Current Inspiration

Joy in my heels

*Since I’ve decided to try something new anyway, I figured I’d try writing some poetry.

If you like it great, if not, no stress…..*

I get nervous sometimes……..

Worrying about whether I’m bringing too much or not enough

It’s the energy in that anxiety that brings joy to my heels

There’s poetry in my heart beat.

As I walk with confidence

Not knowing why or how not, or whether I should

*breathe*

Welcome to my playground!

*spin*

Humble in my happiness,

And the lessons are just yet starting

About grace and finesse…..

Fear not the slayers!!!

For their jealousy only breeds impotence.

Go out and be awesome anyway

Just because you should

I double dare you to be sassy

Laughter becomes you!

Now where did I put that?

Joy in my heels,

Poetry in my heartbeat.

xoxo Pam

Kid Rock

So I just invited Kid Rock to come to the ribbon cutting ceremony for our new Pavilion in Crossman Park!!  OMG!!!

I also mentioned the Beets, Beats & Eats farmers market every Friday night starting June 18 until September 3 in Crossman Park. check it out at downtownortonville.org

My walks take me past where his recording studio is (supposedly, I don’t actually see it)

So I’ve been fantasizing about him lately!

He’ll be driving to work and just notice this crazy red-headed woman, arms swinging, head-bobbing, singing along and so he’ll pull over to the side of the road, roll down his window and ask me what I’m so freakin’ happy about. Then I  smile at him and say “Cause I got to meet you!  and invite you to the Beets, Beats & Eats farmers market every Friday night starting June 18 until September third in Crossman Park”

Then he’ll laugh and ask if he can buy me lunch.  We meet at BullFrog’s where we totally hit it off and start working together to make good things happen!

He’s so totally gonna love the park!  And the new Pavilion!

It all starts with trying.

I just had to do something, so I joined his fan club

http://community.kidrock.com

If I don’t ask, then it’ll never happen. This way, at least I know there’s a chance.

Cross your fingers, my friendly blog readers! There’s no such thing as too much luck!

xoxo Pam

Respect

So before I tell you more about Israel, I have to tell you this story……….Way back when Garrett had just turned 4 months old, we were driving back to Michigan from Pennsylvania. We had been living there for a month with Blake, while he  finished up a project. So, I’m following Blake in my Honda with Garrett strapped into the toddler seat in the back, when this big redneck truck comes roaring onto the freeway and almost knocks us off of the road. Of course, it scared the hell out of me, so I reached my hand out of the window and flipped the guy off.

This totally pissed him off!!!!! (of course!) Apparently he and his buddy had nothing better to do than to harass me for the next hour. I didn’t have a cell phone to call Blake (I sure got one right after that) and tell him what was happening, so he didn’t see the guy driving up real close to me, yelling insults out the window about how I should show some f&%$ing respect and what kind of a B%$& do I think I am flipping him off. I didn’t know what else to do, so I just tried to keep up with Blake and stay as cool as I could. I’ve never been more relieved than when he came to his exit and finally left us alone.

Now, I fully admit to flipping the guy off. I totally disrespected him because I felt justified in my anger.  After all, he did almost run me off the road.

HOWEVER, what I learned from that was just because someone pisses me off, doesn’t mean I have to react negatively to it. Reacting the way I did put me and my newborn son in jeopardy. A smarter reaction would have been to thank God he didn’t actually hurt us and let    it     go.

Now, today is Wednesday, which means it’s time for the the inspirational word of the week.

I’ve chosen this word very carefully because of our trip last week through the Holy Land.

Respect: (noun)

1. deference to someone or something.

2. proper courtesy or acknowledgment.

3. the condition of being esteemed.

(verb)

1. to hold in esteem or honor.

2. to show regard or consideration for.

3. to refrain from intruding upon, or interfering with.

The day after Jerusalem, we drove 3 hours down to the Dead Sea. Along the way, we saw rows after rows of farms, irrigated by the Jordan river, which eventually pours into the Dead Sea.

Unfortunately, there are so many farms that the Dead Sea is dropping 3 feet every year. It has been estimated that the Sea will dry up within 50 years. I hate to think that the people in Israel are so short-sighted that they are willing to forfeit one of their greatest assets, for what really, big palm trees and banana’s?! I understand the  need to feed your people, but trying to grow banana’s in that climate seems seems very disrespectful of the environment.

