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 |  Just my zany thoughts. |
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** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** To my beloved husband, and very best friend Eric Wharton  You are my greatest treasure and I love you.  I am happily married and my life has been abundantly blessed with a wonderful loving family. My blog is about the tapestry of two lives that God has permanently woven together by His love and our journey through our many trials, triumphs, and the God-size miracles we have witnessed throughout our daily lives with our strong faith in Christ.
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| It feels odd actually writing out the date February 29, I never get used to this. I was curious why every four years we get this extra day and found that it’s in order to keep our calendar year synchronized with the astronomical or seasonal year. Basically it’s because the earth doesn’t orbit around the sun fast enough, and that a regular non leap year is called a common year. I remember thinking as a teen I was glad that my birthday didn’t fall on leap year, therefore having to change the day to commemorate it to either Feb 28 or March 1, and only getting to celebrate it on the actual birth date every four years. That’s not fair; well then again it could be pretty cool having a really special birthday like that. Now years later, the older I get, I think there could be some advantages to not having a birthday but every four years. If that were the case I would only be 12 this year instead of turning 48. Happy Birthday to all of the Leapers born on this day.  PS: Wahoo, I made my first Blue Month. |
| Blogging is a full time serious job. I don’t mean writing a blog, heck I mean I have made a career of reading blogs. Not only do I read blogs on WDC, but other sites as well. Maybe I have become addicted. I was laughed at when I mentioned the other night at 11:35 that I needed to post something in my blog before my self-imposed midnight deadline, and my better half said; ah, it’s bedtime, you can just do it tomorrow. I explained that I had to do it then, as I was working on getting my first blue month. Then he asked what is a blue month, and what do you get? I chuckled saying, I had never had one before and explained that it just meant that my little calendar to the left side of this screen would show the all of the days of this month in blue. Silly I know, but I want at least one blue month, and I have one day left of February. I don't have a lot to write about today, and that's okay. I began writing this blog with no real intentions or for any specific purpose other than just for myself. Normally I write about whatever is on my mind at the moment, with no set guidelines, and my topics are about everything imaginable. Some days I have more time and energy to devout to blogging and if I don’t post anything, I know the world won’t suddenly end. Trying to come up with interesting topics to write about seems to stump me. Often I get good ideas for a blog when I am driving and am away from my keyboards (yes I use two, that’s how I know I am addicted). Once I return home, I have usually already forgotten my ideas. I enjoy reading more than writing, and today more especially as I’ve laughed so much from reading the fun bantering between the two blogs of my husband Eric Wharton "Invalid Item"  and Anyea  "Invalid Item" about using emoticons and DOTS. These two rebels are such a hoot.While my blog today may not be news worthy, I still enjoy reading my friends blogs, and staying in contact with them by commenting in theirs even if I don't have much to say. After all, isn't that what blogging is all about? |
| I would like to challenge your brains to see if you can do this. Later I will post the results. I am curious to know who gets this done first. Have fun. Can you find the 30 books? There are 30 books of the Bible in this paragraph. Can you find them? This is a most remarkable puzzle. It was found by a gentleman in an airplane seat pocket, on a flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu , keeping him occupied for hours. He enjoyed it so much, he passed it on to some friends. One friend from Illinois worked on this while fishing from his john boat. Another friend studied it while playing his banjo. Elaine Taylor, a columnist friend, was so intrigued by it she mentioned it in her weekly newspaper column. Another friend judges the job of solving this puzzle so involving, she brews a cup of tea to help her nerves. There will be some names that are really easy to spot. That’s a fact. Some people, however, will soon find themselves in a jam, especially since the book names are not necessarily capitalized. Truthfully, from answers we get, we are forced to admit it usually takes a minister or a scholar to see some of them at the worst. Research has show that something in our genes is responsible for the difficulty we have in seeing the books in this paragraph. During a recent fund raising event, which featured this puzzle, the Alpha Delta Phi lemonade booth set a new record. The local paper, The Chronicle, surveyed over 200 patrons who reported that this puzzle was one of the most difficult they had ever seen. As Daniel Humana humbly puts it, “The books are all right here in plain view hidden from sight.” Those able to find all of them will hear great lamentations from those who have to be shown. One revelation that may help is that books like Timothy and Samuel may occur without their numbers. Also, keep in mind, that punctuation and spaces in the middle are normal. A chipper attitude will help you compete really well against those who claim to know the answers. Remember, there is no need for a mad exodus; there really are 30 books of the Bible lurking somewhere in this paragraph waiting to be found. |
