Don't Quit
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,When funds are low and the debts are high,And you want to smile but you have to sigh,When care is pressing you down a bit,Rest if you must, but don't you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,As every one of us sometimes learns,And many a failure turns about,When he might have won if he'd stuck it out.Don't give up, though the pace seems slow -You may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer thanIt seems to a faint and faltering man;Often the struggler has given upWhen he might have captured the victor's cup,And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out -The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,And you never can tell how close you are -It may be near when it seems afar;So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit.
Author Unknown

Blessings from me to you...

May the passions guide you,
Where your head holds you back.
May the brightness of the day,
Bring the truths to your dreams of night

May life’s little treasures,
Dance upon your toes,
And make your heart giggle,
About the goals you call your own.

May love’s ever gentle hand,
Hold you when you are weak.
May you always feel protected,
By the magic that I speak.

Hold close to the wants,
Of the life you call your own.
You have everything inside,
Just turn over the stones.

May the drummer in your heart,
Beat the drum that he must drum.
May you never feel alone or blue,
Someone is looking out for you.

Mindy Venditte

This would be my morning view from my living room window. The view is limited by the camera lense, so you can not truly appreciate the panorama of my oasis.

I always envied people who had what I call their "Walden Pond". I have read Henry David Thoreau's "Walden Pond". I even visited the national park in which he originally stayed in a cabin for two years observing nature and philosophizing about it. The area was a disappointment because over a hundred years have passed and people have overpopulated the area to the point the park closes due to too many tourist. Still I got the idea in my head that I wanted someplace where nature could flow through me and I could still be close to civilization.

I now have my version of "Walden Pond". Life is good!!!

Jasmine

JASMINE

Courageous, strong, assured
Positive and coordinated
Strawberry blonde hair, with a great complexion,
Small button nose, green eyes,
Long eyelashes on an oval shaped face,
And an athletic medium build.
Intelligent,
Well versed, adaptable
Proud but not arrogant, humble but not passive
Assertive not aggressive, elegant not gaudy
Whimsical
Ready for the moment
Chameleon
A lover but also a fighter in what she believes in
Passionate, empathetic, honest, pure of heart
A writer who produces
Not a writer who does not follow her dreams.
Adventurous
Ready to take on any challenge
Her attire changes with her moods,
No set style except that of her own.
One day smart and conservative,
The next, sexy and alluring,
The next, jeans and a t-shirt
Willing to get dirty,
Let life be not consumed with perfection.
Relaxed above all
At peace with herself

I wish I were Jasmine.

Mindy Venditte

Life creed

Just be...
Real.
Honest.
True to yourself.
The person the Lord wants you to be.
Kind and gentle,
Loving,
Considerate.
What your heart desires.
Peaceful.
Here in this moment, in this time.
Quiet, listening, learning.
All you are meant to BE.

That is what just be means.

A day in the life of super mom

Yesterday I was having a very productive day. I made my list of things I wanted to get done, I had all my coupons, grocery lists, mail, and such ready to "go into town" to run errands. This is very important since I moved out of the city where I previously lived within five minutes of a mall, WalMart, Target, three grocery stores, 2 gas stations, and just about every fast food restaurant you can think of; to a place that is 15 minutes drive time before you even get to the interstate to reach the places you need to run errands to. This leading to another 25 minutes of drive time I didn't used to have. Still I was ready, my errands were running smooth, the post office, the antique store in which I work to drop off a schedule, my in-laws house to drop off mail, get a key, go to my in laws rental place to pick up some furniture I had in storage from my sister, then to WalMart with all my price matches and coupons in hand, and finally home.

I completed this all in two hours, had my Chevy Equinox full of four lawn chairs, two tables, a dutch oven, 10-12 medium sized rocks that my dad had brought back from Arkansas, the mail, and groceries from WalMart. I unloaded my groceries and got them all put away, when my phone suddenly rang. I noticed it was a local number meaning either one of my new friends in Fort Calhoun, or school. It was school. The school nurse to be precise. She was calling me to tell me that my daughter had decided to put a bead up her nose, and was rather upset because it was now stuck. What happened to my perfectly functional day that was flowing so smoothly even with all the things I had to do? A seven year old is what happened. My very pretty, sweet, lovely second child who tries to defy the logic of mother on a regular basis.

The logic of mother:

Wear shoes when playing on a wooden deck so you don't get a sliver. Okay mom. One hour later, a few tears, sanitized tweezers and a sliver taken out.

Wear a jacket or sweater to school and take it on the field trip because we live in Nebraska. Okay mom. One typical Nebraska cold front, shivering child with no sweater shirt saying "You said, 'If you want to Gianna'."

Don't put things in your mouth because you might not mean to swallow them, but you will. Like your mother did when she was ten talking on the phone and swallowed a penny she was playing with. For that matter don't put anything in any hole in your body because you might not know what will happen. Okay mommy. Typical day at school, car full so the back seat is not open where the child who is under the age of 12 has to ride, my health insurance is an HSA (Health Savings Account or also known as, Have Stash Available because you pay for everything up front.) so we avoid the doctor like the plague, and you have to get a bead out of your daughter's nose.

Or logical dad who drops her off that morning with these words of wisdom:

"Make good choices today." Okay daddy. Mom sitting in the school office with tweezers and pen flashlight, fishing for the bead that is stuck in her daughter's nose because she was "bored" and was being "silly" that day.

The best thing about this is, on the drive to the school, I wasn't sure if I should worry about her, strangle her or laugh about the situation. I couldn't help laughing. Only my daughter would do this and somehow tell her teacher and the whole class "Well my mother swallowed a penny and had to let it pass." Except she gave the full details of what 'letting it pass' meant. The funny thing about this is we just moved into this school district two months ago, and her mother has already gone to pick her up from school with a sick stomach. The nurse had given me bags in case Gianna vomited in the car, however, I proceeded to vomit in the bags in front of the school because I was also sick. Did I mention the bag leaked on the sidewalk right in front of the main doors. Great impression for a small town and their new "city slickers" who transferred in mid year.

Needless to say, I got the purple bead out with tweezers and thank goodness it was a bead with a hole in the middle. I needed that hole to grab on to. I sent her back to class to finish her math, and finally went and unloaded my car to continue on with my busy day.

Yeah, for moms everywhere!

The thoughts you need to get out in the morning

I am a huge fan of Julia Cameron's "The Artist Way" and her other books that successfully help the creative person who feels blocked, have an outlet to the endless frustration of knowing where to start. She suggest writing 3 non stop handwritten pages about what is on your mind, the first thing in the morning to get rid of the nonsense and clutter that stops us from being able to be more productive with our writing or other creative ventures in the day. I find myself so refreshed after doing this. I usually write the things I need to do in the day, the feelings or frustrations that are in the back of my mind, or a dream that has puzzled me. Sometimes I write how much a hate writing about nothing, but 3 pages helps even if I repeat myself. Besides my hand is tired. I relate it to working out. When I first start working out, I am sometimes tired or angry about something and don't want to do it, however, once I get in the middle and towards the end, the things that were making me angry or tired have gone away because I used the energy that was creating them. Getting all the junk out of my head helps me get to the heart of what I want to write about, create or think thoroughly through. I love the feeling of clarity. I rely on it for reason and rationale. I like answers to my questions, confusions, and feelings. The morning pages gets me to a point of understanding.