A Charming Tale

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I learned earlier this year that a group of humming birds is called a "charm". I thought the name to be absolutely charming. They can also be called a "hover" or a "troubling".

Bob, my husband recently saw one really, just one hummingbird outside. This is always his cue to fill up a feeder. After about two days, I noticed that upon stepping outside, it sounded like a fleet of mini blue angels were flying around our porch. Literally dozens of them have shown up. It is amazing! One got stuck in a slot in the porch. I fished it out with kitchen tongs. Bob has since added three more feeders in various locations around the house. We are surrounded. I told our son that we had gone past a "charm" to a "troubling" of hummingbirds. He informed me we that he thought it looked more like an infestation. Like all things these little guys will move on, and this too shall pass. I have seriously been enjoying them. I have also noticed a large number of butterflies flying about, a "kaleidoscope" of them. I hope everyone has a charming and colorful week. I know I will. P.S. Photo by Bob

Living Out Loud

La, la, la, la, la, live for today. The week is L, the theme...really LIVE OUT LOUD! My children tell me I am loud. I am. I come from a long line of loud, it is in my genetic makeup. My lovely grandmother (also loud) turned 99 years old on August 22nd. Wow, can ya just say WOW! Say it LOUD.
The Roman Numeral for 50 is L. How interesting is that because this week, I get to turn 50 years old. I have been looking forward to this. This past week I have been looking back, thinking over what I have lived, learned, loved, and lost in these "L" (fifty) years. That's a large question. What have you been doing for 50 years? Whatever it was I'm sure I was loud about it.

The Madcap, Place Where I Live-The Mother-Hood

As I meander through momentous minutes of my life, I have mindfully discovered that the most amusing have to do with motherhood. Mama, mommy, mother, mom, the most mystical, miserable, magical, and meaningful monikers I have ever maintained. As I muse, I realize that my most amusing stories deal with this hood I live in The Mother-hood. This job that God gave me, has been, still is, and no doubt will continue to be a maze of emotions. The years of mischief, mirth, muttering, mix-ups, and miracles, I am mindful that these folks whom God sent me to mother are marvelously amazing. Mothering, are we just made to do so, is it in our molecular makeup? Yes, this motley mob of seeming misfits really are mine. Through the miscellaneous events in our lives, as they’ve watched me muddle through the maze that is motherhood, and make many mistakes, still they love me. We have grown up together really. We’ve had times of growing together and times of growing apart. Together, we’ve lauded their milestones and moaned their misdeeds. But at the end of the day I am still Mom. I would get them the moon if they asked. Even after all of these years of being Mom, I never cease to be mystified by them. I don’t know if they are so magnificent mostly because of me or in spite of me. Still, living in the motherhood is a good place. So, mother is my theme for the week.

Nahss, Just Be Nahss Week

I've been having themed weeks and basing my blog that I was writing weekly on that theme. It all started with the letter K, and I have been working through the alphabet backwards. Sounds silly, right? But it is what it is. This week then starts with N.

I have an acquaintance who, willingly meets any unreasonable requests of his exwife. One reason is that she has custody of his only child. The other reason is that he says and believes that things work out better if we will "Just be nice!"

Of course in the south many of us pronounce it as it is spelled in the title.

So, now for this week I am trying to Be Nice! Little nice things can feel good to do. Let someone with one item go first at the checkout. Speak to someone you don't know or just smile. It feels good to smile sometimes when you really want to scream. So for this week I am reminding myself to JUST BE NICE.

Oh!

Oops, I don't know what happened. I stopped blogging. I stopped living on purpose. I sort of lost sight of having a purpose at all. I guess sometimes we all have a hard time of it and not really know why, or how we got to that place that our lives look all topsy turvy. By standing in our own way we manage to obfuscate what is real and important, and what is really important. Then one day, like today we look up and say "Oh!!!" Well, here I am saying Oh! Oh? and OK!!!

O is really amazing because it can mean all or nothing. It is infinite, and yet it is just a mark, a symbol on a page. What does all of that mean? Oh, he**, I dont know? But here we go. I'mmmm baaaack! I hope. Soooooooo, until next week.

