Pet Pride

Hey, all you guys and gals with paws and wings and hoofs -- well, you get the picture, it's time to show off why we're the best there is! So join Bozo from Mumbai and the rest of us to show just who's the boss at your house! Click here to sign up!

Sam is in a bad mood because our camping trip got canceled, so like the spoiled kid he is, he wasn't in the mood to participate today and I generously offered to take over because I know how important it is! He really is a spoiled pup!

Hee hee! I fixed Sam! Caught a shot of him "watering the grass" -- no wonder it's dying! Ha ha ha!

 

Here's Sam and Izzie, our neighbor, when she was a little tyke -- Sam's size last winter and we had snow! They didn't know what to think!

 

And here I am, snug and warm in my bed in front of the fire. Don't I just look adorable? A perfect color match for my bed!

 

I miss going camping too, although I'm not as bad a sport as Sam is! But here's one of the reasons why! I like a BIG stick to chase!

 

Shadow Shot Sunday!

Hey, shadow searchers! Our day has rolled around again to share our shadow catches for the week! Shadow Shot is generously hosted by Harriet of Hey Harriet! Click on her name, sign up and have the most fun ever!



We're having lots of sun and unusually warm temps -- which is great after the long cold winter, but it does take some adjusting! The good thing is that it isn't hard to find shadows!

This is Mojo -- from an earlier camping trip. She's already anticipating our trip to Whidbey Island this weekend!



Wire on a back gate.



And leaf shadows everywhere! Oh, yes! It is summer even though it's getting a little brown around the edges!





And my friends, James and Chiaki on the ferry to the Lavender Festival in Sequim! And what a marvelous day that was!!



Last but not least a lavender shadow! It was so beautiful!

Evening, Wisdom, Love and Beauty

Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place. ~Zora Neale Hurston



Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired. ~Robert Frost



Love is a canvas furnished by Nature and embroidered by imagination. ~Voltaire



True love stories never have endings. ~Richard Bach



Love, and a cough, cannot be hid. ~George Herbert, Jacula Prudentum, 1651

Tell Me This Won't Happen To Me!

Another of my friends that keeps me in blog material, sent this to me yesterday. I laughed and laughed as I read it and then suddenly all I could think of was -- what are you laughing about? Have you checked your age on your driver's license recently??? So, today I pass them on to you -- check your reaction!

An elderly Floridian called 911 on her cell phone to report that her car has been broken into. She is hysterical as she explains her situation to the dispatcher: 'They've stolen the stereo, the steering wheel, the brake pedal and even the accelerator!' she cried. The dispatcher said, 'Stay calm. An officer is on the way.' A few minutes later, the officer radios in. 'Disregard.' He says. She got in the back-seat by mistake.'
_____________________________________
FAMILY

Three sisters ages 92, 94 and 96 live in a house together. One night the 96 year old draws a bath. She puts her foot in and pauses. She yells to the other sisters, 'Was I getting in or out of the bath?' The 94 year old yells back, 'I don't know. I'll come up and see.' She starts up the stairs and pauses 'Was I going up the stairs or down?' The 92 year old is sitting at the kitchen table having tea listening to her sisters. She shakes her head and says, 'I sure hope I never get that forgetful, knock on wood.' She then yells, 'I'll come up and help both of you as soon as I see who's at the door.'
_____________________________________
I CAN HEAR JUST FINE!'

Three retirees, each with a hearing loss, were playing golf one fine March day. One remarked to the other, 'Windy, isn't it?' 'No,' the second man replied, 'it's Thursday..' And the third man chimed in, 'So am I. Let's have a beer.'
_____________________________________
SUPERSEX

A little old lady was running up and down the halls in a nursing home. As she walked, she would flip up the hem of her nightgown and say 'Supersex...' She walked up to an elderly man in a wheelchair flipping her gown at him, she said, 'Supersex.'
He sat silently for a moment or two and finally answered, 'I'll take the soup.'
_____________________________________
ROMANCE

An older couple were lying in bed one night. The husband was falling asleep but the wife was in a romantic mood and wanted to talk. She said: 'You used to hold my hand when we were courting.' Wearily he reached across, held her hand for a second and tried to get back to sleep. A few moments later she said: 'Then you used to kiss me.' Mildly irritated, he reached across, gave her a peck on the cheek and settled down to sleep.
Thirty seconds later she said: 'Then you used to bite my Neck.' Angrily, he threw back the bed clothes and got out of bed. 'Where are you going?' she asked.
'To get my teeth!'

