STILL TOGETHER AFTER ALL THESE YEARS

While looking for a picture to post for (ahem) "Wordless Wednesday" (I obviously havent grasped the concept of letting the pictures do the talking), I found this old picture of me, my two sisters, and some of my cousins at Cheaha. Can you guess which one is me? I'm the little runt who was too little to get to hang out with the big girls. But, I got in this picture and struck a pose like a big girl, so there! Nowadays I am allowed and actually invited at times to spend time with them. I thought I'd try to find a few recent pictures of us still hanging out together.

This one happens to be at Cheaha just two summers ago, (uh--about 37 years after the first picture!) with two of the cousins in the picture.


Here's some of the group, two years ago, at a Sweet Potato Queen Parade in Jackson, MS. I wasnt going to say anything, but .........doesnt one of them have a LOT of beads???

My sisters and I in New Orleans last summer.

Ok-so my brother wasnt in the original picture--I'm not sure he was even born yet. But, here are my sisters and one of the cousins.

Not only do I get to hang out with them, I even get to do a little dancing too. Not like when I was too little and could only watch while they all got to have fun doing the famous Soul Train Line. But--that's another story.

THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE LORD HATH MADE

Today while running an errand on my lunch hour, I was cruising down the interstate and turned on the radio to enjoy some tunes. Soon I found myself just a singing along with Jimmy Buffet. "Come Monday, it'll be alright. Come Monday, I'll be holdin' ya tiiiiight....."

Here I am singing about it being alright on Monday, and its Friday afternoon. It made me think of some phone comments by customers earlier in the day. "Thank Goodness its Friday!" "Whew, I'm glad its the weekend!" "yep, I'm doing fine now. Its ........almost Friday........Its almost the weekend......"

They weren't the least bit interested in Monday coming along. Yet, the guy in Jimmy Buffet's song could care less about the weekend. He wanted Monday to come along so he could be holding his Honey tight.

So--then of course, I got to thinking about different songs and their perspectives on the days of the week.

The Mama's and the Papa's thought Monday was so good to them. But--then they decided they just couldn't trust that day. In fact, every other day of the week is perfectly fine to them-----but that Monday--nope---cant trust it.

The Bangles consider Monday a manic day. Their day of preference is Sunday. That's their fun day!

Lionel Ritchie seems to like Sunday. He's kinda easy, like Sunday morning. He obviously doesn't get up on Sunday mornings and try to feed and dress a family and get them out of the house, into a car and to church on time. That's not too easy!

I guess my customers have been listening to the philosopher slash (/) musician, Loverboy, who wore tight red leather pants on his album cover and proclaimed, "Everybody's working for the weekend". With his fast paced beat and the electric guitars and drums, he was making everybody wanna be in the show. Come on baby, lets go!

Another person ready to go is the woman with the Friday Night Blues, in John Conlee's song. He's been working all week while she's stuck in the house. He's wanting to just sit on the couch and relax, but she's been getting all "prettied up". As he's kickin his shoes off, she's putting hers on. She's got the Friday night blues. Well--maybe they can go out on Saturday night.

Saturday night must be a good night. The Bay City Rollers are especially excited about S-a-t-u-r-d-a-y night. They are gonna keep on dancing to the rock n roll. On Saturday night, Saturday night.

I sure wish these people would make friends with Sam Cooke & Cat Stevens.. They have a dilemma. Seems they've found themselves coming up on another Saturday night and they aint got nobody. They have money--cause they just got paid. They just really wish they had someone to talk to. They are in an awful mess.

Maybe they are looking forward to Monday too! Or Sunday, Or any other day of the week.

Seems everyone is always looking forward to a different day. Or a different time. It's gonna be better when Fri night comes. It's going to be better when the weekend comes. Or Sunday. Or come Monday.

Hey--I have an idea. Lets find a reason to be happy with this day. And enjoy this day. No matter what day it is.

"This is the day which the Lord hath made;we will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

And -here's a song we can sing along to, and express our happiness for this day:

This is the day (this is the day),
That the Lord hath made (that the Lord hath made),
I will rejoice (I will rejoice),And be glad in it (and be glad in it)
This is the day that the Lord hath made,I will rejoice and be glad in it!
This is the day (this is the day),That the Lord hath made.

SOMEONE WHO SPEAKS GEORGIAN IS ON MY MIND

This is my name in Georgian. - (The country--not the state in the US. If that were the case, my name would be Cawleen--3 syllables). The language is very beautiful to see in writing. If I had been smart, I would have had the person who wrote this for me, write even more for me in Georgian. My brother had a great idea. He has Bible verses written in Georgian, in the back of his Bible. How is that for a souvenir?

This is the person who wrote my name for me. She lives in Azerbaijan, but the town she lives in is mostly a Georgian-speaking town. It is very close to the Georgia border. See how her walls are decorated in post cards? It’s really cool.

Here she is with her mom. Isnt this a sweet picture?


And here she is with her dad, mom, our interpreter, and two of her friends.

My brother and I, along with our interpreter (and friend), were fortunate enough to be guests in their home, for a couple of days.

It was such an awesome opportunity to meet these people, whom I will never forget. I wonder if I will ever get to actually see them again. We have an invitation to return during the summer months and hike (through the Caucus mountains) to a beautiful waterfall. My brother says that he would actually like to bring his whole family on a visit to this area. Who knows? We just never know where God might lead us or whom He will give us the pleasure of meeting.

My new friend has said she will teach me Georgian. The first phrase she has taught me is:"Kriste agsdga", meaning Christ is raised from the dead.

I think that’s a great phrase to start with! Knowing that Christ has indeed risen, and having a relationship with the Risen Christ is part of what led me on my journey to meet my new friend and know what my name looks like in Georgian. And to learn how to say, “Kriste agsdga!”

