All Nerved Up

(Photo from: Mishawaka High School Alumni Site)

This weekend is a big deal. Why is it a big deal? Because I will be attending my 20 year class reunion, that's why.

I can't believe it has been 20 years since I graduated from high school. That in itself is enough to make anyone feel slightly aged. But honestly, it seems like just yesterday I was walking the halls of Mishawaka High School eagerly anticipating graduation day! How could 20 years have gone by so fast, in the blink of an eye, I scarcely know.

I remember all the preparations, I remember the itchy, hot maroon and white cap and gown, it was sweltering with it on. I remember the excitement of hearing my name called and walking across the podium to receive the long awaited, hotly coveted diploma. That symbol of completion of 12 years of school. It is an icon of long days/nights and many struggles to make the grade. The precursor to adulthood.

I haven't attended any of my class reunions to date. This will be the first and probably only one I attend; and I'm All Nerved Up about it. I get very jittery in large groups of people. You wouldn't know it to look at me, because on the surface things appear to be fine. But underneath I am a nervous wreck, trying to hold it together. I call it my floating duck syndrome. I've talked about it before. I feel like a duck floating across a placid lake, so calm and peaceful on the surface, but below the water her little duck feet are feverishly paddling to keep her moving forward. That's me most days.

Now begins the worries of what to wear, how to do my hair and what to say to everyone. I mean, I don't want to say the wrong thing and look like a complete idiot. Then of course there is my memory. It is not a good memory and I am so hoping that I don't forget who someone is. I have already experienced this a couple times through Facebook and in person it is so uncomfortable to not be able to pull up a name to go with the face! I have the usual vain worries that any girl will have, running through my head too. Mine mostly revolve around my weight. I try not to worry about it, but it creeps in there anyway.

I'm also nervous because my husband forgot to put in for the day off, he is scheduled to work, and he doesn't get off work until 6:55 p.m. The reunion dinner we paid for begins at 6 p.m. So now I will arrive to the reunion dateless and without my husband, who should arrive later around 8 o'clock. His dinner will be cold by then and he will have worked 12 hours! With his drive time and shower time that's the soonest he can get there. So add it all up and I'm one nervous Nelly, to say the least.

I am glad that I've gotten to know several of my classmates more through Facebook. I feel like I know some of the guys and gals much better now, then I ever did in high school. That will make mingling and fitting in much easier.

Despite all my nerves, I am looking forward to the evening. It will be fun reminisce of the good ole' days at MHS! Once a Cavemen, ALWAYS a Cavemen!

Beautifully Simplistic

Simple truths, like those expressed in the verse above, warm my heart. What a powerful verse draped over a Beautifully Simplistic photograph.

Thanks go out to Linda, at Prairie Flower Farm blog here on Blogger.com, for sharing this picture; and giving permission to reuse it.

This photo brings me to a place where I feel as though I could walk right into the picture, pull up a chair, sip a cup of iced tea and feel right at home! I love nature, I love flowers, I love old enamel containers, I love gingham and I love the Word of God! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! Love.

Just thought I would share this simple photo with my friends too!

What Name?

I revel in the joys of riding my bicycle. Everytime I'm on a bike, it takes me back to the carefree days of my childhood. You know, those hot summer days when it felt so wonderful to feel the wind in your hair and on your face. When riding along listening to the birds sing, the chatter of summer bugs and the hum of your tires against the pavement was what you longed to hear. Yes, there's nothing like losing yourself in the magical power of a bike ride. Cruising along by your own strength and sheer leg power.

I also delight in the smells that linger in the air as I ride. The city scape is rich with smells from all sorts of places, like the local bakery, a freshly mown lawn or a lush flower garden ripe with fragrance. I love the mental pictures painted by such smells. Like that of flowers floating through the air as the scent of fabric softener sheets drench the breeze on laundry day.

I'm so grateful to be able bodied enough to ride my bicycle, pictured above. It's my material pride and joy! That's an old picture, seeing as my camera is broke and my bike isn't brand new anymore. I got it about two years ago now. It wasn't until recently though, that I decided to give my bike a name. But What Name? For the life of me, I can't come up with a good one! One that suits me as well as my bike; and isn't already taken by a relative or friend.

So here is my idea. I wanted to ask you, my friends, for suggestions of a good name for my pea green bicycle. I'm looking forward to any and all ideas at this point, as I have none of my own. Please leave a comment with your suggested name. I'll be sure to get back with you when a decision has been made.

I thought it would be fun to include a picture of me and my first bike. It was named Spring Fever and was the first brand new bike I had ever had. I rode that bicycle all over the yard and neighborhoods. I literally had bicycle fever! I couldn't get enough of riding it. It was special and meant a lot to me. So much so, that I still have it today. All it needs is a complete once over and some new tires, then it would be back on the roads once more. That's the plan anyhow. It's such a cool bike.

Fix it or chuck it?

So, I'm not sure I told everyone or not but my camera is fried. Yeah, seems that if you leave it in a closed up hot, Hot, HOT vehicle for any length of time it will fry the digital doohicky inside! Who would have thunk it? Obviously not me! Okay, I should have known better than to have forgotten it in the van but that's my forgetful nature; and I am trying to remedy that.