Purpose

What did the baby dolphin say to the mommy dolphin when he messed up? "I'm sorry Mom, I didn't do it on porpoise." Okay, that was pitifull. I did not find to P to be perplexing at all. PURPOSE was perfect. Purpose is powerful. According the dictionary it means the reason for which something is done, created, or for which something exists. Havn't we all pondered that point? (Except for my husband who speaks his own language. He "plonders"....which I have decided is a cross between ponder and plunder. At any rate, when he says it I wonder what he is thinking about destroying.) I could have just as easily picked Purple, which is possibly the best color ever. I'm sorry, I have digressed! I go through life frequently without purpose, plodding along the path. What if I choose this week to "Live on Purpose." Isn't it odd that we say "I did that on purpose."? That means I intended to do it, predicted it, planned it, pulled it off. Then to think that our purpose is that huge question that people have posed and about which poets have penned. That puzzle, to which the all Powerful, Almighty Creator puts politely, "You, person, I did it on purpose, I placed you here and now, and I did it on purpose. So, as I "plonder" the week ahead, I will resolve to think carefully before I utter a peep, to think about the purpose of my prose. I will purpose to perpetuate kindness and purple.

The Quest

I determined last night that this the week of "Q" would be themed Quest week. After all, isn't that what we all do daily? We are questing after something. If it were not so, why would we even bother to get out of bed in the morning? So this particular morning, I headed to the office, blog in mind, determined to get it written. About twenty minutes after arriving, I discovered there none, that is right zero of our three phone lines working, the internet would not come up, and my cell phone didn't have a signal. Apparently, AT&T was in a quandary. I know I was. Although it was rather quiet. Refusing to put on my tech hat, I continued with the other business of the day that did not require outside communications. Needless to say, AT&T managed to get things back up and running before the close of business.
In medieval knight made expeditions to accomplish a particular perscribed task. The expeditions were called quests. It sounds rather adventurous really. So, if we think of our trips to Lowe's or Walmart as a quest for whatever we need, it might take out some of the drudgery. "I'm going on a quest for food." Sounds a lot more fun than, "I going to the store to get bread". "I'm going on a quest for gold." as opposed to "I have to go to work." We have all seen movies demonstrating the quagmires that the knights had to fight through in order to complete their objectives. Quests, quagmires, quandaries, questions, queue up, and know you are qualified to take quantum leaps in life. So, this week I shall view life as a series of adventures called quests. Now, it is late and I am going on a quest for sweet dreams.

By way of Reason

Cause, explanation of justification for an action. I believe myself to been seen and even to be a person with whom it is difficult to reason. I don't recall having "reasonable" as a characteristic on my list of attributes to which I intended to aspire. I do recall, years ago viewing myself as such....reasonable that is. I feel that I have made reasonable decisions, had good reasons for my actions, and attempted to do what is right. I have come to the conclusion that it is my children that have convinced me that my reasoning is messed up, and my decisions without reason. "Why mom?" "Because I am the mom and I said!" That only worked rarely when they were small, and now they are like, "Really?!?"
Teenager: What is the reason.
Mom: Because it doesn't sound safe.
Teenager: That is not reasonable.

So really, maybe it is time to let them realize the reasons for themselves. I think I will just sit back and rest, and when the ruckus starts, I'll just look at them and say "Really?!?"

Shameless

I had no theme last week, shame on me. Seriously....NOT! We spend far too much time in that "Shame on me" mode, or at least a I do. I should have...(fill in the blank). Instead, why not, "I did it, I stepped in it, the smell is on my shoe."? So, I clean it off and sail forward on the sea that is life. (Talk about your mixed metaphors!) Let's face it guilt sucks! So, this week, I shall look forward to sunsets, sunrises, and silliness. Forward and not back. With my head held high I shant be shamed. This week I am shameless.

Themeless

I totally skipped having a theme, or blogging last week. "T" is a great letter and the possibilities for T themes are tremendous. However, it seems that "T" week was simply THEMELESS.

UBIQUITOUS

Ubiquitous-a new word I leaned this year. I remember how to pronounce this word by using it as if I were calling someone a name. "You bick quit us!" I have heard the word before, but just never really tried to find out its meaning. This year it was in a book I was reading, so I looked it up. It means present, appearing, or found everywhere. That certainly is fitting for me as I have been bouncing all over lately. I suppose we could also say that God is ubiquitous, as He is present everywhere, as evidenced by his creation...also ubiquitous. Bacteria is ubiquitous, and we manage to mostly disregard it. We can end up doing the same with creation if we are not careful. So, this week I will take time regard the creation of The Creator. Breathe in and feel the breeze, study the color of the sky, admire the sprind flowers. Just because things are ubiquitous they shouldn't be overlooked.