| Why do good girls like bad boys? That was a question my husband asked me tonight, and I really didn’t have an answer for him. Immediately, he pulled me into a steamy, lengthy lip-lock and said, “There’s your answer Sweetheart, it’s because we kiss so well”. Ummm okay, I was so dumbfounded I wasn’t able to reply. At the time I was giving him my evil eye for something bad he had done (as usual) but, that made me forget why I was mad at him. Why do you think good girls are drawn to self-professed bad boys? Or are they? |
| We just watched a new game show on television called “Moment of Truth”, and I have to say I hope it totally flops and that the Fox Network yanks it off the air really soon. How can anything good come from a show asking contestants to be open about their own perception of truths regarding their most personal thoughts and private lives while publically televised? These contestants must take a lie detector test and then answer up to 21 questions in front of their spouse and family members in order to win money. (Never mind the fact that lie detector tests are inadmissible in any court of law) I just question the shows integrity, as it’s almost the intent of it to destroy marriages and relationships. Is it really worth losing your loved ones for prize money? Not in my opinion it isn’t. At one point, the host Mark Walberg announced that he didn’t want this particular episode to be aired, as it was very painful and the contestant insisted on continuing saying she wanted to get things off of her chest. We found it appalling to hear the contestant to be asked about committing crimes, adultery, and if she would leave her spouse for an ex-boyfriend. How bad can a show get? Just a sample of the questions to this contestant was.  Do you secretly stay in contact with old boyfriends behind your husband’s back? Do you know things about your father that you are hiding from your mother? Are you married to the wrong man? Have you ever had sexual relations with someone other than your spouse since you have been married? (Something like that)…you get the point of how rough these questions were.Needless to say the lady lost $100,000.00 by failing to answer her last question correctly. It was - Do you think you’re a good person? Her answer was yes, and the lie detector determined that was a lie. I think it’s pretty much safe to assume she probably has lost her husband also as he left the stage appearing heartbroken. I have to wonder – was her moment of truth worth what it cost her in the end. I have more to say on the subject of honesty and truths, but I will save that topic for another day. |
| For those who have ask about an update on Marissa and Samantha’s auto accident last week. Marissa is out of ICU doing better, slowely recovering. Samantha has already had four surgeries and is listed as a paraplegic, with minimal expectation of ever recovering the use of her legs. She is still in the Intensive Care Unit. I refuse to give up hope. I know that miracles still happens every day. Thanks for everyone's positive thoughts for these young girls. |
| I just love eBay. I can always find super bargains on that site. Lately, I’ve been buying cheap books and DVD’s of some older favorite movies. Now I need to figure out how to become a seller to get rid of some of my things. You know what they say; one persons junk is another person’s treasure. We’ve had a busy day shopping at the outlet centers. I got lucky and found my Pfaltzgraff dinnerware was on sale and I ended up getting another 36 pieces, and now my set is complete. My favorite piece was the cat dish that matches my dinnerware. Our cat Lucy needs her own dinnerware too for her wet food and this piece can't be mistaken for a "people" dish. Plus we got her a dog bowl for her dry food too. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
| Is anyone else shocked to know the expected prices that magazines will pay for the first photos of celebrity’s newborns? I was stunned to read that People magazine is allegedly going to be paying Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony six million dollars for pictures of their newborn twins. Wow! I remember when other couples were stalked by the members of the paparazzi who were trying to get pics of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, and Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s babies. I can’t help but wonder if these celebrities are charging this outrageous amount of money just to be donated to a worthwhile charity. I really do hope that is what they doing with the money. |
| Thank goodness, I feel so much better today, and my sadness and melancholies are gone. I’m smiling again. There is nothing like snuggling up for a few hours with a loved one who cares, and getting kind emails and a thoughtful badge when you’re feeling so blue. Thank you for the badge Nada, you’re so sweet. Perhaps part of what has been on my mind causing my sadness is, that ever since I quit my job a year ago to stay home, I have felt such a loss for not being with people on a daily basis. I’ve worked for the past thirty years around others, and now being home alone all day, I miss being with my close friends and co-workers and I get lonesome. I realize this because I am people person and love being around others, after a while the solitude and loneliness gets to me. I’ve had such a strong conviction in my heart that I should be doing something useful with my time, and I’ve made the decision to start back doing volunteer work again. I feel I need to be giving something back to my community in whatever capacity I can. I have arranged it with my former employer at the hospital I worked that I can put in the flexible hours that I want, in the two specific departments – the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, and the elderly wing of the Cardiac Care Unit. I volunteered years ago at a Seniors Nursing home and thoroughly enjoyed visiting with the older patients and I’ve missed seeing the joy in their eyes when someone shows love to them. It makes my heart sing to be able to visit with those who want company, and to spend time talking and listening to them. Some of the elderly patients whose eyesight is failing enjoy having someone read to them, or some want to have their