HAPPY BIRTHDAY

BENJAMIN DUANE JOHNSON

June 30 1999 - August 10, 1999

Your parents have not forgotten; you are forever in our hearts.

(I do not in any way mean to offend you Jerry, in speaking "for you" but rather simply acknowledge what I am certain about.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM

You are sorely missed.

FIRST
COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

Usually I do all my shopping for the Sub Shop on Saturday. This past Saturday I was not able to get it all completed; I needed to put it off until Sunday.

Sunday, May 31, 2009:

8:00 a.m. we head out in the corvette for church. Blessings; God granted me another day of life; freedom to worship; and a beautiful day (there are more but that is a start).

11:00 a.m. we are home in our "cottage" and getting ready to drop off some yard debris and taking our boys, JoJo and Ritz along for a ride. Blessings; a roof over our heads; two dog that fill our lives with joy and laughter; and jobs.


12:30 p.m. we are back home to drop off the boys because it is too hot to take them on our trip to Costco and Winco. I decided not to change my clothes as I was wearing a full length summer dress and was feeling comfortable and cool. Blessings; we decided to leave the boys at home; that I did not change out of my cool dress (only draw back was its length, read on you will understand).

2:30 p.m. we have accomplished getting the shopping done and anticipate heading home after we drop the stuff off at the Shop. Blessings; I did not get the shopping done on Saturday; Mike and I got to spend some time together; we dropped off the yard debris first; and we went to the Shop when we did.

2:35 ish arrive at the Shop to unload, my first load is to head up front with fresh vegetables. What is that? WATER, on the floor coming from the men's restroom. "Oh no!" I shout, continuing to walk to the kitchen to put down the fresh vegetables. "OH MY!" WATER in the kitchen too, WATER in the dining area. I hear what sounds like a shower left on. Where is it coming from? Michael is only a few steps behind me, (he heard my "Oh's"), and did not notice the water until he was in the kitchen. "Where do we shut off the water? Nope that did not do it, sorry to say its not that one either, (all the while there is WATER, WATER, WATER, and more WATER) that's it you got it." Big deep breath, folks I am telling you we could have taken a shower under that hose that blew off the ice machine. Blessings (you ask?), YES there are blessings, it was clear clean water! Just water, cold water. Did I mention it was clear clean cold water. (It was super hot inside the shop and cool water felt good on the bare feet)

2:45 ish until 8:45 ish (yes six hours), for me it is off with the shoes (well that was the first think I did upon entering the kitchen), binder clip the full length dress up past the knees, call the ice machine repair service, and start (yes I had the same question). WHERE? For Michael, finish unloading the van (remember we just went shopping, milk, eggs, etc!), to his office to get the wet vac, and then emptying the cupboards and sanitizing a lot of containers, lids, and other miscellaneous items. Blessing; some friends were out for a drive and stopped to say hello which made us sit and relax for a bit; they even offered to help finish. (How do you think they knew we were almost done?)

It was a long day, we were both very hot, and tired. We did not get done with what we had planned to accomplish, God had a different plan. While it was irritating we made it a point to FIRST, COUNT OUR BLESSINGS; the negatives were masked, and covered with blessings.

SORRY LADIES I FORGOT TO MENTION;

the beautiful flowers that you gave me for Mother's Day. See everyone, I told you I had a great Mother's Day!






Looking forward to many more to come.

ICING ON THE CAKE
WITH A CHERRY ON TOP

Some of you who see me on facebook know that I had a wonderful Mother's Day. It started Saturday evening; dinner with my daughter and favorite son-in-law, Alyse and Robert. Sunday I awoke with a very nice card from the boys (Mike, Ritz and JoJo). After church we headed to Salem to have dinner with Mike's sister, brother-in-law, mom and dad; Chinese food at Lum Yiens. We visited with all of them for a while before heading back to Lake Oswego to have dinner with my mom and dad at the new restaurant, Lake Oswego Grill. We had been there previously with friends and enjoyed it as much the second time (for those of you living in the Portland area it is located in the former Chili's). Then we headed home for a relaxing evening; we needed to get up early to begin our week. When I arrived home from work(s) I went to the mail box and got "ICING ON THE CAKE WITH A CHERRY ON TOP."


Thank you all for a wonderful day. I am blessed and continue to count my many blessings.

FOR ALL YOU MOTHERS
(and others)

If you would like a good laugh watch this three minute video.

You will all be able to relate….

You all have one, know one, or live with one.

TO ALL MOMS; SOON TO BE MOMS; or LONGING TO BE MOMS

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

My boss sent me this email a few weeks ago and I put it aside for sharing this weekend. It was titled "Moms come in all sizes".

Have a wonderful time Sunday celebrating your Mother's Day.

Some of you may have already seen this child in other videos; I thought this was too cute to not pass along. I also was able to figure out how to upload it from YouTube (we will see if it worked).

I admit, I had to try a second time.

Do not get too excited......

I am not sure where I am finding the time to blog again in less than a week; might have something to do with the fact that Michael is buried in tax preparation. During his time away into the late evenings and early morning I have had time to do a little digi scrap booking. With my two puppies at my feet I am able to enjoy my time as a "tax widow".

Here is a short video of the beach trip I took with friends in November 2008, and March 2009. As you will see I still have some things to touch up. (I need to find a day that I can go to Michelle's house and get a lesson on Elements 7)

I Sure did have a great time with all of you! Looking forward to October or November 2009.

Awwwww Spring

I have always enjoyed Spring; everything is coming out of hibernation. Many flowers and trees are blooming, daffodils and tulips are blooming, and trees are budding with new growth. The sun comes out more often and it is a little bit warmer. I love to be able to work in the yard and get my hands in the dirt.

