“When I was a young adult, it was difficult to get my folks to go to an establishment where they served alcohol, even if it was to see an entertainer.

A friend of the family opened a bar in our hometown where the Farm and Home store used to be located.  He remodeled it, it was very nice, and very large inside.  He would have different entertainers there, and it had a large dance floor.  One night, Marvin Rainwater (an entertainer from Nashville) was playing at the bar.  This place was very nice, there had never been a fight there.  I finally talked my folks into going.

Well, on that particular night, there were two women, one on each side of the room who, for whatever reason, disagreed about something.  So, before the show even began, these two females met in the middle of the dance floor and began to fight.  The owner tried to get in the middle to break it up, but without success.  He had a habit of carrying a large wad of money in his shirt pocket.  There was blonde hair and money all over the place.

Go figure, the one night I talk my parents into going to a bar, after building it up and telling what a nice place it was, there was a fight on that night.”

I believe that exercise is important, and I do not get enough of it.  When you work behind a desk all day, do volunteer work on the weekends, have pets to care for at home, it seems difficult to find the time to exercise, but you have to get out there and do it, you have to MAKE yourself do it.  Not only is it good for you, it can give you back that beach body that you need for that vacation or that cruise you want to take this year.  My kids have both told me about the 90 day review.  They said that the extreme body workout is a great way to get in shape fast.

I am making my 2012 summer resolution:  I WILL get more exercise this year.  I want to be around to see my grandchildren grow up and I would love to have that beach body back again.

This is a guest post provided by Fitness Alliance.

Theresa called me the other night and said that Terry was having a problem with one of his cars and he needed to look at automotive lifts so he could get his car up off the ground to work on it.  He has a great garage/shop, equipped with just about everything, except for a lift.  She said he was having some problems with the exhaust system.

She said that he has now gotten into motorcycle racing as well and was looking at motorcycle lifts so he could work on the bike more efficiently too.  I asked her where she was going to find the money for these things.  She said probably their income tax refund.   I am so glad that my husband prefers to watch the racing instead of participate in it.   I could not afford him then.

He is not big on shopping, as most men are not, and he is a very busy contractor and really did not have the time to take her. There was a Target located about 40 miles away, and he didn’t want to drive that far to go shopping, gas prices being what they are, and now he had no excuses not to go, so he agreed he would take her.  It happened to be raining this particular weekend, and his crew was unable to work in the rain, so this freed up his weekend to take his daughter shopping.

So she finally got to go to the new Target store.    The gift card she had received was for one hundred dollars, which is a lot of money to a 10 year old.  She made a list of all the things she wanted to purchase and off to the new Target they went.

She was only able to get about half of the things on her list, one hundred dollars does not go as far as a 10 year old imagines that it does, even when you are shopping at a great discount store like Target.  She was able to get some new clothes, so that she could wear what all the kids were wearing these days, you know how kids are.  And she was even able to get some new jewelry and a new purse; she had to have the latest and the greatest.   Then there was the MP4 player and a few CD’s she wanted too.  She certainly got a whole lot for her money that day.  I was impressed.

Mary stopped by the other day and said that she accessed the Internet and visited http://www.rentedmonton.com to see out a home.  She said that the website was very helpful and there were several places that she and her husband were interested in looking at.

They are going to take a trip up there next week to look at homes and hopefully they will find one that suits them.  I am sure going to miss her.

She said that she would call me and we could have coffee and look for a new temporary home for her together.  I love shopping for houses, especially for other people!!  She will be there for 6 months to a year and needs a place to call home. Just a cozy 2 bedroom house with a small yard would be perfect.

I asked her how she was going to find a place to live while she is here in the U.S., and she told me about a website that her company had told those chosen few about, where they could “shop” for homes in Canada right from her own home computer.  Well, pooh. I thought she meant we could take a trip to Canada together and look at houses!

I wish her all the luck in the world and can’t wait to go visit her in our great neighbor to the North.

I noticed last night that she was not walking well.  She had lost control of her hindquarters.  This morning, she was just walking around in a fog-like state, just following the sound of my voice as I readied for the day.  I was going to take her in by myself, but found I was too upset to do so.  So, I called my old friend, Larry, and had him come over and take us to the vet’s office.  When he arrived, he said that she just did not seem like herself.

So, we took her to the vet’s office, I made the arrangements and said a very tearful goodbye to my wonderful friend of 15 years.  She hesitated as they took her into the back, as if she knew she would never see me again.

I met Pooh in 1996, 9 months after she had been born.  She was tied to a dog house 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and totally ignored, except for being fed regularly.  I took her home, along with the dog house.  She never wanted anything to do with that dog house ever again, and I can’t say I blamed her.  She was scared of her own shadow back then.  She never even barked for the first 6 months that I had her.  I thought that maybe she couldn’t.  After awhile, she came out of her shell and became a normal, well-adjusted dog.  She followed my every step too, and was always there for  me, no matter what.  I will miss her greatly.

I had her cremated and have her ashes in an urn here at home.  My peace needs to come from the knowledge that she is no longer suffering and is in a better place.

I couldn’t see spending all day at work stressing over what I could not get done within the short work week and then coming home, taking care of our little Roo and Pooh bear (two cocker spaniels – for those of you who are not familiar with the family yet), and then trying to cook a big dinner, get pies made, etc., just to get frustrated and tired out.  So, I did the pies on Thursday for Friday dinner.  It worked out great!!  I had a 20 lb turkey to cook for two of us, so I froze a lot of leftovers.

I tried something new this year.  I made the stuffing from whole wheat bread, instead of white bread; I made my pie crust from whole wheat flour (a little tougher to roll out) and made sugar free pumpkin pie.  The entire meal turned out to be very tasty.  We did not do the traditional sweet potato pie or scalloped corn, since we are trying to watch our diets a little more closely these days, but we did not feel we missed out on a thing.  The pie was great!!!

I am thankful for my family and friends, of course.  I am thankful that my father is finally at peace after a life of turmoil. And finally, I am thankful that I have another day to enjoy life.  Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

                                                                                         The Wooden Bowl
A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year-old grandson.  The old man’s hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered.  The family ate together at the table. But the elderly grandfather’s shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult.. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor.  When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.  The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess.  ‘We must do something about father,’ said the son.  ‘I’ve had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor.’  So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner.  There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner.  Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl.   When the family glanced in Grandfather’s direction, sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone.  Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food. The four-year-old watched it all in silence.  One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor.  He asked the child sweetly, ‘What are you making?’ Just as sweetly, the boy responded, ‘Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up. ‘

The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.  The words so struck the parents so that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks.. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done. That evening the husband took Grandfather’s hand and gently led him back to the family table.  For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.

On a positive note, I’ve learned that, no matter what happens, how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.