Resolutions ... No problem. There's No Shame In Starting Over. As Long As You Start

Prayer Of St. Francis

Surprisingly, not written by St. Francis, but an appropriate way to start the new year.

Make me a channel of your peace
Where there is hatred let me bring your love
Where there is injury, your pardon Lord
And where there's doubt, true faith in you

Make me a channel of your peace
Where there's despair in life let me bring hope
Where there is darkness, only light
And where there's sadness ever joy

Oh, master grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console
To be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love with all my soul

Make me a channel of your peace
It isn't pardoning that we are pardoned
In giving to all men let we receive
And in dying that we're born to turn around

Oh, master grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console
To be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love with all my soul

Make me a channel of your peace
Where there's despair in life let me bring hope
Where there is darkness, only light
And where there's sadness ever joy

Prayer of Saint Francis

by unknown author
Original title	Belle prière à faire pendant la Messe
Language	French
Publisher	La Ligue de la Sainte-Messe (ed. Father Esther Bouquerel)
Publication date	December 1912

RELAXATION is the key ~ 2019

Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.     Chinese Proverb

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays, everybody. May you have a positive, productive, and healthy New Year!

See you by the pool, May, 2019.

Kathy D. 

Happy Halloween, Happy Fall, My last Winter in Colorado is upon us!

It's really cold this morning at 38 degrees! We're counting down 122 more working days until Al retires and we adjourn to our condo in Nevada.

I had planned on leaving the snowy weather when my son turned 18, and he's now 43! You know, jobs, homes, lives, delays, full retirement age, etc.

We'll be spending the winter downsizing our 5 bedroom, 2 garage home to a 2 bedroom condo with no garage. The closer it gets, the less I care about moving the "stuff" one more time. The Goodwill is full of my life's collection of things that I don't need and frankly, never needed. Don't worry, Ebay has provided a place for people who actually care about some of the crazy stuff that I've collected to donate to our retirement fund.

It's funny how bitter sweet retirement feels. I watched my grandparents, then my parents retire and it's mind blowing that we're finally old enough. Al and I both feel like we have worked as honestly and hard as should be expected, so we're ready. With the NEED for a paycheck behind us, we look forward to living like teenagers before we left home. Few bills, one car, and no rent sounds like such a great way to chill, at last. Today, I'm thinking about palm trees and the pool ... ✌

Unaffiliated Independent Voters

Republicans And Democrats  are fighting like cats and dogs. With upcoming mid term elections, one would think that instead of bickering and making absolute fools of themselves, they would take note that Unaffiliated, Independent Voters are multiplying like bunnies! Not all Independent Voters are Socialists, guys. Boo! Take note.

Have A Cup Of Tea!

The first bowl moistens my lips and throat;
The second bowl banishes all loneliness;
The third bowl clears my mind of words and books;
At the fourth cup, I begin to perspire ---
life's troubles evaporate through my pores.

The fifth cup cleanses my entire being.
Six cups and I am in the realm of the divine;
Seven cups --- ah, but I can drink no more;
I can only feel the gentle breezes blowing
through my sleeves,
wafting me away to the Isle of immortality!

---Lu Tong, Eighth - Century Chinese poet, from
In Gratitude For A Gift Of Fresh Tea