Well, someone outbid 'ol Steve, thank goodness! The auction was over at 10:00 this morning and a guy from Katy, Tx. made the winning bid. I am very pleased. I have sent an email to him confirming his purchase, but haven't heard back yet. I wish he would contact me. I will just feel better about it when I hear from him. But he has 48 hours to make a payment thru paypal, so it's probably OK. Guess I just got a little ansie after dealing with Steve. This guy from Katy has 438 positive feedback scores with Ebay so he sounds good!

I'm going to work this afternoon for a couple of hours at the courthouse. My friend, LuAnn called yesterday and asked if I could come help out and I said I would. Mason is going out to ride his dirtbike for a couple of hours. It's really a nice day out. Hope you enjoy yours!

Grrrrrr!

I am not too thrilled right now. I got onto the Ebay website a couple of hours ago to see how the bidding is going on my Valkyrie. I saw I had a message from Steve, the high bidder right now. He asked me to please omit his bid -due to foot surgery. Mmmm. Foot surgery? Did he not know he was having foot surgery just a few days ago when he bid on it in the first place? Grrrrr. If I omit his bid, it will delete all the bids and I'm back at square one with only a few hours left in the auction. (It ends tomorrow morning at 9:58 a.m.) Well, I sent him back a link to the
'Retract Bids' page. If I omit his bid, he just goes on his merry way, and I have lost money if the bidding doesnt get back up to where it is now, or it could possibly not sell at all, and I've lost my fees for listing the motorcycle on Ebay in the first place. If he has to retract, it will be investigated by Ebay and it will be listed on his account, so that's where I'm leaving it, I guess. --Hopefully, someone will outbid him by tomorrow morning. (I did get another message with questions from another interested person.) If not, Steve may just not take the motorcycle and I'm back where I started from, except I'm out $70 to Ebay. (Thanks alot Steve!)

I'll keep ya posted!

Corbin & I went for a walk in the canyon this afternoon. 4.25 miles! I couldn't believe he made it that far, but he did and with very little complaining. We walked down to a park that's just on the edge of the canyon and back thru to home again. We stopped and made his initials in the dirt with some rocks and we drug a stick in the sand all the way home, leaving a long continuous line on the trail. He got a drink out of the faucet at the park and played in a puddle it made for a bit. It all took us a couple of hours and was great fun (for me). I really enjoyed it. He's my sweet boy!

Well, it's been a pretty quiet week. Bo had planned to take Corbin & Mason skiing just for the day tomorrow (Saturday), but he called a little while ago and cancelled. He said something had come up at work and he just couldn't get away. So he won't be coming home tonight. He will be working again tomorrow and maybe Sunday too. He is a busy man! Mason & I are going to Amarillo tonight. We will go by Cody & Jenny's and get Corbin, go eat, and then go to see Nanny McPhee at the movies. At least that's what Corbin & I will be seeing. Mason may decide to see something else. We'll see. Then Corbin will come home with us for the weekend.

Mason & I went to Homeschool playgroup today. There's a boy there named Jediah, He's the same age as Mason. A few weeks ago, he told his mother he couldn't see out of one eye, so they took him to the Dr and started running tests. Come to find out, he has a brain tumor! He is scheduled for surgery on Monday morning. They should know by sometime Tuesday if it's malignant. Oh my gosh! My heart goes out to Jediah and his family. Please pray for them, and --may God's will be done.

Well, I guess that's it. We'll be heading out for Amarillo soon. Have a great weekend!

I put my motorcycle on Ebay yesterday and hey, I got a bid today! --A bid for the reserve price I was asking, so it is now sold even if nobody else bids. And if somebody else does bid, they will have to go higher. Wow! That was fast. Maybe I should put the house on Ebay. LOL

I really am glad it sold, but am a little sad too. Its the end of an era in my life. --My motorcyle riding era. LOL. I'll be riding with Bo from now on. But...... he's an excellent driver!