_____________________________________
DOWN AT THE RETIREMENT CENTER

80-year old Bessie bursts into the rec room at the retirement home. She holds her clenched fist in the air and announces,'Anyone who can guess what's in my hand can have sex with me tonight!!' An elderly gentleman in the rear shouts out, 'An elephant?' Bessie thinks a minute and says, 'Close enough.'
_____________________________________
OLD FRIENDS
Two elderly ladies had been friends for many decades. Over the years, they had shared all kinds of activities and adventures. Lately, their activities had been limited to meeting a few times a week to play cards.

One day, they were playing cards when one looked at the other and said, 'Now don't get mad at me. I know we've been friends for a long time but I just can't think of your name! I've thought and thought, but I can't remember it. Please tell me what your name is' Her friend glared at her. For at least three minutes she just stared and glared at her.

Finally she said, 'How soon do you need to know?'
_____________________________________
SENIOR DRIVING

As a senior citizen was driving down the freeway, his car phone rang. Answering, he heard his wife's voice urgently warning him, 'Herman, I just heard on the news that there's a car going the wrong way on Interstate 77. Please be careful!' 'Hell,' said Herman, 'It's not just one car. It's hundreds of them!'
_____________________________________
DRIVING

Two elderly women were out driving in a large car - both could barely see over the dashboard. As they were cruising along, they came to an intersection. The stoplight was red, but they just went on through.
The woman in the passenger seat thought to herself 'I must be losing it. I could have sworn we just went through a red light.' After a few more minutes, they came to another intersection and the light was red again.

Again, they went right through. The woman in the passenger seat was almost sure that the light had been red but was really concerned that she was losing it She was getting nervous at the next intersection, sure enough, the light was red and they went on through. So, she turned to the other woman and said, 'Mildred, did you know that we just ran through three red lights in a row? You could have killed us both!'

Mildred turned to her and said, 'Oh! Am I driving?'

Please!!!!
TELL ME THIS WON'T HAPPEN TO ME!!!!

Evening, Wisdom and Beauty

Nothing is so strong as gentleness. Nothing is so gentle as real strength.
Frances de Sales



Wisdom is divided into two parts:(a) having a great deal to say, and (b) not saying it.



Nothing is interesting if you're not interested. ~Helen MacInness

Those who wish to sing, always find a song. ~Swedish Proverb

I have found that if you love life, life will love you back. ~Arthur Rubinstein



If you keep on saying things are going to be bad, you have a good chance of being a prophet.
Isaac Bashevis Singer

Sky Watch Friday!

Time to share the beauty of your skies with us! Sky Watch is generously hosted each week by Klaus, Sandy, Ivar, Wren, Fishing Guy and Louise! Click here to sign up and enjoy beautiful skies from all over the world!



Here in Seattle we have some of the most beautiful skies ever and it is so much fun to share them with you every week!

And what is this creature floating about our deck?



Beautiful clouds and sky as seen from my favorite park above the harbor near our house.



The next three are just some of the many, many varieties we can see on any given day! They always make it worthwhile to take a minute to look up! Have a great weekend!

Evening Wisdom, Thoughts and Beauty

 

What I need to live has been given to me by the earth. Why I need to live has been given to me by you.
~Author Unknown

 

Life can be found only in the present moment. The past is gone, the future is not yet here, and if we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment, we cannot be in touch with life.
Thich Nhat Hanh

 

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.
Soren Kierkegaard

 

Trip over love, you can get up. Fall in love and you fall forever.
~Author Unknown

Looking Back - Part 13 - A Great Opportunity - Never Too Late

In the early 1990’s I was living in Dallas, Texas – where I was born and had spent a good part of my life. I had moved back there in 1983 when my husband and I separated, but even after nearly ten years in Dallas I still missed the northwest and wanted to go back before I got too old to move at all, let alone across the country. I loved Montana where we had lived, where our children had grown up, but I knew the chances of finding a job that would do more than keep me off food stamps was probably next to impossible. So, I moved to Oregon, to Portland and fell in love with the city and with the state, with its incredible coast line and magnificent mountains. Now, the only question was, would I be able to find a job? I was just about to turn sixty. It was the early 90s and the economy in Portland at that time wasn’t the best.

I did find a job – finally, as office manager for a landscape architect’s two man business. Not the most promising employment for an old broad, but I had some money put back and I finally found an inexpensive little apartment belonging to one our contractors. I settled in to see where the fates would take me next.

