Category: Daily Life

Spring Growth

post135
Did you get a haircut? Have you lost weight? Are those new glasses? Are you wearing your makeup differently? People can’t quite put their thumb on it, but they know something’s different about you.

You know what it is. You know that it isn’t a physical change you’ve made, but it is a change that is being made deep within you.

Perhaps it is a change that is so subtle it caught you off guard. You notice that you don’t fly off the handle like you used to. Or you have more patience with a difficult person in your life. Or you find more here

A Day at The Rodeo!

"Photo courtesy Orange County Archives."

“Photo courtesy Orange County Archives.”

Saturday was a watershed day for me – I attended my first rodeo, and let me say, I learned a lot. I learned that this is a very complex sport. It requires strength, agility, speed and a healthy respect for animals.

I also learned that a 4 to 7-year-old in Texas has a different idea of playing than a 4 to 7-year old anywhere else I’ve lived! The youngest athletes at the rodeo strap on a helmet, lie on the back of a fully grown sheep, grab hold of the wool and hang on for dear life as the sheep tries to run away; this is called “Mutton busting”. I suppose it’s the rodeo equivalent to T-ball in baseball.

Saturday’s winner – a kindergartner with a ponytail and pink cowboy boots, also find more here

The Crazy Lady in the Woods

0319151443b

Have you heard about the Crazy Lady who lives in the woods at the edge of the school playground in northern Illinois? She has wild hair and blazing eyes and she screams about wanting to kill people. She walks fast and slings her hands beside her. She’s a scary sight.

It was near the end of the school year, just a few years ago when the children first saw her.  During morning recess on a sunny day the kids were playing outside when they heard her shouting in the woods. Alarmed, the children stopped running and playing and stood still as they stared toward the woods.

Suddenly, she burst through the clearing on the path that snaked through the woods. The children didn’t move; were they continue reading here

Clean Eating

post129graphic
A friend of mine initiated a “Clean Eating” challenge; a call to eat healthy, whole foods and avoid additives. It’s only a week long challenge, so I thought, “Hey, Brian’s out of town, I’ve kind of fallen off the wagon since Christmas, why not?” I’m in!

She suggested that before we begin, we need to clean out of our pantry things that have lots of additives, like cookies, donuts, and cheese crackers. And, she suggested we purchase things that look like they did when they were in the garden, or in the pasture.

Oh, and continue here

Creatures of Habit

post128graphicMy brother told me that he’d read once that people are such creatures of habit that if we frequent a public venue regularly (a restaurant or theater for example) we will use the same bathroom stall each time.

Are you kidding me?

That seemed to be the most absurd thing I’d ever heard… until I started paying attention to my own actions. That’s when I learned that I click here for more