Random Thoughts

In no particular order of importance

In first grade in Belleville, my first reading books were about 2 kids and their dog named Alice, Jerry and Jip.  Most others started with kids named Dick and Jane.  Wonder how my life might have been different if I had started with Dick and Jane?  Dick and Jane never entered my reading world.

Does anyone use Google+ for socializing/communicating with friends?  FB has made so many changes that I don't feel comfortable there anymore and I don't trust the settings to stay as I set them.  Got the Idiot's Guide to Google+ and leafed through it and thought it might be a social outlet possibility.

Is anyone else saddened that iGoogle is going away in November 2013?  I liked having that screen pop up when I turned my computer on with the topics I had programmed into that screen--weather, quotes, latest news, etc.  I had all my needs at my fingertips.  Anyone know of another site that acts as Google but allows me to customize the screen with topics that interest me?

Did the Summer from Hell kill off any of your long awaited flowers?  I live each spring to see my Star Gazer lilies break the ground and they are cared for like newborns.  While we were in Georgia, they opened but toasted on the stems.  My beautiful white/pink/purple flowers were an ugly tea-stained brown.  Yet I'm not like the farmers who are losing their years worth of income as their corn and soybeans(at least in IL) aren't growing.  I saw corn about 4 inches high in some places.  I can't imagine the stress farmers go through with weather conditions---too cold, too hot, too wet, too dry, too windy.  Say a prayer for the farmers of America as their harvest is slowly circling the drain.

Used to be the saying, "The more things change, the more they stay the same."  Not in my world.  Every day is Change Day in this household.  I don't like change.  Well, I don't like change that I haven't been consulted about or signed off on the approval sheet for it to happen.  Some changes are good~some are bad but become tolerable and some just stay bad.  But lately I refuse to be ruled by a broken body.  I don't want to get to my last days without my Bucket List completed.  So I'm hurrying to visit friends, do things I have put off and basically enjoy life.  I can always hurt and be tired but I can't always see friends.  It's like the Spoon Theory....you are given so many spoons a day and choose how to spend them.  I might blow through mine in the morning so I can sit and enjoy the afternoon.  I might save some every day and use them in a lump sum like I did on vacay to Georgia.  But I am determined to define my health conditions and to not let them define me.  I see people in the nursing home and talk to them and they keep saying, "Get out and do what you want now. You have plenty of time later to not be able to and regrets are hard to live with."  Sounds like sage advice to me.

While on vacation, I borrowed a lot of Real Simple and Martha Stewart mags to read.  When I read a magazine, I keep a pen and notebook by me to note down websites I find that I want to check out, books that sound interesting to read and tips that will make my world a better place to live, work and play.  Sat down when I got home and ordered about 10 books so I'd have something to read in the next few months.  Didn't count on all of them being available at the same time!  Speed reading has come in handy and I learned that not all synopses of books are the real deal.  4 of them went back into the library bag after I scanned them because I was not interested in the content.  This weekend I have 3 more to read, a purse to finish and my Fall Schedule to line up.  Next month is August...one month until my favorite month of the year---September!  I love seeing school supplies for sale and always buy myself some new pens and notebooks because I write a lot.  Thanksgiving and Christmas will both be here this year and it's been years since I've had to accommodate Santa for Christmas so this will take some planning but I love having Cade and Carter in my life for they bring back the traditions I loved as a child.  Plus my old shows start with new episodes and I have to see which brand new shows I need to add to my viewing schedule.  OCD does have advantages.  Not many people read the TV guide with a highlighter in their hand to highlight not-to-miss TV shows and movies.

Speaking of the highlighter, I used to be one who would NEVER write in books.  The 60's educational path drilled that into my head.

So who said old dogs can't learn new tricks?

Although I almost had apoplexy, I actually highlighted something in a BOOK I wanted to remember!  And the book isn't ruined or anything.  Next thing you know I'll go promiscuous and highlight something in my BIBLE!

Also, I have started noticing when I go into stores or look through catalogues that I'm seeing BELIEVE alot more.  Going to embroider a sweatshirt with Believe! on it this Fall in the colors of thyroid cancer~teal, deep pink and purple.  In my house there are 3 Believe signs in the living room and our bedroom is full of Believe.  You just can't have too much Believe in your life.

Have a great weekend and don't~stop~believing!