Fresh towels, anyone?

Want to know the secret to having a house full of fresh clean towels. I learned the secret today and you too can have this is just a few easy steps...

1. Get dish soap from under the cabinet to refill your pretty bottle on the counter.
You know your sink cabinet looks like this too!

2. Notice that the bottom of the dish soap bottle is a little damp... say, "Hmmm, that's odd" to your self and move on. You have this morning's breakfast dishes in the sink and the dishwasher is full of clean dishes. "Shoot, I'll wash these real quick and empty the washer later."

3. Forget about the damp bottle and go outside to play in the fire for a few hours....




4. Secretly praise yourself for working out in the yard and weeding the garden! Or accept praise from a companion.

"Nice work, CL."



5. Hours later remember the damp bottle and go to investigate. Notice a slow dripping leak on a valvey-thingy and give it a little twist. "Nope--- maybe the filter needs tightening?.... Is it lefy-lucy or righty-tighty?"



6. Scream like a girl to wake everyone enjoying a Saturday nap. Figure out how to turn the water off. Yell at sarcastic teenager to find some towels (next time clarify BIG THIRSTY TOWELS, not little kitchen rags!)

7. Spend Saturday night washing 2 loads of wet, heavy, soaked towels while the well-rested boys go out to play!

Thanks Sandy and Frankus for keeping me company!

Are you gettin enough lettuce in your diet?

There are 5 types of "Let-Us" in The Bible. Are you serving enough?

Hebrews 10:22-25

22let us draw near to God with a sincere heart...
Am I focusing on the world and my life so much that I forget that I already have someone on my team?

23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess...
Do I really believe in God's strength? Then why do I stress so much?

24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds...
Am I trying to correct and guide or chastise? Spurring is good, if it's done in love.

25Let us not give up meeting together...
Do I make excuses so much that I isolate myself and then whine about being lonely---guilty!

but let us encourage one another...
Do I encourage others enough? Is my encouragement sincere?

I think I could stand to improve in all these areas.

A New You in 52!!!

We all do it every year. Resolutions--- it's almost become a dirty word. You know, one of those words we (whisper) in a crowd.

Well I'm not doing it. No resolutions to be found here! No GRAND PLAN for sticking to them. No reward for overcoming obstacles. Nope! This year is different.

Last year I spent way too much time making excuses. "I hate my job." "I'm so tired." "If only I had more money." "If only there was someone to help me with..." But that's not really it.

There is a character building program called "Bucket Fillers." It was presented to our elementary students last year. The premise is simple. Everyone has a bucket inside. It needs to be filled for us to be happy and productive. The way that we interact with one another not only affects their bucket, but ours as well. The children are taught that you should strive to be a "Bucket Filler" to those you are around.

This basically means encourage one another. Build each other up instead of tearing each other down. When you complement, have patience, help with kind words and actions you are filling someones bucket. When you criticize, are greedy or selfish, and keep to yourself you are emptying someones bucket.

If I'm being completely honest with myself, I'm empty. The well has gone dry. The bucket has had a slow dripping hole---probably for years. And in the spirit of honesty, I probably dip out of my own bucket more than anyone I have ever blamed.

Oh I'm a great bucket filler. I try to encourage others. I want everyone to like me. I teach Pre-K for heavens sake! "Oh bless you!" "Oooo, you must have the patience of Job." I hear you!

But for as long as I can remember I have looked into that bucket without even realizing it existed. I stare down in the bucket and see a pit. And I look in and whisper, "Hello! Is anybody down there?" "Don't you see me up here?" "I'm waiting. Do you have something for me?" "Are you thinking about me today?" "Do I matter to you?" "Please fill my bucket."


And on many days all I hear is a lonely echo. So I fill my own bucket. "You don't matter. You're fat. Your selfish. Nobody needs you." "Don't you see that you don't deserve to be loved?" "It's your own fault!" "YOU SUCK!!!!!"

