Blessed

Blessed are we who have people who are or have been willing to put their lives and safety
on the line for OUR lives and safety!

Hat...............

Word of the Day........

Hat....n.,.....head garment.

If you think about it, hats are a big part of culture.  Here it's cowboy hats....in all shapes, different brims denoting different things.  In England women wear hats to many events.  Some are absolutely gorgeous and wonderful.  Some bring to mind...........what the heck were they thinking?  In the Middle Eastern part of the world there are turbans.  But we also wear invisible hats....Mother hats, Father hats, Friend hats, Work hats, Party hats, Public hats, Private hats....the list goes on and on.  Sometimes we must combine hats.  Many days with my students my Teacher hat melds with my Mother hat.  Those are the times my students need mothering more than teaching.  Just as life isn't simple, neither are our hats.  You have one hat on, but other hats dangle around much like adjectives dangle around nouns.  The point is that every minute of every day we wear a hat that defines that minute. Pick and refine your hats carefully so someone doesn't say......WHAT THE HECK WERE THEY THINKING?

Routine............

Word of the Day..............

Routine...n.,......standard course of action.

We all have routines.....morning routines, work routines, household routines, nightly routines.  I think they provide comfort.  I daresay if your morning routine is off, for whatever reason, your entire day could be off.  Even Missy, my dog, has her morning routine.  She gets up when I do and skips(yes skips) to the kitchen for her treat.  Then she goes outside to get things done and check out the cats and Mr. P.  She comes back in and once again stands in the kitchen in case I've forgotten she's already gotten her treat or perhaps I'm feeling generous and she'll get two.  Yes, it happens.  She then takes every step I take as I follow my morning routine.  We are all creatures of habit.....humans and animals alike.  Routines are comfort zones.  They say our world is ok.....not off kilter.  But if our routines become ruts, we may need to do some re-routining.  We may need to shake up our world a little.  Look at your routine....morning, work, household, nightly.  Is it productive to you and others?  Does it give you comfort or bore you to tears?  Does it include others in a joyous way?  Do you feel good about your routine?  Routines can be healthy or big ole holes we've dug.  Make your days special...they won't last forever.

Ooooppppssssssss.........

Words of the Day.....

Oooppppss...inj.,.....mild dismay over one's on Blunder.

One time we had a dog named Oops......had no clue our Lab was pregnant and she had one pup.  We named him Oops.  Now, I'll admit that wasn't MY blunder...well, maybe it was because I was supposed to have taken her to the vet to get her fixed..( I've often wondered why we say Fixed?)...anyway...back to ooopsss.  We all have oops days.  Days where maybe things are just a little out of sync.  Days where maybe you should have stayed at home with the covers pulled over our head.  Today is my OOOPPPSSSSSSS DAY......I"m just gonna go ahead and be very public about it.  Came to school early.....as I always do.  I need to brew coffee so someone else won't make it too darn weak.  I brewed coffee this morning....turns out it works better if you put a POT underneath the water flow.  I owe Lupe BIG TIME.  So we mop, and get things going the way they need to be going.  THANKS LUPE!!!  I walk into DHall where my kids are waiting on me....they are trained well.  I say a bright good morning with coffee cup in my hand.  One girl raises her hand....and very tentatively says....Ms Brannan, is your shirt on inside out?  Why YES Abby it is.  I'm pretty sure I'm having an OOOPPPPSSS Day.  Let the laughter begin!!

Enough.......

Word of the Day......

Enough...adj.,.......adequate for the want or need.

When is enough enough?  If you listen to the media, you don't have ENOUGH money to retire, your car isn't equipped with ENOUGH bells and whistles, your televsion screen isn't flat ENOUGH or big ENOUGH.  Certainly you're not thin ENOUGH, don't live in a large ENOUGH house, your lawn isn't green ENOUGH.  I can assure you that you don't exercise ENOUGH, give your kids ENOUGH, your vacations aren't exotic ENOUGH.  When is ENOUGH ENOUGH?  I say if you define your life by enough, then you'll never measure up.  Someone is always going to have more, be more, achieve more.  If ENOUGH is your mantra, then by all means get on that wheel and run til you drop.  Miss those moments when ENOUGH just doesn't matter.  Those sunrises and sunsets, those hysterical moments with good friends, those hugs from your kids, those really good books that introduce you to new things, people, places......those moments that  aren't defined by ENOUGH.  Choose wisely Guys and Dolls......

