If You Give a Girl a Cookie.....

If you give a girl a cookie, she will eat it and it will be history.  But, if you teach a girl to bake cookies, she can eat one anytime she wants!  Other than the obvious things on my holiday "To Do" list this season, I had one objective in mind. One mountain to climb, one race to win, one hill on which to place my flag of conquest.  This is something I have wanted to do better most of my adult life.  Now, I'm not a betting woman, but I'd be willing to wager it's probably something most of you have struggled with and wished you too could be better at too.  What is it, you may be wondering?  Well, it's Christmas Cookies.  You know, those sweet little blobs of sugar, butter and flour that have accompanied the holidays since you were a little kid.

 If you were a child of the 60's like me, some of you may remember those red plastic sets of cookie cutters featuring all the heavy hitters of the major holidays.  I think Tupperware may have made them.  You know the ones....The set included, a Turkey, Santa, Easter Bunny, the American Flag, well here....this is what they looked like.

I had long since forgotten about those plastic pieces of my childhood until I found a bag filled with them at a yard sale several years ago.  Immediately, they made me think of years gone by baking with my mother and granny.  Of course, I had to have them.  They were a steal at only a buck fifty.  As soon as I removed them from the ziploc bag they were in, memories of my brothers, sisters and I covered in flour standing in the kitchen making cookies flooded my mind.  Now, if your Mom had these particular cookie cutters, you will remember how incredibly hard it was to get the dough out of the little grooves.  I mean, really? It was so frustrating.  I don't know what kind of recipe we used way back then, but whatever it was, it really stunk.  I mean, you would cut out the cookies, and if you were lucky enough to get them in one piece onto the cookie sheet, you were doing good.  Then, when you baked them, they would spread out and by the time they were finished baking, you couldn't tell the easter bunny from a snowman.  Yeah, I figure most of you reading this have experienced this same thing.  We now know that the reason the dough did that is because we were adding leaven, and come to find out, the perfect cookie for cutting doesn't contain leaven.  (Who knew???)

Enter "Google".  That's right  Google has completely changed my life in the Christmas cookie department.  That's because one day, early December I decided I would Google "How to bake the perfect cut out Christmas cookie".  Among all the blogs and recipe sites, I found this one.  http://bakingamoment.com/how-to-bake-easy-and-delicious-cutout-cookies-with-neat-edges/

Upon reading the blog, I thought I'd give it a try.  One thing that intrigued me about this blog was the bloggers claim that the edges of the cookie would bake perfectly without changing shape.  So I gathered all my ingredients and supplies and took the plunge.  After baking these up, I found the bloggers claim to be completely accurate!  YAY!  Finally, a cut out cookie recipe that was easy to work with, didn't tear up when you tried to put them in the pan and most importantly, tasted as good as they looked.  This sturdy dough even came out of those tiny little corners of my vintage cutters.  I was thrilled with my new discovery.  Now, to find a really good decorating royal icing recipe.  Here is the one I came across and decided to try.  http://www.sweetsugarbelle.com/2011/04/royal-icing-101-or-all-roads-lead-to-rome/  This turned out to be a really cool blog and there are many, many great tips for cookie decorating on here.  The icing was not only tasty with it's almond flavoring, but easy to work with.  As a bonus, you could store it covered in the refrigerator for up to a month!  SCORE!

Both the cookie dough and the icing recipes were really good and I found this the easiest and most successful cookie experience from all my years making Christmas cookies.  I still had my moments where I wondered why I wasn't piled up in the recliner beside my husband watching Hallmark movies, but I got through it.  At the end of my first session, this is what I ended up with.  Not too shabby for an amatuer, eh?

I even invited my sister, niece and great niece over for an evening of cookie baking.  We had fun and the cookies were precious!  Here's a picture of this year's Cookies For Santa, thanks to my newfound recipes!

The take away from all of this is this..... If there is something you want to do that you've never done, or something you've been wanting to do better (like me and my cookies), just get online and do a little bit of research and try different methods.  There is an answer for every question and a solution to every problem.  Sometimes, all it takes is a little "Googling".  I am by no means a cookie expert now, but I am not as intimidated by all those awesome cookie pictures I see on my pinterest feed.  I plan on getting better and better at this, and by next Christmas, who knows......I could have a cookie blog of my very own!  Why not?  Er, Um, Eh.......Nah.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  Now, go eat a cookie (or just bake one)!

BE A DOLL!

You're A Doll!

