My hour and a half, nine mile commute into work...

'Nuf said.

Fond Farewells

I am fresh back from yet another fond farewell.  This memorial service has gotten me to thinking.

As memorial services go, this one was similar.  Prayer, hymns and greetings from the family.  Guests were invited to share a fond memory of the deceased so we could celebrate her life v. mourn her passing.  Like other Christians world-wide, we believe that our loved one continues onto a life far greater than this earthly life.

Some stories were tear jerkers while others had you laughing so hard you cried.  The latter is exactly how the deceased wanted to be remembered.  (Me too!)

This got me to thinking about how I want to be remembered.  If I were to die today, how would people recall memories of me and would they be willing to share those memories with a room full of people?  When I go and they lay me to rest, I want others to be happy that I somehow touched their lives for the better.  That their lives were somehow changed or enhanced by knowing me.  That I will be remembered for the good things I tried to do and not for all the times I failed to be the best person I could be.

I strive to do no harm, to think of others and be the best person I can be at the moment.  I hope I am forgiven for my faults but the fact of the matter is, I am ME with all my good and bad qualities, I am ME.

If I were to die today, would the Trinity welcome me at the pearly gates with open arms?  You betcha, but I have more things to do in this earthly life, so if God is willing, give me some more time here on earth to make a difference.

The white snow is no longer pretty to look at here in the NorthEast!

Ok, I am tired of the white snow here in the NorthEastern US.

Not sure if being in sunny, warm Florida last week is contributing to my 'up-to-here' attitude or that it has snowed twice since returning home this past Sunday with another 'wintry mix' predicted for next Tuesday ALREADY.

Good news is I've made my reservations for sunny Florida in March.  Cousin's daughter is having a destination wedding and when we first heard about it, I said by March, if we have another winter like last year, we'll be sick and tired of the snow so let's go! 

Key West and March are only eight short weeks away...but how many storms will I have to shovel out of before we fly away?

I can hear the metal drums playing and Jimmy Buffet calling me to sit on his porch and drink Margharita's!  If you look closely, you can see him on the swing with a drink for ME!

A high level look into the 2010 holiday gatherings...

this isn't all of the gatherings

but wanted to get some up for you to see. 

 Needless to say, it's been quite hectic the past few weeks.

Looking forward to things slowing down a bit.

To 2011!

So here's a glimpse of what I did while in Orlando...

and NO, I didn't see Mickey Mouse or get to Universal Studios :-) 

but I did do tons of running around ensuring the supplier fair went off without a hitch!

 and I did get to visit my family in Vero Beach and Margate.

All in all, it was a great week!

Miss the warm 70's and am sick of the snow already!

Today we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

I still can't decide on how exactly I feel with the addition of
Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the removal of one of the President's
birthdays as an official US federal observed holiday. 
It's been celebrated for 25 years now.  Not that I am old but
I remember a time when it was not an official federal holiday.

 

What I can tell you is that this holiday is to celebrate the memory of
a man who tried his best, in a non-violent way, to get equal rights for
people of color. 

 

I don't know if it's the ability to immediately communicate news and
the violent occasions the news media likes to share with the public, or
the fact that this violence happened in the past and we just were not
made aware but it appears that violence is running rampant in today's
world.

 

I can only hope that, if Dr. King was still alive, he would have
carried his message of non-violence over the racial border and
addressed today's violence, providing a non-violent,
open communication type option.

 

Happy MLK Jr. Day. 

In honor of him, let's all try to be a bit;

• more understanding of those who are different from us
• more thoughtful to those who differ from us
• more patient with those who differ from us
• more open to others' views and opinions
• more friendly towards one another

 

I, too, have a dream. A dream that one day,
we Americans, will leave the issue of color in
the past, where it belongs, and move forward
as a common people of the United States and
call ourselves Americans, simply Americans.

Well, I'm off to Orlando...this time next week I'll be visiting family

All this hard work the past 5 months and the sales meeting is around the corner.  I leave on a plane tomorrow IF, and that's a big IF, the snow doesn't delay or cancel the flight out.

I'll be running around making sure everything is falling into place and when the show floor finally closes on Wednesday afternoon, my fun will begin with a tall, stiff ______.

Go ahead, fill in the blank. Only clue I will give to you, my faithful readers, is I will have a smile, ear to ear, on my face!

NO...

NO...

NOW YOU'RE TALKING!

Not sure if I will have time to post next week but I am looking forward to my extended stay and visit with my cousin and her family for a long weekend.  No big plans, just hanging.

Til the next post....ta ta.