After two years it became painfully obvious that I was not going to be able to prepare for my elder – more elderly years where I was, so I took another one of those deep breaths, handed in my resignation and I began searching for something with a little more future – even short termed future. I decided to work as a temp which would give me a better chance to check out the work environment before accepting a position and at the same time giving a company a chance to see what I could do -- which I was certain would land me what I was looking for -- whatever else, I was never short on confidence -- well, at least back then. The economy was in much better shape by then with numerous high tech companies moving into the area.

Things just felt right the first day of my first temp assignment. It was with a Japanese silicon wafer manufacturing company – an old company in Japan, a new venture in the US. They had been selling silicon wafers to computer companies for years and had finally decided that the time had come to build a plant in the US, manufacture the wafers, as well as have a sales office, engineering department – the works.

I was hired to handle the phones and the front desk of the small, crowded office space they were using while the new $450 million dollar plant was being constructed. But my time on the front desk was short. My boss came to me one day and told me he wanted the company to take part in a job fair and he needed someone to take it on as a project and would I be willing to do that. I was thrilled at the opportunity, for one thing, to get out from behind the front desk and the phones, two, to be able make the most of my several years of experience in the Public Relations department of GTE; now that could work for me at my new job with Komatsu. They had me hire a replacement for myself on the front desk and I went to work having a brochure designed, organizing space at the job fair and pulling it all together.

It was exciting and fulfilling because they left it totally in my hands, signed off on everything I requested. The Fair was very successful, and I received kudos from management. Two months later, when my temporary assignment was to end, the CEO called me in and offered me a permanent position as assistant to the new President and asked me how much I was looking for in regards to salary. It resulted in a great package deal for me and Komatsu's management was happy as well.

Looking back I have to say that other than the job with the Independent Living Project, that I wrote about in an earlier "Looking Back" piece, my job with Komatsu was the best, the most exciting, fun job I’ve ever had. I studied Japanese so I could at least be able to exchange greetings with the many executives and officers from the home office in Japan when they came for business trips. It was part of my job to help entertain them, so my days frequently were considerably longer than eight hours and I could have cared less. We had many Japanese engineers that arrived to help get the plant up and operating and I arranged housing for them all. At one apartment complex we took over one entire building of six apartments. Since this group worked round the clock, I turned one of the apartments into a clubhouse with two bedrooms turned into TV rooms and I hired a Japanese cook to prepare food for them. It worked out great for a bunch of guys working different shifts, 24/7.

For those moving from Japan on a more permanent basis, I rented other apartments, helped get their families settled in, find doctors, get their children enrolled in schools. Komatsu paid for all the day to day necessities such as dishes, towels, bedding, etc. I couldn't believe I was actually being paid to go shopping! Now, it doesn't get any better than that. Target loved to see me walk through the door! I was that gal that bought at least four of everything, every time I came to the store!

During those early months I also did the planning for parties, meetings, conferences and handled much of the publicity for the company at that time.

Gradually, as the positions were filled by permanent employees, those who had come from Japan earlier prepared to go home. I was able to take all of the things that I had purchased for the apartments and donate them to a battered woman's shelter in the area -- and that was a really "feel good" moment - for me and for the company.

One of the lovely things about the company was the fact they hired young and old – I wasn’t the only sixties person -- they hired people from many other countries – Russia, China, the US as well as Japan. And everyone seemed to feel the same excitement and enthusiasm at being involved with this new company. I was able to travel, to take classes in various aspects of the business that took me to San Francisco and Atlanta. And there was always a another chance to learn, to be involved.

We moved into the new building and it was magnificent! But isn’t it strange how things happen? Three years into this new project there was a big downturn in the Japanese economy -- it was 1999. It soon became obvious that we would have to cut back and numerous jobs were eliminated. I managed to survive that cut, but a little over three years after the exciting beginning, the plant was shut down. A $450 million dollar white elephant!

By that time I was sixty-seven and it was obvious even to me that my working days were about over. It was one of the most difficult times in my life. I wasn’t ready to stop or even slow down, but it was soon apparent that there was – is such a thing as age discrimination whether anyone wants to admit it or not.

So I took a deep breath, rented an apartment in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico and spent a fabulous year in the high dessert. In between lovely trips to all the historical cities in that beautiful part of Mexico, I nursed my hurts and disappointments very successfully. My daughter, Kerith and my son, David came down for Christmas that year and we had a fabulous holiday. I slipped into the 21st century that December 31 and watched the world celebrate the beginning of the year 2000.