Back in May, our ladies at church planned and carried out our annual Saturday afternoon tea for ladies both young and old.  The theme of this year's tea was one that is near and dear to my heart - Dolls.  Like most little girls, dolls were a HUGE part of growing up at our house.  My 2 sisters and I loved our dollies and don't tell him I told you, but one of our brothers liked playing with them too.  (tee-hee)  But that's a story for another day, I guess. 

The exact theme for this special day was "All Dolled Up".  Little girls got to come in and go over to the life size doll house and make their very own paper doll to take home.  (Remember those?  We loved our Paper Dolls.  Little girls today don't know what they're missing!)

After singing a few songs led by the vocal talents of Michelle Young, our special speaker for the afternoon was the multi-talented and beautiful Joy Miller who related our lives as a christian women to the different types of dolls.  It was great!

The funny thing is, I had written a script for several of us to act out a play geared to the younger ladies in attendance.  Some of the same things I brought out in my script, Joy brought out in her talk.  It was almost as if we had gotten together and planned it that way, but trust me, we didn't.  After all, those of 'yall who know me well, know that pre-planning is NOT one of my strong suits. I find it much more thrilling to fly by the seat of my pants (or pantaloons, in this case).  As a matter of fact, the actresses for my skit didn't rehearse the skit at all until a few minutes before "showtime"!  Even so, it turned out great and we all had lots of laughs and hopefully the ladies in attendance enjoyed the skit. 



A BIG thank you to my sweet friend Tonya Lively (pictured above), Kendall Lively, Lindsey Tinker, Rebecca McBrayer and Karen McBrayer for being willing to put themselves out there like that with no rehearsal.  Now, that's what I call true commitment to a cause!  I really do appreciate it!  After the skit, Lindsey and I sang a couple of songs, which included Lindsey's version of the "cup song".  Everyone seemed to enjoy that and all I can say is that it must be nice to be that coordinated!  Lindsey gave me a class on how to do the cup part of the song the night before, but I never could get it.  Guess this old cheerleader needs to hang up her pom poms 'cause she sure ain't as good as she once was.  

After all the hoopla was over that Saturday afternoon and I was driving home with my very own seventeen year old Barbie doll Lindsey (pictured below), I began thinking about a few things that I wanted to share here, on my Born To blog.  :) 

Most Christian women can probably relate themselves to some type of doll.  For instance, we may be a Barbie doll Christian who is overly concerned about material things like our appearance and possessions, never really getting past the superficial to the "real" person underneath.  God wants us to be real and look to things above, not on earth.  (2 Corinthians 5:1-5)

Another doll many of us can relate to is that of the Rag Doll.  If we have a rag doll mentality, perhaps we are not valuing ourselves as we should.  Rag dolls generally are the ones wagged around by their owners, hair unkempt, clothes soiled, tattered and torn.  Many times life causes us to become like the rag doll and we are made to feel less beautiful, or less talented, or less precious than other women we see around us.  All I can say is "RAG DOLLS of the world UNITE!"  And know that we are precious to God!  He loves us with all our bumps, bruises, scrapes and scars.  And as for that dirty smock we're wearing, he can clean us up and cleanse us like no laundry mat or dry cleaner could ever do! 

This is me in my rag doll costume!

Hey, remember the "Chatty Cathy" Doll?  My sister Pam had one when we were little.  We sure loved that doll.  Makes me think though, I believe I know a few "Chatty Cathy" types.  You know the ones, that talk, talk, talk all the time?  You don't even have to pull their string to get a big ol' serving of their thoughts and ideas and usually, they are so much smarter and better than my own -  I just clam up.  (Sometimes I can make myself like a paper doll where I just slide up under something and disappear.)  Are you one of those Chatty Cathy's?  People who'd rather talk than listen?  I had a school teacher that told us "You learn more from listening than you ever will from hearing yourself talk."  I believe that.  

But you know, one of my favorite dolls is the baby doll.  I loved cuddling them, putting them in my toy stroller, changing their little diapers and feeding them their little magic bottles, you know the ones that the milk disappeared when you tilted the bottle up?  (I never did figure out how those silly things worked!)  But  as much as I loved my baby dolls, I don't think I want to be a grown up version of my cherished baby dolls.  I don't want to whine when things don't go my way, or constantly complain or have to be babied all the time.  I am a much stronger woman of God than that, aren't you?  