Sunday we were able to celebrate Palm Sunday in our new church building; we have been meeting at Rosemont Middle School for 8 1/2 years. We have been committed to help in the "early morning" to set up. We did not have to be there at the crack of dawn, although we did not sleep in, we were able to go to church very relaxed and not feel rushed. We even took the corvette.

When we arrived home we took the "boys" for a walk and I commented that I needed to go back out to take some pictures. So I did. I would like to share them with you.

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter.

For those of you who follow my blog, I cannot believe it has been almost three months since I last made an entry; my only "excuse", I have been busy. (Sometimes I wonder if anyone really cares, or reads this blog; my daddy does.) (OK enough with the pity party)

Last weekend I took Friday off and go for a weekend trip to the coast with five other ladies. We try to "get out of Dodge" about two times a year. We had the pleasure of having a "first timer" with us. Deloris you gave us a lot of laughs, I look forward to many more mini vacations with you. (Debbie thanks again for the use of the condo; I never meant what I said about inviting someone new.) I drove down by myself which gave me the opportunity on the way home to stop a couple of times and get a few pictures. I will post them for you later. I am waiting for my friend to send me some of her pictures to post all at once.

The weather was beautiful on Saturday. I spent a good amount of time on the beach at low tide searching for treasures. I found a few. I finally had to get back inside as it was getting colder and the wind picked up. At my age my hips were sore from stooping down for so long, I sure did pay for it Sunday.

This week I have been preparing for an Arbitration. I got 186 pages of exhibits emailed to me at 2:00 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. yesterday, for me to organize and label for a 9:00 a.m. arbitration today. For those of you who do not know the normal process, usually the opposing party prints, labels, divides, etc. the discovery and "snail mails" it several days before. This discovery was requested three months ago. ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG. Well it is over now and the matter is being heard right now.

So there are my two excuses for the past two weeks, do not know what to tell you about the other 7 or 8 weeks but I am sure I could come up with a lot of excuses.

I enjoy looking at all the blogs of others; helps me keep up with some of the news.

Until next blog. . .

CONTINUED THANKS

In my study Wednesday we were enlightened with an object lesson. The object was a pair of ordinary eye glasses. The question was how do these eye glasses reflect the Glory of God? I am changing it a bit to say what things can I be thankful for because of my glasses?

The lenses are made out of glass (at least some are) and glass is made of sand, someone had to figure out that if you heat the sand it melts and becomes glass. Sand is nontransparent but when you melt it it becomes transparent. Over 30% of the world consists of sand. Who created the sand?

Then there is the fact that once the glass is created we are blessed with doctors who can tell us what lenses we will need in order for us to see clearer.

Add to that the person who creates the lenses for you in order for you to see clearer.

The frames fit over your ears (the ones you hear with), and rests on your nose (you have the sense of smell), and holds the lenses that give you clearer vision so you can read.

This is a condensed version of the 10 minute lesson that was shared with us. It caused me to think that something as simple as a pair of glasses can cause me to be thankful for a numerous amount of things such as:

Sand; inventors; creators; doctors; my eyes (sight); my nose; my ears; ability to read; teachers that taught me to read; and clearer vision.

I can see clearer now the reason I should give thanks in everything I have.

This is only a few of the things that I can be thankful for because of a pair of glasses.

CONTINUED THANKS

I have been very busy at work and unable to get my thanks in so I logged on this evening after I returned from our small group meeting.

My Daddy: I want to thank you Daddy from the bottom of my heart for your unconditional love. You have been there for me and always knows when I need you to stop in and just say "hi, how are things going?" While I miss my Mom very much; I am very blessed to have a wonderful "step"-Mom; she is beautiful from the inside out. I love you Daddy, I love you Mom.

My Big Sister: While we are not in contact I think of my sister often and I am thankful for her. Marcia thank you for all the times that you were there when I needed you. For being supportive during some of the most difficult times in my life. I know I do not say it enough and want you to know that I love you very much.

My Big Brother: Mark, thank you for your words of wisdom when I needed them. Thank you for putting up with me during your "dates" (it should be recognized that he dated my best friend). I remember all the times that you dragged me along with you. I am sure that I got in the way many times. I love you.

Again I would like to know what you are thankful for. For those of you who have shared thanks, for those of you who have not; I would love to hear from you.

Thankful for:

Freedom; I believe that the word itself is self explanatory.

Grace; something you get that you do not deserve; unconditional; giving without expecting anything back.

Committed employees; since we "let go" of one of our employees in early August, I have not had one "early morning, I am sick, I can't make it to work" telephone call. (By early morning I mean 4:30 am)

If you read my previous post you will remember I emphasized that my "goal" was to post daily. I had three things in mind for Friday but I was so busy at work that I did not get any time to blog; and that is the reason for my first "thankful" today:

1. I am so thankful to have a job. With 1 out of every 12 people being unemployed it is a blessing to have a job I can go to each day.

2. My sencond blessing goes hand in hand with number 1; not only do I have a job, I enjoy going to work each day because I have a boss that is caring, understanding, patient, and all around a wonderful guy. (Some of you that used to work with him in the same office know what I am talking about.)

3. Today I am thankful that it did not rain; not that I have any reason to worry about flooding, but I know that many lives have been effected by the rain. (Better yet it is not snow or freezing rain.)

Thanks to those of you that have responded. I love hearing from you. I probably will not do an entry on Sunday. Have a great weekend.

THE ECONOMY