Happy New Year...2008

"I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.
I wish you everlasting happiness to keep your spirit alive and eternal.
I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest joys in life may appear bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye."

I wish you all "enough"....

An Icon

And so this is Christmas.....

This time of year has always seemed to be hard for me....go figure, I seem to make life harder than others believe it should be.....however, holidays have always seemed sad, rushed, commercial, busy, traumatic, blah-blah-blah. So trying to keep ones head above the water of life at times takes all the mental, emotional and spiritual capacity one can muster! I try to just keep an even keel, breath deep, and focus on the good things ( the most difficult part for me!) and get through it. However, I am tired of just "getting through" things and want to really "enjoy?" them....really convincing you aren't I !!? I'm actually trying to convince myself of the possibility of "enjoying" holidays, this one in particular. So I read, think, pray, and try to keep busy and mind occupied with something besides the sorrow that always seems to seep out.....don't really care for Christmas cards, except the ones with my kids pictures on them, the others are too "hallmark"...too unreal and apart from the world as I see it....nevertheless ( I love that word!), here is the closest thing to a card I would like to send. And MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Whatever MERRY and CHRISTMAS means to you, may you ENJOY it!!

"Oh Son of the Most High, Prince of Peace, be born again into our world. Wherever there is war in this world, wherever there is pain, wherever there is loneliness, wherever there is no hope, come long-expected one, with healing in Your wings.
Holy Child, who the shepherds and the kings and the dumb beasts adored, be born again. Wherever there is boredom, wherever there is fear of failure, wherever there is temptation too strong to resist, wherever there is bitterness of heart, come oh blessed One with healing in Your wings.
Saviour, be born in each of us who raises his face to Your face, not knowing fully who he is or who You are, knowing only that Your love is beyond his knowing and that no other has the power to make him whole. Come, Lord Jesus, to each who longs for You even though he has forgotten your name...come quickly."

Children...

...Wish this had come out in 1972....it could have saved us 30 years worth of heart break....maybe it will help ypu get through your rough days....enjoy.....

Today....

"It is a moment of light surrounded on all sides by darkness and oblivion. In the entire history of the universe, let alone in your own history, there has never been another just like it and there will never be another just like it again. It is the point to which all your yesterdays have been leading since ther hour of your birth. It is the point from which all your tomorrows will proceed until the hour of your death. If you were aware of how precious it is, you could hardly live through it. Unless you are aware of how precious it is, you can hardly be said to be living at all.
"This is the day that the Lord has made", says the psalmist. "Let us rejoice and be glad in it." Or weep and be sad in it for that matter. The point is to see it for what it is because it will be gone before you know it. If you waste it, it is your life that you are wasting. If you look the other way, it may be the moment you've been waiting for always that you're missing.
All other days have either disappeared into darkness and oblivion or not yet emerged from them. Today is the only day there is."

And so.......

"IT IS THROUGH ERROR THAT MAN TRIES AND RISES. IT IS THROUGH TRAGEDY HE LEARNS. ALL THE ROADS OF LEARNING BEGIN IN DARKNESS AND GO OUT INTO THE LIGHT!"
Hippocrates fo Cos

2 WORDS

STEVIE WONDER, Been listening to his muzac and it its GOOD!! He was SO ahead of his time musically. I highly recommend HIGHER GROUND, PASTIME PARADISE, SUPERSTITION, YOU HAVEN'T DONE NOTHING, MAYBE YOUR BABY, and I BELIEVE. Check out the lyrics as well as the fantastic beats. You will be in for a treat!!

THANK YOU JESUS!

Thanks to Jesus, yes, but it also was a helluvalotofworkandsacrifice on the part of Micah as WELL as Emily!!! Congratulations kids! Check it out!! www.northwestcollege.edu/ag/FacStaff.cfm

Sorry, for some UNKNOWN STINKING REASON, I am not able to get a link posted here!!! @$#%**!! Just paste it!!!

must see seiries...

we just finished the whole series this weekend and it has truly affected our lives.....we found humor, laughter, pain, tragedy, and surprise all within this series....it took our hearts and minds where no other show has taken them...we will never look at death OR life quite the same...here are just a few of the bits of wisdom and humor you will encounter.....

