Peanut butter

Since I left this off my important list i thought I'd give it a space of it's own-Peanut Butter. An item of incredible importance in this household. (How could I have left it off?) I've gone through phases with this item, but for the past several years I practically can't live without it! What brings this all to mind is that I had a peanut butter shake from Bob's not once but twice this past week. They make the best ones! What's more their shakes are gigantic! (this is also a part of our good diet lately) But then peanut butter tastes great on practically anything. I love it on toast (when I'm eating bread that is) especially on apples, in celery, on a spoon, in ice cream. The really big way to eat peanut butter in our family, though is on cinamon rolls. Yes, cinnamon rolls! Everyone in our family loves it this way....except me. I've never been able to bring myself to do that. Oh well. It is still a vital ingredient in our everyday life. Important at #1+. And just so you can share in my joy over this wonderful stuff check out this link:http://www.drjean.org/html/monthly_act/act_2005/09_Sep/booksSept/PeanutButterMini.doc

The most important "things"

Like I said yesterday, I have plenty of other things that i do consider important in my life. I dream about these; I worry about them; I manipulate and figure to get them right; I take time to do, to be, to have each one of these "things". My life isn't right unless these are 'right' too. I hope, however, that they don't interfere with the truest and most important thing in anyone's life especially mine: my spiritual walk and relationship with Christ.

Here's my important list:

1. Buster

2. Friends and what they think

4. Being able to take vacation or time off to camp

5. Having a house that looks neat and presentable to visitors (well fairly neat)

6. Having a job I enjoy to the max

7. Health insurance

8. Being able to get up early in the morning and exercise; walk, bike, canoe, swim--anything that happens outside!

9. Knowing and being known (that's a group of people who know me well and like me anyway)

10.Family-- that includes kids, grandkids, mom, brothers and sisters--their health, well being and safety!

List of unimportants

I was thinking about things that other people often consider high on their list of 'must haves' or status symbols and started making a mental list of the things that really don't matter all that much to me anymore. Mind, I do have a list of things that ARE important to me, but I'll get to that later. But, if you're out there and are chasing after the status symbols of life, perhaps one day you too, will get to the point where things like that just aren't so important anymore. Here's my list:

10. Shoes (I've always had trouble saying the words "those are cute shoes")

9. make up (putting it on and wearing it everyday)

8. designer jeans

7. a new house

6. two cars

5. the "perfect" yard

4. friends with lots of connections or who can get me something (commonly referred to as the 'right' friends

3. working overtime for money

2. polished fingernails or toes (even when I'm wearing sandals)

1. gambling...or seeing Las Vegas...or trying out a riverboat...or playing blackjack..or playing the lottery just in case i should hit the big time that way!

Sing down the summer!

I heard a wren yesterday morning. Then tonight as I sat out on our back deck with a book in hand I heard him in our back yard singing like the whole summer was stretched out in front of us. (Oh wait! It is!) My father in law's birthday was May 6 and he always said that the wrens arrived just in time to sing a happy birthday to him. He said it was the best gift he could ever get. I must admit they are lovely to listen to. We always expected them the first of May. And when we hear them, We always talk about Dad K. I can't hear them without thinking of him. He always had a wren house or two in his back yard to be sure these sweet little songsters were there all summer. They are a joy to hear. Right now the loudness of the bird song can wake you up early. The next bird to arrive will be the swallow and I actually think I heard one of them not too long ago. These birds are one of my favorite reasons to have summer!

I found the coolest website with all my favorite birds and then some listed. Just click on the link: http://www.learnbirdsongs.com/birdsong.php?id=16

Stormy and the gun

I think it's a day for another "horse" story. Like I've said, there a million of them!

My horses weren't thorough-bred, or pure bred stock by any means. Stormy, my first full size horse, was old when we got him. He was gentle, easy to ride and not particularly well formed. My mare, Lady, while not old, was probably part mule. She was mean. I also had a pony early on, Sparky. He was a shetland and he also lived up to the breed's nature: mean and unpredictable. Oh well, it didn't matter to me. I loved all three of them with every ounce of me. The rest of my family tolerated this, but I was the only one who would ride, feed, groom or have any attachment to them. I was teased pretty unmercifully at school about Stormy. Since I was in junior high during it was easy to traumatize me. I could easily be set off and I'm sure that's what many of my classmates had in mind. (Sort of like me chasing that chicken. I loved watching him chase me with wings spread wide, head out, clucking and running at me for all he was worth knowing he'd never catch me) Anyway, the boys often reminded me that the horse was 'swayback' good for dog meat, or the dog food factory. Ugly , slow...those are the names I vividly recalled. This always made me cry. My dad told me over and over that by reacting I was only adding fuel to the fire. I cried anyway.

Things came to a head one day with my brother, though. He was taunting me about the horse. I angrily told him to stop. He didn't. (He never did learn when to stop pushing those buttons) We had just gone inside the house and my anger reached critical mass. There at the door was a line of guns. I pulled one up and told him he should apologize or I would make him sorry. He threw up his hands, backed out the door and told me that the gun was loaded. (A loaded gun in the house? Yikes!) But I told him "Too bad" and pulled the trigger without really waiting for that apology. Fortunately for both of us the gun was a B B gun. (We were all used to taking our licks from a bb gun) I hit him in the side. And just like that my anger was spent. However, that was not the end of it. Big trouble next. I guess name calling isn't justifiable, even if it is a horse that you love. I'll let you imagine what happened. Just let me say that my father believed in spanking.

My kids have heard this story many times from different sources (both my brothers were there for this) and they have been properly horrified by my behavior. Me too, as I think back on it.