Grannymar

or print.

This little beauty appeared in the Business section of the Irish Independent on Thursday 6th March.

I may not have a degree in engineering or technology, but I try to use the few grey cells that I have. Growing up with red hair and freckles really toughens you for life and as my grandmother taught me many moons ago:

‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names can never hurt me!

I won’t let it bother me, instead I will smile and remember a conversation the previous day.

On my journeys between Co Antrim and Dublin I always have a stop to stretch my legs and drink a coffee. Since the road now bypasses Carrickdale I make my stop at The OUTLET Banbridge. While there I made a friend for life! Christine Watson, Marketing Manager for the Centre and I were talking about their web-site. I suggested that she should think of starting a blog to interact and connect with customers and pointed her in the direction of beaut.ie. She was very impressed with their site and Bookmarked it right then and there.

Signing me up for their VIP Club, she needed some info, you know the usual stuff, name, email, etc. Then she asked what age bracket she would put me in, or rather she said ( Now sit up and LISTEN, this is important!!) “45-49 age group, would that be right?” I tried not to splutter and asked Christine to repeat the question, she did!

“45-49 age group, would that be right?” asked Christine.

This time I laughed heartily. “I’m sorry, are you younger than that?” asked a worried Christine.

“No, I am not younger than that” I laughed! “I will be 61 next Monday!”

The smile has not left my face since!

Back in January I was checking my emails and discovered this little gem. Immediately I decided it was just the thing for Mother’s Day.

If you are fortunate to have a Mother show her you care.

If you are a Mother have a wonderful day!

And now for the story…

Mom and Dad were watching TV when Mom said, “I’m tired, and it’s getting late. I think I’ll go to bed”

She went to the kitchen to make sandwiches for the next day’s lunches. Rinsed out the popcorn bowls, took meat out of the freezer for supper the following evening, checked the cereal box levels, filled the sugar container, put spoons and bowls on the table and started the coffee pot for brewing the next morning.

She then put some wet clothes in the dryer, put a load of clothes into the washer, ironed a shirt and secured a loose button

She picked up the game pieces left on the table, put the phone back on the charger and put the telephone book into the drawer.

She watered the plants, emptied a wastebasket and hung up a towel to dry.

She yawned and stretched and headed for the bedroom. She stopped by the desk and wrote a note to the teacher, counted out some cash for the field trip, and pulled a text book out from hiding under the chair.

She signed a birthday card for a friend, addressed and stamped the envelope and wrote a quick note for the grocery store. She put both near her purse.

Mom then washed her face with 3 in 1 cleanser, put on her Night solution & age fighting moisturizer, brushed and flossed her teeth and filed her nails.

Dad called out, “I thought you were going to bed.”

“I’m on my way,” she said.

She put some water into the dog’s dish and put the cat outside, then made sure the doors were locked and the patio light was on.

She looked in on each of the kids and turned out their bedside lamps and TV’s, hung up a shirt, threw some dirty socks into the hamper, and had a brief conversation with the one up still doing homework.

In her own room, she set the alarm; laid out clothing for the next day, straightened up the shoe rack. She added three things to her 6 most important things to do list. She said her prayers, and visualized the accomplishment of her goals.

About that time, Dad turned off the TV and announced to no one in particular. “I’m going to bed.”

And he did…without another thought.

For the wife who says “You make the dinner and I’ll iron the shirts tonight”, because she is home with you, and not out with someone else.

For the husband who is on the sofa being a couch potato, because he is home with you, and not out at the pub.

For the teenager who is complaining about doing dishes because it means he/she is at home, not on the streets.

For the mess to clean after a party because it means you have been surrounded by friends.

For the clothes that fit a little too snug because it means you have enough to eat.

For a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning, and gutters that need fixing because it means you have a home.

For the parking spot at the far end of the car park because it means you have a car.

For the huge heating bill because it means you are warm.

For the lady behind you in church who sings off key because it means you can hear.

For the pile of laundry and ironing because it means you have clothes to wear.

For the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours because it means you are alive.

And finally, for too much e-mail because it means you have friends who are thinking of you.

“Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.” ~ Victor Hugo

“Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart.” ~ Victor Hugo

“No winter lasts forever; no spring skips it’s turn.” ~ Hal Borland

“People don’t notice whether it’s winter or summer when they’re happy.” ~ Anton Chekhov

Well I glanced, as you do, at the bit where the fishes swim in opposite directions you know well what I am talking about. Now we all know it is the greatest load of codswallop , but we have to take a peek. Some day… just one day it might be right….