"The future is just a fucking concept that we use to avoid living today."

"Why do people have to die?
To make life important. None of us know how long we've got. Which is why we have to make each day matter."

" Well, isn't it comforting to know that being miserable is still better than being an idiot?"

"If we live our lives the right way then everything we do can become a work of art."

"You hang on to your pain like it means something. Like it's worth something. Well, let me tell you - it's not worth shit. Let it go! Infinite possibilities, and all he can do is whine."

"David: Well, what am I supposed to do?
Nathaniel Fisher: What do you think? You can do *anything*, you lucky bastard - you're alive! What's a little pain compared to that?
David: It can't be that simple.
Nathaniel Fisher: What if it is?"

"I know that if you think life's a vending machine where you put in virtue and take out happiness than you're going to be disappointed."

Brenda:"So... how's it going?
Nate: Oh, it's great... great. My father's dead, my mom's a whore, my brother wants to kill me, and my sister's smoking crack. I think I win."

Claire:"I wish I was gay.
David: Ohh, no.
Claire: Well, then I wouldn't have to deal with unfamiliar sex organs!
David: They're all unfamiliar unless they're yours."

"[Nathaniel and Nate are looking at his tombstone]
Nathaniel: Is that the best anybody could come up with - "Father, Husband, Caregiver"?
Nate: How would you prefer it - "Introvert, Sadist, Mindfucker"? "

HAPPY ANNIVERSAY!

Yep, yep, happy 35th Ricky!! What a life... we have lived through a LOT and loved during some of those years....marriage is truly like a fine wine....it gets better with age. So many never make it....so many would NOT have made it....we have.....one more year added to the tally....added by hard work and paying much attention to eachother....I look forward to the rest of our lives together....I could not make it without you.

"Here I am believin' words again
Here I am tryin' to find your love again
Here I am down on my knees again
Prayin' for a love
That we used to know

To hold something real
And not believe it
To live in a life
And never trust it
To give all you know and never feel it
To hold back each day
Until it dies away

Both of us know
How hard it is to love
And let it go
Both of us know
How hard it is to go on
Living that way
When so few undersand what it means
To fall in love
And so few know how hard it is to live without it
I must have been blind
Lord, I must have been blind".

Lennon

Get the downloads of some of the best music ever made!! I highly recommend the IMAGINE and PLASTIC ONO albums....well worth the 10 bucks to have some of the greatest!!! Working class hero (the real version), Dont want to be a soldier, Gimme some truth, and Isolation are just some of the many great tunes!!!!! Go children....buy it....rock on....peace out.

Hopes and Dreams

**"Fantasia has no boundaries.
That's not true. You're lying.
**Foolish boy. Don't you know anything about Fantasia? It's the world of human fantasy. Every part ,every creature of it, is a piece of the dreams and hopes of mankind. Therefore, it has no boundaries.
**But why is Fantasia dying then ?
Because people have begun to loose their hopes and forget their dreams. So the nothing grows stronger.
**What is the nothing ?!
It's the emptiness that's left. It's like a despair, destroying this world. And I have been trying to help it.
**But why ?
Because people who have no hopes are easy to control. And whoever has control has the power."

Changes...

Sandy Martin has told me for years that "life is all about changes". Well, heres to you Sandy...

You've been saying for the longest time that the time has come
You've been talking like you're of a mind to get some changing done
Maybe move out of the city, find some quiet little town
Where you can sit out on your back porch step
And watch the sun go down
No one knows where they belong
The search just goes on and on and on
For every choice that ends up wrong
Another one's right
A change of scene would sure be great
The thought is nice to contemplate
But the question begs why would you wait
And be late for your life
Now you might never find that perfect town
But the sun still sets on a rooftop where the city
Sounds like a Gershwin clarinet
And you might still be searching every face for one you can't forget
Love is out there in a stranger's clothes
You just haven't met him yet
No one knows where they belong
The search just goes on and on and on
For every day that ends up wrong
Another one's right
Call it chance or call it fate
Either one is cause to celebrate
Still the question begs why would you wait
And be late for your life

Well amen Mary Chapin.....late for your life....worth a listen.....peace out.

Blog Anyway......