Getting Back to it All

We arrived home from Southeast Texas on Friday, April 3rd. Mary died on Saturday morning April 4th. After unpacking and re-packing we were off again to Texas on Sunday. We returned home on Tuesday. I am truly uncertain about where the time went between then (Tuesday) and now (Sunday). Nonetheless, it is necessary to get back to the land of the living. I must begin with what I know. I know that my last "theme" week was "W". Therefore this is need be "V" week. I know that today was Easter Day, the day we as Christians celebrate Jesus' victory over death, hell, and the grave, as he rose from the dead. That victory is passed on to us. However victory is not this week's theme. Valor seems so appropriate to me. So, I have deemed this as Valor week. Valor is "courage in the face of extreme danger". Jesus was a man of valor. Gideon was addressed by a heavenly being as "a might man of valor", at which point he looked behind himself to see who was being addressed. Gideon basically said, 'Who me?"
Perhaps we fail to see ourselves as people of valor. I thought about it a lot. We are people of valor. My friend and sister-in-law Mary was a person of valor. Though her life was marked by many tragedies, she came back each time to fight for what she loved, she continued to have the courage to face life even when things looked bleak. Like the punching clowns that we knocked over as children, she would pop back up. She was vivacious. I was more than taken aback this time when she just couldn't get back up. I know that through Jesus she has victory and is enjoying that victory in His presence.
Of late, I have been venturesome (willing to take risks or unusual courses). (I find it odd that there is such and old word for "thinking outside the box")To take unusual courses is venturesome, and it takes valor. Living life to its fullest takes valor. We never know if or when we will suffer a tragedy or loss of great proportion. We never know if this is the day we smell our last flower on earth of hug a loved one for the last time. We don't have a guarantee that if we try to befriend another, that they will respond in kind. Rejection is devastating and extremely dangerous to our psyche. Really, living each day takes great valor. This week, I shall attempt to really live life with great gusto and be a person of valor. To be vivacious, victorious, and a vanguard will take valor of vast proportions. So vamoose toward valor.

I Don't Know

I have been in Southeast Texas since Monday. Mary is so very sick. It is hard too see. Pray for this family whether you know them or not. It is sad, sad, sad! I am at a loss for flowery words.
Hopefully, I will muster something up next week and wee will proceed with "V" week, what ever that will be.

Wonder Week

Several years ago I was on the beach in Pensacola, FL with my family. (By the by, far and away the lovleliest beaches I've seen are in the Florida Panhandle, and the few miles of beach afforded Alabama. This is just my opinion.) We were walking in the sugar white sand along the ever changing "line" where the blue-green water meets land. I looked out at the Gulf of Mexico and the great expanse of blue sky above it. I then looked eastward and westward at the shoreline traveling many miles. We always look for shells as we walk along and always manage to bring at least a few home. I was looking at the tinyness of some of the shells and I noticed the teeny tinyness of the grains of that gorgeous white sand. The universe we live in truly in a wonder to behold. Moreover, its Creator gave us so much to wonder at. From the grand size of what may be an infinite universe to the smallest atomic particles. He made sure we would never run out of things to discover, do, learn, or wonder at. It's a wonder He bothers with us at all. This week, I am determined remind myself of that epiphany.
I will celebrate the wonder of all of creation, and wonder at its magnificance, as it truly is a wonder.
By definition wonder can be a noun, a verb, or an adjective. It really is a cool word. I hope that this will leave you wondering. (Trust me, I have left a lot of people doing just that.)

