Morning Folks 11 30 05

The best portion of a good man's life - his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love. ~William Wordsworth







A bit of fragrance always clings to the hand that gives roses. ~Chinese Proverb








You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson









Life is mostly froth and bubble,
Two things stand like stone,
Kindness in another's trouble,
Courage in your own.
~Adam Lindsay Gordon



Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something and has lost something. ~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.


How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these. ~George Washington Carver


Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. ~Leo Buscaglia


Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves. ~James Matthew Barrie


If you haven't any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble. ~Bob Hope





If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. ~Dalai Lama





Have a Wonderful Wednesday and be kind to everyone you meet today. It will make their day...and yours!
Love,
Suz

Morning Folks 11 29 05

Once again we find ourselves enmeshed in the Holiday Season, that very special time of year when we join with our loved ones in sharing centuries-old traditions such as trying to find a parking space at the mall.

We traditionally do this in my family by driving around the parking lot until we see a shopper emerge from the mall, then we follow her, in very much the same spirit as the Three Wise Men, who 2,000 years ago followed a star, week after week, until it led them to a parking space.
Dave Barry











Parking Lot Rules For Last Minute Christmas Shoppers


1. When waiting for a parking spot, stop in the middle of the road,
don't signal, and orient your car diagonally to prevent others
from passing.

2. Always park on the lines, taking up as many spots as possible.
Diagonal parking is preferred.

3. In a crowded parking lot, if you find a spot and have the
opportunity to pull through to an adjacent one, drive up half
way and stop on the line, taking both.

4. As you pull into a spot, if you see that the space ahead of
you is empty and you see another driver signaling to take it,
pull through and take it from him.

5. Always park close enough to the adjacent car so that the other
driver must grease up with Vaseline to squeeze into his/her car.

6. When getting out of your car, hit the adjacent vehicle with your
door really hard.

7. When driving through the parking lot, ignore the painted lanes
and drive diagonally from one end to another at a high rate of
speed.

8. When stopped in front of a store and waiting for a friend/
relative to make a purchase, make sure that you are stopped in
the middle of the road. The same rules applies to picking-up
and discharging passengers.

9. When a vehicle from the opposite direction is signaling and
waiting for a parking space, position your car so that you are
in his way and let the car behind you take it.










I can't believe November is almost over. Wow, did that fly by. My friend Rick told me once that you know you are getting old when Christmas comes twice a year. It does seem like we just had Christmas...and where did the summer go? Whoosh and it was gone. And I never even saw fall. Things do fly by faster as I get older. For those of you who need to keep track, I added this Christmas countdown to the blog over on the right side near the bottom of the page. It may drive you crazy. If it causes too much stress, try to ignore it.




Have a great Tuesday!

Love, Suz

Morning Folks 11 27 05

It is good to be back with you again, although I would love to have stayed in FL for a few more days. It warmed up on Thanksgiving and we left the next day. I hope everyone did damage to a turkey or a pie or both. I had a really nice visit in FL with Ed's family. We went to Animal Kingdom and Cirque De Sole and enjoyed a wonderful meal prepared by Kathy. Earlier in the week Ed gave me a Thanksgiving gift of driving us over to Naples on Monday to see Dad and Inez. They were gracious hosts, as usual. We had a nice lunch at the Cheesecake Factory (yum) and went back to their home and looked at old family movies, probably boring poor Inez and Ed to tears. But it was really fun reminiscing and seeing folks that aren't with us any longer or who just look a whole lot different now than they did 50 years ago! Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, Grands and Greats were all there, as well as some dear friends and immediate family, of course.

Now that Thanksgiving is in the past, on to the Christmas and Hannukkah Season. What a whirlwind these last 30 odd days of the year always are. As you get yourselves ready for battle at the malls, etc. try to have some fun along the way. I hope these pictures I found help put a smile on your face today and throughout the season.





















PARTIES
Eagerly awaited invitations to holiday parties and gatherings start to come in and so begins the fretting about fitting everyone in to the schedule. I have a couple of invitations already and I can't wait to see everyone. Of course there are always those guests who seem oblivious to the fact that they are just not totally appropriate. But after all, it is the season so you put up with them, too. Sometimes they make things interesting, don't you think?





TREE DECORATING
Putting up a tree has been put aside these past few years, what with the balancing act between shopping and baking and visiting and, of course, work. It was more fun when the kids were little and at home to help out. Big clumps of tinsel and disagreements about who's ornament gets displayed most prominently were just a couple of examples of how they helped. And there was the annual argument about multi-colored versus all white lights, but I loved it when they did help and it was always so beautiful when it was finished...tinsel clumps and all.