Rows and floes of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons evrywhere
Ive looked at clouds that way
But now they only block the sun
They rain and snow on evryone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way
Ive looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
Its cloud illusions I recall
I really dont know clouds at all

Moons and junes and ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing way you feel
As evry fairy tale comes real
Ive looked at love that way
But now its just another show
You leave em laughing when you go
And if you care, dont let them know
Dont give yourself away
Ive looked at love from both sides now
From give and take, and still somehow
Its loves illusions I recall
I really dont know love at all

Tears and fears and feeling proud
To say I love you right out loud
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds
Ive looked at life that way
But now old friends are acting strange
They shake their heads, they say Ive changed
Well somethings lost, but somethings gained
In living evry day
Ive looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
Its lifes illusions I recall
I really dont know life at all

Its all Greek to me....

"The Greek word "chronos" means "time" in a quantitative sense, chronological time, time that you can divide into minutes and years, time as duration. It is the sense that we mean when we say,"What time is it?" or "How much time do I have?" But in Greek there is also the word "kairos" which means "time" in a qualitative sense - not the kind that a clock measures but time that cannot be measured at all, time that is characterized by what happens in it. "Kairos" time is the kind that you mean when you say that "the time is ripe" to do something, "It's time to tell the truth", a truth-telling kind of time. Or "I had a good time" - the time had something about it that made me glad. The ancient poet who wrote the Book of Ecclesiastes was using time in a "karios" sense when he wrote of a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to keep silence and a time to speak."
I have, in the past weeks, enjoyed the latter of the 2 times, because to me, they were spent with people I love and don't seem to see often enough. In the past 2 weeks, I have also been reminded of how both kinds of "time" are important. The "time" we have to spend alive on this earth making a difference in our lives as well as in the lives of others. That this sort of "chronos" time CAN be very important given that none of us knows what time our end OR our beginning will come or how. Which, in essence, makes the "kairos" time even MORE important. How we spend either one tells us a lot about oursleves as indivduals and as a race. Time is too fast, too slow,not enough or too much. But it DOES take the quantative to create the qualative. So go out....make chronos to take kairos and live life for today. Carpe Diem!!! (whoops, I think that is Latin!) A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I heard these words wafting through my sons door and down the hallway.....little did I know then the true reality of them...."Time is tickin away, tick tick tickin away.." (sung in some kind of "rappish" mode!)

l'chayim (here's to life!),

This morning I got up to my 54th birthday....Not much on birthdays, for myself, or any other day, for myself, for that matter, but a strange thing happened as I awoke.....I remembered immediatley that my friend Barbara Miller woke up on her 54th birthday and called me to take her to the doctor...she had known for several months that she had breast cancer, but was not willing to face the fact untill she saw blood....I came to get her, we had some breakfast and I took her to the doctor for them to tell her what she already knew....she fought a hard fight for the next 6 months and then died on July 4th, 1998....I can't even see fireworks now without missing her ......she was born on December 18th and shares a birthday with my very first grandaughter, Isabella....She also share the same death year with the same grandaughter.....my 5th grandchild was born 2 days ago, and my 2nd grandchilds birthday will be in 5 days....Its kinda weird how life seems so connected at times.....I really have nothing different to say today than I always say.....life is short....what really matters IS life and that lived with people you love....and those are few and far bettween.....so go today and every day.....and love those who are yours to love....I miss Barb...I miss Bella....I didn't have enough time with either one of them....and I want to say I love you guys and gals in my life....you all know who you are hopefully, or else I need to take more of my own advice!! So heres lookin at you Barbie...L'CHAYIM...TO LIFE!

WELCOME DEACON THOMAS!

Check out our newest addition to the Humphreys clan!! Born June 23rd at 10:09 cst, 21 inches and 7 pounds 10 ounces, looking just like his big sister too!! Look on my "phoneybaloney" blog to the right and see the beauty God has bestowed on us!!!

