Now what have I done?

Okay, first an update on the non-washing machine. I have the best news imaginable. Sears ROCKS! After using their machine for a year (with huge frustration), I finally reached the right person. He refunded the full purchase price of my set, picked them up, and delivered a new set and hooked them up. The new set (YEAH! it WORKS!!!) cost $1700. less than the first ones, so I am up enough money to ...well, whatever I want! OH THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

And now. We decided to replace our damaged kitchen countertops. We found some beautiful dark green quartz, and have ordered it. But we realized our area between the backsplash and cupboards is now way too....hmm...not classy, in comparison. So we want to replace it with translucent pale green glass. So I started trying to take off the existing foot square tiles. I thought they would just kind of pop off. Unfortunately, I installed them, and now I remember using very much extra glue. So with every bit of energy I had, I smashed at one tile, and only made a mess of it,and the surrounding wall, but no removal...Now what? There is no way I will get these off. OH DEAR. I need a tile removal FAIRY. HELP!!!

ENERGY

So, I am really stoked today. I have BIG plans. I just ordered a light therapy lamp to take away my SAD, and some pills so I can continue eating bread and still lose weight. I signed up at YMCA so I can go get in shape in the water or on land, and I am (shortly) heading out to rake my flower beds. My motorhome is in getting $3000 worth of repairs, and my daughter is spending (my)$2000 to get her green card. I have booked a guy to remove and replace my crappy driveway ($10,000). I have humg up my stinky clothes on my new magic hangers, and can hardly wait to watch my new teaching DVD's. I got up at 4 am to write a speech I'm presenting to a youth group next week, and if I didn't know better, I would think I was manic. Luckily, I know that's not true, because before I took the ritalin, I could hardly get out of bed. WHAT a DAY to be ALIVE! YOU can SHOP and never leave the farm!
SH. Don't tell anyone.It all started with watching HOARDERS. I don't know why, but it's like they lit a fire under my but. Its like all the things they need to do, and won't, I need to do for them, but I can't. So I am doing what I can do. Working on me and my stuff. I guess thats good. Well. Out to prune the bushes!

Returning from the Sea

I love the sea. It touches me in places beyond reaching.
Its waves I find can fill my mind with lessons beyond teaching.
It calls my heart. It bids me start a journey toward living...
Sings in my ears, erodes my fears. Always giving, giving.

It fills my soul. Makes me feel whole. Awash with foaming wonder.
It calls me on, dares me beyond; life's mysteries to ponder.
It cries at me. Surprises me. Floods past my walls and fences.
It pushes and with swirling sand enlivens all my senses.

I am alone. I will go home.
The ocean bids me go.
A mum. A wife. My other life.
Today, it must be so.

Faithful

The ocean calls me to its shore; It beckons in my dreams.
It fills my thinking more and more till finally it seems
I cannot live unless I feel the sand beneath my feet.
I cannot wait another day to leave the city's heat.

My little car can take me far. The wind whips through my hair,
As mile on mile bring forth a smile...But paradise is there.

It will be cold. Perhaps I'll keep my coat on. But shoes come off
And socks and pants, because...I know I'll wander further than I mean to,
And it will catch me, like it always does.

"Come closer," it will whisper. "I have mysteries."
And as I wander in, its story tells.
"A little further, Near that rock. Come close to me."
And I wade in, for magic, and for shells.

Just one more step, another look, another wave to scan...
And while I watch it here, out there foments its timeless plan.
"Look there, toward the shore, there is a glint of light."
I turn my back and watch it, too intent for flight.

Then suddenly I see as it approaches me, a bigger wave...
Expecting when it hits that it will reach my knee.
And once again I laugh as in one surging leap
It soaks me to my neck. How does it get so deep?

I always know its coming.
Call it deja vu.
And so I wait to greet it.
I am faithful, too.

The Star of Bethlehem

Wow! I just watched an exciting DVD about the Star! Check it out at SEIZOOM.com which sells it and also reviews it.
This Lawyer started asking questions about the star, and what God helped him to discover is a 'piece of celestial poetry'. Imagine the God who told Job that HE was the creator and mover of the stars and constellations, clearly telling us what he was doing, using the universe as his notebook!
Nine qualities Matthew tells about the Bethlehem star are identified. The origin of the wise men is shown. The sky, seen from their perspective, when Christ was conceived, born and crucified, can be watched on live time, by amazing computer capability. For the first time in history, we can SEE WHAT THEY SAW, and read God's message.

