Friday January 15 2016  LET YOUR EYES LIGHT UP

Another day.  Another blog. But where is the idea?  What to write today, is the question I ask myself.  Up very early to get out the door by 6:00 a.m. to be with our grandchildren for the day.  This is my window of opportunity to write but not much has happened yet today as a springboard to jump off from.  Dinner is already in the refrigerator waiting to be heated and served.  Our son has been out of town the past couple of weeks doing an extra course for his law degree to shorten the time of his studies.  From what I have seen through his life (or perhaps how much I HAVE NOT SEEN HIM) law school is quite grueling.  We try to do what we can do help out when he is not available to be with the boys.

Our new dishwasher is beautiful but not full enough to run a load.  We look forward to filling it up and hearing how quiet it is.  It was actually quite easy to just wash up the dishes after each meal and put them away with just the two of us.  However, I think it will be nice when we have big dinners and lots of cooking going on to once again have a working dishwasher.  I am taking a break from cooking at present because we have so much food to eat from the freezer and cupboards.  Actually that is quite nice right now too.  Lots of frozen soups and casseroles, fish and burgers, as well as lots and lots of frozen fruit.  I purchase all our fruit in season of freshness, freeze on cookie sheets, (raspberries, blackberries, blueberries) and then put into freezer bags for fruit smoothies and yogurt toppings throughout the winter.  The fruit does not stick together when put in the bags and it makes it easy to reach in for a handful of whatever you prefer.  I do other fruits the same way but must cut them up first before freezing.  Do you ever wonder if this blog is a cooking blog?

Uh Oh!  I hear little pitter patter of feet coming up the stairs.  A breathless little boy is telling me about how he won!  He played air hockey, Ninja, wrestled, and then “worked out” (on the treadmill).  All with grandpa.  Of course Xander won.  It is 10:15 a.m. and my quiet time is over.

Checking in at 3:10 p.m.  Baby boy (4-year old) is napping and Dave went to pick up Zachariah from school.  It will soon not be quiet again but perhaps I will be able to complete a short blog on a day when spontaneity of AMAZING THOUGHTS failed me…miserably.  Oh well, I guess I am just not perfect.

We had a delightful time at Costco, then a stroll through Aldi’s to buy some sale items, and home again.  Only this home is the home of our son and his family.  Usually I come alone to watch the boys but then the little one cannot nap because I must wake him to go get the bigger one from school.  Last week and this week Dave came along and it helped out tremendously with allowing Xander to nap.  When you are retired you don’t usually have to worry about the little one’s nap time schedule (you only have to be concerned about getting your own).

It is so interesting how quiet the house is until the Zachariah bursts in, full of life and exuberance.  There is sort of a vibration, a pulse of life that I feel when that happens.  His sparkling eyes, his voice so full of excitement, movement, and a trail of paraphernalia strewn across the floor, (until I direct him to pick it up) such as a coat, mittens, snow pants, shoes, scarf, hat, and backpack.  I kid you not!  And he always responds, “It’s okay grandma, that’s where it’s supposed to be.”  And I always tell him, “Well not when its grandma here who must walk all over it”.  He always picks it up and piles it into the laundry room, chattering the whole time.  And my heart smiles deep inside and I can feel the need for a kiss coming.  Of course it’s my need, not his.  He is a bit past that at age 8.  But he always lets me smooch on him anyway.

These are the kind of moments I cherish and put into my bank of treasured memories.  Each boy is so different and at different stages.  Xander is all for the kisses and hugs and comes up to me often throughout the day to lean into me, hug whatever part of me is available, and tell me in the sweetest, sincerest voice, “Grandma, I just love you so much.”  If you don’t think that makes a sappy heart, then you are not yet a grandmother.  I wouldn’t trade these two boys for anything in the world. 

Years ago Dave and I devised a “code” for when we need attention from the other.  If we say, “I need some medicine”, it means, please look at me in the face and give me your undivided attention.  With no questions asked, that is what we do.  And it works.  Often time, those you love are the ones you take the least notice of when they walk into a room.  Eye contact is so important.  And it doesn’t matter your age.  Not only do my eyes light up when Dave walks into a room where I am, my heart still lights up.  I try to be consistent in never taking him for granted.   

