two fish stories & a thought ...

    It has been a couple of weeks since I heard these stories so I had better put them down to the best of my memoriy real quick like!

first story:

Cod fisheries were trying to raise cod in a control setting but when they brought them to the resturants the taste quality was like day old and not fresh.  They began to realize that they needed to assimulate the drive upstream by putting in natural predators that they were use to.  So enter the cat fish into the tanks.  The cod needed to be on their fins to have that great fresh resturant quality taste.  The moral of the story?  You need affliction to stay fresh!

second story:

The kids were begging for a pet but there are so many possible headaches, the dad wasn't keen of the idea that is until he saw the no questions asked return policy! He bought the goldfish!  The kids were so excited and what better way to celebrate than having a swimming party!  Well, ok... Dad puts the goldfish in a glass by the pool while all the litlle humans jumped into the pool. Squeals of delight filled the air that is until one looked over to the glass and there was no goldfish!  The goldfish wanted to get into the big water.  Wasn't this party for him anyways?  

Well, dad scooped up the lifeless goldfish from the bottom of the pool and headed back to the store.  Wouldn't you know, the lady that sold the goldfish to him was still there!   She forgot and asked what happened.  His reply was that the goldsifh drowned.  She didn't bat an eye.  (I have to step in here and say that I would have asked more questions or at least dropped my jaw with nothing but bug eyes!)  Moral of the story?  Don't believe all the world's splish splash.  Stay in your cup.  Believing lies could very well end your life.

third point:

Stephen Davey puts it right by descibing sin as drinking salt water.  Why?  Why?  Why?  When Living Water is so crystal clear, tastes good, and never thirst again.  Stop drinking salt water.  It will never cure your thirst.

his presence - my present ...

Do you know what makes me happy?  His presence.   He lives on the other side of the world but his presence is in his emails or in the his voice on the telephone or in a letter.  It is like he walks into a room full of people and I am there a wallflower of course.  He searches for me until our eyes lock and dance as we find home.  It is like a song that lifts me up and makes me walk a little taller with my feet walking on air.  It is like a hot coal that warms the recesses of my heart making my cheeks warm and revs up my thoughts.  It is like a breeze that ever so lightly touches the skin, like his hand that wipes away a fleeting tear and lifts my chin.  His presence makes me happy. {happy sigh} Just a little happy that I am thankful for.

green peas & green bananas ...

Remember me sharing my frustration that my philodendron given my grandparents now gone being stolen from where it rested in front of my door for about 10 years now? This plant is a plant that schooled me on what it needed and when. It drupes when it needs water. It allowed me to cut it and even get starts from the cuttings. I have the baby at work but I wanted a plant at home. Instead of using a cutting from the baby, I got one at the supermarket. Some reason the leaves are turning yellow and I have NOT over watered. In fact I probably have under watered. There isn't much plant to begin with and I am down to 2 yellowing leaves and one that probably will turn yellow on me tomorrow. I watered it and put it closer to the sun. I just might end up with a naked plant!!!!

So what do I do today? I went over to Lowe's to see if they had "string of pearls". I looked earlier in the season and was disappointed. Today I was looking and looking. A store employee asked is he could help and he was quiet like he was thinking and I misread him. I went on to describe the plant. He was kind and new what I was talking about. He did go back to the greenhouse to see if he had one back there. I continued to look at all the different succulents that they did have. Guess what? I happened to spy a "string of pearls" sitting right up front! It was the only one and very few 'peas' but no matter! I want. I got! The man came back stating they had no "string of pearls" but they had a lot of the 'string of bananas". I asked him if that was what the other plants were called. Yup. He continued to stand there as I continued to look..... then he moseyed on off. I was unsure of of his presence after I paid and took my two plants to my jeep, I hoped that I didn't offend his intelligence when I was describing what I was looking for. My heart felt like skipping in a little jig but I controlled myself as I didn't want to dump the dirt. Ok, I will be truthful, I didn't want to embarrass myself. Thinking back now, I should pulled on my dancing shoes anyway!

I remember in my childhood that my Mom had a "string of pearls" plant. It looks like peas and I loved it. Funny, how growing up brings out the nostalgia! So I brought home a bit of old and a bit of new. I made new homes for them. The bananas had a lot of roots and is 'stringing' over the side of the pot. The peas really had no roots and seem to just sit together on the top of the soil. I am worried they won't grow and thrive in my home. The peas are verrrrrry green and the bananas are a lesser green. Sooooo maybe these sisters are less alike than like.

I am being adventurous with my green thumb skills. Philodendron, ivy, bamboo, string of pearls, and string of bananas fill my houseplant family to the brim ..... oh, I do have two plants in a pot out on my doorstep that I don't know the names of but they are looking beautiful after loosing leaves during the winter. I highly doubt my that I have skills with plants. They are more like teaching me what they like or dislike. Now all I have to do is listen!!!!

collections ...

It is just human to go around collecting.
So what do humans collect?
Things, people, color, memories, and learnings.
Why do humans collect?
Humans collect to surround themselves with beauty, security, value, and attention.
What do the collections say about their humans?
Quite a bit! It tells what they think of themselves, what they need, what their desires are, what they value, and what moves them.

What do you collect?
What are you saying about yourself?
What season was it when you collected a certain item?
Have you noticed what others collect?
What are they saying?
Are you even listening or is your collection got you blinded?

Ladybugs for Lucia ...

My niece is having a birthday in June. Her first. Little bro is thinking a theme of ladybugs would be nice. They asked if a local craft store had ladybug invitations. I said not but I could make some up if they couldn't find anything. Secretly I thought I would pick up some ideas or at the very least a foam ladybug to ink with to help spur ideas. However what I found was more than I could have imagined.

I spied a print with flowers and 6 ladybugs crawling along the stems. Each red bug sported a white daisy flower with a black center. O so cute. I put it back and walked away recalling it in my mind so I could remember it especially if I wanted to paint them. I walked back, peered again, looked at the price, noticed the 60% off, and walked away. I checked out the stickers and grab a pack. Found a ladybug foam pack that would make nice prints if we needed to make our own. Went back to the print. I realized that I had to get because this print will look very cool dressed in a shabby chic weathered cream white frame in her cheery yellow room. I then went up to the $1 bins where you can get lucky at times. I certainly found more than I bargained for! I found a pack of ladybug note cards. I searched for another pack giving her parents to option to invite more than just 8. Found another pack! Hope they can keep it to 16! I topped it off with some note pads and a ribbon all covered in ladybugs - oh, not forgetting - two ladybug magnets!

I was so tickled in ladybugs! I came home and inked up a brown bag with ladybugs and stashed the goodies inside. I cannot wait to give them the loot!!! Guess it is good to be an aunt.

one blue, one brown...

I saw for the first time yesterday a man who had one blue eye and one brown. His eyes weren't the wide open type and later I asked my parents if they noticed his eyes, they hadn't. Both eyes were light, one a light blue and one a light brown. There were no smile inside those orbs. He was talking to my father and I was in listening mode with great visuals of his eyes. But him being a stranger I couldn't ask about his eyes. I had heard about people with two different color of eyes and my father said that he knew of a guy with violet colored eyes. Now mind you that was before colored contacts! Oh, I wish my parents could have caught this stranger's eyes so I could know for sure that my mind eyes weren't playing tricks!