Laundry

I do a lot of laundry. Back when I had a family of 5, and overnight company at least once a week, it made sense. But with us two no-longer-sweating elders and one pre-sweating boy (none of whom are really that stoked about changing towels, sheets, or underwear on the previous twice a day routine), I should be able to get it all done once a week.

A mistake was made, however. I refuse to say it was my technogadget startrek influenced husband who pushed me into buying a NEW STATE OF THE ART huge silver set of high efficiency NON washer/NON dryer combo. I mean, what woman who always does all of the laundry would let a non-participant pick out her tools? That would be as stupid as letting him pick out the Vacuum! (luckily, the housekeeper brings her own, because it SUCKS!)

So. Why am I doing laundry all week? And whining? Well, if I put the washer on the quick cycle, the 40 minute slosh in 3 tablespoons of murky water leaves the clothes generally worse than when they went in. To counteract this, I use the extra water/extra rinse/heavy soiled option. This cycle takes just short of 2 hours. And because clothes still come out soapy, I decrease the HIGH EFFICIENCY soap to one teaspoon.

So little soap, however, leaves clothes smelling, um, not fresh. So I put them in the dryer on the "antibacterial" setting, which takes 1hour,45 minutes. And if they still smell when they come out, heck, I just start back at the beginning. And if the stains are still there, this time I add the new stain releasing tabs you can buy to optimize your HE experience.

Did you know, you have to leave the door open on those washers between loads? (banged heads not-with-standing), and you can't leave damp clothes for a couple of hours, or the whole house kicks up a stink. Even then, you have to run the "tank rinse" cycle after each load. (well, how can 2 ounces of water wash clothes AND the tub?

Another little unexplained step to the whole process...not EVERY load, but every few...Look at that little drawer at the bottom of the machine. Now open it up. Now go get a BIG pail and nose plugs. Pull out the rubber hose,remove the plug, and let the gallons of slimy water rush out. (There was never that much in the wash, so where does it come from?) Careful. HAHA next time you will put towels around the opening, because it's going to be a mess. Next, pull out the filter cage, and rinse out the 2 pieces of cat hair you let get into the wash. BAD lady.

The thing is, I don't want all the hassles of this extra efficiency. I just want my old white never say die Maytag set. You could throw the dog peuked on rugs and cat hair mats and grungy socks in, and in 30 minutes have beautifully clean, bright, fresh laundry. You could use any soap. And bleach. But you didn't have to. And you didn't end up with a laundry induced rash for a whole year. Or have to go to a tropical local so you could stay in your never washed bathingsuit and cover-up for 2 weeks for a miracle cure.

What a miserable old lady, eh? I could be beating clothes on the rocks beside the Ganges. Hmm...*&^%%^#$ Thank you, God, for my beautiful country and my beautiful family and my beautiful clothes and my beautiful non-washer and dryer. I AM tryly blessed.

Life Traveller

I've been to London, Paris and France. Went to New Zealand to see the rare plants.
I've been to Iceland and Kalamazoo. To Holland and Russia...Now, what about you?
I've seen the Ritz and the Champs Elize, Watched the sun set over fair Monterrey.
Trekked to the top of Mt. Everest's scene.
What about you? Tell me, where have you been?

I've been to love in a teenager's race.
Stared at divorce and laughed back in his face.
I've been to hell singing soft Lullabies;
Wept as I watched my child's unseeing eyes.
I've been to lonliness, prayed for respite.
Kept fearsome vigils through many a night.
I've been to hopelessness, wondering why
God would just sit there, ignoring my cry.
I've worked the wards at the end of the line;
Seen them draw breath for the very last time.
Watched as life ebbed with no reason or rhyme...

Actually...I've never really felt
the need to travel!

Can the world show me sights that I never have seen?
Can it take me to places that I've never been?
Could some mystical trip on a magical day
Change my mountains to dust hills and blow them away?
Could a hiking guide give me a map for the trail?
Could a travel book help me to draw back the veil?
Could someone shed light on the reason for pain,
And the reason for dying and living again?

If the man on the tree, now suspended in time
Has an answer worth hearing, a reason, a rhyme,
Let him Shout it out loudly.....

We don't want to hear.

He has told us before and we will not give ear.
Cause in listening and learning we'd have to obey,
And bowing our stiff knees,surrender and pray.
We'd rather run off to see Paris or Rome.
When troubles surround us we leave them at home.
We see all the sights and we taste all the wine,
And we secretly pray for the ending of time.