The end of February always seems to sneak up on me, even though I KNOW it’s a short month. And though it is only short by 2 or 3 days, it still feels wrong every year when it happens. I feel cheated of a few very important days, and I know that sounds silly, but I do. Today I am ending the month with many things undone that I wanted to have completed by now, but a process started to get me to the end result of where I want to be at some point soon. My office is starting to take shape, my thoughts and some other projects are being planned in my head, on paper and eventually I know they will be a reality, so that’s good! I suppose ending the month on a Wednesday when I can work on a few of these things is a very good thing.
Verse of the Day
February 28, 2018
God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.
Thoughts on the Verse of the Day
Power! We like that concept. When it is godly power, might does make right because godly power is accompanied by love and self-discipline. These three together make a person’s life effective, constructive, and corrective. Live life to its fullest: not as a closet Christian afraid of standing true and firm, but one who lives by God’s power, shares God’s love, and displays God’s virtues.
www.verseoftheday.com
Food for Thought
Rude people are the worst, and I admit that I don’t deal well with them, especially when they aren’t just rude, but pushy too. Yesterday I went to the store at lunch time so I would not have to go after work. I had just approached the refrigerated case with the cut salad bags and was opening the door to reach in to get a couple of bags of coleslaw to go with dinner, when this woman pushed her way in front of my cart, pulled the door out of my hand, and without even an excuse me, got what she wanted and shoved her way past me again. It wasn’t like I was taking a long time to get what I needed, she was apparently just too important to wait her turn. USUALLY I would have had a biting few words to say to her, but I was so stunned that I just stood there in disbelief! Amazing. It seems to me that people who are rude and have no compunction about showing it are either mentally damaged, emotionally damaged (or a combination of the two), or are so incredibly childish that they refuse to grow up and live in the real world. Personally some of the attitudes I’ve dealt with over the last 8 months or so tell me that there are many people who are destined to die alone and lonely because NOBODY will want to be around them when old age makes them worse than they already are when it comes to their rude behavior.
Floral Design Day – I love flowers. I love them especially when they are cut flowers. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing more beautiful than a yard that has gorgeous flowers growing in it, but I learned many years ago that I am pretty much the kiss of death to plants and flowers. It’s sad really – the plants I have are only alive by default. Both of my Grandmothers, my Grandfathers AND my Mom are GREAT with growing things. The gift ended before I was born apparently, because I just can’t seem to grow much, but after seeing a very healthy orchid at my daughter’s house, I think my daughter has inherited at least some of the plant nurturing gene that skipped me. I created a system . . . I wait for my plants to nearly lay sideways from thirst, then I water them. They perk up, and I wait for them to wilt again, and repeat. If I water them weekly, they die. If I feed them, they die. Cut flowers are AWESOME because there’s no disappointment or guilt. You know that they are going to die, so their beauty can be appreciated without unreasonable expectations of continuation of life. Which brings me to Floral Design Day – this is the perfect day to appreciate and create floral arrangements. Because flowers are loved by most people, it seems only fitting that we have a day set aside to appreciate the creativity and artistic quality of flower arrangements. The perfect activities for today include:
- Create a floral design with real, live, or dried flowers
- Take pictures of floral designs.
- View floral designs.
- Draw pictures of floral designs.
- Have the kids get in on the fun. Get out the crayons and let them draw floral designs for an aunt or a grandmother.
Inconvenience Yourself Day – I know that all of us go throughout our everyday lives and we constantly see people who act as if they are the center of the universe and the rest of us must cater to their needs, whims and schedules. It is like they think they are more significant than the next person, that their lives and schedules are more important than yours, mine, or anyone else’s. Did you ever wonder if sometimes YOUR actions were perceived that way to someone else? I’m sure mine have. I get my brain set on doing something and I bulldoze my way through to get it done. Sometimes that could come out as not noticing if I’m racing by someone without giving them a chance to also move in the same direction, impose on someone to do something for me without asking if they were busy first, etc. We all do that from time to time. Well, the creator of this day – a woman by the name of Julie Thompson – believes that on the fourth Wednesday of February we should celebrate by doing something selfless and here are some ideas for getting into the spirit of the day:
* At the end of your movie, take your trash out of the theater and dispose of it properly. (personally I can’t imagine NOT doing this anyway!) * When driving, slow down to let a few cars from a parking lot ahead of you on a busy street. * Take your cell phone outside to talk when you receive a call in a public place. * Return your shopping cart to the cart return instead of leaving it sitting in the lot.
Ok, these were suggestions on the website where I get some of my information about celebrations – but to be honest, shouldn’t we do ALL of those things always? It’s called being polite. Our mothers and fathers should have raised us to automatically be that way. So, we should come up with some ideas of our own that AREN’T just basic consideration. Let’s see –
* You could let someone go ahead of you in line at the store if they don’t have many things and you have a cart full. * Be kind and buy a cup of coffee for the person in line behind you at the coffee shop. * Pick up a few things extra at the store and drop them off at the food bank
There are many ways we can step outside of our own self-importance today, and every day. Put your imagination to good use!