Now I get my 18-inch-comes-in-a-box-already-decorated-with-ornaments-and-lights-from-CVS tree up by the 25th, put a Christmas CD on the stereo and I am transformed and in the spirit like magic. A little tree and lots of Christmas Music is just fine with me. No fuss, no muss and no one has to remember to water it!















THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DRESSING UP DOGS AND CATS FOR CHRISTMAS

"This is fun. What else do you want me to wear? Boots? A Belt? Just let me know."

"Over my dead body!"


















FOR OUR JEWISH FRIENDS AND FAMILY

















New Christmas Traditions

This might be my last Christmas while I live in New England. I wonder how I will like a Tennessee Christmas? Hmmm...



Of course New Zealand Christmases can be fun as well.



















WRAPPING PRESENTS
I hope you get everything wrapped in time this year.











If not, do what I always do and just throw 'em in a bag.















Have a good week and I hope you and I get this holiday season off to a great start. I hope we don't stress about it, but enjoy it; that we can be in it and be a part of it without wanting to get away from it; that we can give what we can and help those who need help; and that we can celebrate with comfortable familiar traditions, but also do something new this year to change the view a little.


Most of all I hope we can remember at the height of the frenzy that the things that we manage to get done are always more than enough and come Christmas Eve, we will have time to sit back and reflect on the reason for it all.



Love,
Suz

11 18 05 Happy Thanksgiving

A HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL MY LOVED ONES. I AM SO THANKFUL FOR EVERY ONE OF YOU.






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We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing;
He chastens and hastens His will to make known.
The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing.
Sing praises to His Name; He forgets not His own.

Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining,
Ordaining, maintaining His kingdom divine;
So from the beginning the fight we were winning;
Thou, Lord, were at our side, all glory be Thine!

We all do extol Thee, Thou Leader triumphant,
And pray that Thou still our Defender will be.
Let Thy congregation escape tribulation;
Thy Name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!




The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving. ~H.U. Westermayer











Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men; but be careful that you do not take the day, and leave out the gratitude. ~E.P. Powell



















If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice. ~Meister Eckhart





So once in every year we throng
Upon a day apart,
To praise the Lord with feast and song
In thankfulness of heart.
~Arthur Guiterman, The First Thanksgiving


As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy












Remember God's bounty in the year. String the pearls of His favor. Hide the dark parts, except so far as they are breaking out in light! Give this one day to thanks, to joy, to gratitude! ~Henry Ward Beecher

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson



For flowers that bloom about our feet;
For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet;
For song of bird, and hum of bee;
For all things fair we hear or see,
Father in heaven, we thank Thee!
~Ralph Waldo Emerson


Thou hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more, - a grateful heart;
Not thankful when it pleaseth me,
As if Thy blessings had spare days,
But such a heart whose pulse may be Thy praise.
~George Herbert







Thanksgiving is the holiday of peace, the celebration of work and the simple life... a true folk-festival that speaks the poetry of the turn of the seasons, the beauty of seedtime and harvest, the ripe product of the year - and the deep, deep connection of all these things with God. ~Ray Stannard Baker (David Grayson)







I am leaving Saturday for Florida and will be there until the 26th. So, since I won't be blogging until after the holiday, I am wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you have a wonderful holiday, don't eat too much! I can't be with all of you this holiday and if I am not with you this year, give each other an extra hug from me and know I am thinking of you and missing you.

Love,
Suz

Morning Folks 11 17 05

The flower that you hold in your hands was born today and already it is as old as you are. ~Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwin










Sometimes I feel that life is passing me by, not slowly either, but with ropes of steam and spark-spattered wheels and a hoarse roar of power or terror. It's passing, yet I'm the one who's doing all the moving. ~Martin Amis, Money











It strikes! one, two,
Three, four, five, six. Enough, enough, dear watch,
Thy pulse hath beat enough. Now sleep and rest;
Would thou could'st make the time to do so too;
I'll wind thee up no more.
~Ben Jonson



It's a strange thing, but when you are dreading something, and would give anything to slow down time, it has a disobliging habit of speeding up. ~J.K. Rowling, "The Hungarian Horntail," Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 2000



For disappearing acts, it's hard to beat what happens to the eight hours supposedly left after eight of sleep and eight of work. ~Doug Larson










Old Time, in whose banks we deposit our notes
Is a miser who always wants guineas for groats;
He keeps all his customers still in arrears
By lending them minutes and charging them years.
~Oliver Wendell Holmes


Love, Suz