House Hunt

I found my house yesterday! --But we're not going to get it. We just have to wait until we sell this house before we can get another one. We could get a Bridge loan, and we even talked about it, but it's really kind of foolish to do that and pay all that interest on the bridge loan, & property taxes & insurance on two houses, until this one sells. That might put us in somewhat of a bind, and who knows when this house will sell. Could be next week and it could be a year from now. So darn, I guess we just better wait. That's just a little too out of my comfort zone. --But at least I am a little more encouraged that there are houses out there that I like and can afford. So that's good. I know things will work out just as they are 'predestined' to by God, and he certainly knows best!

And we know that ALL things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Saturday Morning Musings

I came across this quote this morning, and it got me to thinking. (I know, that can be dangerous!)

"I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence."
Frederick Douglass

I like this quote and believe we WILL incur our own abhorrence if we don’t stay true to ourselves. I believe the reason we wouldn’t stay true to ourselves is really more selfish than staying true to ourselves anyway. It all goes back to that ‘people pleasing’ thing. In trying to make others like us and think well of us, we try to figure out what they would like or what would please them, and then we try to be that or say that, while we are around them. And we convince ourselves that this is a selfless and kind thing to do. But is it really, or is it just our coveting their favor? In doing this, we begin to loose ourselves, and as we loose ourselves, we resent the person we deem responsible for this. And who would that person be? None other than the person we are trying to please in the first place. But who is really responsible? WE are. For selfishly giving ourselves away in order to purchase their favor. (Most of the time, we don’t even gain their favor by doing this anyway. People just seem to be more drawn to TRUE people.) Now is that to say we should never do or say anything nice to others? Heavens NO! But we just should do it expecting nothing in return, do it because we care for them and want to see them happy, or simply because it’s the right thing to do. If those aren’t our motives, then perhaps we shouldn’t do it at all. –--Anyway, when we give ourselves away and are not true to ourselves, we begin to abhor ourselves, and when we abhor ourselves, how can we even be very pleasant to be around anyway? Kind of a vicious circle!

"Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't." Eleanor Roosevelt


Today's page in 'One Day At A Time':

If I can see myself clearly and honestly in relation to my present circumstances, I will not become the victim of self-pity or resentment. If I do what I should, I will be at peace with myself.

It is only when I compare my lot in life with that of others that the destructive emotion of self-pity is allowed to engulf me. It is only by taking offense at what others do that I will be afflicted with resentment. If I feel that what I am doing is right, I will not be dependent on the admiration or applause of others. It is gratifying, but not essential to my contentment.

I will learn to judge my own motives, to evaluate my own actions, so that, little by little, I can bring them into line with my standards and ideals.

Nothing has the power to hurt my feelings and stir up unwholesome emtions in me unless I allow it. I will do what is given me to do. I will do it as well as I can. That will be my inner security against which all outside battering will be powerless.

My Afternoon With Stew

I went to Amarillo yesterday. First I had a dentist appointment at 8:00, of which I was late for because I overslept. I very seldom ever oversleep. I don't know what got into me! I needed to be up at 5:30 in order to leave at 6:30 for Amarillo, and I woke up at about 5:55. I hate being late for an appointment and was very embarrassed and apologetic when I got there. Dr. Ritchie was very nice and understanding, even though I was his first appointment for the day, and he was having to wait for me. Ugh.