Ah, the dreaded week of X

How in the world can one possibly come up with a theme for X. It is "X" Week nonetheless, so after getting a little help from my banker, (no, really!) on some ideas, I think I have this thing licked. So the theme for the week is Xenodochial. This is someone or something that is friendly to strangers. In the case of software, it would be called "user friendly". A person who is a xenogogue is a guide, or someone who conducts strangers. This would be my current job description as a life coach/business consultant.
Unfortunately, in the past month or so, my family would say that I have been a xanthippe (a word derived from something to do with a wife of Socrates, and apparently she wasn't Miss Mary Sunshine as it means ill-tempered woman). Of course we have another word for it but this is not "B" week, so we'll leave that alone for now. Besides, they are not strangers, now are they? I really have been quite ill-tempered. Perhaps if it were Xanax week, we could all just hang out in Xanadu, and live happily ever after.
In the mean time I will remember it is Xenodochial Week and be kind to strangers. Yes, I will remind myself that I have chosen the path of a xenogogue. But for now, I shall x-it (exit). Here's to having a great week!

Special Tribute

Last week we learned that my sister-in-law has cancer, and it is pretty bad. A few years ago we learned that her husband, my brother-in-law has luekemia. They have been living with his eminent demise for years now. (Although, I guess we all do.) However, she has been though so much prior to this news, just really difficult life events. They lost a beach house in Hurricane Ike only a few months ago. I am not trying to be a downer, I just want to say, that I have know this woman for 25 plus years and she is amazing. She has to be in the top ten of the strong women I have ever know. My hat is off to her and she has my utmost respect and admiration.

Last night I called the daughter of a "friend" I adopted one rainy night while having drinks on the patio of a local pub. My friend's name was Martha. She had been a realtor, had been married for over 40 years until her husband passed 6 years ago. Her children raised, she still worked at a local real estate office. When she told me where she worked I stopped by a few times and took her little gifts. We had drinks one other time at the same place over a month ago. She was so amazing, at 70 years young, still so social, still working, driving living life to the fullest. Her daughter found her dead in her bed the other morning. Our lives crossed so briefly, but I will never forget that great laugh and her zeal for life.

Wow, what more can I say!

Okay, "Y", YO-YO!

I thought about yummy and yucky, but I decided that for this period yo-yo would be best. What with relatives with cancer diagnoses, a child with the flu, and the unexpected death of a new found friend, I find that life definitely has its ups and downs. For yo-yo fun facts I welcome you to look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yo-yo#Origin_of_name_and_the_Filipino.2FPhilippine_yo-yo in Wikepedia. My friend and I use it to stand for "Your On Your Own". This is generally applicable to conversations about our children or husband. You know those fun people who follow you around asking you questions and arguing with your answer, leaving you to wonder why they asked you in the first place.

I'm feeling a bit more cynical that usual. I had a rough week, I think, and sometimes it takes me a while to figure out that I am having a rough time. Those husband and children people let me know in no uncertain terms the other day that I was in terrorist mode. You know the place where you are simply not fit for human consumption? I was there. I had been so short tempered, short sighted, and just down right mean to those I love the most. I have just been wound around the axel about getting stuff done for the upcoming street festival worried about my sister-in-law, and brother-in law, and their family. Tailspin would be a good word to describe where I have been. Fortunately my family loves me enough to tell me of my faults. So, I prayed about it, and apologized for it and I am trying hard not to notice their incompetencies so much. After all it's only life and like the yo-yo if your gonna play, you're gonna have ups and downs. You don't get one without the other. But sometimes ya wanna say, "hey, YO-YO! (Your on your own, I'm OUT!) Well it sounds good.

Whatever Shall I Do With "Z"?

I started thinking about a theme that started with the letter "Z" earlier this week. It seemed that it would be difficult to find, and now I'm finding it difficult to decide. There is Zest, Zeal, Zinger, all of which have amazing definitions. I however am particularly fond of Zany. What a great Scrabble word! By definition zany means "amusingly unusual". I like that. I feel that it is reflective on the past few weeks. In these weeks we have been madly preparing crafts, product, and a presentation for a street festival. The fesitval is March 28th, so we have a few weeks of zany left.
Our 20 year old son Bo (an Industrial Design major) has spent hours on making a teapot. Really? Really, a teapot! In the interim, we have been turning ceiling tiles into bulletin boards, creating Crazy Lady Survival Kits, making cute scarves from inexpensive materials, and today, if all of that wasn't enough, I made 2 skirts.
Our construction office has looked like a craft store threw up in it for days on end. There is glitter everywhere! If this life is not zany, I don't know which life might be. If at the end of my life I were to be described as "zany", I would like that a lot. Amusingly unusual, what more could I ask to be. If there is anything, well, that ship has sailed.