In closing, let me just say that if you are a woman reading this blog, You are a doll!  A precious, precious creation of the Almighty God, creator of the universe!  He loves you with all your imperfections and has the awesome ability to clean you up, dress you up in  his royal garments and give you a seat you at his royal table.  Not bad for a rag doll, huh?  I guess you can tell that I really enjoyed our doll themed event and I can't wait until the next one.  Hey, maybe we'll be PIRATES!  Argh Mateys!  Batten down the hatches and all that stuff!  (If it keeps rainin like it's doing now, we'll all need a ship, that's for sure!)  Bye for now!

Born to Give

 

At my Church we recently had a guest speaker, Brother Kyle Butt.  Although still a young man, Kyle is a very gifted speaker and has a unique way of taking a message you may have heard a dozen times and making it brand spanking new!  This particular sermon was on a topic that many of us find a little unsettling.  No, it’s not about gay marriage, abortion or how you voted in the last election.  It was about GIVING.  I remember my reaction when I heard the topic and my first thought was, “Oh no, here we go…another sermon on giving because we’re not meeting budget.”  You see, our congregation does a lot of mission work and benevolence and spends a lot of money to take the gospel to foreign countries as well as right in our own back yard.   I expected another one of “those” sermons on giving, but much to my surprise Kyle’s sermon was different.  He brought out things I had not thought about on the subject of giving.  At 50 years old, I have listened to a large number of sermons on giving but I can honestly say that none have affected me like this one.   I left the building that day with a new resolution to be a more giving person, not only in monetary ways, but just in general.  More giving of my time, my talents AND my money.  This leads me to the little story I’d like to share with you about God’s law of giving and how it became more real to me last week.

You see, I work in a Catholic based hospital with daily emphasis on Christianity, but even more so during the Easter season.   Along with the daily spiritual reflections, we get to have a little secular Easter fun too.  Our Human Resources department hosted an Egg Hunt for the employees and hid “golden eggs” all throughout the hospital for us to find.  If you found one,  you are very fortunate indeed because they held prizes of gift cards, Ipads, Ipods, all kinds of goodies!  Now, historically my track record on finding the “prize egg” is not all that good.  As a kid, I was lucky to find 3 or 4 eggs at an egg hunt, much less the coveted “Prize Egg”.  But as a nurse friend and I scoured the hospital searching for eggs, my luck was about to change.  There it was - tucked neatly in a pot of pretty green foliage in one of the waiting areas.  Sparkling, shining, just waiting for me to rescue it from it's hiding place.  When I pulled the golden egg out of the planter, several folks sitting around said, “I can’t believe you found one because tons of people have looked in that pot and didn’t find it.”   I opened it up and inside was a slip of paper that said “Bi-Lo Gift Card”.  (If you're not from here, Bi-Lo is a grocery chain and just happens to be my favorite!)  I quickly headed down to the HR departement to redeem my prize.  Although my golden egg only had a $15.00 gift card in it, I was still plenty egg-cited!  I planned to give it to my daughter (who is a transporter at the hospital) when I got home so she and her husband could buy some diapers for their baby. 

As I came through the lobby of the hospital, gift card in hand, I saw several Environmental Services workers (janitorial staff) who had just gotten off work and were waiting for a ride.  One of them has always pulled at my heart strings because I get the feeling that she has had a very hard life.  She is a black woman, probably mid-fifties, heavy, with dreadlocks and a bright gold tooth that shines (much like my golden egg) when you can get her to smile.  Something told me to give that woman the gift card.  I tried to ignore the still small voice at first thinking, “That would just be too weird.”  But then I remembered my new resolution to be a more giving person so I motioned for her to come over to me.  At first, she looked all around and behind her as if I was talking to someone else, then she pointed at herself and said, “Who, Me?”  I said, “Yes, come here a minute.”  She walked over and looked like she was afraid she had done something wrong.  I put my hand on her shoulder and simply told her that I had found one of the golden eggs and wanted to give her the gift card that was inside.  I went on to explain that I know how hard she works and I had just bought groceries and didn’t really need it right now and so on.  She took it, looking a little bit confused, then we hugged and she said, “Ain’t nobody ever give me nothin’ befo.”  I said, “Well, today’s your lucky day”, and quickly walked away because I could feel myself getting a little emotional.  Walking back to my office I was feeling pretty good about this giving thing, but couldn’t help but wonder if my gift card had been for a hundred dollars would I have found it so easy to be generous?  Although I’d like to think I would, I’m just not sure.  But hey, we gotta start somewhere, right?   Now, here’s where the story gets good.  This “gifting” took place around 2:45 in the afternoon.