As a tourist, I didn’t feel like I could do anything but stare in shock.  Since being back home, I’ve read a little about the Israeli water law but ultimately, I have to let   it    go.  If I continue to focus on trying to teach the Israeli’s how to run their country, I would be wasting my time as well as ignoring the problems I do have control of right here in Michigan.  My family and I were fortunate enough to be able to see this awesome place, as well as float around in it.  Our grandchildren may not be so lucky.

So what I can tell them, and you, my friendly blog reader is that the water was warm and the ground underneath it was hard and crusty from the salt.  Garrett and I tasted the water and both think it is the nastiest, saltiest thing we have ever tasted ever!!!  When I walked into it up to my waist, I sat down and felt my feet come out from underneath me! Garrett kept getting flipped over onto his belly. He had a great time smearing the mineral-rich mud on me and Blake. Once we rinsed off the salt and mud, we all thought that our skin felt softer than ever. It was incredible!

The day after we visited the Dead Sea, we went to visit the Manara Cliffs, a really neat family friendly destination that has bungees and trampoline’s for the little kids, a mountain slide coaster (which was fun) and cable cars which take you all the way to the top of the cliffs.  Half-way down, the cable cars stopped to let us off so we could go zip-lining!

The jeep ride back up to where we met the cable cars was almost as thrilling as the zip-line! Bouncy!!!!!!

We drove from the Manara cliffs, along the Lebanon border to Rosh Hanikra. It was pretty wild to look out the

window of the car to see rows of border fence, Israeli farms on one side and the scrub trees of Lebanon on the other.

It took us about an hour’s drive to get to Rosh Hanikra, which is on the northern most point of Israel, on the Mediterranean coast.We had a very nice lunch and then took the steepest cable car ride in the world down to the grotto’s. The grotto’s are naturally formed caves cut into the side of the chalk and limestone cliffs.

We had such a great time together!  The drive home only took an hour. When we got back to the hotel, we ordered snacks at the bar and called it dinner. I love that about vacations!!  And the smiles are priceless!!

The next day, after breakfast and homework (Garrett’s teacher gave him homework so he wouldn’t be totally behind when he got back to class. It was NOT our favorite part of the trip!) we headed off to go sailing in Caesaria on the coast of the Mediterranean. The weather was pretty windy and at first the man who was renting us the katamarand wasn’t sure about letting us rent it. Fortunately, Blake owned one many years ago and has plenty of experience handling one. When we showed up, the man realized Blake wasn’t going to go away, so he relented and let us take the boat out. It was exhilarating!!  Blake steered the rudder, I handled the main-sail and Garrett had the jib. The water crashed up from beneath us and got us all soaked as we tacked back and forth within sight of our spot on the beach. Poor Garrett was shivering so bad his teeth were chattering! We were out for just over an hour and it took a while for us to finally warm up. We had lunch at this place right next to the boat rental place on the beach.

Later we drove to these ancient Roman aqua ducts where Blake and Garrett played in the water and skipped stones while I took the most incredible nap ever! It was AWESOME!! I was so tired that as soon as I laid myself down upon that warm, soft sand, it was impossible to keep myself awake. I think I must have slept for at least half an hour. The warm sun and warm sand just sucked the energy right out of me. When I woke up, Blake and Garrett were very happily skipping stones and laughing. We saw some muslims (fully dressed in suits and shoes) out there on the beach, as well.

We stayed the night at the Dan Caesaria hotel, right down the street from the beach. The rooms were all set on an angle, which I thought was very peculiar so I took a picture of it. ————-> Later that night we had dinner at Uri Buri a fish restaurant in Acco, past Haifa about an hour from Caesaria. BEST SEAFOOD EVER! Totally fresh with a simply divine menu. Check out this link to a story about it on NPR.

The following day, we had a wonderful breakfast buffet, worked on some homework and then headed back to Nazareth. By now, I was getting really tired and I knew we had a long trip ahead of us. Our flight didn’t leave until 10:30pm, so we toured around Nazareth. We had lunch and then looked around the Church of the Anunciation, built around the cave where the Angel Gabriel came to tell Mary about her role as Jesus’ mother. There were paintings and mosaic representations of St. Mary covering almost every surface of the church and it’s surrounding walls. I took some pictures, but to be honest, I was pretty tired and shaky so they didn’t turn out as well as I’d hoped. I’ll share the best of the bunch with you.