hand held, and for someone to try to understand their pains. It was the simplest things they always appreciated the most. Something as effortless as opening up the blinds, turning on or off a light, or simply adding more blankets on them can help make someone else day more comfortable. It’s incredible the trivial things we take for granted when we’re healthy. I am also going to volunteer in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit as a Baby Cuddler. This is a position in the neonatal nursery rocking and massaging the preemies, as they need the skin-to-skin contact of a warm touch caressing their tiny, fragile bodies. Most of these babies are from mothers on drugs, or are critically ill, or for whatever reason the parents can’t be with them, and these infants need extra love, attention, and nurturing. Besides, God gave me a big heart with extra love to share, babies are a weakness with me, and I love to sit in a rocker and rock. Just ask Zachary. However, in order to do volunteer work, there is a lot of required red tape to get through which I feel for the safety of the babies and all patients should be done. I respect this, as if I were a parent of a newborn, I surely wouldn’t want just anyone rocking my infant. I would want to know it was someone carefully screened by the hospital, and was trustworthy and healthy. I’ve already had the immunizations and criminal background check done that’s required. Therefore, I’m ready. Personally, I believe I will be rewarded for this more than the patients will, and I have always been taught it is far better to give than to receive, and I hope I can give a little love and sunshine to others. By volunteering my time again, I hope to gain a better understanding about myself, and learn life lessons of a deeper sense of human compassion for others and less selfishness for me. |
| Nothing earth shattering to write about today. I’m bored with being cooped up inside and am looking forward to the spring when the weather is nicer and I can sit out on the deck and enjoy the sunshine, and drag out the grill. I’ve had the saddies all day, and can’t really explain it. I’ve had a private pity party earlier and bawled my face off for a good hour... I got up, washed my face, sat back down, and cried all over again…I’m thinking its hormonal or something. Nothing is wrong, physically I feel fine, and it has been an excellent week. I got the sweetest heartfelt Valentine Day present I have ever received, so no complains there. I wish I could explain this sadness, but I can’t put my finger on it. I have no right to be whining, I have so many wonderful blessing in my life. I just can’t stop these stupid unexplained tears from dripping off my face. My morning started off with receiving this video in an email, written by a soldier. http://www.flashdemo.net/gallery/wake/index.htm Our Nada wanted to read cheerful blogs today, I guess she will have to come back another day. Today just isn’t it around mine. |
| It never fails to amaze me that each day brings something new, some days the news is great and other times the news is horrible. Today brought both and again I am reminded that miracles still happen. The good news we received is that friends of ours have learned they are expecting a baby after 13 years of marriage. We’re thrilled for Mark & Karen and share in their joy. The bad news received was two young friends of the family had been out celebrating their first night on the job. These two 21-year old girls ended up having a serious car accident -- sadly it was alcohol related. Thankfully they are alive, even though they both remain in critical condition. The Jaws of Life machine was used to help cut them out of their trapped vehicle. One is in one hospital, and the other was medivac by helicopter to another trauma center, where she may be paralyzed. The doctors say that only time will tell as she doesn’t have any feelings in her lower extremities after two surgeries to fuse her severely broken spine with rods and the attempt to help the damaged spinal cord. She is scheduled for another surgery on Thursday. Life is fragile, and should be handled with care because often it can be cut short. We never know what is going to happen from each day to the next or from each hour to the next. I am praying for another miracle for Marissa and Samantha. Please keep them in your thoughts too. |
| In the past two weeks, I’ve been learning about my genealogy, and have found this to be interesting. Before I just usually rolled my eyes at this and had no interest in compiling a family tree, and tracing my roots. I knew who I was and who my parents and grandparents were, and that was all that mattered to me. Now, suddenly I am finding myself calling my mother, and aunts asking who was this person, and do you remember anything about so and so. I’m emailing relatives trying to track down relatives that I can add more generations to our family tree with reliable information on them such as birth dates, marriages, dates of death records etc… So far, I’ve found a few long lost relatives, I didn’t know about. But since my family isn’t that big, I probably won’t have too many to add to it. Also, coming from divorced parents doesn’t make it easier either in tracking down family members. It’s been fun learning about the people that I have found so far. I’m doing a good bit of online research hoping to hit the jackpot and find someone else who is linked to our tree. Who knows who I will find in the end, maybe you and I are related somewhere down my family tree. |
| Gentleman start your engines! At 2:00 NASCAR starts it season again, and I can be found watching the Daytona 500 rooting for #20 Tony Stewart and #88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Be back later.. ***LATER*** They didn't win  Tony took 3rd place, and Dale got 9th place. |