I returned to Oregon a little over a year later and settled down to try and make the most of retirement and I had to admit that life was still good – different, but good.

And then the move to Seattle! Ah, change is good! Keeps you on your toes. It’s all in how you choose to see it.

Evening, Wisdom and Beauty

 

O Lord, please fill my mouth with worthwhile stuff, and nudge
me when I've said enough.

 

One's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions. Oliver Wendall Holmes

 

Remind yourself often: All thoughts create. Then decide what it is that you want to make. Dr. Lee Jampolsky

 

Fear is that little dark room where negatives are developed.
Michael Pritchard

How We Play With Language! Even If We Are Unaware

A dear friend in India sent this to me and it's too good not to share!

ONLY IN ENGLAND .....

Spotted in a toilet of a London office:

"TOILET OUT OF ORDER. PLEASE USE FLOOR BELOW."

In a London Laundromat:
"AUTOMATIC WASHING MACHINES: PLEASE REMOVE ALL YOUR CLOTHES WHEN THE
LIGHT GOES OUT."

Outside a London second-hand shop:
"WE EXCHANGE ANYTHING - BICYCLES, WASHING MACHINES, ETC. WHY NOT
BRING YOUR WIFE ALONG AND GET A WONDERFUL BARGAIN ??"

Spotted in a safari park:
"ELEPHANTS, PLEASE STAY IN YOUR CAR."

Seen during a London conference:
"FOR ANYONE WHO HAS CHILDREN AND DOESN’T KNOW IT, THERE IS A DAY CARE
ON THE 1ST FLOOR"

Notice in a field:
"THE FARMER ALLOWS WALKERS TO CROSS THE FIELD FOR FREE, BUT THE BULL CHARGES"

On a repair shop door:
"WE CAN REPAIR ANYTHING (PLEASE KNOCK HARD ON THE DOOR, THE BELL DOESN’T WORK)"

People in other countries sometimes go out of their way to communicate with their English-speaking tourists. Here is a list of signs seen around the world :

Doctors clinic, Rome :
"SPECIALIST IN WOMEN AND OTHER DISEASES."

Hotel, Acapulco :

"THE MANAGER HAS PERSONALLY PASSED ALL THE WATER SERVED HERE."

In a Nairobi restaurant:

"CUSTOMERS WHO FIND OUR WAITRESSES RUDE SHOULD WAIT AND SEE THE MANAGER."

"OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK, AND WEEKENDS TOO."

Interesting...
In a Calcutta Coffee House:
PEOPLE DISCARDING CIGARETTE STUBS IN CUPS WILL BE SERVED COFFEE IN ASH TRAYS

Evening Wisdom, Thoughts and Beauty

To fear is one thing. To let fear grab you by the tail and swing you around is another. ~Katherine Paterson, Jacob Have I Loved

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson



And remember, no matter where you go, there you are. ~Confucius



Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so, you apologize for the truth. ~Benjamin Disraeli



Love is to the heart what the summer is to the farmer's year - it brings to harvest all the loveliest flowers of the soul. ~Author Unknown

That's My World - Close to Home

It's time once again to share the lovely, fun things that make up your world! Each Tuesday Klaus, Sandy, Ivar, Wren, Fishing Guy and Louise host the fun meme, That's My World that gives us all the chance to do just that! Click here to sign up and enjoy the fun!

I've shared a lot of the beautiful places in my world over the past months and this week I'm just going to review a few of them. This next month is going to be very busy with a camping trip to Whidbey Island - which I will share with you later. Then my son and daughter's visit for my birthday and then a trip to Texas for a family reunion. Consequently, I may miss sharing my world for a week or so.

But here are some of the highlights of My World, starting off with the beautiful harbor just five minutes from our house and where I spend so much time with my camera.





Snoqualmie Falls another gorgeous place!



The Lavender Festival!



The Washington Coast!



The Oregon Coast!



The Columbia River and Multnomah Falls!



More next week!

Evening Wisdom, Thoughts and Beauty

To know the road ahead, ask those coming back. ~Chinese Proverb



The future lies before you, like paths of pure white snow. Be careful how you tread it, for every step will show. ~Author Unknown



There is often less danger in the things we fear than in the things we desire. ~John C. Collins



Fear less, hope more; eat less, chew more; whine less, breathe more; talk less, say more; hate less, love more; and all good things are yours. ~Swedish Proverb



Go with your heart, buddy. Our brains only screw things up. ~Chris Fedak and Allison Adler, Chuck, "Chuck Versus the Ring"