I was opening the mail at work (part of my job) and came across a newsletter from a local printing company.  It’s by far my favorite printed newsletter.  There are always bits of unique information, trivia, quotes, current events, and history facts.  I always try (and fail!) to identify the year that a significant event had taken place.  It’s harder than it sounds!

So in the last newsletter there were several quotes from Ben Franklin (another thing that’s in it every month) and I really enjoy them.  One was ‘when things don’t seem to be going right, go left.’  Ha!  Good advice!  But the one I liked best was ‘Don’t every let anyone dull your sparkle.’

Hmmmm.  Well, that’s really easy to do.  Something doesn’t go the way you expect, or you don’t meet someone else’s expectations, or what you had hoped for falls short.  Every day there is something that can disappointment us.

But every day there are dozens of other things that are good, and happy, and normal, and perfect, and exciting, and rewarding, and make us smile.  There are people we enjoy being around, and people we are glad are NOT around, and tasks that we complete satisfactorily, and tasks that we didn’t have to do after all!  So many little, ordinary seconds in our day that are really extraordinary!  If only we stopped to recognize them!

Sometimes, when I look at something or talk to someone and the expectation falls short, I feel deflated.  Like it’s my fault, or even that I should eliminate the situation from my everyday activities, or that I need to accept the responsibility of someone else’s choices or personality (good or bad!). 

But I’m letting these things dull my sparkle.  I CAN sparkle!  I can move above whatever is pulling me down.  I can smile and look for the blessings, and I can fill my mind with happy thoughts.  Even in the worst situation, there are still thousands of happy thoughts to reach out for! 

I’m going to go now, because I’m going to practice sparkling.  I’ll start with my Wednesday night cleaning routine, because getting it done makes me happy, and then I can eat some yummy meatloaf, which makes me happy, and then I can watch the sappy Hallmark movie, which makes me happy.  So many blessings; so many ways to sparkle!  See ya — go sparkle!!!

According to all reports, Jaxon should make an appearance on March 2nd.  Morgen and Levi (his parents) are excited and as ready as they will ever be.

Especially after today’s baby shower!

Dozens of their family and friends and co-workers got together to shower the baby with clothes and diapers and blankets and every little thing you could think of.  The theme was ‘elephants’, and a lot of the gifts kept with the theme.  Our favorites were the little stuffed elephant chair and the tiny bathrobe with an elephant on the bottom corner.  So cute!

As at any shower, food was in abundance, including the elephant cupcake-cake.  Very clever.  A huge stuffed elephant kept Morgen company as she opened what seemed like an endless array of presents.

This baby, parents, and grandparents will not be lacking the necessities – and a lot of the finer things! – needed to start life when he arrives.  And if the love surrounding them all that was evidenced in that room today is any indication, the new little family will have the best start that anyone could want.

Best of health, happiness, and blessings to you all – and I can’t wait to meet Jaxon.  Hugs!!!

On Friday January 27th my daughter turns…..  Wait.  I better not actually say how old.  Someone may start calculating ages and I think that is best left unsaid.  But she IS celebrating a birthday, and it’s my job as her mother to wish her the most wonderful and happiest day of days!

Kelly has always been bigger than life – with an exuberance for life that has never dulled.  She puts every bit of herself into any project that interests her, and gives her all whenever asked to be a part of anything. 

For her first Christmas she got Baby Sister (the little yellow Fisher-Price doll) and it went everywhere with her.  It was aptly named as that was the only baby sister she ever had.  She loved that doll and I know it’s still tucked away somewhere in her Happy Days (memory) box.

She loved swimming, and in those days didn’t mind sporting a bikini.  Oooo La La!

She has grown from that laughing, happy little girl into a lovely woman; a wife, mother, teacher, daughter … whatever she sets her mind to.  Kelly is a Proverbs 31 woman (look it up!), and I am proud of her life and the love she shows to others, and to her devotion to serve and love God. 

Maybe someday, if I ever decide to actually grow up, I can be just like her!  Love you, my daughter!  Happy Birthday! 

How many people does it take to successfully organize, register, and transport four Smails and assorted employees to the NADA convention?  

The answer is:  Don’t know.  It’s never been done! At least not easily and successfully, not the first try, anyway.

Every July, NADA (National Automobile Dealers’ Association) opens up its annual registration for their January convention in either San Francisco, New Orleans, or Las Vegas.  And every July, the very moment that I get to my desk on that all-important day, I start the registration process.  There’s plenty of time to register for the convention, but the choice hotels go lightening fast.  In order to get the hotel of choice (and that is an absolute requirement!) you must ACT fast!  We have yet to get all of our people the hotel of choice on the first try.

If that was the end of it, the whole thing wouldn’t be so bad.  But about September I start getting calls about adding spouses and guests to existing registrations.  About Thanksgiving I start getting requests for registering additional employees.  Then in January, people start changing their minds and need to cancel out or substitute another manager for their spot.  This year they added a person THREE DAYS before the actual event.  No one thought to mention to me that they told him we could go, back in December!