We visited St. Joseph’s workshop, also a church, but much, much smaller and located in the back. I’ve always found it sad that Jesus’ father never gets the same kind of respect that Mary did. After all, he did make an honest woman of Mary, he raised Jesus as his own son and he made sure that Jesus and Mary both were taken care of.

So after looking at the churches we decided to go back to the hotel for a rest before the long trip home.

The drive to the Tel Aviv airport takes just over an hour. Garrett and I gave Blake big hugs and kisses good-bye and then headed into the terminal. It took a couple of hours to get through security because there are many check points, not just one and they ask lots of questions. Although they gave the lady in front of us the 3rd degree, when it came our turn, they let us off with just a cursory few. I already had my journal and camera out ready to show them what we’d been up to! Once we made it through security and got rid of our luggage, we actually went to MacDonald’s. We were curious to see if it tasted the same as it does in the States (it does in Brasil and Mexico). But since all meals were kosher, (apparently in kosher meals there can never be a mix of meat and dairy)  there was no cheese on any of the burgers. My Big Mac was a little dry, as was Garrett’s chicken sandwich. The fries were still tasty tho!

We had another hour and a half to kill before we boarded the plane, we hung out, read and walked around. The flight to Atlanta was 14 hours long. Fortunately, Garrett was seated next to me, and we met a wonderful older lady named Ingrid on her way home to North Carolina after visiting her sister in Israel for a month. She sat on the other side of Garrett, and when she needed help figuring out how to get her light turned on, or her headset plugged in, Garrett was right there to help her. She was very nice and really a treat to sit with on this painfully long flight.

When we arrived in Atlanta, we had to re-check our luggage and then wait for our next flight. What was supposed to be a 3 hour lay-over turned into a 5 hour lay-over because of a hydraulic leak. We weren’t even sure if we were going to be able to take this plane, so when the lady at the ticket counter told us that we might have to take the flight 5 hours later, Garrett turned to me and said “What are we supposed to do now!? I can’t take this anymore, don’t they know….” I quickly turned to him and said “Getting pissed off at me is not going to fix the plane. I know your tired, so am I. Just handle it because blowing up is only going to make things worse.” He backed off, sat down and covered his face with his hat. Fortunately, we did get to board the plane about half an hour later. Better late than never.

So after 26 hours of traveling, we finally made it back home to Ortonville.

I’ve had people ask me if it was violent over there. I wouldn’t say I noticed any violence, but the differences were very intense. Like how their day starts the night before, and how their language reads from right to left, and they open books backwards from the way we do here in the west. I saw some women covered from head to foot, as well as some dressed up in skimpy tops and hi-heels. The food was delicious, but had lots of rules with it about what you could eat and when. The Islamic prayers were beautiful, but really too early in the morning for me.

It was an experience my family and I will never forget.

Thanks for following along, my friendly blog reader. I hope you’ve found this entertaining and informational. I would love to invite you to click the links above to learn more about the places I’ve described here in this blog. And remember, if you’re ever in Israel and you need a guide, check out Adrian at his website .  Tell him Pam, Blake and Garrett sent you!

shalom,

Pam

p.s. I’ll be at a Main Street Conference in Oklahoma City, OK next week, so I’m going to try pre-posting and see how that works! It’s always good to try something new!

p.p.s. Have a Fabulous weekend!!

Israel part one

My dear blog reader, as I write this, I am tired and sore from my past week’s adventures. My spine feels like Cracker Jacks and I have been fighting a headache since we got home. I want to tell you about our trip to Israel, but I’m afraid of writing too much, or not enough. Please be patient with me as I try to give you something worth reading, while not overwhelming you with too many details. Thanks

Garrett and I flew out of Flint, Michigan to Atlanta, Geogia.  From Atlanta, we flew to Tel Aviv. Unfortunately, our seats were not together. Garrett sat next to a very nice couple on their way to tour the Holy Land.  I sat between two equally lovely pilgrims 5 rows ahead of them. After our 12 1/2 hour flight, the lady who sat next to Garrett told me he was “incredibly well-behaved the whole way.  Really, he was fantastic to sit with.”  Aaaaaaaahhhhh!  My heart just got paid!

