Recommended Daily Allowance

Gonna Fly Now...

I know, I know... it's hard to believe... but, today, I watched Rocky for the first time ever.  A 1976 movie...  33 years it's been about and I haven't seen it...  It is number 4 on the American Film Institute's 100 most inspiring movies.  I enjoyed the movie.  It's not just a boxing story, it's a good love story as well.  Very uplifting.

There's a bug...

Takin' it back...

Just finished...

iDon'tknowhowtouse...

A Nightmare...

To Kill...

My Word for 2009

I have finally discovered my 'word' for 2009.  It took me a while in 2008 to come up with the word FLOW... nice short four-letter word with a lot of meaning.  Here is my blog entry about FLOW:

http://www.villageblogger.com/emilyhope/5468/My+Word+for+2008.html

I thought about this word a lot in 2008 and put it into practice.  My life is less stressful because I have learned ways to deal with the stress.  And I have gotten rid of things in my life that were causing me to have stress.  I have definitely gotten more organized and my life is running smoother.

Now... on to 2009!  My 'word' is another nice short four-letter word, but it represents my entire life.  My 'word' is DASH.  This word has many meanings/definitions.  The one most closely related to my use of the word is this one:

the mark or sign (—) used to note an abrupt break or pause in a sentence or hesitation in an utterance, to begin and end a parenthetic word, phrase, or clause, to indicate the omission of letters or words, to divide a line, to substitute for certain uses of the colon, and to separate any of various elements of a sentence or series of sentences, as a question from its answer.

My DASH represents the time between the date of my birth and the unknown date of what will be my death.  Here is the poem written by Linda Ellis that inspired my word for this year:

The Dash
copyright 1996 Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend. He referred to the dates on her tombstone from the beginning...to the end. He noted that first came the date of her birth and spoke of the following date with tears, but he said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years. For that dash represents all the time that she spent alive on earth... and now only those who loved her know what that little line is worth. For it matters not, how much we own; the cars....the house...the cash. What matters is how we live and love and how we spend our dash. So think about this long and hard... are there things you'd like to change? For you never know how much time is left that can still be rearranged. If we could just slow down enough to consider what's true and real, and always try to understand the way other people feel. And be less quick to anger, and show appreciation more and love the people in our lives like we've never loved before. If we treat each other with respect, and more often wear a smile... remembering that this special dash might only last a little while. So, when your eulogy is being read with your life's actions to rehash... would you be proud of the things they say about how you spend your dash?

There is also a movie you might enjoy:

http://www.thedashmovie.com/

There are so many 'things' that really do not matter in the grand scheme of life. What does matter is how to live and love. I need to slow down and consider what is real and true, think more about others, smile more, change things that need to be changed, be more patient and less quick to be angered by something or someone. I want to love the people in my life like I've never loved them before. We never know how much time we have left and I want to make the most of it. I want God to look at what I have done with my dash and have Him say, "Well done".

30/30

29 But Not Holding

Just finished reading book number 29 of 30 books to read.  It's number 65 on my 101 Things to Do In 1001 Days List.  Twenty Wishes by Debbie Macomber was a very touching book.  Made me start my own twenty wishes.  It had not been long since I watched the movie The Bucket List.  Not totally alike, but similar.  These kinds of books/movies get you thinking.

Roots

Virginia Beach, VA

Number 69 is done!

ZYX...

WVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA...

Number 93 on my 101 Things To Do List was to learn to recite the alphabet backwards.  I did it!  Go me!

Number 92: Detoxing

Purple

Our Trip to New Mexico: Wow What A Ride!

We're back!!  My DFamily and I just went on a trip that was almost 3500 miles!!  We live in Georgia and we drove to New Mexico!  Many, many stops along the way.  We started out on Sunday, June 1st and drove all the way to Shreveport, Louisiana before stopping for the night.  The following day we entered the big WIDE state of Texas.  (Takes awhile to drive across this state, let me tell ya.)  We went to Dallas and went to the Sixth Floor Museum, where Oswald shot JFK.  Gave me chills.  Then we drove out to South Fork... the Ewing Ranch.  My DDs had no idea what this place was all about.  I had to tell them about the Ewings and the TV show Dallas.  I used to watch it every Friday night.  The light bulbs went on when I told them about "Who shot J.R.?"  They had heard this when they were very young, but had no idea what it really was all about.  We didn't tour the house, just got a good look at it.  Finally, day 3 we make it in to New Mexico.  Our destination!  We visited the Carlsbad Caverns.  WOW!  Beautiful!  My DMother, who is almost 77, walked down into the caverns.  I was worried about her, but she was determined.  The elevator made for a nice ride back to the top.  People used to climb back out, but they no longer allow people to do this.  You have to take the elevator out.  We rode around the area for a little while and returned for the evening Bat Flight.  Thousands of bats exited the cave in search of food and water.  We didn't hang around to see them reenter the next morning.  We headed to El Paso.  While in El Paso, we walked across the border into Juarez, Mexico.  I can now say I have been out of the United States.  Juarez is a very poor area of Mexico.  The border police warned us not to go in, but we still went.  They said there had been 350 murders already this year.  There were actually very few tourists there.  At the market, the sellers told us the police were making things bad for their business, that it wasn't as bad as they made out to everyone.  Both DDs got a sombrero!  We spent the next night at the Riverwalk in San Antonio.  Been here before, liked it so much we wanted to see it again.  Beautiful place!  So enjoy strolling down the Riverwalk.  Next... Houston.  We went to a mall in Houston and they had an indoor ice skating rink.  We didn't try it, but it was interesting watching all those who did.  Our next big stop was New Orleans.  We really had not planned to go to New Orleans, but decided to ride through.  There is still so much devestation from Hurricane Katrina... very sad.  Not the same place we visited before the Hurricane.  We decided to leave New Orleans by way of the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway.  So glad we did.  That bridge is something else.  I believe it is the longest bridge in the world.  We also drove through Mobile and walked on the pier at the beach.  Another fabulous trip and tons of fun had by all. 

On my  101 Things To Do In 1001 Days list, number 2 is to visit 4 states in the United States that I have not been to, and New Mexico is the first one.  I am enjoying myself accomplishing the items on this list!

Family Picnic

26/30

Five To Go