Expiration Dates

I cleaned out my kitchen cabinet today, tossing things that had passed their expiration dates.  Some had expired a few months or years ago.  The baking powder and baking soda had expired in 2013!! Obviously I don't do a lot of baking. It made me start thinking about what if we had expiration dates posted on the things we do.  Use the ability to run by a certain date, hold your urine until you get to a bathroom, little things like that.  Would we use that knowledge to take advantage of the things God gave us before they expired or would we let them sit on the shelf? I am going to try to use what is left of my abilities before my expiration date arrives.

Changes

Changes in my life since I last posted.  Some good over the years, some bad, and some extremely heart breaking.  Behm, the love of my life, passed away in September.  My world came crashing to the ground and life will never be the same.  He was my anchor when life tossed us around, my sunshine when days were dark, my pick me up when I was down.  He always had a smile on his face and a positive attitude about life.  When he was in the ER days before he died, his blood pressure bottoming out, struggling with breathing his response to how are you was "Finer than frog hair".  Our granddaughter and I looked at each other and said how does he do it.  He never quit fighting and he had several battles over the past few years.  Days when I don't think I can go on, his determination to live life pushes me on.

I had a cartoon that I had cut out years before I met him where there is a knight in shining armor standing in front of a desk and the receptionist says Mr. Right is here.  That was Behm.  I didn't realize until just the other day he even dressed the part when he was welding.

Pinterest

Pinterest is my new favorite thing!  It's like a big magazine and catalog.  I have cooked several of the food items and copied a few of the crafts.  I have pinned or liked many more than I have done though.

When I was growing up, Grammy had a closet full of catalogs that we (Gloria and/or Jeanne & I) would go through and pick our favorite item on each page.  We spent hours doing this...it seemed like hours to me, but probably wasn't.

Pinterest is like that!  You can spend hours looking and pinning.  My childhood pastime has become the high tech "in" thing!

Walking

The last two days have been rainy and cold.  I haven't got to walk in the mornings and miss it.  Maybe today won't be raining, but I think it's going to be cold.

I walk in the cemetery.  There's not a lot of traffic in the morning, but at lunch you have to watch for cars all the time.  I don't know what everyone is doing out there at lunch.

Most mornings all you hear is the traffic on the highway.  People rushing to work and school.  It's such a contrast to the cemetery.  So quiet and no traffic.  Occasionally I will see deer in the pasture beside it.  We both stop and stare at each other.  I'm sure the deer are wondering what this crazy woman is doing.

One day at lunch I went to walk and locked my keys in the truck.  Luckily I had my phone and called for help.  Two police cars arrived to rescue me.  The traffic that day was busy.  I'm sure they were wondering what big crime I had committed in the cemetery!

Thursday Thoughts

Not much thinking going on today.  Just doing rote work...file stamp, scan & file.  Tomorrow is court so we will be busy.

Today started out cold, but ended in the 60's.

Pinterest is my new obsession.  Looking at gardens today.  Getting ready to start on a new garden.  Last year was a big bust...but we did pull some onions last week that had been beaten down last spring and survived all summer.  Behm said they were pretty good, not quite as sweet.

Wednesday Wisdom

"Words are like weapons, they wound sometimes".  A line from "If I Could Turn Back Time" by Cher.  Words can hurt or help.  Sometimes just one word can change the way you think about something or someone.  I hope that the words in this blog will not hurt anyone, but try to be an encouragement or a small smile to the ones who do read this.  Think about what you say today before you say it.  Say something encouraging to those around you, especially the ones you love.  And if you must say something bad about someone, just add "Bless her heart" at the end & that makes it better!

Deck the Halls

 I know, a little late for deck the halls but wanted to show these.

The courthouse offices all decorated their doors for Christmas.  Our first choice was this snowman, but the camera at the top of the front door prevented that from happening.  So we put him on the side door!

We used this one for the front door.  Pinterest idea.  One other office used the same but made variations after they saw ours and another was going to use it also.  Pinterest received a bunch of hits for door ideas!

 We had fun doing them and they stayed up the entire time without any problems.



New Beginnings

Remember this?   

 It is now this... a beautiful place with landscaping, a fountain, and seating.

The buildings have been revamped on the end.  One is a bistro and the other is a Big Brothers and Sisters office.  The top floor is going to be a bed and breakfast.  It is so pretty!  You need to come see.

Oh, and Jacksboro and the bistro also has a Starbucks.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012!

New Year...new me?  I hope to start this blog going again.  I've missed it.

2011 in one word - dry.  Most of the year was spent getting water on places that didn't have water and getting the water wells going that hadn't been used in many years.  Selling cattle because of no grass or water.

Behm and health issues.  New lifestyle changes for both of us.  No smoking, fried food, less beef, more fish and chicken.  I love fried fish, but still have a hard time eating baked fish.

Sass & John's wedding in November!  Very sweet and windy!!!  Sage was best man, Sonya matron of honor.  Teary eyes for me.  Sass wore the same dress Mama wore 59 years ago when she and Daddy married.  Grandma Kinney made the dress.

Seeing Sonya, Joel, Mia & Julian at wedding!  Miss seeing them more often.

Grateful for a year with my family and a new beginning for all of us!

New Do!!

I waited all through the one hundred teens before I cut my hair, just in time for a cold front to come in.  I like it though. 

Courthouse Entrance

The courthouse is undergoing some repairs.  New roof, cleaning of the outside, and more things that have been needed for a while.  Nothing on the inside now.  Have to  waterproof before we can do anything to the inside.  This has caused some differences in the way we carry on business. 

Every day we play musical doors.  Which door can we enter or exit?  Sometimes it changes from morning to noon to quitting time.  At least we are getting our exercise.