I went back to my office to work and at the end of her shift, my daughter came by and she was holding one of the golden eggs.  She said, “Mom, the weirdest thing just happened!  We had looked for eggs all day with no luck.  Then  I was wheeling a patient down the hallway and the fire alarm went off.  The corridor doors slammed shut right in front of us and I looked down and there was this golden egg!  I parked my patient and asked him to excuse me for a minute, then scurried over and picked it up, explaining to him about the egg hunt.  When I got back to the unit, the nurses all said they had been looking for a golden egg for years and had never found one.  Here I am, only been here for 3 weeks and I’ve already found one!”  I asked her what prize her egg contained and I know you won’t be surprised to learn It was exactly the same thing I had given away to my new EVS friend.  Knowing what time the fire alarm had sounded let me know that her big find happened about 3:00, just after I had returned from the lobby.   

Now, if this isn’t an illustration of how God’s law of giving works, I don’t know what is.  In the book of Luke we read, “Give and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom.  For with the same measure that ye mete, withal it shall be measured to you again.”  Luke 6:38.  I’ve read that verse a dozen times and heard it quoted more times than I can count!  I’m pretty sure most of you have too, but I can’t help but wonder if we really believe it.  If we do, why aren’t we out there giving more?  Oh I know, many of you do, but why am I, personally, so slow to see and address the needs of those less fortunate than me knowing full well that as a child of God, He is going to take care of my EVERY need?  He promises to do so, and I believe that promise. The law of giving is a natural law set in place by God himself and who am I to argue with that?  Oh, I've always got some excuse, "They'll just spend it on booze" or "I would help that person but I'm in a hurry right now."  Really?  I want to be more like Jesus and I know he would have stopped to help or shared what he had without hesitation.

This giving thing is really cool and I’m excited about spending the rest of my days being a more giving person.  I know, the gift card was just a small thing, but what a large, golden lesson I learned that day, hidden in a planter, tucked inside that golden egg just waiting for me to find. 

Here’s hoping you have an “egg-cellent” day!

Let go...

It's been awhile since my last blog update, but lately I have been feeling a little bit unsettled.  Who knows why?  Maybe it's the weather.  You know the feeling, when old man winter is trying to hang on for all it's worth, but Spring is coming on full speed ahead.  You never know how to dress, whether to take a heavy coat or just a light jacket.  But really, that's probably not the root of my distress.

I know!  It could it be the political unrest in our country and the fact that no matter what form of media we are exposed to, it's just more of the same gloom and doom.  That could drag even the most positive of people down.  I've got to admit, the current status of our economy and the erosion of traditional family values is terribly upsetting to this traditional, ultra conservative girl, but I don't think that's it either.

Do you want to know what I believe is making me feel unsettled? (I''m sure you're on the edge of your seats just waiting for this one!)  Here it is.  It's the realization that life as I know it is about to change in a very dramatic way.  (No, I'm not divorcing my husband and running off to another galaxy with Patrick Stewart, although over the course of our 29 year marriage I have threatened to do so many times!)  BTW, if you don't know who Patrick Stewart is, he was Captain Jean Luc Pickard of the Starship Enterprise, (Star Trek - The Next Generation.)  He is one of the only famous people I've ever looked up to.  Oh, and don't worry....the hub knows and allows me this one infatuation.  :)  


Anyhow, the big change is coming at the end of May, when my youngest daughter Lindsey will graduate from High School, then go off to college in the Fall.  I know, I know....everyone has to go through the old "empty nest" thing, but this is not supposed to be happening yet....not now....not this soon.  You see, it was only a couple of years ago in the delivery room at East Ridge Hospital in Chattanooga when I literally "coughed" Lindsey out into this world - across the labor and delivery room into the waiting arms of my sweet husband who just happened to be standing nearby.  (I had a bad case of bronchitis and despite the nurse warning me not to cough, I ignored her warnings and coughed our little bundle of joy right out like a speeding bullet straight into her Daddy's arms!)  True story!  

And wasn't it only weeks ago when we laced up her first pair of high top basketball shoes to play co-ed, rec-league basketball at the age of five?  I will always cherish those early Saturday mornings at the elementary school gym where my baby girl learned the fundamentals of a game that she would quickly grow to love.  Oh, and the pig tails, who can forget the little curled under pig tails that became her trade mark "do". 

 I'll never forget dropping her off at school, clothes clean and crisply ironed with a pretty bow in her hair.  When I would pick her up in the afternoon, she was usually muddy from head to toe and no hair bow in sight.  That was just Lindsey.  One day, I drove up to the after school pick-up line in our brand new mini van and they brought Lindsey out in a lawn and leaf trash bag because she had skidded head first into a mud hole on the playground and they didn't want my van to get all dirty.  And I'm sure it was only yesterday when, while on a family vacation to Florida, Lindsey ran up to a vending machine on a restaurant dock, grabbed a big handful of fish food remnants, crammed it in her mouth and said, "mmm, peanuts!" 