I remember hearing Oprah once say, when your child walks into a room your eyes should light up.  I can’t say I was always faithful in doing just that, but I purposely tried to remember to do so.  And now as a grandparent, I again try to remember to let my eyes light up when my grown children or my grandchildren, come into a room.  It is not difficult to light up, when your heart’s delight, walks through the door.  Oh, don’t I sound mushy, mushy?  That’s okay.  I like being mushy.

So today is a bit different as far as my blogs go.  Thank you for reading this far (if you are reading these words).  I may have not have had a lot to say, and certainly nothing profound, but I did let you have a peek into my soul.  And if I were to leave you with one last statement it would be to cherish your family and love them deeply.  Let your eyes light up whenever you see them.  Your eyes are the window of your soul.  When you have light in your eyes, you have life in your heart. 

LET YOUR EYES LIGHT UP

By Kathleen Martens

January 15, 2016

Each precious moment

A special treasure.

How can love

Even be measured?

Let those you love

Light up your eyes,

There are always

Too many goodbyes.

Let your greetings

Be with a kiss

So they know

They were missed.

Too soon time passes,

Have no regrets,

That your heart

Has nothing to fret.

With open arms

And open heart,

Give each entrance

A perfect start.

My sweetest pleasure

My little grand boys

No one in the world

Brings such joy.

Take nothing for granted

They are big too soon,

And you are old

Ready to croon.

So every hour

Realize you’re blessed

That you can hug them

Close to your breast.

Let your eyes light up

When they walk into a room,

For they will be grown,

All too soon.

I shall go play ping pong.

Good night and God bless you.

Monday January 4 2016  OFF TO A GALLOP

I feel as if the month of January is already galloping away!  Every day goes so quickly and there are never enough hours in the day.

I PROMISE THIS WILL BE A SHORT BLOG!  Mainly because I am short of time and must still accomplish too many things that can’t wait until tomorrow.  Most of the morning was taken up with workers here checking out the mess, loading up some equipment, opening up another wall that hasn’t yet dried out, and reattaching new hoses to the wall in Dave’s den.  So we still have noise and clutter.  But at least the sound is further away from where I am sitting.  Dave’s T.V. room in in the lower level. 

The floor in the dressing room is still opened up.  It will all be put back together later this week or perhaps next week.  The date it will be done is now in our court.  During the re-build we are changing the counter on the vanity in the dressing room.  A carpenter was here to measure for specifics and told us where to go to pick out what kind of top we want.  We will leave early for church service because the place we want to go to is over by our church and is open until 7:00 p.m.  We may put marble on the vanity.  It is currently a sink made of Corian.  We are not having the sink in that room reconnected because we do not use it any more.  We are leaving the hidden plumbing in so it can always be reconnected if a new owner desires to have a sink in the dressing room.  We remodeled two bathrooms into one bathroom about 4 years ago and put in a double sink vanity.  It is perfect for us and we have decided since we are the ones who live here we are rebuilding for what is convenient for us at the present.

A short story about “Rose Street”.  When Dave was an infant his father built a beautiful house on Rose Street in Anaheim California a few miles from where they lived.  His father had dreams of moving into the house someday so every time they bought anything for their existing home, the stipulation was, “will it fit on Rose Street”?  Dave remembers year after year this comment coming up, causing his mom to never be able to buy something that fit perfectly in the house she currently occupied.  The same house Dave lived in as an infant was the same house where his parents died.  His father lived to be 101 years of age.  They never did get to find out if everything would fit in Rose Street.

So over the years we have both brought up that long ago memory of Dave’s father saying, “will it fit in Rose Street” when we give consideration of purchasing or remodeling the house we live it.  It doesn’t matter if it will fit on Rose Street (the imaginary house we’ll live in next).  We live where we live, and we buy and design for where we live at present.

The sooner we pick out the counter top, the sooner our house will be back to normal!  So we are going shopping TODAY!

JUST FOR US

By Kathleen Martens

January 4, 2015

Where you live today

Is not tomorrow’s concern.

Live in the moment

Is what you must learn.

Make it right for now,

As we enter old age.