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY AGAIN!

Even when I'm "wordless" I have a lot to say! I actually had more to say. I lost some of my favorite pictures while trying to fix the spacing between the pictures. : ( In case you dont know what these pictures are saying, here's a hint: Azerbaijan (or Azerbaycan) is Awesome!

WELL ACCORDING TO MY CALENDAR, CHRISTMAS IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER

Yesterday I came into the office, looked at my nice big calendar, and thought, "Wow! Monday the 18th. This month is flying by way too fast!! Next week is payday (I get paid the last day of every month) and it seems like we just got paid! I studied the calendar, thinking about how time just slips by so quickly.

Wow, again--- I sure am behind in tearing off the dates on my little appointment calendar! So--I sat there and tore off the pages till I found the one that said, "MONDAY , MAY 18". Ok-all set to start the day. The day of Monday the 18th.

Oh--don't worry about correcting me--I have since found out that yesterday was not the 18th of May. But, I did go for quite a bit of time yesterday thinking that way, until a customer told me that he had a birthday coming up. On the 18th.
I asked him, "The 18th of what?"
"May", he says.
"Well--that is today!" Poor guy, doesn't even know it's his birthday!!
"No its not--today is the 11th. Wake up Colleen"

So I say, " I sure am glad you said something! I was already planning on going to my Dr's appt tomorrow" (which is written real big, in red, on my calendar on the 19th).

Usually at the end of each day, I use a marker and put a slash through that day on my calendar. But, I had not done that at all this month. So, I make sure, right then,that I put a mark through all the dates up to Sunday March 10th. And, yesterday before I left, I put my handy little slash through Monday the 11th of May.

So--when I walked into the office on Tuesday the 12th, I would clearly see that it was indeed Tuesday the 12th. There is NO Dr. appt note written as a reminder on the block of my calendar marked Tuesday the 12th. Of course not. Because my appt is for Tuesday the 19th.

What to know what happened next? I get up this morning, thinking about going to my Dr. appt this morning. I walk in the door and a co-worker says, " I thought you had a Dr. appt this morning. Why are you here?" I guess I must have mentioned yesterday that I had an appt, before I realized my error. So--what did I say, "Yes, I do have an appt. I don't have to leave until 9:30am though".

I sit down and start doing my work. Trying to get as much done as I can before I leave for my 10:00am appt. I am seeing a new Dr. and I was asked to be there early to fill out paperwork.

So, this morning at 9:40am, I head out for my appt, just a smidge later than I wanted to, but I couldn't help it. I had been in the middle of a sales call.

I get to the Dr.'s office and am a little irritated that some man is hogging the sign in sheet while digging around in his wallet for his picture ID and insurance card. I have to put the time that I sign in, and he is keeping me from signing in! I want it documented that I did show up early!

Finally when I think I am going to get to sign in, the nurse calls a man up to the window. Seems he was there for an appointment and his appt wasn't even till this afternoon. Poor guy. Came all the way over here this morning for nothing. Has to leave and come back later.

I finally get to sign in, and I hand the nurse my driver's license and insurance information, and then stand there waiting for the clipboard full of papers with every kind of question about me and my family. The nurse starts keying in information and then looks up at me and says, "Do you have an appointment with Dr. Jones?" That is when I realize that YES I DO have an appointment. It's just not THIS week. Oh my gosh!

So, I very sweetly & innocently said, "Yes. I have an appointment. Is this not the correct time?" She does a little more checking to find out what I really already know. My appointment is not till next week. "Well" I tell her, "you did ask me to be here early to fill out paperwork."

UGH! I am wondering how I still had it in my head that I had a Dr appointment today, even after I figured out that I was not looking at the calendar correctly. I had it in my mind, and I just stayed on course. No matter what BOTH of my calendars were TRYING to show me.

Thank goodness I will be seeing my Doctor next week. If I remember to go and if I remember where his office is located! I may need to discuss dementia with him!

Happy Hump Day! And don't forget to start working on your Christmas list!!

CHILD LABOR

Recently, after a little touch up on my toenails, I left my bottle of red polish sitting on the coffee table and rushed out the door. I was expecting to be home alone that weekend, and thought it would be OK to leave it there till later. Well-----I ended up not being alone later, and while I was putting groceries away in the kitchen, guess who discovered the bottle, after being home for less than 5 minutes???


Here he is, pointing out his handi-work.
He didn't have a clue he had it on his face and hands, and couldn't figure out why I kept wanting him to be still for this picture. "Hey, grandmama--cant a guy eat his apple in peace??" What you cant see is the red polish on the dog, the rug in the hall, the TV remote, a few specks on his shirt, and a nice glob on his shorts.

For punishment, I woke him up bright and early the next day and , while still in his jammies, made him wash windows......................

....................................and cut the grass.

JUST KIDDING------ He actually saw me wiping the window sill, thought it was fun, and wanted his own paper towel. The lawn mower was a birthday present and it blows bubbles. Too bad it doesn't really work, he was doing a great job!!!

Unfortunately, by the time he gets good at wiping down the windows & cabinets, wiping up his messes, throwing trash away , putting away toys, or operating a real lawn mower, he will realize its work and not just some fun thing to do. Yesterday I had to sweep off the porch, and he ran to get his toy broom and help. Did I mention he has a toy vacuum that he loves? Wonder how much he'll love it when its time to use a real vacuum? Oh well. At least I can enjoy watching him now. Oh--and it sure is nice to lay on the couch and say, "hey, can you go over there and get grandmama the remote?". That's not violating child labor laws is it? Isn't that what kids are for??? : )