First Girly Bike Trip

My first girly bike trip was not long, but was a fun thing to try at my age!! I had to pay attention to the highway signs, and THAT in Oklahoma is a real feat in itself!! We started out in rain on Monday morning and ended with sweltering humidity and thunderstorms all around us at 9 p.m. Tuesday evening. The ominous clouds and lightening hurried us down the road at a fast pace...we lost some items of sentimental value on the way, but picked up some great memories along the road. The road is a place of memories....no matter if it is a highway or a life....memories is what you have when everything else goes to pot. Keep them and cherish them and go out and make MORE of them at every opportunity...life is too short.
p.s. this is my friend Edwina!
1)"Mr. Gawer" and his drugstore in Guthrie-
2)Shelter in the storm in Kellyville-
3)What girls do, even on bike trips!

Name that tune,but not you ricky!!

For them that must obey authority
That they do not respect in any degree
Who despise their jobs, their destinies
Speak jealously of them that are free
Cultivate their flowers to be
Nothing more than something
They invest in.

While some on principles baptized
To strict party platform ties
Social clubs in drag disguise
Outsiders they can freely criticize
Tell nothing except who to idolize
And then say God bless him.

While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society's pliers
Cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole
That he's in.

But I mean no harm nor put fault
On anyone that lives in a vault
But it's alright, Ma, if I can't please him.

do dah, do dah

Well, I just got through working a full time, actual PAYING WITH MONEY, job for a week!! Yep. A full 8 hour day, 6 day week with pay. I don't know HOW IN THE HELL you people do it!!! I DID it, but man, it almost made me thankful to be married to a workaholic!!! I think it is the PEOPLE I had to deal with ...you know, the ones who think their stuff don't stink! The ones who are so far above you in life that you need a ladder just to see into their hollow eyes!! Well, as dad has always said, "I would never last", and it is true....at least dealing with people...I think I am more of a manual labor type....I would rather dig in the dirt, mow the lawn, take care of the garden, the animals, HECK, I'd rather muck the stalls out than deal with humanity I think!!! What is freakin wrong with people today?!!! B-U-S-Y!! And for what?!!!! What will it get them in the end?! More $$$?!!!! For what?! To keep BUSY till they keel over?!!! They totally MISS LIFE!! I guess that IS life for them, but not for me. I am not sure what life IS about for me, but it is not the prestige or prizes of this putrid paltry people that I dealt with this week. Yes, some were paying attention to their lives, but not many. And we wonder why we are in all the messes we are in today. Same as always. Yadayadayada.....It is thunderstorming today....dark clouds just rolled in....lightening cracking and thunder rolling....a good old oklahoma storm.....maybe it has infulenced my pessimissim about people, but I don't think so.....sounds pretty dosen't it though?!!! And we are all about making things look better than they really are in life.....so, do what you have to do to please the"man", but be sure to pay attention to your own life and enrich it by being still....quiet....listening.

ok....seriously

Pics as promised...Mark at the Arches park(you can't see it, but Mark is setting on a cliff that drops off the edge of the world!), Autum the Harley dog, Bear Heart the 89 year old Indidan Shaman posing on my bike (his request!), mom and dad by the Colorado River in HITE Utah?, end of the trip photo with the group in Enid, Mark getting ready to snow ride in Monticello Utah. I will try to post more later because this thing only lets me download so many....i took over 215 pictures on this trip!!! In case something happens to us kids, I scrapbook ALL of our bike trips!! For my enjoyment now and yours in years when I am not around!!!

Pictures Later...