Well---- 2010 is not a year to me. It is 365 days. And 52 weeks. 52 weeks that God designed. He knows the plan. He is holding my bucket. He keeps putting things in my bucket and I just hammer a new hole.

He has given me a child. I promised to love and train that child.

He has given me some very close family members. I spend as much time (if not more) griping about the ones that are not close as I do encouraging and praying for the ones that are.

He has given me Jesus. I stood in a little office with the lights off in 1995 and accepted forgiveness. And I've wasted 15 years beating myself up for shortcomings.

He has given me scripture. I go to it when I'm sad, or scared, or want to show someone else what may be the answer to their problem.

Today is a day of spackling. I'm going to try and patch up those nasty little holes. I'm not a perfect mason and I'm sure they may leak again. But when they do my goal is to not look around to find out who can fix them for me, but to fix them for myself. I deserve it. My bucket is at the front of the line now. No more second hand leftover scoops for me. I'm serving myself first.


Oh, and by the way---- I haven't filled my bucket with any DP this weekend ;-)

Perspective

Wow, what a month. Never in my wildest dreams did I anticipate ending the summer by helping my mom get 'comfortable' with a terminal cancer diagnosis!

Well I am, Summer vacation is over. A new school year will find me with new students, at a brand-new campus and with a new goal to make EVERY DAY (and everything I do) mean something.

My hope is that this cheery pillowcase will help brighten up a rather drab hospital room.

Button Up

I bought a package of buttons in 1993 for a CUTE little romper I was making for a sweet boy. I used only one of them and threw the rest in my button tin.

I have carried this tin around since I was in 9th grade. It's funny how I can remember that it came from a fundraiser I did in choir (a million years ago) and had shortbread cookies in it, but I can't remember if I shaved my legs in the shower this morning. It's one of those things I can't part with. No family heirloom. Not from a grandma's sewing room before the farm house was torn down. Nope, I don't have those kinds of stories. Just a silly tin.

But, as I sat there yesterday sifting through those buttons the sound was like an old friend that hadn't visited in awhile...soothing...comforting... No words were exchanged, but the understanding between us was still there. "Good to see you again."

So now you see why this place is called CL's Ramblings!----back to the buttons. That cutie pie little boy is now 16. When I saw these buttons I thought of all the many things I could make for him.

• I could quilt a CD holder for the visor in his truck
• I could possibly embellish his ammo bag that he takes duck hunting
• I could even hot glue them on a frame and find the picture of him in that fabulous romper

Of course, all of these things would only get me dirty looks now and a downgrade on nursing care when I'm old and decrepit! So I turned them into magnets. I won't flaunt them in front of him and whisper sweet nothings about how much he is loved. I won't use them to post reminders to floss on the bathroom mirror.

I'm going to take them to school. Because there I am still a super-hero. There no one rolls there eyes when I embellish a story. Inside those 4 walls the students will always look up to me---literally, I teach the young 'uns.

I'm excited for school to begin! And you can bet that someone's going to ask where I found those cute magnets. Boy do I have a story for them! (Hope it's not my principal)---CL

Was Fonzie really a good guy, or a player?

It all started with a fabulous Christmas gift from Rae Rae kept locked away for at least a year.

I couldn't commit to the placement, so the blocks hung out on the wall for awhile two summers later. Borders and binding were stitched on with my arms twisted behind my back by loving family members... Quilt Retreat Feb 2008. Summer 2008....Finally, a finished quilt to snuggle up with.

Did I mention that I don't quilt? Nope. I can't commit to that either. I like to call myself a connoisseur of fabric. I like to shop for it. Enjoy feeling it. I get goose bumps when the blocks begin to take shape. Once all that is over, it loses the excitement. I lose interest. I bag that quilt top up and stash it in the closet. I'm like the boyfriend afraid of commitment. "You're great and all, little quilt-top, but I heard about some new stuff from Moda. I see you next summer!" Well, it's almost the last week of July, I'd better get to the cutting board!

New Beginnings

I'm just getting started here. Not doing this for fortune or fame, but for free therapy!