It was wonderful to see Blake’s shining face at the airport after our very long, boring flight! He drove us to the Golden Crown hotel in Nazareth, where he’s been living since February. We went out to eat Sushi at a really nice restaurant in the mall where we unexpectedly met Doron, an Israeli guy who works with Blake, and his wife, Iris.  As we ate dinner, I chatted with Iris, eventually telling her about the boat. I even gave her my card and invited her to read this blog!  HELLO IRIS!!!!! We Guardian wives need to stick together! xoxo

We went to sleep fairly quickly, but when the Mullah started singing at 4:30am, (click the link to hear a YouTube version) I was awake and not going back to sleep. Damn jet lag!!

On our first day, Blake gave Garrett his B-day present, a roller-surfer and pads, which he took down to the court yard to play with. The weather, as you can tell from the picture, is dry and in the hi 70’s.  Afterwards, we drove for half an hour to Zippori, the hometown of Jesus’ mother Mary, known for it’s mosaics.

We climbed the path to the top of the hill, walking through this incredible cactus garden along the way.

After Zippori, we drove to Mt. Tabor, historically, the spot where Jesus re-appeared 3 days after his Crucifixion.

Garrett didn’t seem too tired, but by mid-afternoon, I was exhausted, so we headed back to the hotel, so I could nap.

The following day, Sunday, we got up early, drove toward Jerusalem and picked up our tour guide, Adrian, a British ex-patriate licensed by the State of Israel to give tours through the Holy city. Check him out at  www.adrianw.co.il

We started at the Mt. of Olives where Adrian pulled out maps and described in detail how the city started out small and then grew and grew over the years. He did a great job explaining everything, I just can’t remember it all!

Next, we drove to Gethsemane (the garden Christ prayed in the night before his Crucifixion) with 1800 year old olive trees, next to the Church of all Nations. While inside the church, we were astounded to hear some Finish pilgrims singing a liturgy. It was amazingly beautiful!

From there, we drove further into the city and parked the car. The rest of the day was all on foot!

We saw Mary’s Tomb,

King David’s tomb ……………and the Hall of the last supper.

Everywhere we went, there were pilgrims from all parts of the world, come to pay their respects.

Here is a picture of some Korean Muslims on a tour.

Jerusalem is filled with people from all over the world. I heard languages of all different kinds being spoken. Russian, German, Hebrew and Arabic.  Fortunately, most everyone we talked with knew at least some English, or could find someone close-by who could.

We had lunch at a wonderful restaurant overlooking the old city. Then we went on a tour of the Burnt House, where we watched a movie about how the Romans burned down Jerusalem in order to take it over. The movie re-enacts the story of a priests family who lived in this house which was later excavated in the 1970’s. The charred remains of the house and a girls arm holding a spear had been unearthed. Creepy!

We then went to another place where more houses have been excavated directly underneath apartment buildings currently being lived in.

We walked out toward the Temple on the Mount and the wailing wall.

All around us were pilgrims, tour guides and hundreds of Israeli troops preparing for the Memorial Day services to be held the following day. (quick note, the days in Israel start the night before at dusk. Once you can see 3 stars in the night sky, it’s tomorrow. It was really strange and hard to get used to, but all part of the adventure)

We saw Robinson’s Arch, the only remaining part of the original entrance into the Temple.

We also saw Harrod’s road, the actual road built by King Harrod over 2ooo years ago.

And we saw a replica of a catapult.

We had Adrian take us through the new Davidson Center, located right next to the Temple on the Mount. It’s a subterranean (air-conditioned!) museum built with an endowment from Guardians (now deceased) owner William Davidson. It had artifacts (coins) from the site, informative films and computer animated recreations of the Second Temple. We were really glad to have seen this and very proud of Mr. Davidson for making it all possible.  Thanks Mr. D, we miss you!

The sun was starting to go down as we came out of the museum and we still had a lot more to see.  Adrian did a fantastic job taking us through the Muslim quarter,

the Christian quarter (somewhere along all of this, was the Via Del la Rosa, a path traced by pilgrims meant to portray Christ’s carrying of the cross. Adrian explained that because of the growth of the city, the actual way doesn’t really exist anymore) The Church of the Holy Sepulchre

(check out the 13 century grafitti!) was built in the 3rd century by Constantine, at his mother Queen Helena’s urging.  She is the one who actually went into the tombs and found a cross and pronounced it “the” cross upon which Christ was Crucified.  She had it mounted on a stone and that became Golgatha. This became the very first Christian church in the world.  (by the way, if I screw up any of the history here, it is totally my fault and not our tour guide Adrian’s. He was phenomenal and just brimming with information.  Really! Go check him out  www.adrianw.co.il He is AWESOME!!!)