You know, today I was going to post pictures of our trip, but when I woke up and was catching up on some reading, this seemed a more important thought to post. This is for everyone of us who reads this blog, and for no on in particular..it's message is vast and even pertains to me...as a lowly housewife....children raised...it is lengthy but worth it.
"The world is full of people who seem to have listened to the wrong voice and are now engaged in life-work in which they find no pleasure or purpose and who run the risk of suddenly realizing someday that they have spent the only years that they are ever going to get in this world doing something which could not matter less to themselves or to anyone else. This does not mean, of course, people who are doing work that from the outside looks unglamorous and humdrum, because obviously such work as that may be a crucial form of service and deeply creative. But it means people who are doing work that seems simply irrelevant not only to the great human needs and issues of our time but also to their own need to grow and develop as humans.
In John Marquand's novel POINT OF NO RETURN, for instance, after years of apple-polishing and bucking for promotion and dedicating all his energies to a single goal, Charlie Gray finally gets to be vice-president of the fancy little New York bank where he works; and then the terrible moment comes when he realizes that it is really not what he wanted after all, when the prize that he has spent his life trying to win suddenly turns to ashes in his hands. His promotion assures him and his family of all the security and standing that he has always sought, but Marquand leaves you with the feeling that maybe the best way Charlie Gray could have supported his family would have been by giving his life to the kind of work where he could have expressed himself and fulfilled himself in such a way as to become in himself, as a person, the kind of support they really needed.
There is also the moment in the Gospels where Jesus is portrayed as going into the wilderness for 40 days and nights and being tempted there by the devil. And one of the ways that the devil tempts him is to wait until Jesus is very hungry from fasting and then to suggest that he simply turn the stones into bread and eat. Jesus answers, "Man shall not live by bread alone", and this just happens to be, among other things, true, and very close to the same truth that Charlie Gray comes to when he realizes too late that he was not made to live on status and salary alone but that something crucially important was missing from his life evevn though he was not sue what it was any more than, perhaps Marquand himself was sure what it was.
There is nothing moralistic or sentimental about this truth. It means for us simply that we must be careful with our lives, for Christ's sake, because it would seem that they are the only lives we are going to have in this puzzling and perilous world and so they are very precious and what we do with them matters enormously. Everybody knows that. We need no one to tell it to us. Yet in another way perhaps we do always need to be told, because there is always the temptation to believe that we have all the time in the world, whereas the truth of it is that we do not. We have only a life, and the choice of how we are going to live it must be our own choice, not one that we let the world make for us. Because surely Marquand was right that for each of us there comes a point of no return, a point beyond which we no longer have life enough left to go back and start all over again."

What's in a DAY!

“Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs... since the payment is pure love.”
“Other things may change us, but we start and end with family”
"There's a lot more to being a woman than being a mother, but there's a hell a lot more to being a mother than most people suspect”
'Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. "
"Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.'

These are just a sampling of what others have said about mothers. Kind and true. I am not a "believer" in "Mothers Day" in the traditional sense as you well know, but instead have had to learn that for ME, Mothers Day is ANY DAY that I either see my children, or speak to my children, or read their blogs, or an email is sent to me specifically. Each one of these moments in time holds so much meaning now for me.....I am sure that this is an evolutionary thing since all my kids live 10 or more hours away. But I believe, now, that it is a good evolution. One from dependency on expectations to delight in the experience. The shackle of Hallmarks "Days" are at times, emotional bondage! Not only upon the receiver, but upon the giver as well. I have long told my children that I am not fond of "days" where people feel obligated to "remember" someone for a something! I love it when I am "remembered" when dad and I go through a hard time in our marriage. I love it when I am "remembered" with a phone call or email to just see whats up! I love it when I am "remembered" by being very welcomed into your homes and fed great meals and good conversations! I love it when I am "remembered" enough to be trusted keeping your children in my care, whether it is for one evening while you are out, or while you are out on vacation for a week! This does NOT take away ANY of the offerings of love you sincerely give me for Mothers Day!! Those have always been and always WILL be very sacred and treasured by me. I just wish there was no added pressure of a certain calender "day" with which all of us are somehow, no matter HOW we try to deny it, slave to. Yes, yes, I am psyco, but ....... we all know the obligation of a "day". A day to work, a day to mow the yard, do the laudry, pay the bills!! There are certain days and feelings you should not clump together on a DAY! Too many have been too hurt for too long by either being obligated to a day, or being hurt because OF a day, or been riddled with guilt because of a dadgum DAY!!! Love because you DO. Live because you CAN. I love you ALL and "happy each- and- every- day -any- of- my -children- touch -my- life -DAY"!!!
p.s.I LOVE BEING A MOTHER/IN LAW/NANNY/MEME

HELLO?

Oh my GOSH! I started my own mobile blog thingy .....I think! I have been enjoying Micah's pictures from his phone and so decided I would try it out for myself!! Sweet. Now, hopefully, if I can remember just how I did it, I can take pictures from our trip on the 18th to Utah and post them!! I tell you loud and clear that Grandma Ethel would have been very proud of me!!! I am not great at these high tech things, but I truly believe, as with most things in my life, that it is easier than my MIND tells me it is!!That plus I have sons who ARE technowhatever! So....stay tuned!!! Now back to the job....grocery shopping.....