Then there are the workshops, manufacturer receptions, brunches, luncheons, and after-hours parties. Each event has separate registration processes and are by invitation only.  Take 10 events times 14 attendees and that equals chaos!  The one redeeming aspect of this whole thing is that I am not involved in the flight arrangements.

There are 14 packets of information to prepare, which include convention and hotel registrations, event verifications and information, local weather, hotel assignments, a list of cell phone numbers, and meeting schedules.  Last year I included M&M’s but they got lost in the shuffle so this year, I ate them.

Once these 14 people are on the plane(s) tomorrow morning, I will have four glorious days of peace and quiet to get back to my regularly scheduled duties.  However, for some reason, I anticipate getting at least one phone call from someone who forgot something they needed to know or should have handled before they left.

Somehow, July doesn’t seem so very far away, after all….

Sometimes it seems to me that when I am not feeling well, I have the weirdest dreams.  And there is no rhyme or reason to them. Such was the case last night.

I woke up somewhere after midnight with the words to several songs floating around in my head, songs that Stoney used to sing with the band in the late 60’s and early 70’s.  I haven’t thought about those songs in decades.  The dream stuck to me to the point that I had to look them up on line to read the words and sing along in my head.  Even though that part of my life is tucked far back in my memory’s file cabinets, it was nice for just a little while to think about those times.  I pictured setting on the steps in the house where I grew up, listening to him play his shiny red Gretsch guitar and singing songs like ‘Spanish Eyes’, ‘Twilight Time’, ‘No, Not Much’, and ‘Crazy’.  Ahhh, those were the days.

But after I had cleared away that little journey back half a century, I fell back to sleep.  This is were the dream got a little crazy.  I dreamed about my friend, Roger – (I haven’t talked to him in about a year) but he was wearing a pink gingham dress with ruffles! Talk about crazy! But after a quick dream hug, I found myself sitting on the floor at his house, leaning back against the couch, watching the Karaoke screen scroll past with the words to some of our favorite songs.  He would sing – and he was good! – and when I knew the song, I would join in.  We laughed a lot, because Karaoke is not my best venture.  We did the 60’s music mostly (‘Unchained Melody’ or ‘Last Kiss’), and then songs like ‘Why me, Lord?’ and ‘One Day at a Time, Sweet Jesus.’ What great memories!

I realized when I thought about both of those dreamy visits that it was the music that made it so fun and it was so much a part of what we did.  What a joy it was to share together, listening to ourselves and to each other.  I really miss that.

I can’t go back there, even if it was an option, but I have come to the realization that it’s ok to look back on your life and to get great pleasure from the memories I find there.  Even if those people stepped away from my life – and maybe not too gently! – I can recall and relive those moments with smiles and fondness, and realize that those times have helped bring me to who I am today.  So I’m going to hum ‘Twilight Time’ and maybe ‘It’s my Party’ as I go through my week, and take comfort in happy days gone by.  So grab your dream song, and start singing; I recommend it!

Be still, and know that I am God….  That is the beginning of Psalm 46:10.  It does not refer to staying in bed when you are sick, but it sure fit this last weekend.

I have spend a lot of time over the last month assuring people very close to me that when you ARE sick, you need to allow yourself to be sick.  Rest, drink lots of fluids (especially water), and don’t push yourself.  Don’t spread germs by going to work or meetings or programs, even if they are near and dear to you.  Be still….

These past few days have found me coughing out my own words.  It started mildly with me on Thursday evening, a slight cough and just an overwhelmingly tired feeling.  My co-worker was ill and I was suspicious that I may have picked up something, but I kept going that day.  By Friday morning I knew it had caught me, but I couldn’t take Friday off because the other 2 girls in my office were off, and I’m the department manager, so…

But by the time I got home Friday evening, I knew that the only thing I could do was NOTHING!  I threw a sheet over the couch, got my meds, turned on sappy Hallmark movies (yea for Hallmark movies!!!) and crashed.

It’s not like there was nothing else to do.  The temperature was a balmy, sunny 60* plus, and my granddaughter Autmn’s birthday party was in the afternoon, and the Ligonier Ice Fest was Saturday and Sunday (on the list!) and I had a writer’s meeting Sunday after church.  I wasn’t about to spread these little germs, so with one swoop I knocked everything off the list and stayed home.

I’m sorry to have missed these things, and I’m not even sure what Monday will bring, but for now, I am trying very hard to ‘Be still…..’  Actually, I don’t have to try at all.  Blaaaa. 🙂

God bless and stay healthy!!!

Fourteen years ago on January 21^st we were waiting for a little bundle to arrive.  I had to work late and just barely walked into the hospital waiting room when little Autmn Rose Stairs Burke entered the world. 

Her life has been a series of ups and downs – great moments of joy and fun, and hard moments of struggle.  She slept in dresser drawers and Snoopy cribs, hopped from one house to the other, and just tried to figure out her life.

But I have seen in the last few months that she is growing up.  She’s pretty and smart and has really been working on doing the right thing – which is hard for all of us!  She splits her time with her mom and sisters, her dad and Chrissy, her Nanna, and me.  I’m always excited to spend time with my Autmn, just hanging at the house or going out on missions or outings of some kind.

