you have to make up a choice!"

He is so right!!

Good News

The britches I put on this morning FIT and I didn't think they would!!

There is a God!

Your Window

No matter what window you look out...you will see something.

Is what we see on the outside of us or on the inside of us?

Music In Plymouth

On Thursday night, July 6, Tom and I went to the big fourth of July celebration in our community. We sat on a grassy hillside with our good friends Steve, Kathy and Kate along with maybe 9,000 of our other close friends. This event has been going on for 35 years. It starts at 5:00 p.m. and ends at 11:00 p.m.

There is music throughout the evening leading up to the Minnesota Orchestra playing a concert. A man on stilts, who looks an awful lot like Uncle Sam, walks the grounds. A juggler walks through the crowd entertaining children and adults alike. People spread out their blankets and chairs and coolers and tables of food as they settle in for the spectacular evening. Anywhere you choose to walk throughout the night means you are stepping on other people's blankets and stepping over people you have never met. But, nobody minds. It feels like one huge giant family who are all sharing one purpose......the purpose being enjoying a wonderful night. The night concludes with a laser beam show and spectacular fireworks set to music.

I shared some short videos of the night with my friend, Joe, who lives in Ireland. He said it well. He said, "Everyone seems so nice and like they are having a good time. It feels safe." That is exactly what it felt like and it has never changed since we started going. The event is fun, predictable, orderly and safe.

Once you attend Music In Plymouth, it becomes tradition. Each year after the first year feels like you not only want to go, but you have to go. And, if you can't go, there is a bit of a let down feeling. With me in the picture are my friends Kathy and Kate.

Plans are already underway for next year. Kathy wants to coordinate the food. I can tell right now that next year will not only be a spectacular event with music and fireworks, but a spectacular banquet spread out under the stars and moon.

Laugh Till...............

One of the things I love most in life is laughing till I hurt. I love it when I beg the ones I am with to stop... stop... stop.....because if they don't stop, the pain will be too great, my sides will hurt too much and my face will ache for days on end. I just love it!!

Ok, you guys, children of mine....what made you laugh so hard?

Great Shots Of My Family

Thanks to mommy (Sarah) , daddy (Dave), and Davey for having Davey's 3 years old birthday party and bringing the family together for a wonderful day of sharing Davey's enjoyment of Bob The Builder. Happy Birthday Davey!! We love you!!! xoxoxox

Moments That Make You Smile

Moments

Life has its moments. Sometimes they are nature made and sometimes they are man made. Can you tell which is which?



SUNSET (Origin - God)



DOG (Origin - Davey's peanut butter and jelly open face sandwich)

A Day To Remember Forty One Years Ago

It was June 26, 1965. My sister, Linda, and I were getting married. It was going to be a double wedding. In the year before the wedding, my parents had redone the main floor of our beautiful home at 210 Oak Street. And, a few months before the wedding, our town had one of the biggest floods in its history. We were two and a half blocks from the river. Everyone knew the dike would break from the pressure of the water. Some holes were made in the dike to let the river find its way into our town more slowly and with less force.

I remember sitting in the house and seeing the sheriff walk down the middle of the street with his megaphone saying, "Time to evacuate...everyone evacuate!" All the new redecorating was going to be ruined. But, then all my parent's friends swarmed into our house and before you knew it the new furniture had been moved upstairs and the new carpet had been pulled up and gotten as far up the stairs as it could. And, then, we all sat down and had donuts. There was nothing else left to do except wait for the water.

Our house was an older house. The baseboards were eight inches high. You had to go up four steps to the front door. When the Minnesota River had its way, it filled the entire basement with water and the entire first floor right up to the top of the baseboards. The new wallpaper was spared as was the new furniture and new carpet. Only a few weeks before the wedding, we rowed up to our front door and walked inside with our boots on. It was quite an experience. And, it smelled bad. You really don't want a river in your house.

I don't know how he did it, but when the river receded my father worked hard to restore the house to its original beauty. Floors had to be dried so they would hopefully lose some of the warping. It had to be disinfected I am sure. And, the new carpet had to be relaid, and perhaps the woodwork repainted.