DEJA VU

I just finished a week fostering 5 five week old kittens and then having the horrible duty of adopting them out! I use to think that fostering animals might be a fun thing. NOT. It WAS fun feeding them and watching them all lay face down, flat out on the platter, protecting their liitle small space of food, fun being their own personal jungle gym 3 times a day while they climbed, rolled around and fell all over each other.....fun to watch them do that "halloween cat" look with their backs arched and fur standing up jumping towards eachother....fun to doctor their little crusted eyes....fun to watch them all form one little ball of fur as they curled up to sleep. But to separate them from eachother and take them to different places yesterday left me rather melancoly. Hmmmmm......seems like I have done this before sometime in my life....oh yeah! My own children!!! Deja Vu.
I am learning lately, that to live in the NOW and enjoy what you have and what comes your way, and pay attention to your life and your day, to breath in the present and not live in the past OR the future , IS what life needs to be all about. Well, easier said than done most times, but they (and who ARE "they") say that practice makes perfect. But to even be AWARE of the need to practice living to the fullest is a difficult and thoughtful task. A needy and noble one however if we are to live to the fullest. I am sitting on my back porch this morning (thank you APPLE) and a hummingbird is less than 3 feet away from me trying to get nectar from my pansies....I guess failure and figuring it out is a part of ALL of nature....even for this confused little hummer! To fail and not figure is the futillity I think. So! Live life peeps!!! Stop. Look. Listen. There is so much to be heard.

Mother Teresa's Prayer.....Anyway

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

ANYWAY

I am not too much for country music, but this one is really good....check it out somewhere or just spend .99 cents and download it off itunes and I will reimburse you. It is worth it...

'You can spend your whole life building
Something from nothin'
One storm can come and blow it all away
Build it anyway

You can chase a dream
That seems so out of reach
And you know it might never come your way
Dream it anyway

This world's gone crazy
It's hard to believe
That tomorrow will be better than today
Believe it anyway

You can love someone with all your heart
For all the right reasons
In a moment they can choose to walk away
Love 'em anyway

God is great
But sometimes life ain't good
And when I pray
It doesn't always turn out like I think it should
But I do it anyway
I do it anyway

You can pour your soul out singing
A song you believe in
That tomorrow they'll forget you ever sang
Sing it anyway
Yea - sing it anyway

I sing
I dream
I love
Anyway'

We have had a grand time with our grandchildren these past few weeks...here they are in only a small portion of their glory! I never understood my grandpa Church when he use to tell me "he loved me till it hurt" untill I was blessed with these.....now I understand.
"How do we make these moments last?
How do we get them to stay?
When everything passes and time goes away..." (thanks Rosie)

MERRY EASTER TO ALL

"If the world is sane, then Jesus is mad as a hatter and the Last Supper is the Mad Tea Party. The world says, Mind your own business and Jesus says, There is no such thing as your own business. The world says, Follow the wisest course and be a success, and Jesus says, Follow me and be crucified. The world says, Drive carefully - the life you save may be your own - and Jesus says, Whoever would save his life will lose it and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. The world says, Law and order, and Jesus says, Love. The world says, Get and Jesus says, Give. In terms of the world's sanity, Jesus is crazy as a coot, and anybody who thinks he can follow him without being a little crazy too is laboring less under a cross than under a delusion." Delusion is not grandeur but death in this case. I believe in this craziness....Merry Easter and Happy Christmas!

BELLS!!!!!!!!! ( see josh's blog first)