Last week when she was over, I showed her my new Samsung tablet, and the one app that I had downloaded.  She just looked at me.  Before fifteen minutes had passed, we had downloaded facebook, and the weather app, and the Hallmark Channel, and several other things that I wanted to have.  So now, thanks to Miss Autmn, I’m all set!

I look forward to what this year will bring – before another year passes, she will move from the middle school to the high school (yikes!), and before two years pass she will be talking about driving.  How does time go by so fast?

Happy birthday, Autmn – I’m really excited to see what comes next for you.  And I will pray for wisdom and peace and joy in your life, every single day!  

My sister Kathy and I came to the conclusion a long time ago that we were the true ‘Mary and Martha’ sister-types. 

She is by FAR Mary in every way.  She has the heart for ministering to others in any situation, and is loving, kind, insightful, and very giving.  She gets strength and energy from sitting at the feet of Jesus.  She is tender, yet strong in standing for the principles of God’s word. 

I am the Energizer Bunny Martha – always busy with something.  I am in my element when I am cleaning, working, and being behind the scenes.  I am not comfortable interacting with groups of people, most especially when I don’t know them well.

We all know that story; Martha was frustrated that Mary sat talking to Jesus when she was doing all the work.  When Martha spoke her mind, Jesus praised Mary for choosing the better part.

Being Martha, I spend a lot of time thinking about that scenario.  The obvious reaction is that we should all be encouraged to be Mary.  But I want to present another point of view (not disagreeing with Mary’s choice, of course!).

If Martha spent enough time with Jesus to feel comfortable approaching him with her concerns, then they were very close.  This was not a stranger, nor was He someone she felt intimidated by.

I am very uncomfortable in social situations.  I do not like mingling and I am not good at meeting new people.  I’d rather be behind the scenes, doing busy work and making things happen.  And not because I want credit for anything; I love to serve others and I love a good project with the end result of a job well done. 

Perhaps Martha felt that way.  She knew Mary had chosen well, but was afraid that she, Martha, could never meet the expectations of others the way Mary could.  So she was trying to redeem herself by placing undo significance on the menial tasks that she took upon herself.

I’m sure there were a lot of emotions running through Martha’s mind that day, as would be mine.  And I’m also sure some of them stemmed from feeling frustrated and maybe inadequate.  But I have to trust that God will see the love and devotion of those of us who are Martha.  And those of us who are Martha can maybe make more effort to sit at the feet of Jesus. 

These are just my humble reflections, just so you know that. And by the way, I could never figure out how anyone could have eaten that day if everyone was sitting!!! Just sayin’……..

I can look outside my door as I sit here, and see the brown, dirty landscape.  In winter, it feels like everything has died and left us void of life and color.

But the roots and seeds and sprouts of spring just sit dormant, waiting for warmer temperatures and sunshine.  Then they will burst forth with life and color, and the world will rejoice!  Although summer is my favorite season (give me bare feet, 90*, and shorts any day!), the arrival of spring lifts my soul.  Winter is the time that God has determined that his earth (at least in Western Pennsylvania!) needs a rest. 

As we all do.

I keep busy – I love being busy and having things to do.  I make lists and take on projects and get involved in many things, including my jobs.  I often refuse to let myself take a break, or be ‘tired’, or just say ‘no’ now and again.  But just like winter, I need to be dormant, and feel the quiet calm around me.  God did not design us to be busy and engaged every minute. 

I am giving myself my own advise here.  It’s very difficult for me to let up on my schedule. But these past few weeks have found me taking a little extra time in the evening to sit and read, or fall asleep on the couch.  It’s my winter, so I’ll make a cup of hot tea, grab my current read, and let myself relax just a bit.  Spring is around the corner, so look out!

Kathy and I had a lovely couple of days visiting Mom and John.  We traveled up on Friday evening, and even with a traditional stop at Edinboro Walmart we were there before 7pm.  It was nice to get hugs all around and catch up on what was happening.

Saturday morning Kath and I did our 2 mile hike up the road (no forks this time!) and oooohed and aaaahed over the preacher’s house-in-progress.  Every time there is a little more to see.  Great job, Byron and friends!

John was content to stay out of the rain, but Kath and Mom and I went over to the Thrifty Shopper to eye up some specials they had.  We stopped at the consignment shop in downtown Albion, then buzzed into Sure Fine for one of their famous roasted chickens for lunch.  We topped that off with carrot cake and ice cream and it was a fabulous lunch!  Cleaning up was a snap with so many happy hands helping!

John was making a trip outside, probably to check on the bird feed, and modeled his new hoodie, a Christmas gift from his daughter Barb.  It’s fluorescent yellow, and makes it very easy for mom to spot John when he’s wandering around in the gardens. 

All too soon it was time to head back down I-79, to our home and to the obligations of every day life.  But our little retreat is always refreshing, as we are refueled by love and precious family time!  Can’t wait until next time!  Love you guys!