Horoscope for Monday, January 14, 2008 By Rick Levine

‘Your life could settle down enough now for you to get your personal responsibilities under control. Perhaps you’ve been remiss in meeting your obligations, but today you are driven by more practical concerns. Forget about the idle fantasies.

Direct action — not dreaming about it — will bring you face-to-face with the happiness you seek.’

“Direct action” I murmur thinking of all the chores for the day.

I put the computer to sleep and put away the keyboard. I stand up and turn around and what happens? I am face-to-face with >>>>>

Well for a split second I of course thought it was my mother. She follows and haunts me so much that I say “What are here for now?”

Relax she was not back from the dead, it was Me! Yes I was face-to-face with my reflection in a mirror. Not bad for a Monday morning I thought, at this distance the lines don’t really show and the hair is more pepper than salt. Turning the corner I see the lens cleaning cloth and remember to clean my glasses. Removing the glasses I discover how smudged and greasy they are, it is a wonder I can see anything through the lenses.

“Direct action, direct action” I hum to myself and decide to go purchase the extra ingredients needed to make a pot of soup. Going into the bedroom to get my coat, I am once more face-to-face with me! This time there are more lines and the front of my hair has gone very white. How can that happen in a couple of strides and a half a minute? Of course the light is different in the bedroom (and the glasses are now clean)! Well if that’s how I look, that’s how it is, I have no intention of taking to the bottle. There are far to many women my age out there walking around with dead straw on their heads.

I did make it to the shops and buy what I needed, but everywhere I went I was confronted with mirror walls or glass cases that reflected my face back at me. Why had I never noticed them before? Walking uphill with my bundle to my little castle I met an acquaintance who told me I was looking very well.

Continuing on my uphill journey I mulled over what the acquaintance had said. Yes, I was looking well and health wise so much better than this time five/six years ago. Back then I was racked with pain and unable to cross my living room without hanging on and I mean HANGING on to the furniture. I do have my bad days and various aches and pains but not the constant 24/7 pains in joints and muscles making it difficult to get out of bed, dress and raise my arms to brush my hair. I have a GP who really listens to me and the cocktail of medication finally suits me and works for and not against me.

I am normally a ‘glass half full’ kinds gal, but November and December were a real drag this time round. The corner has been turned and today we reach the halfway point in the longest most difficult month in the Calendar. Perhaps the prediction was correct for once, and I was able to come face-to-face with the realisation that the happiness was there all the time deep inside myself!

Sometimes we have to travel through a dark passage to appreciate the good bright times ahead.

Back in March 2002 Elly came home from Scotland to spend a weekend with me. Instead of drowning the Shamrock we spent the time in A&E at Antrim Hospital. I was ill and in extreme unexplained pain. On her return she gave notice and returned home to look after me. It was a very black time for both of us. After several months she had the chance of a good job in Dublin. Once again I pushed her out and changed the locks

It was the best move she ever made, she found a career, love and a wonderful caring husband. Perhaps without my illness that might never have come to pass.

Will, my very own

invited all of us to take part in ‘Talking Shite‘ a project of donating a blog post ‘for inclusion in a book which would be sold in aid of bowel cancer?’

‘Would you be willing to donate time you already spent, to help give people more time to live? And would you buy the book? And get your friends to buy the book?’

I’m willing (excuse pun) to have a go, what about you?

Todays Podcast tells the story of what happened on the way to Omagh.

You don’t stop laughing because you grow old:

You grow old because you stop laughing.

Ann over at For the Long Run has written a wonderful post this morning with food for thought for all of us. You will find Last Impressions a wonderful lesson

I also found Staying too long has another angle on the same topics.

I asked on Tuesday 8 May 2007 “How long would the smiles last?”, when we saw the wonderful pictures taken the day Devolution was restored to the Northern Ireland Assembly following the election of the four-party Executive of 12 ministers. All considered good news and reason for the smiles.

An item in Breaking News.ie today caught my eye. It proves my point that there is still an undercurrent of unrest going on. The article tells of a Bomb found on Belfast housing estate.

“The crude but viable device was discovered at a British Telecom junction box on the Primrose Hill estate off Belfast’s Saintfield Road shortly before 6.30am today.
British army technical officers were called and removed a number of objects from the Ballylenaghan Heights site for examination.
Police said they had no details of who was responsible at this stage.
Primrose Hill is a new housing development in Carryduff.”

Had the device gone off, how many more deaths and shattered relationships would we see around us? We have a long uphill journey ahead and we must keep listening to each other to find a way through.

There’s always a lot to be thankful for if you take time to look for it.

Today I am sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don’t hurt…