Bells amusement park was my very first real life job!!! I got it the summer that dad and I started dating! I remember working one time on a ride called the "mouse"....I pushed the wrong button and let a "mouse" go through and hit the "mouse's" waiting to be sent off.....anyway, the mouse hit the other mouses with a GREAT crash.....next thing I know, I looked up and Bobby Bell was running out of the office (which just so happened to be right next to the "mouse" ride) and yelled at me to get away from that ride and not touch it again! He also yelled at the supervisor to never let me on it...I spent the rest of the summer in the kiddie park having to endure the merry-go-round music! I also remember that my friends and I would go down to the little park just west of Bells called Florence Park, on our breaks because they had a little water sprinkler there that kids (like me!) could play in. One time we had gone for a cooling off, cuz this was before they had the water rides there, and when we got back, I was put on the "bullet" ride...easy to operate....except when your body is wet and the ride has mega volts of electricity pulsing through it....needless to say, it pulsed through me a little bit. There were so many other memories I have of that place, the smells, the trash, the fun, the puking, finding all the things that fell out of peoples pockets at the end of the night.....times change, people change, as my friend Sandy would say "lifes all about changes"! So fasten your seatbelts, hold onto the stuff in your pockets and have a GREAT time on this ride called life! I am having a BLAST!! Just got through having Colin for some of his spring break and Anabelle and Emily came up and spent some time here with us. I get to go spend Brooke's birthday with her and also Easter!

IN 36 YEARS I NEVER!!!!!!

Here are the before and after and during pictures of Rick Humphreys getting his hair cut shorter than I have EVER seen it in person!!!! I have seen pictures of him with hair like this when he played on the Hoover Hotshots team in elementary school,but NEVER have I actually seen his hair this short!! Uncle Donnie is the only one who probably remembers those days! Anyway, I think he looks like "Sargent Carter"!!! Love you ya big dummy!!!!

I.Aing

INTERACTING - "to ACT in unison or agreement with others", "transmit thoughts or feelings", take part in social activities with others", "display excessive love or show excessive gratitude towards others", get involved so as to alter or hinder an action", keep company with or hang out with". These things do require, for the most part, our "being with " the other person. I guess you COULD interact without the human touch, but how much more fulfilling and expressive is a touch from a human hand, or a look from the human soul? Those you don't get with the I.Ming we do these days. Although I will readily admit that at times we have communicated more "freely" using the I.M. method than the "in-your-face" method! I HAVE learned a LOT about my children since these blogs started that I would NEVER have known otherwise. And for THAT, I am truly grateful for the internet access we all have today. However, the closness we had in the "old days" was based on a physical closeness that came from going to grandmas house or over to the neighbors house and playing cards or wahoo! By spending time fishing together or cooking together in the kitchen. And yet, I think that no matter what age, it truly depends on the person as to whether or not there will be a closeness.....because, as I have said, I have gotten to know my children in a new way and that is a true treasure for a mom of boys! So, all this to say that I LOVE getting to know my family in this way, but always prefer it when I can give them a hug, not a yellow smiley face on a flat screen!!! Keep up the good interaction boys and I will see you soon to catch up on hugs!! P.s. Luke, I didn't get to give you one last time, so there will be several waiting for you next time!!
= - )
For the SPELL CHECK NAZIS, my apple is not responding to it, so there IS NONE!!

My grown up godchildren....

MySpace.com - View Image

THE ICE MAN COMETH..

Yes...we have had 3 days of ice and 2 inches left on the ground. Rick had a unforgettable experience yesterday upon his return from 4 days in Denver, when he had to get a cab to bring him home from the airport because I wouldn't get out to get him because of the ice and the fact that our driveway is at a 90 degree angle and that a pond is located in the perfect place for our car to slide backwards down the driveway INTO it!! Anyway, he phoned to say he was coming and so I waited...and waited....it took him 30 minutes to take a 10 minute ride!! As I was passing by the front window I saw him walking past our mailbox pulling his suitcase behind him!!! His cab driver would not go down our street because of the ice and the angle and so dumped him off at the edge of our edition!! He walked down hill for 2 blocks on 2 inches of ice!!! Quite a sight to see....he said "the f@*&##*!ing towel head was a moron" or something to that effect. He made it and I was glad to see another human for the first time in 4 days!!! It is beautiful though...and reminds me of this...."by the breath of God ice is given and the breadth of the waters is frozen." "He gives to the earth snow like a blanket of wool; He scatters the hoarfrost like ashes. He casts forth His ice like crumbs; who can stand before His cold?" Again, I am shone what a small "breath" from God can do to our "advanced" society.
I spent most of those days packing up the unnecessary items in our house, so that we can put it on the market and prepare to move to Stillwater. Yes, according to Ricky, we are moving there to give it a go. I would believe it, but for the fact that I don't. I have dreamed of living there for so long that to finally begin to head that direction is surreal to say the least. I am doing the things necessary to accomplish this goal in a rather mechanical way. Maybe my dream will come true and maybe it won't, but either way, I will be prepared. Wish us luck in selling our house. If we actually SELL it, it will only further my strong belief in miracles in the 21st century, given the market today.... Ciao!

