As Winter Wind Blows

The wind is piercing thru the branches of barren trees
the trash cans are wanting to leave the yard & street
the bows of the trees are bending to the ground
As Winter Wind Blows.

The chimney's howling like a tornado is passing
the wires on the roof are dancing to and fro
Even the tv scrambles it's signal
As Winter Wind Blows

Nothing can be done about it
It's Mother Nature blowing for you to know she is still there
Be calm inside even if you feel like yelling
As Winter Wind Blows

There's food in the fridge
the heater is running and supper is cooking on the stove
You could be on the street with not even a blanket to heat
As Winter Wind Blows

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.
Albert Camus (1913 - 1960)

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.
Anne Bradstreet (1612 - 1672), 'Meditations Divine and Moral,' 1655

winners!

The time left on the scoreboard is 5.5 seconds, score 22-20 our favor, the basketball is in the opponents hands! Forward they go to the hoop, up, up & away the ball goes-MISSED- Hooray, yells, screams, & shouts of joy for the winners. This is the first win they have had all basketball season. Everyone is agreed winning is such fun & exciting. Let me catch my breath! What a great feeling for me how must these 8-9 year olds feel. They only have a few games left for the season. They have been taught to loose humbly. Plus they have grown & learned so much of basketball this season. They really look so improved. Now, can they win with humility also!

This is not fictional this is my 8 year old grandsons game on Saturday. They have truly known the agony of defeat, winning is glorious for them. For most of them it is their first year of playing basketball, but they have gelled and grown so much on & off the basketball field. From listening to others they eat, drink and sleep basketball as my grandson does.

At one time I heard a parent say,"why are our kids so nice on the playing field?" Is this a bad thing one questions? They have toughened up a bit, but still play fairly! We do have so much fun at the games. All the parents have been so supportive for the kids.
They have learned life lessons on that court. To work as a team, to listen carefully to each other and authority, to practise to make oneself better, to share and to loose gracefully.
Now lets see how the rest of the season goes.

The moment of victory is much too short to live for that and nothing else.
Martina Navratilova (1956 - )

Safety Harbor Florida

My hubby and I purchased a home in an over 55 community the first part of January. We are planning on being snow birds for awhile. My youngest grandson is still not in school. He doesn't start kinder garden till next September. Where he goes is only a half day program. We had promised our youngest daughter we would help her out till he is in school full time with child care. Sure ties us down, but guess we will be doing.

I absolutely love the place. It has been completely renovated, just so the lady who owned could sell it. It is a single story double wide. It has three bedrooms, 2 complete baths, a dining room, kitchen & living room. It also has a storage shed/workroom for the hubby and a screened in lanai. Burber carpet throughout except in Bathrooms & kitchen/dining room-which has linoleum & pergo. All new appliances! AND COMPLETELY PAID FOR!

Our eldest daughter who is handicapped is moving with us. She quit her job and flew the coop too. It should be great for her as they have swimming pool, community activities, hot tub, miniature golf, fishing lake. Just they pool alone will be quite advantageous for her as she loves swimming and is quite good therapy as well. We will put job hunting on hold for awhile as she needs a break! LOL. My hubby also has problems with arthritis so the weather and pool/hot tub good for him.
Safety Harbor is a small community on Tampa Bay West side. Is is pretty close to Tampa/Clearwater/St Pete. We probably will take in some spring training of the Phillie's as #1 daughter is a Phillie Fanatic if ya ever saw one. She acts like she knows the players one & all. Stats, families, just everything about em. She is fun to watch a game with she yells and hollers and ya feel like you are actually at the game.

Well we moved some stuff, to get started with from our place in NJ. #1 daughter & I went by plane and Hubby & #4 grandson took the ole U-HAUL. God bless my hubby, I don't think I would have ventured with the four old on a trip with a U-haul so many miles! But in retrospect he said he was very good. It took them 2 days and they stayed overnight in a hotel somewhere in S.C. Knowing my hubby they prob would have made it in one day, but moving all the stuff into the truck wore him out!

We stayed with my good friend in Palm Harbor while we moved the stuff in. Thank God we have her & her family! Her place is a whole 4 1/2 miles from our place! Moving the stuff in was FUN! Packing/unpacking again! Especially with a four old a foot! I think I am getting good at this ole moving stuff now! Doesn't make it any easier though. Hope this will be the last move we make, except when we sell the house in NJ and get rid of those things.

I had to come on back to NJ and Hubby & #1 dau are planning on staying there until May sometime. I am gonna plan to go down monthly more or less.
So that's the move and I wonder why I am tired this week!

Danielisms

Just a short post am still getting over the move to Florida and the return to up north.

