Reflections on April A to Z

 

I did it! I completed the A to Z Challenge EVEN when I realized I had somehow missed the master list sign up. I did the theme reveal and was maybe number 37 on the list and was so proud that I was so far up the list. Once the challenge started, I realized that I wasn't getting many visitors to my posts but didn't think that much about it. One day, I was visiting other blogs on the spreadsheet and realized that my name/blog was NOT on the list. I emailed the team and a couple of days later received an email telling me that I had failed to sign up on the final list. I'm going to be honest. At that point, I wanted to just stop. I almost cried (which seems silly), but I persevered. As I continued visiting other blogs, I began to leave my blog address in the comment section, along with my comment, which garnered a few visits. All of this to say, I'm making a note on my calendar for next year "BE SURE TO SIGN UP FOR THEME REVEAL AND FOR THE CHALLENGE - TWO SIGN UPS." 

On another note, when I was preparing to participate in the challenge, my theme seemed great and I even liked the way I titled it, "The A to Z's of Being 63." I liked the catchy rhyme! I mapped out a list of topics that would go along with each day. I did realize that many things I blogged about would be applicable for any age. 

I really enjoyed visiting some "new to me" blogs. I love that sense of connection with folks who don't live nearby. I learned about coffee. I learned about lots of interesting places from Pauleen plus I love the name of this blog - cassmobfamilyhistory! I enjoyed reading about the history of this family. I already followed Joyce but really enjoyed her A to Z series. I loved Janet's Smiles date suggestions and must admit I laughed out loud about Quickie! There are so many others that I enjoyed, too, plus some of my "regular" blog friends were faithful to come and visit and comment. One friend actually gave me the idea for my W post!

I also was taking an online class at a local community college so I did feel a tad stressed this month.

Regarding suggestions . . .I wish there was a search function for the spreadsheet. I did copy and paste into a clean spreadsheet so I could sort.

All in all, I feel like the month was a success!

The A to Z's of Being 63

 

Z is for Zoo! 

Yes, when you are 63, you can go to the zoo! During spring break, our son was lining up care for our granddaughter because they were only able to be off part of the week. Pops was assigned one day and he told me they planned to go to the zoo! The zoo just happens to be near my office so . . .most everyone was out that week (all the folks with school age kids). I told Mark to swing by the church and pick me up and they could drop me off afterwards. I ran away for a couple of hours and it was PERFECT.

We saw the flamingos -- our sweet girl called them "friendengos" rather than flamingos when she was little. I still love that!

The zoo has a great play area. I saw one mom with her book sitting there reading while her kids played. I thought that was a great idea! I'm sure they have season passes.

Our girl loved sliding on the slide and walking on the rope bridge.

I thought this was such a cool photo backdrop!

We saw elephants.

and lions

We rode the train!

We waited in line for the train (photos out of order)

We waited a little longer for the train . . .

I love the big cats! They fed this one while we were watching and they put his food on a floating thing so he had to wade into the water and "catch" it. I think he swallowed it whole.

They have one section on Alabama animals so we saw some turkeys!

And we went to the petting barn and saw some stinky sheep!

Yay! I completed the month of April A to Z blogging everyday except Sundays! I was able to work in a couple of Sunday Stealing posts and a couple of Wednesday Hodgepodge posts. 

The A to Z's of being 63 are pretty similar to the A to Z's of any age - we have a little more freedom, we have a little extra spending money, we have a little more time (technically). Being 63 is pretty good!

Y is for Yes

 

I'm almost to the finish line. I can see it! Today is Y!

Y is for Yes . . .or maybe it should be Y is for saying Yes more often!

Here is a big piece of advice from 63 year old me! Don't say no so often. Say Yes as often as possible.

Can we make a mess? Yes, if it is going to create memories. I said no far too often.

Can we go . . .wherever? Yes! Yes to Israel, Yes to Ireland, Yes to Italy and Germany, Yes to the park!

I need to take my own advice more often.

Will you stop and play with me? Yes. Another one where I need to take my own advice.