National Tooth Fairy Day – (also on August 22) – One of childhood favorite visitors, The Tooth Fairy, is an American tradition with European and superstitious roots. Centuries ago, in Europe, when a child’s tooth fell out it was common practice to bury the tooth somewhere in the garden or land near where they lived. One reason they did this was so a new tooth could grow in its place, but another reason for this ritual or superstition was to prevent a witch from getting the tooth – sort of like getting someone’s hair or fingernail clippings – and placing a curse on the child. By burying the teeth, the witch couldn’t find it, and the curse could be avoided. As immigrants began coming to this country, many moved to the cities and land wasn’t something all of them had, so they started burying the tooth in a flower pot or window box. Over time the tradition changed and they began putting the tooth under the child’s pillow and the tale of the Tooth Fairy was born to explain what happened to the tooth when it was removed from under the pillow and a gift was left in its place. Today’s tradition is similar but with different reasoning. Losing baby teeth can be a traumatic experience for children, but the friendly, smiling and soothing Tooth Fairy makes that easier for them. As a child’s first baby tooth becomes loose, the child often fears losing it. The promise of a visit from the tooth fairy and getting a gift turns it from something to be afraid of to something to look forward to. When the tooth finally falls out, Mom cleans it off and it is often put into a tooth box, or in a tooth pillow, and that is placed under the child’s pillow at bedtime. The tooth fairy comes after the child falls asleep. She takes the tooth, and leaves a small gift – usually money. The tooth fairy leaves a gift every time the child loses another tooth. Children are sometimes afraid that if they lose the tooth – as in misplace where they put it after it falls out, the Tooth Fairy won’t come. They needn’t worry. The Tooth Fairy always knows and will leave a gift anyway. She (or he) magically knows each time a baby tooth falls out and will arrive later than night, even if the child is away at Grandma’s or on vacation. There has been some debate as to whether the Tooth Fairy is a man or a woman, especially after that movie with The Rock, which has him as the Tooth Fairy. Popular opinion is that the Tooth Fairy is most definitely a girl. Now when I was a child we had a different tradition – my mother wanted to save our teeth – I know, that’s a little gross, but I did the same thing with my kid’s baby teeth for the first few – so she had a different rule. The Tooth Fairy knew when we wanted to keep our teeth by the fact that the tooth was placed in a glass of water and the glass was set on the kitchen window sill or counter. If she didn’t find the tooth under our pillow she’d know to look in the kitchen. This took care of a couple of issues at the same time . . . it wouldn’t wake us up if she went to find a tooth under our pillow . . . the tooth in the glass was a reminder to Mom to do her Tooth Fairy duties, and it did double duty cleaning the tooth for when she put it away. The older my brother and I got, the more money was left in the glass (always change). I remember when I had four molars pulled to get my braces when I was nine years old. My goodness, the Tooth Fairy is EXCEPTIONALLY generous when the teeth have roots still attached. As a side note: Have you seen the movie The Tooth Fairy with Dwayne Johnson? It’s so funny! I highly recommend it.
Public Sleeping Day – ah, public sleeping. I’ve done many hours of napping in public, have you? It takes either a really relaxed person, or an incredibly exhausted one, to sleep in public and I submit that it may not always be a safe thing to do. There are many public places you could catch a nap, such as a bus, a park bench, a blanket on a beach (sort of chilly for that this time of year), or on a ferry, like I have! It is a struggle for me to stay awake on a ferry, no matter whether I am staying in the car on the car deck, or upstairs in a booth. The impulse to put my head back and fall asleep is nearly overwhelming. This stems from commuting into Seattle for seven years. That seven years was sleep deprivation in action since I was up at 4:00 to get ready for work, left the house at 5:00, and traveling until 7:30 when I finally got to the office, then turned around and did it in reverse from 5:30 until 8:00 p.m. every night. By the time I got home and had dinner, got things together for the next day and got to sleep it was nearly midnight and the entire cycle started over again at 4:00 the next morning. Survival meant sleeping on the bus and the ferry. I was fortunate though – everyone I traveled with was in the same sleep situation, and our buses had reclining seats, without any stops for 45 minutes. We’d troop onto the bus, take our seat, secure our purse or briefcase between our leg and the wall, or snug it up next to us if we were on the aisle, put our seat back and when the driver turned off the lights we’d all go to sleep. Instantaneously. The driver would wake us up as we approached the ferry, we’d sleep walk onto the boat, find our seats (usually everyone sat in the same seats day after day), secure our bags again, and go right back to sleep. That was about an hour or so of solid nap time I got on the way to work, and we’d do the same thing on the way home. So yes, sleeping in public is something I do quite well. In a car, in a plane, on a boat . . . I’ve never been on a train, but I’m betting I could sleep there too.
This Day in History –
1692 – The Salem Witch Hunts begin.
1983 – The final episode of M.A.S.H. is aired.
Food Celebration of the Day
Chocolate Souffle – Don’t let all the sitcom souffle hijinks you’ve seen put you off making one. They aren’t difficult (or so I hear) and always make for a special dessert.
- Individual Chocolate Souffles
- Toblerone Souffle
- Strawberry Souffle
- Grand Marnier Souffle
- Chocolate-Espresso Mini Souffles
- Banana Souffles
As I have been working on this today I have managed to check a couple of things off of my to-do list, which is why it tends to take so long on Wednesdays and weekends to get this to you – but hey, I can hop up and do something as I think about it, which works out well for my at-home schedule! Have a great Wednesday, a wonderful last day of the month, and an overall beautiful day. God bless you and I’ll see you tomorrow.