It is "A" Week

Ameliorate is a word I learned last year. It is a wonderful word that means to impove, make better. Today I had to write about ameliorate late. I intended to have this posted by noon. Unfortunately, my laptop required some amelioration. I was beginning to think that thowing it out the window would ameliorate us both, but alas, I came to my senses and played "the tech person" off and on today. Boy is that scary!

Women often wear so many different hats, and don't they look funny all piled on top of each other. So from estimator to Mom, to the tech person, to the accountant, ad infitum, it has been a busy day. Sometimes I look behind me and see these people following me, and realize that I am the leader. Whoooa! Are you sure? I don't know if I should be doing this without adult supervision, and if I'm it, God help us! I am sure He will. It will be okay. I shall simply endeavor to ameliorate myself, my world, and the people in it that stumble into my path.
Lynn Kane-Wardlow
Purveyor of Amelioration

Blissful blessed brilliance beyond belief.

Let us have a brilliant week.  "B" week shall brilliant.  By definition, brilliant very bright and radiant, intensely vivid also, exceptionally clever or talented, outstanding, impressive.  So perhaps this week we can be bright and shiny...brilliant!  What a brilliant idea.  Quell bonne idee!  So, now then.*  Our brilliance, no matter how bright or shiny we are, cannot compare to the brilliance of God.  He is light, and in him there is no darkness.  So, let us attempt to be brilliant in every sense this week.

* With regard to "Now, then"  Why do we say that?  It doesn't even make any sense!  Can someone please, please explain what this means?  Now  Then!

"C" Week. Way Cool!!!

Now, this is cool, I figured out how to post my logo here with very little help from my teenage daughter.

This is our gold Mama manatee holding her baby, Gunther manatee. We really haven't given Mama a name. She probably needs one. They are made of resin and I am sure that they are supposed to be "yard art". However, after riding around in the back of the convertible (with the top down) for several days, they came to live in our office. It is a real conversation piece. But not nearly as much as when they get to ride in the convertible. So, when Folly Otter comes home, I think the three in them should get buckled into the back seat, and go for a ride, with the top down of course. Maybe, we can even take Gunther Manatee and Mama to pick up Folly. If we do, I feel certain that the taxidermist will be SURE we are crazy. CRAZY!!! Now that starts with C. But we have a bit of time to wait for that. In the meantime, let us be calm, collected, a bit crazy and above all way, way cool. COOL.

Dynamic

The name of my business is 'Dynamic Directions'. As we can all see, I have not managed to put my business card on this blog. I asked it to, but we (the computer and I) were apparently not speaking the same language. I will get to it eventually. It's a nice business card.

For "D" week I am having DYNAMIC week. I looked up the definition(s), and found:

Dynamic - a driving or energizing force, vigorous and purposeful, full of energy, enthusiasm, and a sense of purpose, able to both get things going and to get things done-producing or undergoing change and development.

To me the opposite that comes to mind is static, meaning still, intert, motionless, stagnant.

Change it seems is so hard for us as humans, and the older we get or the severity of OCD we have, the more difficult it becomes. It seems as well that in these "middle" age years, the changes seem more intense. Parents age and we become caretakers, children grow up and become their own people with their own ideas and attitudes (quite contrary to our own), we become grandparents. Change is everywhere. So much of it we cannot control.

However, we can control how we handle our changes. We can also control how we chose to change ourselves. We have this time to make our lives count more, and to enrich the lives of others as often as possible, and by doing so, we can be that energizing force that make the world just a little bit better place. Goodness if we were to pass that message along, imagine the changes we might really effect.

Update on Folly: I have had several folks ask me where Folly Otter will live when he comes home. I have the best answer, but I am saving that for "C" week.

January is Coming to a Close-Let Us Enrich

Enrich-enhance the quality of something, make somebody wealthier

Enhance-improve or add to the strength, worth, beauty or other desirable quality of something.

This is the last week of January!!! Time flies when your having fun. I am ready for Springtime. I could do with a bit more sunshine. I am definitely a solar powered individual. A little more sunshine would definitely enrich/enhance my world.

This leads me to our theme of the week. It is "E" week. The theme for the week is enrichment. My goal for the week shall be to try to enrich/enhance lives and life as much as possible. Consider it for a moment, just bringing a smile to another's face certainly will add to their beauty. By enriching lives in even little ways, or simply picking up a piece of litter that you didn't place there, or giving a tip at the Dairy Queen that is a little bigger than usual can make the world a richer (enriched) placed.