After my dentist appointment, which went very well, by the way, I went on to work and was there until midafternoon. Then I made my way over to Coldwell-Banker where I had a 3:30 appointment with Stew, the Amarillo real estate guy. First he spent 45 minutes with me in the office explaining procedure and showing me some descriptions of properties. He was very much a talker, so it seemed to take 2 or 3 times as long as I think it should have. But, he was a very nice man. Finally we got in his car to go and look at some houses. We looked at 6 places, I think and each one seemed to take much longer than need be. I can usually do a quick walk-thru and tell if I'm interested or not. If I am interested, then I want to spend some time, but if not, I'm ready to get out of there. Only one house interested me at all, and that one only slightly. I am really amazed at how some people leave their house to be shown, --and the prices! I would say three of the houses smelled really bad and were very cluttered and messy. Why would you leave your house like that when you're trying to sell it?? A mystery to me. And I couldn't believe the prices for those cluttered, messy houses! Ridiculous for what you would get. All along the way, Stew and I talked about various things. He was a 65 yr old catholic from Baltimore, MD, who takes piano lessons with his grand daughters and rides a Harley. LOL. As we were talking about updating houses, he told me he and his wife had lived in their house for 30 years and had been updating it the last couple of years. Then he said we were only a little ways from his house and he would like to show it to me (not to sell, mind you, just to show me his remodeling). I thought it was a little odd, but said OK. He called his wife and told her we were coming. When we pulled up to his house, I could see that it was a very nice house. We went inside and I met his wife, Mary Lou, who was also a very nice person. We toured his whole house and I must say it was beautiful. I ended up staying there for about 45 minutes just visiting with Stew and Mary Lou. They kept telling me I looked so much like a friend of theirs, Nancy Coons, who oddly enough, I knew! Her husband used to work for the same company as Bo. I don't see the resemblance at all, but anyway..... they informed me that Nancy & her husband, Lyle were getting divorced. Mmmmm. Interesting. --Anyway, I finally told Stew I needed to get back to my car so I could go get something to eat and start heading back to Dalhart. I got back to my car at 6:45 pm, went to Taco Villa for a burrito (not one bit healthy, but oh well) and got home about 8:30. I didn't even get to make my weekly trip to Walmart because it was so late! It was an interesting afternoon, and I guess somewhat profitable in that it gave me some more insight and something to compare with. And --old Stew was quite a character!

I did get to listen to my book, 'Memoirs of A Geisha' to and from Amarillo and am enjoying it very much.

This morning I drained and cleaned my fish aquarium. I'm really tired of messing with it and asked a friend if she would like to have it. She said yes and came to get it a little while ago. I'm glad to see it go.

Guess I'll get ready and go to the grocery store since I didn't make it to Walmart yesterday.

Have a great day!

A Bit of a Rant

Jenny & Corbin sent me Disney World pictures! I love this one of Corbin and Mickey:










Bo & I went to Amarillo yesterday to some open houses. We saw some really pretty ones, with some really not-so-pretty price tags. LOL. --Ugh. It's hard being a tightwad at times like this. I really want to be wise with our money, but at the same time, well you know, those pretty houses sure are calling. What bugs me is the property taxes on the darn things! After you pay the high price tag, then you've got to shell out SEVERAL thousand a year for property taxes. For one thing, we don't even have a kid in the public school system. We have to pay tuition for home schooling and then pay the property school taxes too. --Oh well, that's just the way it is. Can't change it, might as well accept it and move on. I'm sure we will find a lovely house and everything will be just fine. I wonder what we'll end up doing. Going the conservative route and get a nice, but cheaper house, and having money left over each month to do a few things or letting our predilection for expensive houses (expensive to us) get the best of us, and being broke from now on. (How'd you like that big word?) Who knows? --It might be a good investment. What do you think we should do????

House For Sale

Dyke, the real estate man (and Cody's father-in-law) called yesterday and wanted to bring someone by this morning to look at the house. So I got to straightening up, putting things in drawers (I hope I can find things again), lit some candles, turned on lamps and ceiling fans (on very low, of course), and Mason & I went for a walk while they came. Afterwards Dyke called and said he had brought 4 couples by. Wow! FOUR?! These are dairy people who will be moving here from California and are in town looking around. He said the house showed very well (what does that mean?), and that one couple showed some interest, but they have to sell some land in California first so arent really ready to buy just yet. Well, heck. He'll call again when he has someone else to bring by.

Bo is in Gruver today working. He has been very busy with some extra stuff lately so he felt he needed to work today to catch up some. He'll be home tonight. I was thinking maybe we could go to Amarillo tomorrow and look at open houses that are for sale. It's just hard to know what to do about buying another house. This house could sale next week or it could be 6 months. Who knows. Hopefully, it WILL sell!

