I Hope You Dance

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

~*~GRINS~*~

GRINS - Gals/Guys Reading In Nixon Smiley
That's the name of our book club. Lisa and I started the club in January '05 and we have met monthly since. We have had a few members come and go, but for the past year or so we have had a steady group of 6 members - 5 gals and 1 guy. That's really a good number as we can all give our opinion on the book of the month and still have some visiting and eating time too. We've become good friends and really enjoy getting together.

One of the reasons for having a book club is to broaden our reading horizons by reading different types of books. It's also fun to hear what others think about the books we read.

On our website, GRINS, we have a list of the books that we've read plus books we have on schedule to read.

Friday, November 21, 2008

A Year by the Sea

This is a quick review for all of the book lovers out there. I finished the book A Year by the Sea, thoughts of an Unfinished Woman by Joan Anderson. It was a wonderful, thought-provoking book. It's the true story of a 50 year old woman who retreats alone to her and her husband's Cape Code cottage for a year. She has so many experiences and learns to be happy with herself and enjoy the simple things in life.

In paperback form it only has 181 pages, so it's a quick read. I would recommend it to all the ladies out there.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Product Reviews

During my treatments there have been days, actually weeks, that I haven't felt like cooking. So I have sampled many quick pre-cooked meals. Most I haven't cared about, but I did find one that is really good. That is Hormel Compleates Turkey & Dressing with gravy. It is not refrigerated or frozen. You can find it on the grocery shelf. All you do is make a few slits in the plastic cover, microwave for 1½ minutes, let stand for a minute or so and it's ready. Very tasty!

Another product I have tried lately is L'Oreal Paris Vive Pro For Men shampoo & conditioner for fine/thinning hair. My son, Chad, had bought this and I thought I would give it a try since I have thin hair. I wound up having a "good hair day". So just because it says for men, ladies can use it too!

Have you tried any products lately that you were impressed with? Please share them with us. Yes, that means you need to click on the word "comment" at the end of this article, type your response, click on "Name/URL", type in your first name and
click on "Publish". It's easy!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

The Shack

I recently read the book, The Shack. My friend and cuz, Maggie, loaned it to me. She had nothing but wonderful things to say about it and had loaned the book to several friends who felt the same way she did about it. I felt that the first of the book was very believable. I could feel the man's pain and sadness. But when he met God and Jesus, I felt like I was reading total fiction (the book is fiction). I just couldn't wrap my mind around the way God and Jesus were portrayed. I realize that they can come in any form they want to, but this portrayal just didn't seem real to me. I also felt there was way too much conversation.

Maybe I stretched the story out too long, as I spent 6 days reading it. Many others who loved the book read it in one or two sittings. So many others are so greatly moved by the book that I've decided that it was just me and not the book that caused me to not be as enthralled as others. I would like to hear from those of you who have read The Shack to see what you thought about it.

I've also recently read listened to the audio book Boom written by and also narrated by Tom Brokaw. I totally enjoyed this book. It brought back so many memories of the late '60's and early '70's. It was fun to travel down memory lane, and the book also filled in some information that I didn't remember about that time period. I liked it so much that I also got the audio book The Greatest Generation by Brokaw. I haven't listened to it yet.

Another audio book I listened to is The Same Different As Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. This is a true story about how an upper-middle class couple became friends with a homeless man. The narrators were perfect for the job. I would definitely recommend this book!

I'm so happy that my chemo is wearing off and I am once again getting in the reading mood! I have just begun the book, A Year by the Sea, Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman by Joan Anderson. So far I am enjoying it.

If any of you have read a good book lately, let me kn ow about it in the comments section.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

The Generosity of a Stranger Friend (part 2)













I had an appointment with my oncologist today and Sherry was in the waiting room while her husband had his chemo treatment. As usual she was crocheting. She gave me the items pictured above that she had made. There are 2 darling little stockings, a cross and a lavender sachet. We had another fun visit while I waited to see the doctor. She would occasionally get up to give a crocheted piece to someone else in the room. You just can't help but be happy when Sherry is around. How fortunate I am to have met her.

I got a great report from the doctor today. He had the results of my PET scan from last week. It showed that one spot on my liver is completely gone and the other spot, plus the spot on my lung are both minimally active and both have decreased in size since my last scan. Next I will see my surgeon and she will set up my next surgery.

Thanks to all of you for your prayers!

Thursday, November 13, 2008

World Kindness Day........

Yes, today is World Kindness Day. Sandy, from my discussion group has challenged each of us to do a random act of kindness today. I remember last year she gave us the same challenge and while I was having breakfast at the café, I paid for breakfast for 2 guys sitting across the room. They didn't speak English so I told the waitress to explain to them that someone wanted to do something nice for them. I'm sure they were surprised.

I haven't done anything this morning, but I do plan to perform my act of kindness before the day is over. I also challenge each of you to do the same and then report back here to tell what you did.

Happy Birthday Lisa !

The Nixon Breakfast Club got together this morning to celebrate Lisa's birthday. I won't say how old she will be tomorrow, but I will say that we couldn't put candles on the cake as it would be a fire hazzard. LOL

MaryAnn, Dorothy & Lisa


Lisa

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

A Quick Note

I have changed the comment section of my blog. You no longer have to be registered to make a comment. Simply click on the word Comment at the end of the article you want to comment about. It will bring up a page with a text box on the right where you may type your comment. Then click on Name/URL and a small text box will appear where you can type your first name. Then click Publish.
I would enjoy hearing from you.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Honoring The Veterans In My Life

This is my Dad who was a veteran of WWII. I couldn't have ask for a greater or more interesting Dad!

Other veterans in my life were my Brother, Glenn, who was a veteran of the Vietnam War. Also my Uncle Pick who was a veteran of WWII and was at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked. He was one of the lucky ones who survived that attack. Another veteran was my cousin, Dutch. I'm not sure which war he was in. Maybe some of the family can enlighten me.

I give my thanks to these four great Americans and all the others who have served our country in times of war and peace.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Nixon's Breakfast Club

The Nixon Breakfast Club. That's what we call ourself. Dorothy, Lisa and I. We meet once a week, usually at La Enchiladita, for breakfast. We eat breakfast, drink lots of coffee and visit there for several hours. We laugh, gripe, rant and rave and have a ball!

We also sometimes refer to ourselves as Thelma, Louise and Louise.
One day Dorothy picked Lisa and I up in her convertible and wearing scarfs and sunglasses, we cruised the town. I tried to bum some cigarettes from customers in the café, but only one person there was a smoker and he didn't have any with him. Debbie, who works at the restaurant took pictures of us. At one point we turned to look across the street at the walk up window at the bank. Instead of the one person who mans the window, all the tellers were peeping out the window to see what we were doing. It looked so funny to see all those faces staring out the window. LOL

Here we are and we weren't running from the law or looking for any cliffs!!!

That's Dorothy behind the wheel. I'm in the front seat and Lisa in the back.

Sunday, November 09, 2008

Bragging.........

I think my grandtwins are so cute that I wanted to share some recent photos with all of you.

Homecoming football game.

A fun day at the Miniature golf place.

Pumpkin Patch

Saturday, November 08, 2008

My Epiphany

Epiphany, what an interesting word. Even though I read a lot and have a decent vocabulary, I had not heard of the word Epiphany until around 3 years ago. I was at once intrigued by the word and Googled it to find out more about it's meaning, This is what I found:

1. A Christian festival, observed on January 6, commemorating the manifestation of Christ to the gentiles in the persons of the Magi; Twelfth-day.
2. An appearance or manifestation, esp. of a deity.
3. A sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.
4. A literary work or section of a work presenting, usually symbolically, such a moment of revelation and insight.

After reading this information, I realized I had an Epiphany in 1990.
I'd like to tell you the story.

It began on a hot night in August of 1990. I was married to my first husband, Donnie. We had gone to sleep in our cool air conditioned bedroom. Dusty and Chad had crawled into bed with us and Harold and his son Justin, who were spending the night with us, had gone to sleep on a pallet in our room. We were all cool and sound asleep. Suddenly, at 2:00 am there was a boom sounding like thunder right outside our room, followed by a bright flash of light. Then there was complete quiet. No air conditioner, no hum of appliances, no phone. All our power was off.

Donnie looked out the window and said he could see a semi truck crashed into a building we were constructing in our lot next door. We rushed outside to see if there might be a gas leak or anything else to cause danger. Harold went to wake our nearest neighbors to use their phone to call for help. It seems that within minutes our property was full of firetrucks, emergency crews, ambulance, electric co. trucks and what seemed to be half the population of our little town.

To make a long story short...once the sun started coming up we could see all the damage and could determine what had happened. It seems that the driver of the semi fell asleep, lost control of his truck and it ran into a large tree at the edge of our property. This caused the truck to head towards our house. It hit Harold's truck, which was in our front driveway. Thankfully this caused the semi to veer a little to the right and barely miss the corner of our front porch. It continued it's journey, tumbling over and over across the yard, and finally landed inside the building next door. The driver was found later and taken to the hospital.

All though the morning I would stay in the house for awhile, then walk out the front door to see how the clean-up was going. I would repeat this over and over. One time as I was walking to the front door I saw a figure that seemed to be formed by clouds. It was standing at the edge of the porch right where the semi had come within inches of hitting. It's legs were spread and feet were firmly planted on the edge of the cement porch floor. It's arms were spread and holding onto the porch roof, as if it were supporting it. Strangely enough, I wasn't frightened, concerned, or curious about this figure. I just walked out the front door and walked right by where I had seen it. I didn't think another thing about the figure until a couple from town came out to see the damage and ask if they could help us in any way. I suddenly thought about the figure and told the lady about it. Without any hesitation she told me that was my guardian angel and I knew immediately that she was right.

So that was my Guardian angel and my Epiphany. Now, 18 years later I often close my eyes and I can see that figure and a warm, comforting feeling comes over my body and I feel so wonderful.

I would love to hear your stories of Epiphanies, or your thoughts or comments.

Thursday, November 06, 2008

A Celebration of Life

I just returned home from a funeral that was truly a celebration of Phillip Nunley's life.

For some background information for those who didn't know him...... Phillip, his little brother, two older sisters, and his Mom moved here after the death of his father. The kids were all small. Phillip and my oldest son, Harold, were the same age. So Phillip visited our house off and on through the years. They graduated, Class of '85 and all went their separate ways. But, like my Yayas from the Class of '67, they stayed close, had class reunions, e-mailed each other regularly and still cared very much for each other. Phillip's little brother died in a tragic accident a few years later.

Phillip came home to visit his Mom this past weekend. He went to bed Saturday night and never woke up.

This morning when I arrived at the funeral home, one of his sisters told me that Phillip was different and his services would be a little different too. I was anxious to find out what she was talking about, but also had a feeling that it would be perfect for Phillip. The services started out with the Priest saying his part and saying a prayer. Then he said he thought a song would be next. Well, the song was Frank Sinatra singing New York, New York. You know the words, I want to wake up in New York.... The look on the Priest's face was priceless. He kind of rolled his eyes, raised his eyebrows and sat down. It was absolutely perfect. Everyone was smiling through their tears. Many people got up to say what they wanted to about Phillip. The main theme in everyone's words was that Phillip loved to make people happy.

Phillip left this life much too early, but he left a legacy of smiles and laughter. He will be missed. Rest in peace Phillip.

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

It Didn't Matter To Me

I'm elated today. I'm so happy that Obama is our new President Elect!!!
I was originally for Hillary Clinton. When Obama got the nomination I decided to support him, as the last thing I wanted for our country was 4 more years of Republican rule! The more I listened to Obama, heard his issues and researched him and Michelle, the more I realized how intellegent he is. And I found so many other wonderful qualities. I soon decided that he was definitely the man for the job. It didn't matter to me what color his skin was. In fact I would never have even thought about his race if the media didn't comstantly bring it up. It simply didn't matter to me.

Well, after Obama won the election and I started hearing people tell the stories of their great grandparents and grandparents, I found that I was getting teary-eyed with each story. That's when I realized that it really did matter. I knew what Afro-Americans had gone through in order to achieve equality, but I just never stopped to think about what it would mean to them for Obama to win the Presidency. I now "get it". And I'm so proud of the people of the US for their hard work and dedication to help elect such an intellegent, upstanding man as Obama. We now have hope that change will happen.

I am so proud of our country and feel like I'm breathing fresh air finally.

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

The Generosity of a Stranger



I had an appointment with my oncologist today. I arrived early and sat next to a lady, named Sherry, who was crocheting. I started talking to her about her craft and we had such a nice conversation. She had 2 large tote bags with her containing threads and other crochet projects that she was working on. She told me that she spent around $80 every 2 months on crochet thread. I ask her if she sold her creations and she said that she never sells them. She gives them away. Her husband has been having chemo for 2 years and she passes the time while at the doctors by crocheting. Before I went in to see the doctor Sherry dug into one of her totes and pulled out a beautiful deep pink doily, about 16" in diameter, with cat designs crocheted (sp?) into the piece, and gave it to me. I was so surprised and couldn't believe she would give such a lovely item to a stranger. I found out later that she has given them to people who work in that office and to many of the patients who get their chemo there.

After seeing the doctor, Sherry was still in the waiting room and I sat down to talk some more. I didn't want to leave as talking to her was so enjoyable. When I finally decided I had to go Sherry told me that she believes if she can make one person a day happy and put a smile on their face that she is happy too. What a wonderful gift she has.

Above is a picture of the doily she gave me. The color is one of the prettiest shades of pink I've seen and I will treasure that gift from now on and try my best to follow her lead and try to make someone happy every day.



I got a good report from my doctor. He said my CT scan shows that previously I had 2 spots on my liver. Now 1 has disappeared and 1 is still there but unchanged. The spot on my lung is unchanged also. He wants me to have a PET scan as it shows so much in detail. If that scan shows the same as the CAT scan, then I will be scheduled for surgery. The surgeon will zap the liver spot with some kind of radar gun and put all my plumbing back in place (boy, that will be nice!) After recovering from surgery he will send me to a lung specialist to see what we will do about the spot.