Absent

Word of the Day.......

Absent.....n.,.....Not Present

I've been ABSENT for a day or too.  Not gonna ask whether you've noticed?  Been glad?  Sad? Indifferent? Bummed?  Has it made your heart grow fonder? Has it been out of sight-out of mind?  I wonder if you have ever thought about how your presence or lack thereof(absence) affects people?  Do you ever stop and think of that?  If you're not being with someone regularly matters? Do you want it to matter?  Do you want to hear it matters?  It's possible that you have those people that you would love to be ABSENT from your life.  As in..."If I NEVER see him/her again it will be too soon."  It's possible that you have someone whom you want to see daily.  I'm here to tell you that your absence matters to people.  Maybe not everybody in your life and that's ok.  But understand this, you should be a constant in the lives of those people to whom you matter.  Make an effort to email, call, go by. Life is a series of seconds, minutes, hours and days.  Don't let that pass you by.  Don't look back with a regret that if only, why didn't I or so sorry I missed that.  Get in there and live your life.  No one else can; you DO IT!!

Verbiage.....

Word of the Day......

Verbiage...n.,....excessive words.

Now this may be a hard one for me...:)).  Just realize when you've 'used all your words'.  If the person you're talking to is nodding off....you've used all your words.  If the meeting you chair is running an hour over....you've used all your words.  If your cell phone has full battery, then dies during your conversation, you've used all your words. If your spouse or children raise the volume of the T.V....perhaps you've used all your words.......you have 'VERBIAGED!'.  Sometimes silence is effective verbiage. Sometimes actions are effective verbiage.  Sometimes........hmmmmm, I think I've used all my words!!

Power............

Word of the Day.......

Power...n.,.....Authority.

So you have a little POWER in your life.  Maybe you have people who work under you.  Maybe you are an elected official.  Maybe you are a parent.  Just as an electrical current has power that can zap, hurt or even kill, so can personal power.  But how wonderful to flip a switch and a dark room becomes illuminated.  Let's all use what POWER we have to illuminate and  not destroy. 

Platitude Attitude

Word of the Day.....

Platitude...n.,...trite, pompous remark.

Our world is filled with PLATITUDE attitude.  When one door shuts, another one opens, everything happens for a reason.....every cloud has a silver lining.  Some days don'tcha wanna say blah, blah ,blah to all that?  I'm not saying those platitudes don't sometimes have merit and comfort and don't hold truths.  I"m not saying they are always spoken with self-rightousness. I am saying they are only words.  They are not your future; they are not a signal to sit and wait for better things.  Let them soothe you when they can, but grab the situation that is the target of those words!  Sink determination into you situation.  Use your resources.  Make life happen.  Leave PLATITUDE attitude at the door.  You're better and stronger than that.  Find your truth and live it.  It may be harder and have more sacrifices that you've ever imagined.  But it's your life and you can do it!  And always remember, the ride of life has plenty of bumps, potholes and curves....hold on tight, it's a bumpy road....(was that a platitude?:))) God didn't make you to STEW; He made you to DO!

Grindstone........

Word of the Day....

Grindstone....n.,......work/action not pleasurable.

Monday...back to the Grindstone.  Week end over,  five days of work ahead.  Ugh!!  But does it really have to be a big UGH? I don't mean the the five days of work.  I mean the Grindstone attitude.  What if we viewed Monday as a day of setting the stage? Renewed energy...renewed purpose..another day of the gifts of life, friends, family, touching others in an encouraging way.  What if there was no Monday?   Would Tuesday be your Grindstone day?  Life is not about having a Grindstone attitude.  Life is about taking each day..whichever it may be and making it count in a positive, hopeful and powerful way!  You're not promised tomorrow or another hour or minute.  Throw out your GRINDSTONE Grimace.  Attitude is contagious...pass one a great one!!

Nurture

Word of the Day.......

