Interesting House Design, Don't You Think?

I remember telling fellow blogger Adam (when he was away on his trip and blogging about the interesting houses he observed in Canada)  about a very cool house around the block from me.  Today I hopped on a bike and went over to photograph it.

I really like the design of this house and find it very different and interesting.  One thing I couldn't help noticing as I looked over the photo was an image in the right hand window.  Was someone looking out the window as I snapped the picture, or was it a....

ghost?

Summer Thoughts

I've been away from this blog for a while due to being on vacation.  I guess it's time to start posting again.

Random thoughts:

I think it's interesting how both my daughter and I are now college graduates with a BA in English. That means we may find ourselves applying for the same jobs. Even though she tells me, "But, Mom, I'm just starting out and you have more experience", you never know. Employers might want to hire someone for entry level pay. We'll see what happens.

I'm still trying to exercise every day even though we've been going through heat waves here. Walking around outside some days is like walking through the desert. Must have a bottle of water with me!

Television has been totally boring over the summer so I'm reading. I finished Jeffery Deaver's Roadside Crosses and now I'm rereading The Lovely Bones. I am finding that as I've gotten older, I don't seem to retain many details from these books anymore. With some passages from The Lovely Bones it's as if I'm reading the words for the first time.

I love the commercials for Old Spice because they're funny and entertaining. Bravo to the advertisers for coming up with something I can actually watch without wanting to press mute or change the channel. I'd say with 90% of commercials, I either leave the room or do what I just described. And good for the Old Spice makers, I actually bought some of their product for my husband.

And now I'm going to go look for some shade or a cool room.

Thank you for the blog award!

Thank you to bettielee for bestowing a blog award on me--The Versatile Blogger.  You can visit her at this address:  http://farseeingfairytales.blogspot.com/

And now I'm supposed to list 7 things about myself you might not know.
Hmm.
1. When I was younger, still in school, I wanted to be an artist. I used to draw all the time.
2. My first cousin was a member of a band from the 70's called The Ozark Mountain Daredevils. They had a top ten song called Jackie Blue.
3. I have never traveled on a plane.
4. I never learned to swim.
5. I can sing like Cher.
6. I know how to play the piano.
7. My father taught me how to play the guitar when I was a teenager.

Introducing my new blog

Hi everybody!

I'm still keeping this blog, but today I'm starting up a new one.

It's called A Daily Dose of Comfort, and the plan is to start each day with an inspirational quote to keep readers feeling upbeat and positive.  For years I wrote greeting card sentiments and only recently I've started getting back to that market. I truly feel we need motivation and inspiration these days to stay on the right track and keep going forward.

So, this blog, It Bloggles The Mind, will be a place for me to speak my mind on current events, happenings, and what's new in my world; my new blog will be a place for you to stop by if you need some words of encouragement and inspiration.  And of course, you can leave a comment if you want!

The blog address is:  http://adailydoseofcomfort.blogspot.com/

Summer Reading

I am lining up some summer reading.  This time of year TV has nothing much to offer except reruns, so it's the perfect opportunity to peruse the book stores or just sift through the books in one of my bookcases.

So far I have a Jefferey Deaver novel waiting on my night table, The Lovely Bones (to be reread), and I believe there are a few other novels unopened in my bookcase.

So how about you?  What will you be reading this summer?

Thank You For Being A Friend...

I was very saddened to learn of the death of actress Rue McClanahan.  I loved watching The Golden Girls when it first aired in the 80's and still enjoy the reruns.

One of my sisters has a recurring dream of life in the future for herself and her 3 sisters. In her dream we're all sharing a house as The Golden Girls did, and apparently all of the guys have died off. She relates to us how nice this life is, how we're all helping each other, having fun, and just as she did when we were kids my youngest sister is still being sent off to the store to buy us food and drinks. We laugh at this, picturing a gray-haired Rose hopping on a bicycle with a basket to go fetch coffees and doughnuts.

That's what I loved about The Golden Girls, how they helped and supported each other in good times and bad. They say women outlive men, so it's quite possible for this scenario to occur. As I grow closer to the golden years, it's scary to envision life down the road, but somehow a little less scary thinking I might share those years with the three women I love most.

>No nursing homes for us! We're all gonna be fun-loving, peppy, live life to the fullest golden girls!

Roughing It

Life is challenging in the "roughing it without plumbing" days.  At times I feel like a homeless person, even though I do indeed have a home. But those who live in their car or in a cardboard box on the sidewalk or perhaps underneath a bridge are challenged with the same thing I'm challenged with--searching for a bathroom on a daily basis. It is only now that I have a better understanding of what that is like and what it must be like every day for those whose situation is not temporary. The things we take for granted are the basic necessities everyone needs, and it's not until we find ourselves without them do we realize just how valuable they truly are.

The neighborhood grocery store has been a godsend for my family, open from 6 am until 12 midnight, seven days a week.  Oh, we've visited other stores and restaurants as well, but this particular store is 3 minutes away by car. Yes, I've timed it. When my husband and I were house-hunting 13 years ago, I had a checklist which included nearby stores. There HAD to be stores close enough to walk to. Back then we only had one car which my husband drove to work every day, leaving me car-less. I remember that hot August when we moved in, walking my three kids over to their new school for registration. Yes, walking them there. I don't know how many miles away it was, but it would take about 10 minutes to drive there. But since I had no car, we walked in that awful heat.

Most of the inconveniences I've faced in life pale when compared to this current crisis.  I would love to take a shower, but I can only take a sponge bath. (we're having 80 degree weather here) I would love to cook real meals on the stove, but that would mean having to wash dishes and I can't do that. I would love to use my own bathroom instead of public restrooms, but flushing the toilet would create a disaster down cellar. I would love to wash clothing in my own washing machine instead of running to the laundromat, but that would create a flood all over my cellar floor.

The things we take for granted are the things I will cherish as soon as my situation improves and life is back to normal.

In our time we have luxuries we take for granted--electricity, indoor plumbing, heat, air conditioning, running water, telephones, computers, televisions, etc. Take one thing away and life gets very stressful and throws us off balance.

I have a better appreciation now of what life is like for those who have nothing or very little. I am enormously thankful to have a roof over my head. I am going to make a solemn vow to stop complaining about petty problems now that I see how fortunate I've always been.

And I think maybe this happened for a reason so I could learn from it.