The sleepovers, cuddling with her sister watching television, the family trips to Disney, year round team sports, the friends, the laughter, the tears...all these times we thought would never end are about to become distant memories to hold forever in the special place in your mind where only parents can go.  I'm sure I will have to visit there many times in order to make it through this next year.  You know, if I could, I would do the old "back to the future" thing and run the clock back just to get to relive these moments, but I know I can't.  (Where's Michael J. Fox when you need him?)   

I was just talking to my dental hygienist today and she told me a sweet story of when her daughter left home for the first time and she went into her room, knelt by her bed and cried, then her husband joined her.  (I can so see us doing that and I even teared up when she was telling me about it.)  She went on to say that "Yes, it's hard, but once you get through the initial hurt, it's really good."  I have already been through some letting go with my oldest daughter Briana, but she, her husband and sweet little Tatum are here with us every day, so that makes it a little easier on that front.  I'm sure I'll live through this.

But to me, there is nothing that compares with being blessed to be the mother of my two beautiful, talented and precious gifts from God, Briana and Lindsey.  I look to their future with great hope and faith that God will keep them in his hand and guide them all the days of their lives.  After all, the Bible tells us.... 

"Train up a child in the way he should go: 

and when he is old , he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6

I'm going to claim that promise.  Love yall and thanks for visiting my blog!

  

New Year, New Me?

I've had choices since the day that I was born
There were voices that told me right from wrong
If I had listened, no I wouldn't be here today
Living and dying with the choices I've made
- George Jones 

As I have done most of my adult life, once again I have set some personal goals for myself for the new year.  Ah yes, the New Year's Resolution.  Wikipedia describes a New Year's resolution as a commitment that a person makes to one or more personal goals, projects or the reforming of a habit.   I personally can't remember a year that I haven't made at least one resolution.  Sometimes I am successful, but I admit, most times I am not.  Okay, truthfully, I've never been successful at it - ever.  Usually by about oh, say the 25th my resolution begins to run out of steam.  If I am able to make it to February, well Valentine's day comes around and we all know how much chocolate is staring us in the face in Februrary!  Mmmmm.  If my lack of motivation and self control doesn't sabotage my efforts, it's the fact that I seem to be suffering from memory loss....."Now, what was it I'm not supposed to be eating?"

So here I am in the infancy of the New Year -  2013.  I'm not sure why, but this year, something seems different.  Perhaps it's because I turned 50 in October and now realize that I need to get control of my weight and develop healthy habits if I'm gonna get to stick around.  Or maybe it's my becoming a grandmother that's done it.  (By the way, maybe it's just me, but just thinking about myself being old enough to be a grandmother puts me in the mindset that I better go ahead and start picking out my nursing home.  Yipes, definitely not ready for that!)  I seem to have more willpower and more "stick-to-it-iveness" all of a sudden.   Finally, after constantly feeding myself a steady mental diet of positive messages to ensure success, I've decided that I really AM the one person who can make a change in my habits.  Well, DUH Melissa!   No diet guru, personal trainer or motivational speaker can control whether or not I stuff my pie hole at snack time with a cup of yogurt or if I choose to scarf down a Three Musketeer's bar.  (Three Musketeer's bars are, after all, lighter than most candy bars, you know.....at least that's what I've always told my chubby little self.)  Whatever the reason is, I'm starting to enjoy my new found streak of CONTROL over my life.

Don't you think that's really what the big issue is here....CONTROL?  After all, who or what is in control of our lives?  Is it

• Fate?  "My grandmother was heavy, my Mom was heavy, my sisters are heavy, I'm destined to be too."  Of course genetics plays a huge role, but I know a lot of people who have proven you can rise above your genetic propensity to be overweight.  I am built exactly like my Grandmother on my Dad's side and the older I get the more I see the similarities.
• Outside influences?  "I eat when I get stressed and my job has been so stressful lately that there is no way I could lose weight right now."  or  "I could never get my family to eat healthy and as long as I have to cook for them, I can't do anything about my own diet."  Really?  Don't we think our families deserve to eat healthy too to avoid the situation we find ourselves in?  Here's an excuse I've always used, "Biting my nails is a stress reliever for me, there's no way I could stop and besides, I've done it all my life."  
• