Archive for October, 2009
Peace and Tranquility in an Office Setting
This week has been a hectic one at work to put it mildly. For starters, my youngest son is home sick with the flu, so my wife has been staying home to make sure he’s comfortable. When I finally leave for work in the morning, it’s a total crap shoot as to whether my car will start. Then, Wednesday, when I got to the office a few minutes late and tried to get started with my massive workload, I was confronted by the vice president of the company.
As it turned out, he had selected me to present the monthly earnings report to the board of directors. Not surprisingly, the meeting was only days away. That’s when I realized that I needed to take some time out just to stay sane. I retreated into my office and focused my attention on a tabletop water fountain I bought online. The soothing sound of running water is enough to relax me. After a few moments, I’m always ready to tackle whatever challenges might lie ahead.
Our Country
Is our country coming to a crossroads? Will things drastically change? Will all blow over and we will be back to life as usual? What will take place in the years ahead? No one can answer these questions for sure. Most of us have an answer we would like to give to each question. Some of us are very opinionated on this subject, some people are not, and some are just drifting along with the flow. Those of us who are opinionated can get into some very serious discussions. But then we listen to the news and find our ideas were not even considered.
Right now we can enjoy the season - if the weather will let us! Give candy to the Trick-or-Treaters, plan Thanksgiving dinner, mail Christmas cards, plan the gift list. We can pray that things will not change so much that we cannot continue with life as usual. Even difficult times are not so bad when we have some holiday breaks. Keep up with the times. Thank God for your life. Stay contented. We still live in the greatest county on Earth!
Storms
This time of year we seem to have quite a few storms across the country. The winds blow, the rain falls, there is thunder, lightening, snow, and the electricity goes out. Then we go to look for the candles or the flashlights. That is when we are glad we have that candle lamp
we bought a short time ago. When we light the candle in its beautiful holder, it helps take away the feeling of being caught in a storm. If we have used a scented candle, there is something else to enjoy while we are using the lamp.
In the place where you put your candles for emergency lighting, be sure to keep the type you want in your candle lamp. Using it helps to take away the feeling of being in a storm. When a storm comes, even before the electricity goes off, it may be that lighting your candle lamp will take away that “stormy feeling” and make the time a time of enjoyment whether or not the electricity toes off. Happy times!
Display
Figurines are for display. Many of them mean something to us because of a special place we bought them or because we are collecting that particular thing. Why would we want to collect them and then not display them? Some people collect miniatures. Some people collect horse figurines, some collect raccoon figurines, some collect miniature cars. There are so many different things that can be collected that it would be impossible to name them all. Then when we have a special piece, we look around for the perfect spot to display it.
Some items fit best on a shelf. Some fit on a decorative table. Some items are moved around from place to place depending on our whim. Whatever the place you decide on, be sure to display your figurines. Expensive or inexpensive, each has a special story that is fun to share.
Decorate or Not Decorate
This time of year we think a lot about decorations. Halloween in October, Thanksgiving in November, and Christmas in December. Other times of year there are New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, the Fourth of July, and others that are not coming to mind right now. To decorate or not to decorate - that is the question. For most families, some decorations are usually displayed on all of these occasions. For others, no one ever puts up decorations. For some each holiday is an excuse to get out those special items that commemorate the day.
If you are the type of person who likes to decorate, you probably enjoy looking for those decorations all year - even when the season is not here. Who doesn’t enjoy driving around at Christmas and find a house that is so decorated that you can hardly see the house? The owner surely did not find all of those things during one trip to the mall! The seasonal decor changes from season to season or holiday to holiday. One way to enjoy a shopping trip when you did not really want to go, is to look for a seasonal item on sale. One way to enjoy a part of a day is to computer-shop for seasonal items. That is all for now. I just remembered some cute Pilgrim decorations that we put out every year. Now I think those are in the hall closet……..
Why?
“Why would anyone want to do that?” Have you ever heard that phrase? We see something strange or incomprehensible and want to know what would make someone interested enough to tackle the problem. I have often wondered that when I contemplate a ship in a bottle. Why would anyone think of it? Why would someone try to do it? How did they do it?
Actually, I think I don’t really want to know. It is one of those things that I want to wonder about. My little brother used to say,”I wanna wonder.” There are other things that seen impossible that someone has done. We can get technical and think about electricity, computers, huge factories, and many other things. God has given man the ability to use his mind. Many of us do not have the ability that will allow us to rise to the level of scientists and inventors. However, we can still sit and contemplate a ship in a bottle.
What Should I do?
What shall I do today? The list is so long that I can’t decide where to start. It is time to do the household chores. Should I do laundry? Maybe I had better clean house. Should I decorate for fall? Maybe I had better do the paper work that has been piling up. Some shopping really needs to be done. The dogs have to have their monthly meds today. Are the treats ready for the Trick-or-Treaters? Tomorrow we have to go to the college to help get some things done. Maybe I had better get ready to go.
What is that in the corner? Our new holiday garden sign
? On yes! That needs to be put out with the current season displayed. Should it be out by the road or up by the house? Maybe just out in the yard somewhere. Now, I have to contemplate a while to really choose the right place. That will take some time. Then I will go out and try it here or there. Maybe I can get that done by noon. It will really look nice out there. Well, I will get busy. I can put that sign up and by then maybe it will be clear to me what else to do today. Decisions, decisions! What a day!
Collecting
Our older daughter used to collect 
horse figurines. The other day I was cleaning off a shelf and found several of her older pieces. Some were still in perfectly good shape. However, some needed a foot or something glued back on. Later she collected larger pieces that could be displayed. She now collects raccoons because she saved the life of a poor little raccoon one time.
What do you like to collect? Over the years various members of my family or friends have collected different things. My sister has a beautiful collection of miniatures. They are mostly on a shelf in her living room. It is fun to look at them and some of them have great stories that go with them. We have a collection of things that we have accumulated over the years. They are mostly displayed on our living room bookcases. This was not a deliberate collection. It just happened. Take your time. Choose your object. Start collecting.
Decorating with Vases
My younger daughter gave me a beautiful vase for my birthday. For about two weeks I thought and thought about what to put into it. Finally, I decided that a fall bouquet would be perfect. At the craft store I found some beautiful greenery that fit just fine. Then I found a bouquet of fall flowers that fit in perfectly. Now each season I have only to find a bouquet of the flowers of the season and change them, leaving the greenery in the background. What fun!
Sometimes vases are so beautiful that they make a fine display specimen by themselves. However, sometimes they just call out to be filled with a beautiful flower arrangement. It is a lot of fun to find just the right thing to go into them. Sometimes a vase has sat on a shelf or been put away and we have more or less forgotten it. Taking it out again and filling it with the seasonal foliage is a fulfilling experience. It is also fun to look for and find just the right vase to fit into an area or compliment another item on a shelf. Sometimes visitors think something you have had for a long time is a new item. You can tell them or just enjoy the compliment. Have fun decorating with vases.
Lights for the Season
Remember the
days when there were no electric lights for our homes? I do. But just barely. We call those the “good ole days,” but the part about using candles and oil lamps I can do without. I was looking through a catalog and saw the beautiful candle holders now available. Some look like the lamps we have for our electric lights. That is now a beautiful way to enjoy the candle light that is so nice this time of year.
I got to thinking about it and remembered we have some of those that I had forgotten. There are some beautiful candle holders in our cabinet that we use for the pumpkin-pie scented candles and the other beautiful Christmas candles that we get out in the fall and winter. Some holders are large enough to look like a regular electric lamp. When we use these scented candles in their beautiful holders the scent wafts throughout the house and we enjoy the scent of the season. Candle lamps are indeed a beautiful addition to the fall and winter decorations. Light one and sit back and enjoy the time of year.