And remember to watch the budget

For we no longer have a wage.

Comfort is a necessity,

Does it fit just so?

Those grab bars might not be pretty

But their strength we surely know.

That toilet may be high

For a toddler to climb aboard

But we have no little ones

For others to adore.

What is right for us,

Your needs, it may not meet.

But I’ll tell you one thing,

We don’t plan to live on Rose Street.

See how short this blog is!  Great!

More tomorrow about all the gooey stuff I like to write about!

GOD BLESS YOU! 

Wednesday December 30 2015  WOW!

The tail end of the year is upon us.  2016 looms ahead.  This has been an exceptional year!  I don’t think I have ever traveled quite so far in one year.  The only exception might be when I traveled with the kids in 1988.  We traveled for ten weeks.  Dave was with us the first three weeks.  We traveled through the Dakotas, Badlands, Mount Rushmore,  Montana, Yellowstone, The Tetons, Salt Lake City, Lake Tahoe, The Redwoods,  San Francisco, Hurst’s Castle, and Disneyland.   His family lives in Southern California.  When we arrived in Orange County he stayed for a short visit and then flew home. 

From there the kids and I were off viewing the country.  Rebecca was twelve and Courtland was nine.  We went back up to the San Francisco area and picked up another passenger.  His name was Rogan and he lived in a cage on the backseat between brother and sister.  Rogan was a rescued cockatiel that my friend offered to the kids (without asking me first).  So, you guessed it, they talked their mom into bringing him home.  And we weren’t going home straight away.  We had about five more weeks on the road.  When I look back now, I believe I was either insane, or the best mom in the world.  Take your pick.  We had many more destinations and one more passenger to pick up.  Our friend Rebecca Moore decided to help me drive back and visit with others along the way.  I picked her up on the last leg of our journey.  I can’t remember just how long she was with us.  When we arrived back to Wisconsin she then flew home.  Boy, was that trip memorable.  I can’t remember all that happened on the way home (all good) but we sure had some amazing escapades on the way to California when Dave was with us.  Unfortunately, none of the happenings were because of Dave.  They were all my calamities.  The kind which you laugh about…AFTERWARDS! 

Needless to say the trip was memorable and spectacular.  The kids were old enough to remember it and Rogan was like a magic elixir.  I told the kids that if we took Rogan back with us he had to live in his cage between them (which Albert included in the bribe to get me to take him), AND, if there was one complaint from either one, fighting or bickering, because of being crowded or having to take care of the bird, I would open the cage door and let him fly away.  And our kids knew if I said something I would follow through.  You have never seen two kids on such good behavior for so long.  It was like living in an enchanted fairy-tale.  When we got out of the car at road-side rest stops to have meals, Rogan’s cage was toted along due to the heat.  He was like our side kick all the way home.  Every stop was planned around the bird.  And the travelers around us would congregate at our table.

When we were at our last night’s stop in Minnesota before we arrived home I called Dave and asked him how he would like to have a bird?  He said something on the order of, “Why do I think it really doesn’t matter what I think?  I believe if you are asking me this, then you already have the bird.”  Oh Wow!  Does my husband know me or what?  Rogan lived for many years in our home.  He was tame and messy.  I finally gave him away after the kids grew up.

Altogether on that trip we traveled about 10,000 miles.  On the trip I did this year I traveled solo over 11,000 miles in 4 months.  So, my trip alone made this year a memorable year.  But it has been an incredible year in other ways too.  We’ve had illnesses (both Dave’s), two surgeries (one each), family reunion (our entire immediate family), retirement (double trouble there), and the unfortunate incident of a flood in our bathroom (hmm…only one involved in that).   Perhaps the greatest loss is the fact that forgetfulness is beginning to rear its head!  Of course it must be Dave that is doing the forgetting and not me (even though I’m the one who left the water running).  Oh well, rest assured kiddos that mama bear and papa bear are not ready for the confines of assisted living yet.  There is a lot more damage we need to do first!  And I hope we have lots of fun doing it.  Just remember, I did find my way home!

Through this past year, regardless of what that day held, I cannot remember one day that I did not enjoy.  Every day that I awaken is a new and glorious day.  A day to be lived, to smile, to feel, to give, and to rejoice and be glad in it.  It is another day to worship God and to give praise to our creator.