With the flood making headlines, our little double wedding became a human interest story and the Minneapolis Star and Tribune paper came out to the house and did a human interest story. We made the headlines.

Below are two articles and a picture to mark the day.

A Story

Perhaps I am starting at the end. Maybe that is how all good stories start.....at the end.

As I was going through a cupboard yesterday I found a rolled up paper. I didn't know what it was and I thought to myself, "Judy, what have you saved and stored all these years." But, I know from experience that very valuable things can be disguised as meaningless, worthless things that have been taking up space. I will never forget the beginning of my story.

Many years ago, I helped my parents move out of the home we had lived in for thirty five years. It was always and continues to be known as 210 Oak Street....the house at 210 Oak..how many times I have said that. Well, I was working in the kitchen with my mom. I was standing on the kitchen counter so I could reach the very top shelf of a cupboard to see if there was anything up there. In the old houses the metal kitchen cabinets went up to the ceiling. What better place to store things. What better place to keep treasures safe.

I found what appeared to be broken pieces of glass. They were in a little baggy I think. I thought to myself, "Should I make an executive decision and throw this away?" I said, "No, don't do that. It will only take a minute to show my mom what I had found and see if it might be important." I remember the look on her face and the movement of her body when I said, "Mom, I just found these broken pieces of glass. Do you know what they are?" She said to me, "Oh, Judy, those are from the first set of dishes I had as a child."

It made me want to cry. Not only was I touching memories of my own childhood as I helped them pack, but I got to touch memories of my mom's childhood. The broken pieces of glass were packed with loving care and moved to the next home.

So, what was it I found in my own cupboard yesterday?











I'm keeping it!

I Better Keep My Day Job

Yesterday was the first day of the garage sale I participated in. There is good news and there is bad news. The good news is I earned $14.00. The bad news is I spent $16.00.

If Someone Has An Answer....

I am participating in a garage sale this week. Yesterday, Tom and I went through things in the garage. Tom climbed in the rafters and dug out things stacked on the floor. Here is my question. Why does "stuff" you didn't even remember you had all of a sudden take on value and become something you don't think you can part with? We kept saying to each other, "If we don't do this now, someday our kids will have to!"

I really do know the answer to my own question. Even if "stuff" is dusty, old, broken or out of date, it is also clothed in memories.

I get to keep the memories....but the white, hardsided Samsonite luggage that I got as a high school graduation gift now has a new home.

The Wise Woman's Stone

I have been cleaning out some cupboards the last few days. It is amazing the things you run into that you don't know you had. Some of those things are throwaways and some of those things are keepers. I want to share a keeper with you. It is called...

The Wise Woman's Stone

A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation.

The traveler left rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime.

But, a few days later, he came back to return the stone to the wise woman. "I've been thinking," he said. "I know how valuable this stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me this stone."

from The Best of Bits & Pieces

The picture is from our visit to St. Simon's Island off the coast of Georgia.

Smile Laugh Cry

Father's Day Sloppy Joe Taste Tester

I made sloppy joes on Father's Day. I asked Kallsen if he wanted to try some and be my taste tester. He ended up eating seven small plates of sloppy joe mix. I almost thought I would have to go out and get more hamburger to make more for the rest of the family.

Father's Day

Today was Father's Day 2006. We have had our family here..in parts..over the last couple of days. In this picture you will see a picture of my father from years gone by and Tom, the father of my children. Somehow, in this picture, there seems to be a slight resemblance.

Tomorrow, I will be posting a number of pictures that simply make my life seem very special.


Ok, I couldn't wait! All the grandkids have always measured themselves by how high they came to the line between the refrigerator and the freezer. This is Joseph's first picture by the refrigerator. Kallsen sat down before I could get his picture. It will happen though. Why? Because Adam's family lives only three hours away from us now!

I Know........Soon, I Promise

Hi Sarah and Esther! You guys are faithful readers and I will be doing a post soon. I promise!!

Hi Sprinkler

Talk about life being magical!