That's about it for me today. TTYL!

P.S. Scroll down and you will see I added a weather bar & a Hangman Game to the Blog, just in case you get bored with my ramblings.

Words from Johnathan

I found this post on another blog that I happened upon. It was written by a young man named Johnathan who is only 19 yrs old. I thought it shows very much wisdom for a man of 19. And I know that true wisdom comes from God. So I consider this young man very blessed of God to know such things!

Why Does God Allow "Evil?" --by Johnathan

The recent hurricane Katrina has brought this question to the surface once again and quite frankly I am disappointed at the answers given by some revered Christian leaders to this question. This is the answer I have heard again and again, it goes something like this, "we don't know, we just have to trust God". I agree that we have to trust God, but the Bible is very clear on why there is suffering. Here is the answer I believe that should be given: "Who art thou, oh man that you reply against God?" (Romans 9:20). We deserve Hell for all eternity and anything less than that is an incredible mercy. How is it that we, every day shake our fist in the face of God and then seem baffled when he allows something bad to happen to us? We must stop calling what God chooses to do, --evil. Hurricane Katrina was absolutely just and right. But you will say,"What about the good people who suffered?" There is none righteous, no not one! (Romans 3:10); Christians too, who suffer (though they have much in which they can have joy and hope and the suffering of this world is not to be compared with the glory which is to come), still must say it was well deserved. Ever since the fall, we as humans have been questioning the goodness of God. This kind of questioning is sinful and should be seen in that light and denounced.

I have to agree with Johnathan that we are a sinful lot, and to think that the God of all glory would show mercy on any of us is so amazing. I think perhaps instead of asking, why does God allow bad things to happen to us, we should be saying: I hope God doesn't give us what we deserve! And be so thankful for all the mercy he shows us.

I worked in Amarillo yesterday and afterwards I went and got Corbin for a little while. We went to get an ice cream and he told me all about Disney World. He loved it! Here's a picture of him with his Mickey Mouse ears on. LOL.

Mason is working hard in school. We will finish up the 3rd nine weeks this week and start the 4th and final nine weeks of 10th grade next week. We should be finished with 10th grade around the end of February. He is doing very well and I'm very proud of him! I think he has come a long ways in his study habits since he left public school over a year and 1/2 ago.

Looks like it's going to be another gorgeous day today, so I think I'll head out for a walk. I'm getting close to the end of my audio book, 'The Testament.' It is 13 hours long. It's been good though and I'm thinking about 'Memoirs of a Geisha' for my next audio book. Anybody know anything about it? Is it clean? LOL

Have a great day!

According to the Oprah Show, a stressful lifestyle can add years to your age. Here is a list of things that add to your age and thus take away from your life. My comments are in red:

1) If you can't set boundaries, have trouble speaking up for yourself and suffer from the "disease to please" add 4.4 years to your age.

I think that when I was younger, I was somewhat of a 'people pleaser.' but I don't think so anymore. Dr. Laura says that even though the term 'people pleaser' has the connotation of being a kind, selfless person, REALLY the 'people pleaser' is a selfish, self-centered person because usually the whole purpose of trying so hard to please the other person is --trying to make sure they think well of YOU, not necessarily just to make them happy. Mmmm.

2) If you don't have an outlet for you passion and creativity, add 6 years.

I think my passion is learning more about the Lord Jesus and his ways, and theology in general. He is so interesting and there is so much to learn. This subject could never be exhausted and I really enjoy it. Also, this may sound weird, but I think I use my creativity in my accounting work. I know that most people would think that is so boring, but I really get a sense of accomplishment when I finish a task and when I feel like I did a good job. I seem to like organizing and paying attention to detail too. --I know, WEIRD!

3) Toxic relationships can take a huge toll on your health. If someone is draining your energy, add 8 years to your actual age.

I have had many toxic relationships in my life, but thank the Lord, I feel like the relationships I'm in now are very beneficial to me. I try to avoid people that cause me stress. Just not worth it.