Inside the church we saw the actual stone where pilgrims wait in line to kiss the spot where Christ was Crucified, as well as a gorgeous mosaic mural depicting the crucifixion. (sorry the picture doesn’t do it justice)

Here’s a picture of the exact spot where Jesus was entombed. We saw many, many more things inside this church, but for the life of me I can’t name them all.

We had cappuccino at the Austrian Hospice, which is actually owned and controlled by the Vatican. Here’s a picture of the view from the top, overlooking the city. Pretty cool, huh!

It seemed like the day would never end.  Adrian was amazing in his knowledge of all of the history and architecture, stopping to point out tons of things I’ve since completely forgotten. Garrett was fantastic at keeping up with us the entire time, even when he was obviously getting tired and bored. I’m so proud of him!!!!

It was dark by the time we got back to the car and drove Adrian back to his motorcycle.  We drove back to Nazareth, only to find out that the hotel was not longer serving dinner because of the Memorial day holiday.  Most other restaurants were closed as well, so we had to drive into downtown to get an Arab sandwich at Mr. Schwarma.  It’s made fresh, (like Subway), with grilled, spiced lamb on a baguette with lettuce, tomatoes and pickles and a spicy curry/mango sauce.  Delicious!!!

That’s about it for today, my friendly blog reader. I’ll be back on Wednesday for part two of our Israel trip.  Have a marvelous Monday!

xoxoxo Pam

Experience

Today is Wednesday, which means it’s time for the Inspirational word of the week.

(For those of you who are new to this blog, every Wednesday I pick a word that I think will inspire me to write. Although I may pick the word earlier in the week, in order to keep my writing current and fresh, I don’t start writing about it until that day!  I’m not aiming for perfection. I’m trying to gain experience and enjoy the process and hopefully, entertain, if not inspire you, my friendly blog reader. If you like it great!  If you don’t like it, No Stress! Have a nice day! )

Experience:

(noun) knowledge or practical wisdom gained from observing, encountering or undergoing.

(verb) to meet, feel or learn.

(This word is both a noun and a verb which I think gives it twice as much power!)

Jimi Hendrix sang about it. Temple Grandin is extremely articulate about it. George Carlin makes us laugh about it.

Experience happens every time we awaken to start a new day.

It’s in the breathe we take, the words we say, the laughs we share and the work we do.

Our relationships become stronger or weaker depending upon the quality of our experiences with each other.

When my family was preparing to move to Brasil, I really focused on what kind of an experience we were going to have and ended up writing you are the boat to help keep our family afloat. The lessons I learned from writing that changed me forever.

While taking my walk through our neighborhood in Brasil, I experienced an epiphany that changed the way I look at the hard times in contrast to daily life.

While living in Mexico, the experience of feeling alone, angry and scared lead me to think Pink.  Just this week I came across Maya Angelou reading her poem “And still I rise” which perfectly describes that feeling of desire, equanimity and resilience. “Does my sassiness upset you?”  Wow, she’s fantastic!!!  ;)

My son and I are getting ready to travel to Israel to go visit Blake. It’s interesting to listen to how different people react when they hear about our trip. While most of them are excited and say “What a great EXPERIENCE for your son!” of course there are some people who’s fear immediately jumps forward as they quickly warn me “Oh, be careful!  You don’t want to get caught up in the war going on over there!”

Fear is the worst travel agent!

My husband is responsible enough to know whether this trip would be safe for us. He wouldn’t even consider inviting us to come over if there was anything serious to worry about. Besides….. “Worrying is the devils work!”

This experience is going to be fantastic!! We get to take an all day tour of Jerusalem, go sailing on the Mediterranean and float in the Dead Sea. We’ll spend some quality family time together while we look at stuff  that is thousands of years old!

Freakin’ COOL!!!

So, today will be my last blog post for a week.