Nurture...v.,......to support and encourage

So on this Mother's Day weekend I choose to make our word nurture.  If you are a mother, there is no other feeling like the joy, the privilege, the ability to nurture your children. We nurture them every day even when they are old enough to be on their own.  We nuture them every day even when we really don't feel like it.   We nurture them every day even when we need nurturing ourselves.We nurture them because it is an instinct that is undeniable.   Sometimes nurturing is happiness, sometimes it is sadness, sometimes it is having the strength to do what's right when it's much easier to do what's wrong. We all nurture in different ways because we HAVE BEEN nurtured in different ways.  Just know, when God gave you those souls, He intended you to nurture them.  It is an honor beyond measure.

Calliope

Word of the Day.....

Calliope...n., a musical instrument fitted with steam whistles played with a keyboard.

Calliope...just one of those wonderful sounding words.  Rolls off the tongue with lightness.  It's a happy word.  Doesn't it just sound joyful when you say it?  Images of circuses, carnivals, cotton candy, peanuts and jugglers dance to the sound of the word CALLIOPE.  It's an emotion, an attitude, a Friday kinda word.  Say it out loud 5 or 10 times.  Bet your smiling!  Have a CALLIOPE day Guys and Dolls.

Here We Go......

Word of the Day....

Agenda..n.,...matters to attend to.

What's on your AGENDA today?  Meetings? Luncheons? Jobs? More meetings? Scurry here...scurry there.  Be busier than everybody else because why? It looks good?  It's required to be successful?  It's just the way things are?  I hate to disagree, but I DISAGREE.  I know, I know...you have a job,you have kids, you have commitments, you have, have, have.  Don't be on AGENDA overload.  How do you enjoy one minute of an overloaded day?  Don't pass on that legacy to your kids.  I don't think we are intended to let 'busy' control our days.  Did you miss that butterfly that sailed past your head?  Did you miss that faint smell of honeysuckle on that fence?  Did you miss a friend's need to just chat for a second?  Did you miss your child just wanting a second of your time?  Don't let 'busy' define you.  Stop it!!

Imagine......................

The dictionary defines imagine as.............to form a mental image of something not present.  Imagine what the world would be like if Dr Seuss hadn't imagined.....or the Brothers Grimm....or J.R Tolkien.  If Frank Baum had not given us Oz, or if J.K. Rowling had never imagined Harry Potter?  Do you imagine troubles that aren't there?  Do you imagine criticisms that were never spoken.  Do you imagine big dark scary things that lurk around and never materialize.  Why not imagine great accomplishments, or love or hidden riches in your life?  Take that ability you have to imagine and make it work for you.....not against. you.  I imagine that the world is a much better place than we can ever imagine.

Whispers that Matter.....

My Word of the Day on FB is Whispering.  Speaking sofltly, lowly, without volume.  Does it make sense to you that there are whispers all around us every minute of every day?  Right now the rain is whispering outside my window.  And while that is very obvious, there are those underlying whispers that I have to really stop and pay attention to.  But I daresay that most of the time we are too busy and/or self important to listen to those whispers and because of this we miss a lot.  Maybe our conscience is whispering about something we should or shouldn't do, maybe our God is whispering His love or instruction and we don't hear it, maybe a loved one is somehow whispering their need and we miss that.  I think there is a whole world of whispering that underlies the noise of life.  And if we don't make time and effort to hear it, then we're missing things that are life changing.  Think about it and while you do, be quiet and listen to your life's whisperings.

Mask.....................

The dictionary defines a mask as a face covering.  Think Mardi Gras....Halloween.  But I'm going to say that we all have masks that cover way more than our faces.  We have Life Masks.  What masks do you hide behind?  And here is the very tricky part.  Do you even know or WANT to know your own masks?  Control, money, perfectionism, jealousy, self-rightousness, cheating, envy, greed......these are all masks that we allow to cover our true identity.  And worse......steal our joy.  Just think for a moment if you dropped some of your masks....allowed yourself some freedom.  Admitted to yourself life masks were making you mieserable...put yourself out there as just yourself.  I'm going to say that the very rigid box we sometimes find around ourselves in would begin to soften, widen and become hazy.  Think about it.  And if you try it, let me know what happens!