And this year is almost over.  I will think of 2016 on Friday.  There is still one more day left to enjoy in 2015. 

A NEW YEAR APPROACHES

By Kathleen Martens

December 30, 2015

The New Year looms big and bold

And so quickly out goes the old.

What once was empty, now used up,

Next year sits like an empty cup.

Twenty Fifteen now is history,

Twenty Sixteen looms as mystery.

Life experiences of both pain and sorrow,

Past is gone, there’s a new tomorrow.

Who can know what lies ahead?

Until it occurs it is not read.

What happened yesterday is old news,

If we survived, we did not lose.

We cannot know what a new day yields,

Or how our cards will be dealed.

But we can anticipate hour by hour,

Assured that spring will bring flowers.

A new year approaches full of hope,

Live to your fullest, do not just cope.

See what you can do to spread God’s cheer,

By sharing the Holiday Spirit the entire year.

The world is changing.  We do not know what the future holds, for us, for our families, or even for our country.  But I do know one thing, I do not need to fret because God is in control.  We see the small picture, that which affects our lives.  God sees the overall picture, the beginning and the end, and His plan is in place.  As you go into the New Year take this opportunity to start your day out with God.  He is a great listener.  His wisdom is sound. He commands the angels around you.   Seek first His presence and walk through your day with peace.  God loves you more than you can even comprehend.

I have not used a daily devotional for the past two or three years but this year I found one that I can hardly wait to delve into.  It is actually written for an evening devotional but I will probably use it for my morning time.  It is EVENINGS WITH TOZER, DAILY DEVOTIONAL READINGS.  When I mentioned this book the other day I said I would not peek ahead.  Well, I almost made it.  I just had to read January 1^st last night.  IT WAS SO AWESOME!  I’ll re-read it again on Friday and try to stay on course.  Actually I would like to just sit down and read the entire book as I would a good novel.  However, I think I would be on “THINK OVERLOAD” if the first page is any indication of how rich and deep the rest of the devotionals will be.  Oh man, I can hardly wait!  My favorite devotional is THE WORD OF GOD, every page, every chapter, every verse.  If you have never really studied the Bible you might be surprised by how absolutely amazing it is.  It is complicated, yet simple.  It is prophetic, yet all the answers await the reader who is diligent to search.  It is violent, yet the most tender of anything ever written.  It is forthright and blaring, yet full of song and melody.  All historical facts correlate with the records of history, but yet it is disdained as a myth.  It is full of wisdom, yet man still chooses to walk into doom.  It offers hope and direction for an eternity of light and love, yet the masses choose an eternal death of pain and horror.  It offers the greatest gift given to mankind and man refuses to reach out and accept it.  It is the most amazing book ever written, it is the longest Best Seller ever on the market (and that is without advertisements or write-ups about the author), and it is the only book the world is afraid of.  It is discredited, disparaged, banned from our public schools, cannot be quoted in government buildings, and any replica of stories from the book are being erased from our buildings and parks and monuments.  Why is it so feared?  I believe because it is the most powerful book in the world, and as long as the devil roams about looking for those to kill and destroy, his focus will be to kill and destroy that which was inspired by God.  But someday, every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord.  And God’s plan, so laid out in THE BOOK, will be fulfilled.

WOW!

Good night and God Bless You!

Ecclesiastes 3  New King James Version (NKJV)

Everything Has Its Time

3 To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:

² A time to be born,
    And a time to die;
A time to plant,
    And a time to pluck what is planted;
³ A time to kill,
    And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
    And a time to build up;
⁴ A time to weep,
    And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
    And a time to dance;
⁵ A time to cast away stones,
    And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
    And a time to refrain from embracing;
⁶ A time to gain,
    And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
    And a time to throw away;
⁷ A time to tear,
    And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
    And a time to speak;
⁸ A time to love,
    And a time to hate;
A time of war,
    And a time of peace.

I would like to add one more comment:

There is also a time to ask Jesus to come into your heart and be Lord of your life.  If you have not done that yet, now would be a great time.  

John 3:16 New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.