We’ll be back from our trip on the 23rd of April, so I’ll post again in time for the Inspirational song of the day on Monday the 26th.  I’ll be sure to post pics and share stories of our adventures in the Holy Land.

Thanks for reading, my friendly blog reader. I really appreciate sharing this with you.

I wish you peace, grace and faith as you go through this next week.

xoxo Pam

You’re just too good to be true

Today is Monday, which means it’s time for the Inspirational song of the week.

You’re just too good to be true by Frankie Valli

(click the link above to go to YouTube to hear it)

This song will always remind me of when I was pregnant with my son.  

I loved being pregnant! Really loved it!!  Although I had to quit smoking (a pack a day) I decided to start walking and have continued to do so every since.

I remember taking walks through the mall where I worked, fantasizing about what he would look like and the sound of his voice.

I’d walk every day, feeling him grow bigger inside me, until I’d gained 50 lbs. (This picture was taken the morning we went to the hospital)

I was so excited to be his Mom, that when the day finally came to have him, I pretty much just cried the whole time!  Good, happy tears, because the pain, although intense, didn’t last.

That’s where the magic of life comes in.

The anticipation of his arrival, compounded with the sheer ecstasy of finally meeting him, wiped my memory clean of the physical pain of childbirth. (I’m not saying it didn’t hurt, I’m just saying he was totally worth it.)

My son turned 10 years old yesterday. I pulled up this song on YouTube to share with him. I told him I used to sing it to him while he was still in my tummy and how I dreamed about how beautiful he would be and how lucky I was to be his Mom.  

Awwwwwe!!!  We are so very blessed!

I hope, my friendly blog reader, that this song reminds you of someone you are in love with. Everyone needs someone who makes their heart sing.

I’ll be back on Wednesday with the Inspirational word of the week.

xoxo Pam

Joy

Today is Wednesday, which means it’s time for the Inspirational word of the week.

Joy: (noun) 1. elation, pleasure or delight 2) someone or something greatly valued or appreciated.

My girlfriend Debbie and I decided to take our kids to Hell today!  ;)

Yes, seriously, we put all 3 boys into the van and drove for an hour to arrive at Hell, Michigan.

This week is Spring break, so Debbie and I figured we needed to get everyone out of the house. We planned this weeks ago, knowing full well that by the middle of the week we would be sick of each other, ready for a change of scenery!

The kids were totally excited to take a quick road trip to Hell!  Woohoo!!

We left at 10:20am and the first bathroom stop was at  10:43am.  Seriously!

Once we were back on the road, the kids settled in to play Ninten-dogs and Debbie and I chatted about maybe taking another road trip this summer to Paradise, MI up in the U.P. (upper peninsula for all you non-Michiganders). That would be a much longer drive, closer to 5 or 6 hours.  (Funny how much closer and easier it is to get to Hell!!!  Haha)

The rain was steady and the music was a mix of choice  70’s, 80’s and 90’s classics.

Going to Hell Soundtrack

the Hooters  ”And we danced!”,

I love Rock-n-Roll by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts,

She drives me Crazy by the Fine Young Cannibals

Sunset Grill by Don Henley

Jesus is just all right by the Doobie Brothers

Keep on loving you by REO Speedwagon

Hey Yah by the Black Eyed Peas

Any way you want it by Journey

Freeze Frame by J. Geils Band

After passing beautiful stone houses, farms and horse ranches, we finally arrived in Hell.

It’s not nearly as hot or sulpher-soaked as I had been lead to believe!  ;)

We weren’t there for very long when we met John Colone, the owner of both the ice cream shoppe and the store.  A newly, retired gentleman, he has decided to put his considerable talents and enthusiasm into making Hell a fun place for families and grown-ups alike!  It was wonderful to see his eyes light up when he told us about how he’s planning on building new bathrooms to accommodate the swelling crowds that come in the summer time.  He also said that they have the largest put put golf  in Michigan and it’s 100% handicap accessible (awfully nice for a guy from Hell!)

There is a tiny door that leads into the ice cream shop. Any child that can walk through the door without bending down gets free ice cream (seriously, what a sweetie!!)   Check out his new website at www.hell2u.com.

Debbie, the boys and I really had a great time looking at all of the cool stuff at the store. We picked up T-shirts that say “I’ve been to Hell and back!” and the kids made pressed penny souvenirs. John was even nice enough to give us all a FREE Exit Visa that entitles us to safe passage thru HELL!   I picked up an extra one for Blake , ya know, just in case!!