Update on Folly: I called the taxidemist last week to check on Folly the Otter. (Truly a sentence I never thought I would say, much less write.) I assumed (quite mistakenly) that it couldn't be more than 6 weeks before his return, and was excited that I would be able to feature a fine picture of him here. But alas the taxidermist told me it would be 'nine months'. I asked if he was putting me on. He stated to my chagrin he was not. At that point I told him that I could build a whole human being in that period of time and had three times. How hard can it be comparatively speaking to stuff a litte otter? He has others in line in front of Folly and he explained and he was not kidding. So alas, I will be looking for Folly around my birthday!!!!

"F" Can Stand for A Lot of Things

So, this weeks theme needs to start with the letter "F". If you haven't noticed we are moving backward in the alphabet. I guess we could do "F" it week, but I have been trying to clean things up a bit in my life, so we will leave off with that. Fifty also starts with "F" and while I know I said I was not obsessing on the upcoming event that time continues to hurl me toward, I did say that I had a mission for my actions as I make the trip. Therefore on my way to fifty and thereafter I intend to do the following:
I will have fun, and spread fun anywhere I can.
I will be flirtatous, fit, and fine as frog's hair.
I intend to be fashionable but on my own terms and sometimes to dress like a faery.
I probably won't be frugal, but I can try.
I will eat more fruit, and fish and avoid things fried.
Friendly, friendly, friendly and make new "fresh" friends.
I shall be given to flights of fancy and sometimes I will be fancy.
I will be fierce and unafraid when it is warranted.
I will be funny everyday.
I will pet furry creatures.
I will probably be fickle (uh hum, FEMALE)
I certainly will celebrate being female, although I don't promise a great deal of "feminine" behavior.
I will avoid being finnicky, a fuddy duddy, or foolish (although I intend to participate in tomfoolery).
The theme of the week is FIFTY and all that goes with it. Please let me know if I have missed somethings, as I am sure I have.

The otter went to the taxidermist. I don't know when we get him back. We are having him stuffed and saving him for posterity (whatever that means). This I will post a picture of when he comes home. Perhaps we'll call him Folly.

Public Flatulence-definitely a 50 thing!

It is the year of the Magical Mystery Tour....do you have your ticket for the crazy train yet?

You "Otter" Be Careful Crossing the Road

Well, I'm one week closer to the big 50. I'm really not obsessing on this. I'm just counting down the inevitable. I saw the cutest little girl today. She was "working" with her mother at the Dr.s office. She said she was making money for Disney World. I was impressed. A girl with a goal-ya gotta love that.

The theme for this week is "Grace". Grace is receiving something freely that is unearned. To be gracious is to be considerate and generous. So this week I am going to be that as much as possible.

Okay, again really woooweeewoo...Magical Mystery Tour.


Our 20 year old son and 15 year old daughter were out and about yesterday. She called and said they had found a dead otter on the road. To which I responded, 'No, we don't have otters in Mississippi.' Papa Bear (my husband) replied, 'Take a picture of it and send it to us.' I on the other hand, suggested that they bring it home for identification. I know, what was I thinking-right? I didn't even bother to ask if it was stinky. Fortunately, it was not. Surprisingly it was an otter. Apparently, we do have otters in Mississippi. It hadn't been dead long (Thank goodness). So now the otter is in the freezer. We have decided to take him to the taxidermist after which he "otter" be real pretty. But ultimately he shoulda otter stayed out of the road.

The Year of the Magical Mystery Tour

This is the year I will turn 50 years old. I have exactly 9 months from today for this amazing event to occur. I'm not scared, Madonna doesn't seem to mind it. Instead, I have set my sights to make the lives of all I touch as magical as possible. This of course includes my own. So I have deemed this the year of The Magical Mystery Tour. So, get on board and let's have a grand time! Ask yourself what you can do to make one life a little better everyday this year.

I have also determined to have themed weeks. Each week has a theme. This week's theme is hope. The Bible says that ...love hopes all things... If love can do it I've determined I can too. So, I hope it is a great week. Come Monday a new theme will be determined.

Remember, if you want to be something, you have to become the type of person that the position requires.