Can I help you cook? Why didn't I say yes?

Mark is now retired and he asks, "Can I help clean the house?" I've been bucking it for weeks and this week, I said yes and I'm trying hard not to criticize a single thing. He did scrub all of the toilets by hand!

One afternoon this week, my son called and said that he and our granddaughter were close by. Could they drop in? When they got here, they wanted to take the golf cart to one of our parks. I have a final this weekend and it would have been so easy to say "no" . . .but I said YES and here is proof! I still had time to study!

She has a crazy amount of upper
body strength. She is in
motion!

my son and my granddaughter
swinging HIGH with the
sunshine peeking through
the trees!

What are some questions that you answered with a no . . .that you wish you had answered with a yes?

X is for eXpress gratitude

 

X is for eXpress gratitude

I feel like I'm cheating today since I'm not actually using words that begin with X!

Today, I want to eXpress gratitude to a whole bunch of folks - I'm going to keep my list to 24 since X is the 24th letter in the alphabet. Just know that there are many more!

I'm so grateful for (in no particular order):

1. Charlotte and Ronnie Perkins and Linda and Jimmie Nix and Carol and Clayton Dorough - they loved me back to Jesus after my divorce when I was so very young.
2. Bess Studdard - my senior Advanced English teacher - she was tough but she was one of my favorite teachers
3. My sister, Becky, and her ex-husband - after momma died and daddy was working nights, they let me live with them . . .and they were newlyweds (and our other sister, Glenine, who provided me with babysitting jobs and sold my crocheted purses)
4. The Parker family - who claimed me as one of their own kids after momma died
5. Inez and Hub Lane - they, too, claimed me as their own and took me on vacation with them for years.
6. Matthew Penfield and Ann Neptune - who hired me to work at Trinity and actually brought me full circle - from a young woman rejected by the Baptist Mission Board because I was divorced to someone on a church staff who gets to be in ministry every single day
7. Brian Erickson - who treats me as his partner rather than as a secretary - who believes in me - who shows me God's grace every day
8. Mark - I've already sung his praises but you can go back and read ALL about him on the M day
9. our kids
10. our kid's spouses
11. our granddaughters - they (9, 10, 11) are awesome in all the ways
12. my co-workers - they make it a pleasure to come to work every day and some of them have become my close friends
13. Mel Sparkman - who was my boss at South Central Bell when I went through my divorce. I was broke and I cried at work because I couldn't even afford a Christmas tree and he brought me a tree stand and helped me get a tree (that is just ONE example) 
14. Ed Onimus, who was my boss later at South Central Bell and at AT&T. He could be a tyrant but he groomed me and made me into the assistant that I am today.
15. Our supper club - we've been together since 2004 -- almost 20 years of life together
16. Our Sunday School class - I'm serious. What do people do during crises when they don't have a church family?
17. My "once a month" lunch buddies - we, too, have supported each other through good and bad
18. My professor, Lucy Lewis - she is amazing
19. My advisor at Jeff State who has answered at least a million questions
20. Wade Griffith and Laura Eanes - we were amazing together
21. Our parents - who never had it easy but never let us know that
22. Susan Peterson - I miss her so much - cancer took her way too soon
23. Nancy Smith - she introduced Mark and me - she was Mark's first cousin who was more like a sibling and cancer took her way too soon, too
24. My mother-in-law who has always loved me as her own

This is more than a "thankful" post -- I'm deeply grateful for these people and what they meant in my life. I'm sure I've left out folks and this is not a comprehensive list.

All things "V" Hodgepodge

 

1. What does the word values mean to you personally? Where did your values come from? What are some of the values that have guided you throughout your life? Values, to me, means those things we think are important. Some of my basic values came from my parents. After I typed that sentence, I actually googled the meaning of “values” just to make sure I was headed in the right direction. One definition: a person’s principles or standards of behavior; one’s judgement of what is important in life. Yes! I remember my daddy saying that there would be a lot of things we didn’t want to do in life but that there were things we did simply because it was the right thing to do. I actually remember the conversation and he has been dead since I was 25 and I’m 63. Someone had died and I didn’t want to go to the funeral/funeral home. I’m glad he taught me those things. This is one of our family values -- We both felt that it was important to raise our kids in the church. In our home, we got up and got dressed and went to church on Sunday morning.