While driving back to MD from NJ, when Daniel saw the snow said-"when I get home I am gonna play out in the snow till the sun goes down". I had another idea since the thermometer read 20! FUNNY ONE DAY IN 70 DEGREE WEATHER AND THINKING OF SWIMMING AND 20 DEGREES THE NEXT.

What a blessing to see the kiddos all reunited- you can see the love they share! They got Danny a cake to welcome him home and he even had to have candles and them sing to him!

While driving around looking at the snow and ice, Daniel said " the ice is iceolating isn't it?" Can anyone explain that to me, but it sounded cute. Daughter said she thought it meant it was isolating.

This am he came to me and said "grandma can you get the quarter out of my underwear?' I looked all over and in and out of the undies and I couldn't find it. He laughed at me and stuck his hand in the little "pocket" boys undies have in them and pulled out three quarters- A new form of piggy bank I think!

IRONY?

Today just out of the blue my 4year old grandson came out of the living room where he was playing with his Pirate Ship and asked, "Granma-Where does CO2 come from?" I looked at my daughter and she looked at me, both incredulously shaking our heads. Just by what has been said today, etc where did he get this from! SO I answered the best I could and he demonstrated how we exhale CO2. Did I ever ask this kind of question when I was 4! I surely doubt it, but then I think with tv, videos, books etc they are bombarded with so mush more. That is one sure reason their tv etc should be monitored closely!

Then to the Irony part- I was looking at Treehugger.com and below is what I read! Go figure!

Today's Tip from Planet Green: Put your computer to sleep.Allowing your PC to get some shut-eye when it's not in use can chalk up significant environmental and financial savings. In the computer and models recently tested by Consumer Reports, putting your computer to sleep for 12 hours out of 24 would save about 576 pounds of carbon dioxide per year, or around $44 in dough. Turning off the computer would save even more, of course, although new PCs made within the last three years use very little energy in sleep/standby mode.Monitors and displays, on average, draw twice as much power as your CPU does when left on (yes, even with that flashy screen saver you stitched together from your vacation photos), so configure your power-management options to put your PC and monitor into sleep mode after a certain period of inactivity. Still, hitting the off button is your best bet-a couple of clicks is all it takes to do your part for the planet. ::More at Planet Green

Next he will be asking what a carbon marker or carbon footprint is! Fortunately, so far I have been able to come up with reasonable/reliable answers without having to look them up, but I know this won't last forever! My older grandson regularly has me looking online for something and we learn together!
and how is your day!

MEME

OK folks I have been tagged for this meme by a couple of folks now and it has taken me awhile to figure out how to do, and also time to figure out the 8 things. I am to write 8 random things about myself of which not much is known about me- I am pretty much an open book, so in this I found the difficulty. SO here goes

1. I am aiming at being a better person. That means kinder , more tolerant. I am also trying to be more Christ centered in all I do. They are some great challenges.

2. In my life I have wanted to be an opera singer, teacher, good mom & grandma, a good nurse, a great friend & wife.

3. I love to watch people- I can watch just about anywhere or time. People are just plain fascinating. Young , Old , in between. I love their interpersonal relationships, crying, laughing. The ones that think they are above any one else- I could go on forever. The best places to people watch are the mall & the beach, and of course restaurants. The one thing I hate when I watch is when I see an adult belittle a child-I just want to go up and smack them for the child!

4. I suffer from depression/seasonal affective disorder(I hope Floridian sun will help with that!)
It really is a PIA to have it. Most of the time I try and cover it up with humor, however sometimes it just plain overtakes me. I do take meds for it. Christmas/ this time of year are really bad for me. This Christmas was not that much fun emotionally for me although I did actually have a great time thru the tears of depression.

5. I am now in the buying jitters for the new place. We have the money etc, but can't help being nervous. Did we do the right thing, are we gonna be happy,when do I get to spend more time down there, when will we sell up north & the list could go on forever.

6. Although many folks think I am quite outgoing & personable- I find myself shy. Don't laugh guys. When I am with new folk it takes me awhile to open up before I can be the crazy mommajax most of ya know.

7. I love the beach- walking on it, lying on it, watching the waves the sunset, whatever. I love the smells, the breeze against my face. I even like ti during a storm with the waves crashing! O such beauty God has made for us to enjoy!

8. Lastly I had a pretty good Nursing career- didn't feel I "burned out" too much. Felt it was a good career choice- helped put kids thru college and paid the bills. Met some lifelong friends along the way. Helped some folks thru their bad & good times on Earth, delivered a baby, watched one die. Worked with housebound, in hospital, in nursing homes- in all had quite a varied experience. Have watched nursing go thru some real changes over the past 30 years from hand servant to well respected part of the medical community.

So there are my 8 for whatever they are worth, Now I challenge 8 others: Zelda, Merci, Pax, JT,
Craver, CHICKEN, Shoe, & Carol