If the door is not an option, try this lift and enter through the windows.  Or if you are really daring, try the lift to the roof.

The last two really aren't options.  Just trying to be funny.  Don't be thinking any of us would do that.  We don't love to work that much!!

Enter New Lifestyle

Open the door and come on in!  I've been gone a while but have missed being here.  A lot has happened since I was on here last.  Some good things have happened, some bad, some sad, but things nonetheless.

It's been a record setting year here as far as temperatures.  One hundred teens for weeks on end.  No rain.  Everything is drying up and burning up.  We received 1/4 of an inch of rain early Saturday morning.  It's a start!

This summer started off with health issues...Behm's.  Carotid surgery and doctor's visits and lifestyle changes for both of us.  Quit smoking...good thing...bad attitude (mine).  Quit frying foods...good thing...bad attitude (Behm).  I've read more labels than I ever have in my life and always looking for recipes for chicken and fish.

I love fish.  Fried fish that is.  I am still struggling with baked.  Behm has never been a fan of fish, but we're both trying to learn to enjoy it.  Right now I'm just choking it down.

The doctor said if it flies or swims it's good to eat.  Behm said cattle swim and pigs fly, but I don't think that's what he meant.  We still have beef at least once a week, after all we do raise cattle for part of our living.

If you have any help for fried food withdrawal, please comment.  I need all the help I can get!

Jack County Fire

Just a few pictures of the horrible fire Friday.  The first one was leaving Mama & Daddy's at 1:00.  The others were shortly afterward.  It was a scary afternoon.

True Story

During this last week we had a lot of ice and snow.  4 days of the Courthouse & schools being closed is very unusual for this part of the world.  Snow drifts made traveling on country roads almost impossible.

A county road worker was using a backhoe to remove the drifts to make the roads passable and found a pickup stuck in the road.  There was no one around it.  He decided to go on down the road, instead of backing up.  When he topped the hill he found an elderly man sitting in the road.  He got him in the backhoe to help warm him.  He had on a windbreaker with no lining.  He said he thought he was going to die.  He knew he couldn't walk any further, couldn't get his pickup out, and probably no one would come down the road to help him.

God sent an angel to that little man that day.

The Reason

Before Christmas, Mama was telling me about when I was little and pinched my finger in something and she had to take me to the doctor in Jacksboro to get it lanced a couple of times before it healed.  Christmas Eve I asked what I was doing to get it pinched.  Daddy had the car jacked up to change a tire and I put my finger in the jack for some unknown reason.  We were laughing about it and Sass said she couldn't believe Daddy would let me around when he was doing that.

I was brilliant child.  I threw a piece of metal in the air...it landed on my head.  I climbed the windmill tower when I was first walking...Mama had to climb up & get me down.  The bottom rung was removed.  I stuck my head in a gate pretending to be in jail...couldn't get my head out until they bent the pipes to get me out.  I was breaking Coke bottles and cut my finger badly...still have a L shaped scar to remind me.

Now we know the reason Daddy has always been overly cautious about telling us not to do things...like don't stick your finger in a jack, don't walk with your hands in your pockets when it's icy, etc. He learned with me he had to tell me things not to do or I wouldn't have survived.

I've almost made it to 57!  Thanks Daddy!

Focus

These are cows.  When I talk about cows, I know they are not all cows.  There are bulls and calves too, but I always say cows.

The other day when I went with Behm to feed cows, I asked him if those were our cows on the other side of the fence.  He looked and told me I needed glasses.  They were horses!  Guess it's time to go change the prescription to my glasses.  I might not can tell from a distance if they are bulls or cows, but I should be able to tell the difference between cows & horses!

Superstitions or How to Win at the Casino

People watching can be a fun experience, especially at a casino!  Most have their own superstitions and tricks to try to win at the slot machine.  They include rubbing or tapping the screen, hitting the buttons a certain number of times, and then there are the others. 
There is the writer.  One guy writes on the screen each time after he spins.  I still haven't figured out what he is writing, but he takes great pains in writing whatever it is.

Next is the Sneaker.  One lady walks away from the machine, turns, jumps back & hits the button.  I guess she's sneaking up on it.

My favorite one is the guy who plays the "Lucky Ducky".  After he hits the button, he quacks at the machine!

What tricks do I use you ask?  I do rub the screen when it spins and have even played "Duck Duck Goose" with the Lucky Ducky.  Do any of these help me to win?  Not yet, but I just haven't found the right combination.  Maybe I need to try the sneak attack, then quack, & finally write on the screen at the same time. 

With my luck, I would win the Big Jackpot at the time they were hauling me away in a strait-jacket!

Organization

Wish I had bought these last year at an auction.  They might have helped organize my store.  Probably would be better to just get rid of everything instead of trying to find new things to add to the already uncontrollable treasures.

I try to watch "Hoarders" to get inspired, but so far can't seem to get it together.  I only have 360 more days to try to get organized this year.  Impossible!!

No More Holidays

Back to work today after holiday.  I feel like I need to just go stand in the corner and hit my head against this rock wall.  Probably would be as productive as anything else I will do today!  Starting this year off with a great attitude!

2011 NEW YEAR NEW MESSAGE

Last year I attended several funerals.  Some were family, some friends, some old, some young.   At one of these, a message was told that struck me deeply and continues to this day in my thoughts.  A simple thing that most people probably know, but I had never even considered.  The message was:

"You are God's gift to the world.  You have an effect on different people throughout the world by your actions and deeds."

Wow!! The Whole World!!  I always thought of being a gift to your parents and grandparents, but had never considered that the world would be affected by me.  Simple minded me, I know. 

From this seed, I hope this year I grow to be a better gift to the world.  Be kinder, more patient, more caring, more giving.

Happy New Year Everyone!! I love you!