I'm at a loss as to what to do about it. I certainly can't afford a new camera and everyone keeps telling me that it would be cheaper to BUY a new camera than to have the old one FIXED! How can that be? I mean, couldn't they just fix the component that is fried and I'm back in picture taking business. Ba-da-Bing, Ba-da-Boom right? Wrong, I guess? So I'm left with the question, do I Fix it or Chuck it?

I've decided that I'm going to try and fix it. My plan is to take it over to the local camera shop and see what they say. Maybe the experts can tell me what would be cheaper. I know if I took it where I bought it they would only try to sell me a new fangled, late model one; and say the old one isn't worth fixing! Either way it's probably going to cost more than what I have to spend.

This whole camera problem has me thinking of a similar problem, with society, that sort of bugs me. I've been making some observations recently that have led me to believe that most of society has adopted a new way of thinking. I've noticed that society tends to lean towards the notion that if it's broke, don't fix it, throw it out and buy a new one. That mentality bothers me, greatly.

Take for instance houses. I know that Extreme Home Makeover does a great thing for people, I'm not knocking that. But it's still a television show that is sensationalized. They go in and tear down homes without trying to salvage any of the workable and usable materials. Materials that could be donated to help others who aren't so fortunate as to be able to have a new home built for them. That baffles me. I love the concept surrounding the Habitat for Humanity Restore! It's excellent! Click the link and check it out, there may be a store near you!

Another such observation, take restaurant chains. The Taco Bell on McKinley in Mishawaka was in a building that couldn't be more than 15 years old or so. It was a perfectly fine and functioning building. But, they tore it down only to build another building, that looks just like the old one, on the same piece of land. That sort of thing makes me scratch my head and say, "What? Why not just remodel?" A fine example of the, "It's cheaper to buy new (or build new) than to fix the old one," mentality.

Then you have the big grocery store conglomerates that leave huge, perfectly fine buildings to rot and fall apart so they can build a BIGGER brand-E-new one. They do this by taking up more tillable farmland just to put in a ginormous new building, farther away, where it wasn't needed in the first place. That just recently happened with one of my favorite shopping destinations. I liked its location and the building it was in. It had been there for years and was the store I went to with my grandma and my mom. I grew up with that store and now it sits empty, like an unwanted toy idle in a toy box. The prior reference is a telling sign that I recently saw Toy Story 3? It's still fresh in my mind!

I miss the old style stores. You know, the mom and pop grocery stores where the man at the meat counter knew your name and what your usual cut of meat was. Where the cashier was friendly and happy to see you. The stores where you're able to find what you need and get to it without having to walk a country mile! Where have they all gone? Out of business that's where! The big, money hungry chain stores are stomping them out of existence. This well known fact makes me very sad.

Okay, I'll get down off my soap box now. All this ranting hasn't solved anything. I still have a fried camera. I'll be making a trip to the local camera store. At least it's a small business that is STILL in business! I bet they can FIX my camera too!

Oh how I miss taking pictures!

1. Write About Lists . . .

I love writing a good list; and I make some sort of list every day. Why just the other day, I made a list entitled Blog Post Ideas. I bet you'll never guess what was listed first. I'll give you a hint,it's in the title. Yep, you guessed it.

1. Write About Lists.

So, here we go!

Categorizing, organizing and listing things is a routine part of most everyone's daily life. Everything can be placed in some sort of order, whether it be alphabetically or numerically, or by type, size, shape or color.

Lists play a vital role in the order of things. I think without them, it's quite possible that complete and total chaos would reign supreme. I'm not sure what, if anything, could be accomplished if it weren't for a list.

We're all familiar with the variety of lists out there; and a list could be made for anything that suits our fancy. Some lists are for things we need to do and some are for things we don't need to do. Others are for memory purposes, while others are for the enjoyment of listing things we like or don't like.

Sometimes we need to examine a current relationship or a possible new business venture. A list comes in handy when evaluating the Pros and Cons of either situation.

Yes, lists are a handy thing. Here are a few I use routinely:

* To Do List

* Grocery List

* Budget

* To 10 List

* Valentine's List

* Christmas List

* New Year's Resolutions

* Bucket List

* Random List

* Daily Gratitude List

The "list" of lists could go on and on. But for the sake of time and your fatigued eyes, I'll leave it at that.

Some of my favorite books are nothing more than gigantic lists compiled under a specific title. I have two books, in particular, that I love. Both are written by Barbara Ann Kipfer. The first one is entitled 14,000 things to be happy about. Click title to go to the website. There you can explore her book and create your own list. I've highlighted, circled and marked my copy all up! I just love it. In it the author names many of the things that have appeared on my lists over the years!

The other book is entitled 8,789 words of wisdom. I'm slowly working my way through it, highlighter in hand. It's just as enjoyable as the other. I'd like to have her book entitled the wish list. I think it shall be my next purchase!

Well, it's late. All this just to share my love of list making. It's highly entertaining stuff folks. But, I know it's not everyone's cup of tea. However, for those list makers out there looking for a good list book, Barbara Ann Kipfer's books are a good place to start. If you know of any other authors who have written books of lists, please share them with me. I'm always interested in reading new ones!

I will close this lengthy post with a Gratitude List.

5 Things I'm Grateful for Today

1. To be alive

2. My family and friends

3. To live in the U.S.A. & the troops who fight for our Freedom

4. My fans and Air Conditioning

5. Computer access to share my blog with you all

Happy list making everyone!