My weekend reading. Peter Walsh and Tess Gerritsen.

Peter Walsh is one of my favorite clutter guru. He's always making me think twice about buying and acquiring new items I really don't need. This one made me cry in the first chapter. He talks about being present in our own lives and I'm very good at disappearing into me and missing out on things going on in my own life. Summer has been a bit long this year and I think it has been easier to sleep-in then face the kids who are sick of each other and even most of their friends at this point. It was a good eye opener and I'll now try to be present in my own life and get rid of the clutter, physical, mental and emotional out of my life. Sometimes I feel so overwhelmed with life, I think I am the only one feeling that way. But after reading this I would say that it is most of us.

Favorite story: Brian Dyson said. "Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling five balls in the air at the same time. You name them: Work, Family, Health, Friends, Spirit, and your keeping all of these in the air at the same time. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back, but the other four balls-family, health, friends, and spirit -are made of glass. If you drop one of these they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged, or even shattered, They will never be the same."
Work is resilient, but heath and relationships are fragile. Are we all remembering what is most important in life? I know I'm not.

Check it out if you are having issues with any of your balls in the air.



Another good one. Not as good as the last, but still a page turner. I left for church with only 30 pages left, when I got home I finished it and WOW I love mystery. Great story, modern day drama mixed with 1800 drama in the Boston area and a few murders to boot.

In Nursery I got to spend an hour holding a sleeping baby. It was a nice way to spend an hour. I didn't feel I needed to do anything else. Thanks Meredith.

Rudeness and how to avoid it.

I was watching Oprah the other day and she did a show on Rudeness and how 85% of the population complains about the rudeness of others and 99% said they are never rude themselves. Well someone is confused that's for sure. Have you done any of the following:

1. Been late for any reason.

2. Email while on the phone.(this one I do not agree with, multitasking is my life.)

3. Taken a parking spot you know someones else is waiting for.

4. Answered a Cell phone while talking to another person.

5. Answering you call waiting for a non-needed call.(non-emergency or you were waiting for someone to return a call or call.)

6. Spoken you mind without worry to what others might think, or hurting others feeling, or writing your feeling where others will read them?

7. Expect someone who is a family member, or friend to drop their life to help you out(non-emergency item you just don't want the hassle) when you aren't even willing to drop your life to help yourself? Some people cannot say 'NO' it does not mean we take advantage of them.

8. Gossip

9. Do you use the ten item or less line with more items?

10. Do you let your children cry, yell, or talk loudly in meetings, church, theatre or other quiet areas?

11. Do you forget to RSVP or do it late?

12. Do you cut in line?

13. Texting or taking or making a call during a meeting, church, theatre, or other quiet areas?

14. Thought you were better then a service worker and left a small or no tip because of any reason? Most problems are not always ones they create, do not take someone else's mistake out on the wrong person.

Peggy Tabor Millin once said, "We never touch people so lightly that we do not leave a trace."

Being rude is really just transferring your feelings of inadequacies about 'whatever' to other people and their behaviors.

Everyone we know or meet has the opportunity to feel who we really are, are we who we want to be or are we too busy to really care about others? Polite behavior, a thank you, and a please are never out of place or out of fashion. Think about that the next time you decide something needs to be said or done, does it really? What difference will it make? If the answer is that it will make you feel better, then don't do it. Write it down, yell at the air(when your alone), or let it go. Rude behavior is something we all do, lets stop and see what happens. I bet we will all feel closer to each other and to the Lord.

My favorite genre- Mystery

Genre choice is something I thought I didn't have, I mean I like most things I read. Horror is not on the top of the list, I usually end up throwing the book out the window, the images are so real so I skip that one. I started my Romance phase about two years ago and have enjoyed the happy endings and light stories, fast to read and a fun way to spend a quiet afternoon. Vampire stories are huge right now, but they've lost their thrill for me. Chick-lit is cute and silly at times. Fiction is something I always pick up, how-to, self-help, history, religious, etc. Western have never kept my interest long.

Mystery is now my top rated Genre, I always loved it, but with the caliber of authors out there writing mystery it is hard to stay away. Tess Gerritsen is amazing and just getting better and better. Every one I read I'm surprised at how much better it is then the last. Kathy Reich, the one who produces Bones, is one of my favorites and of course the Icelandic author Arnaldur Indridason is pretty interesting to read.

If I could get close to any of these guys with my writing I would consider that a huge success. Who knows, we will see. Practice makes perfect, it's obvious in the authors I read. Every book better then the last.

If you haven't read Gerritsen you should she is amazing, I hardly put her books down once I start them.

Tess Gerritsen

School marvelous school and more.

We met every ones teachers last night and I'm more excited about school starting then ever. JT is in a 2/3 combo with only 10 2nd graders so he should be getting lots of fun experiences this year. Cenny has the same teacher that Zeke and Qatar had at her age and Zeke has a teacher with many special certificates in gifted and talented education. Qatar has dropped early bird choir, he's no longer feeling like an early bird I guess.

Gunnar started his job at Hyvee and bagged groceries for Meredith yesterday. He's also involved in Link Crew. He and a girl are assigned a set of Freshman to be friends with and show the ropes at school too. He's gone most of the day today with this responsibility.

School starts Tuesday and I think I'll sit on the couch and marvel at the silent house.

The Fair

Lots of fun. The talent show went well, Gunnar played the piano and sung and for the first time was nervous.(I think because I noticed and I haven't before.) Zeke played the piano and they both did great. No awards this year, but that is OKAY. Maybe next year.

Can you guess the owner of the feet?

Cenneidigh is growing fast and I finally found the cord to connect the camera to the computer, so here are our feet. Pretty darn close, wouldn't you say? Yes, mine are the fat ones.

Happy Birthday Gunnar

Sweet 16, but he's a teenager. Those two things don't go together. HAHA. We love you sweetheart and looking forward to all the wonderful things you do in the future. How many more inches til your done growing?