2. Your favorite vanilla flavored something? I love to smell vanilla extract – when you are baking and the recipe calls for a teaspoon (or more) – it just smells so good.

3. What's something you've seen/done recently that you found to be very difficult, very confusing, very helpful, very interesting, or very special. Elaborate. I know that EVERYONE is ready for this semester to end so that I will quit talking about my Sociology class. I should be embarrassed about how much I’ve talked about it . . .but I’m not! It has been very difficult being back in a college class at 63. It has also been VERY interesting. Oh my goodness. Every single week I’ve had at least one (usually multiple) aha moments!

4. Something you own and love that is violet in color? I don’t think I own anything that is violet in color.

5. Do you have vacation plans on the calendar this summer? Tell us more. Yes! We are headed to Italy and Germany this summer and are so excited! We may take a little trip with our kids, spouses, and grandkids, too. We usually go to the beach but I think our son wants to go to the mountains.

6. Insert your own random thought here.  I’ve been participating in the April A to Z blog challenge and it is over tomorrow. I did it!

W is for What Would I Tell Her?

 

Over the weekend, I was digging through some photos to use on my "U" day, and I posted this on Facebook:

Imagine my surprise when I received 49 comments plus 110 likes/loves. One of my friends asked this question, "If you could give that young woman one piece of advice or one word of wisdom, what would you say to her?" W is for What Would I Tell Her?

Here goes:

Dear Lisa,

I want you to know that you have already lived through a lot but there is more to come. Along with the hard days, there will also be days filled with incredible over-the-top joy!

This is the main thing you need to know. YOU ARE ENOUGH. Seriously. 

You are a creation of God who is loved by him and he has and will continue to pour out his unmerited grace on you. Don't listen to those voices of the world. Listen closely and God will continually whisper into your ear,"You are enough. You are loved. I'm right here beside you - always. I'll never leave you nor forsake you."

You need to trust God. You don't know any of these things yet but you are going to have a good life. You will marry a man who loves you. You will have great kids who will grow into fine adults. You will actually live in a house with a white picket fence.

Make sure you surround yourself with good friends. Laugh a lot!

Go ahead and finish your college degree now . . .don't wait until you are 63.

Keep running - exercise will keep you young!

Get counseling - NOW! At 23, you've already lived through too much. Don't wait until you are in your 30's. Do it now.

There are so many other things. Don't waste time on guys who aren't worth it. 

Always remember -- YOU ARE ENOUGH.

Love,

Lisa

What would you tell your 23 year old self?

V is for Validation and for Valuing the Truth

 

V is for Validation and for Valuing the Truth

We are in the final week of the blogging challenge -- April A to Z! I'm beginning to run out of words! Is anyone else experiencing this?

I looked up validation on Merriam Webster's site and here is the meaning:

an act, process, or instance of validating 

I don't know about you but I hate those kinds of answers. So what did I do next, I looked up validity and here is the meaning:

the quality of being well-grounded, sound, or correct

What does that have to do with being 63? I hope that by this age that I'm fairly well grounded so does that mean I'm valid? I've never heard the word used that way.

I looked it up on yourdictionary.com and one of the meanings of validity is: the state of being valid, authentic, or genuine. I've written about authenticity here!

Do you remember when we had to write sentences with our vocab words? Yourdictionary.com has a tab for sentences! How about this one? "She had to research the topic for hours to ensure the validity of her argument blog post." Aha! That is how I'm working Validation into this post!

What about Valuing the Truth?

I think that the older I get, the more I value the truth. I don't want to waste time on someone else's lies or half truths. I never discuss politics but I wish our politicians valued the truth. 

Don't be telling lies to me. I value the truth! :-)

p.s. I totally realize that this isn't my best writing!