| I don’t have much time to blog tonight, as we’ve been really busy at our house cleaning out closets in both of our offices, and filling up garbage bags filled with pieces of our past. It’s amazing to see how much stuff/junk we have accumulate throughout the years. We have so many boxes of old magazines, books, papers, what knots, and knick-knacks, stored away, and no idea why we ever saved these things in the first place. It feels good to toss out the old things, to clean out making more room. We are boxing up old books to donate for charity, and I’m busy making folders to organize loose paperwork. I hope to come up for air later in the night. We’ve procrastinated far too long on attacking this project and now we’re being very productive. My goal is to get this task finished sometime tonight. Take care everyone… |
| As I was cooking the roast for dinner tonight, it dawned on me that I had not blogged today, and I began to wonder what I should write about, and then it hit me. I’m one of these types who don’t always believe advertisements because so much of it is all hype over nothing above average. I say stop talking about your products and show me the proof. I’ve bought too many things that have not lived up to its claim, and I’ll be the first to return it back to the store. I refuse to keep the item if it doesn’t do what it says it’s supposed to do. I’ve seen these paper light flexible silicone bakeware items on the shelves in department stores for several years now, and I laughed to myself thinking, what’s wrong with the metal bakeware we’ve all used throughout the years. Why do we need silicone, just another product to sell? Finally, I gave in to my stubbornness, and bought a set of three silicone cookie sheets for baking. Wow, I am so impressed with this type of cookware now. Apparently, millions of others have known forever how great they are, and I’m just now finding out for myself. Ok so I’m slow. If anyone is on the fence and are resisting trying these as I was – try it, I think you’ll like it. I can toss them into the oven for up temperatures up to 450 degrees, throw them into the dishwasher, and use them as a pizza pan, a roaster, a cookie sheet, a trivet, and so much more. They’re awesome, as these have metal rims around the outside of them so no cookie sheet is needed to be used underneath them. I’m sold, no more metal pans for me. I just love these. |
| Happy Valentine’s Day everyone, I love certain holidays and Valentine’s Day happens to be my favorite, as it’s the perfect time to share our love with loved ones. I hope each of you has love in your heart and get the chance to say I love you to someone. I feel like a giddy schoolgirl with all of these cNotes and Valentine’s in my emails today, and I love each of you. Thank you so much. I won’t get all mushy here and say how much I adore my amazing husband, Eric Wharton I'll just say that I do so love you Sweetheart. I want to dedicate "our special song" to My Special Valentine. The lyrics say exactly how I feel. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU0v2_PcPbk Amazed - By Lone Star Every time our eyes meet This feeling inside me Is almost more than I can take Baby when you touch me I can feel how much you love me And it just blows me away I've never been this close to anyone or anything I can hear your thoughts I can see your dreams I don't know how you do what you do I'm so in love with you It just keeps getting better I want to spend the rest of my life With you by my side Forever and ever Every little thing that you do Baby, I'm amazed by you The smell of your skin The taste of your kiss The way you whisper in the dark Your hair all around me Baby you surround me You touch every place in my heart Oh, it feels like the first time, every time I want to spend the whole night in your eyes I don’t know how you do what you do I'm so in love with you It just keeps getting better I want to spend the rest of my life With you by my side Forever and ever Every little thing that you do Baby, I'm amazed by you |
| Due to the amount of ice predicted, we were to receive overnight, Eric decided he was going to park his truck inside the garage, and remove mine. He wanted to have an ice-free windshield for his morning commute. Normally both of our vehicles would be parked inside the garage, but last night for whatever reason, he backed his truck into it, and parked mine outside since I wasn’t about to drive in these icy conditions. This morning we woke up to the expected ice, and slush, with minimal snow. As Eric was getting ready to leave, he came rushing back inside with a completely bewildered look saying that my truck was not parked where he had left it the night before at the top of our driveway. Since he and I had the only sets of keys to it, we knew no one could have moved it to the bottom where it is now. Upon closer investigating the tire tracks in the snow and ice, we found the truck had slid on ice almost out into the street. Wow, we sure were lucky it stopped right where it did. The tracks shown are of Eric driving in the driveway this morning... This made me think of the Simon and Garfunkel song... Slip slidin' away... Be safe everyone.. The truck is not where he left it  ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
| We're so excited Heather Lea and Chad called said they had a sonogram today of the baby and it clearly shows the baby is a GIRL! They received several 3-D pictures of her.. Our first granddaughter. I can't stop smiling today.I can't wait to get my hands on her in July!!! I promise to be back later with my blog -- I just had to share this new with you guys. |
| I've been thinking lately about reading blogs, and I've really missed reading Douger and some other friends I've not seen around much.. I sure hope they are healthy and doing well. Regardless if your an online friend or a real life friend, I still worry about you folks when you're not around. Our ladies group has canceled this morning due to the sleet, snow and ice... |
| I just lost my entire entry, and I'm too pooped tonight to try to rewrite it...Not sure how this happened but oh well, it wasn't anything important. Goodnight all.. I hope to get caught up soon -- maybe tomorrow after my ladies meeting. |
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