NO MORE SPELL CHECK RAGS!!!

WE ARE ALL BOZO'S ON THIS BUS AND NO ONE IS IMMUNE TO THE DISEASE OF HURRYING TOO FAST TO TYPE PERFECTLY !! PLEASE!! DEAR GOD IN HEAVEN!!! ENOUGH!!!

Response to heyfoxymophandlemomma

Getting older is key, but aquiring WISDOM is the goal...For new years, dad and I gorged ourselves on all the food we could find that was bad for us, gorged on as much of 24 as we could stand and hit the hay. Changes...nothing much you can do about the government except vote, but it is YOU that you CAN change. And CHANGE takes time = getting old=getting wise= growing up=changing thoughts on LOTS of subjects, including,but not limited to, religious affiliation!!! Hind sight IS so much better!! That is why it is incredibally backwards to me that the wisdom comes in your life when you have already screwed up so much!! Why can't we have kids AFTER we have wisdom?!!! By the time you get a little wise about life, it is almost over!! Where is the saneness in that?! And your kids don't/won't/can't listen to you and your sage advice, you have to keep your mouth SHUT and let THEM fall through the cracks and work their way out just like you did in order to GET the dad-gum wisdom, so that they can't share it with THEIR kids!! Go figure. All that to say, Josh, that AGAIN, I AM SORRY!!! But I did what I thought was best at the time with the limited life experiences that I had. Hopefully YOU have learned from these mistakes, but don't take it to the extreme. Church is not "bad". People, including ALL of us, are "bad", and unfortunately, we make up the church, as well as the world we live in! The same with the "corporate bullshit world" you have chosen to live in...YOU don't have to BE that, YOU can change, YOU can be different, YOU can be satisfied and pleased with how you live YOUR life. THEY WILL NOT CHANGE, BUT YOU CAN! Again, the corporate world, the "church", the "club", the anything contains humanity in it and that will ALWAYS screw anything up, but it doesn't mean there is no hope. You go to work don't you? Why? There are hypocritic, bullshitting, lying thiefs there, just like there are at church or the grocery store or the cub scouts!! SO??? It is about YOU. What are YOU doing with YOUR life to be at peace with yourself and your creator. What are you doing with YOUR family that will make a difference in their lives? Your friends lives? Your co-workers lives? The lady at the check-out counters life? In wise words spoken by other brillant lyrists.....who are you? who? who? who?who? It doesn't matter who the rest of them are or what THEY are doing.
I LOVE these blogs!! They have truly been great for dad and I since everyone lives so far away. I feel like we can have some of the most truthful conversations we have ever had and I love them. I get to see pictures, hear thoughts, see excitement, hear whats on your mind....what else in life matters but family, friends and faith? You can always quite your job, like you can quite church (or as I would rather say, your spiritual pursuits), but you will become bankrupt soon in both areas. How's that gonna work for you? It truly amazes me that everyone can quite the church because of the people that go there, but they won't do the same with their jobs. Why? There is no difference. Think about it. And don't give me any grief for us not "going to a church". Give it to your dad!! We don't go to a physical building maybe, but we continue to grow spiritually by other means. Okay. I better stop. Tag. Your turn.

Happy Gas

That stuff needs to be LEGALIZED!!! I just got off of 3 1/2 hours of the stuff...best high that you will get on this side without the side affects of brain damage!! Wow....So much you can see with eyes that you can't see....soul and spirit can't be verbalized in terms we can hear or understand....it is a totally different plane than we are on and what matters in the spirit doesn't matter in the body....You get it there....you try to get it hear, but it cannot be penetrated with our weak tools.....calcified, we are calcified here and must dig past the calcification to feel the other side... to get it....wish I could just hook that stuff up and tote it around with me like the lung patience do their oxygen!!!! Maybe a back pack of it....peace out and now for the percodan.....