It was truly a JOY to go to Hell with my son and our friends!

So the next time someone tells you to go to Hell, you’ll know it’s a pretty nice place after all!

Have a great week and I’ll be back on Monday with the Inspirational song of the week.

xoxo Pam

No worries

Today is Monday, which means it’s time for the Inspirational song of the week.

Instead of just one song, I put together a soundtrack of  songs to take your mind off of your troubles.

The No Worries Soundtrack

Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry

Jailhouse Rock by Elvis Presley

Don’t worry about a thing by Bob Marley

Sweet Emotion by Aerosmith

Think by Aretha Franklin

Don’t worry Be happy by Bobby McFerrin

Hot Rod Lincoln by Commander Cody and his lost planet airmen

BlackBird by the Beatles

Life can get overwhelming.  The best thing we can do (besides turn off the television)  is take a deep breath, focus on the vision of what we want our lives to look like, and put our energy towards that.  ”Worry is interest paid on trouble before it’s due”. (Thanks to Tamara’s friend!)

How do you get past your worries, my friendly blog reader? What do you do to keep yourself calm and centered? I’d love to see your advice in the comments!

Have a great week and I’ll be back on Wednesday with the Inspirational word of the day.

xoxo Pam

Easter Sunday

The last dream I remembered this morning was of me panicking because my phone battery died and  my husband was supposed to be calling to come pick me up. I don’t remember where I was, but I knew I was supposed to be somewhere else.

Now, it’s true that I’m down to my last nerve with my phone batteries because lately, I can’t seem to keep any of them charged up for very long.  (I’ll be picking up a new phone this week, and a better one, at that!)  But the rest of it doesn’t make sense. Blake has been very good at calling as close to every day as possible.  He called last week to let me know that the news was going to be talking about a bombing and not to worry because he is at least 4 to 5 hours away from it.  He also reminded me that there are more than 7 million people who live in that country full-time.  They didn’t seem overly concerned, so I shouldn’t be. “Worrying is the devils work”, so I decided to just let it go.

I got up and filled the Easter baskets with candy and toys. Instead of a bunny, I got Garrett a Madagascar penguin because he’s going to be 10 years old next week and he really doesn’t think bunnies are cool, but a penguin that likes to puke up chainsaws, now that’s cool!

After a breakfast of chocolate, peeps and hard-boiled eggs, I took my walk around the lake with Tootsie.

The weather was absolutely stunning!  There was a nice light breeze, blue skies and birds singing.  I saw the crocuses are finally coming up, which means the tulips will be here soon!!! 

After I got back, Blake called.  It was such a relief to hear his voice!  He sounded good and chatted with me and Garrett for a few minutes before he had to get back to work. I told him about my dream, and he said he was sorry and that he misses me too. We both know this situation won’t last forever, just a few more weeks. It’s just the dream and the holiday and the fact that Sundays are always the hardest, left me feeling a little extra sensitive today. (I guess that’s good because it reminds me of how much I really love my husband.) I told him that Garrett and I were going to go watch the new movie “How to Train your Dragon” (in 3D) movie and then go out to dinner. Blake was completely thrilled to hear that we were going to go out and have a good time. He’s a great husband, despite the distance!

So that is just what we did. We saw the movie (which was really wonderful story about being true to yourself) and then we had dinner at the Japanese teppanyaki restaurant  Miyako at the Great Lakes Crossing Mall.  Mmmmm, shrimp and steak!  And the chef was very entertaining!  He even flipped rice into my sons mouth!  Super cool!

We came home and napped on the couch for a couple of hours and then went back outside to enjoy the sunshine. Garrett went to go play with his buddies and I threw the ball for Tootsie and trimmed some bushes.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable holiday.

Despite waking up  panicked, the whole rest of the day was truly peaceful.

Now here it is, dark and late. Time for me to say good night to another Sunday without my husband.

Fortunately this week is spring break, so I’ll get to hang out with Garrett all week! Maybe I’ll get him to help me do some gardening.

In just a couple of weeks, Garrett and I will be traveling to Israel to go see Blake! Now there’s something to look forward to!

Have a wonderful evening and I’ll be back in the morning with the Inspirational song of the week!

xoxo Pam