4) If you spend more than 3 hours every day stressed out and don't take time for yourself, you may be adding as many as 32 years to your chronological age!

Of course, there are days that I get really stressed out, but I think they are few and far between for the most part. I really enjoy life and have so many blessings!

Nothing much going on around here today. I called D. Rogers about selling our house for us. He said he will come look at it on Thursday, and we will talk about price, etc. For a long time, I would feel fearful at the thought of selling this house, but I don't think I do anymore. Change scares me sometimes and this would be a big one! But I 'think' it's time now. We have lived here for ten years. Time for a new adventure maybe? We'll see what develops!

Bo finished the new deck out back and it looks so nice. He did such a good job. He is a very talented guy.

I just got back from a walk in the canyon. (Here's a photo). I was listening to John Grisham's book 'The Testament' as I walked along. It's a pretty good book. It's so warm out I took off my jacket and hung it on a tree and then picked it back up on my way out of the canyon. It's a nice place to walk, but you have to watch for cow poop on the trail. LOL.

Yesterday we drove to Sudan, Tx to visit a dairy that supplies calves to Bo's feedyard. After that we went to Amarillo and did some shopping. Bo got a new pair of shoes, and I got shoes and a pair of jeans. Then we went to eat at Logan's Roadhouse. Bo had gotten a $50 gift certificate to there from a customer at work. It was really good and we enjoyed the day very much.

This morning we listened to a very good sermon by Todd Nibert on 'the man of the tombs', in Matt. 5. Gosh, it was so good and such a good picture of our state before and after God regenerates us. --Such a blessing from God to hear his word preached.

Bo & I may go for a motorcycle ride in a little while. That'll be fun!

It was 80 degrees today with hardly any wind. That's unbelievable for the middle of January! I love it. Mason & I went to the Homeschool Playgroup today for a couple of hours. I enjoyed visiting with all the ladies and Mason had fun playing with the kids, I think. Afterwards I went for a long walk and soaked up the sunshine. It was great. As you can see in the picture, Mason washed my car this afternoon. It was really dirty and I'm so glad to have such a great guy to do that for me. Bo flew to Cimarron, KS & Clovis, NM today for some kind of business and will be home tonight. Cody, Jenny, & Corbin are in Orlando, FL at Disney World! Jenny's dad took the whole family for their Christmas present. They will be back next Tuesday. I know they are having a great time. Corbin was so excited to go. I look forward to hearing about his adventures when he gets back. Well, guess that's it for today! Ta-Ta.

I went to Amarillo yesterday and worked all day, then went to Walmart for groceries, the mall to return a shirt for Mason, Office Max for office supplies and then home to Dalhart. It was a long day, but an enjoyable one. As I walked thru the mall watching all the people, I was thinking about all the fads and trends of the day, and how I've watched them come and go and change thru the years. It's funny, really. Some new fad will come along, and everyone thinks its great, then in a few years, it will be outdated and obsolete, and something else will be great. Then a few more years and the outdated, obsolete thing is back 'in.' It does seem though that each new (old) 'thing' gets a little more risque as we go along. Just who determines what is 'in vogue' and what does it really matter in the whole scheme of things? It's all so relative anyway.

I used to think the younger generation was much smarter than the older generation, but the older I get, the more I see how that is not true at all. Older folks have alot of wisdom. They have been on this earth many years and have seen lots of things. We can learn alot from them. (Notice, I don't put myself in the 'older generation' catagory just yet).

Just some thoughts!

Here's what we are doing today. A few months ago, we had to jack hammer out the concrete in a few places around the house in order for the foundation man to put steel beams under the house to shore it up because of the foundation crack. Today we are putting the concrete back for the sidewalks. Corbin is here. He spent the night last night. We got up this morning, listened to a good sermon by Henry Mahan, had a good lunch (with black-eyed peas, of course) and Bo went to work on the concrete, with a couple of helpers. This morning before anybody else even got up, Bo built a firewood holder for the back patio. He is so industrious lately. I like it!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!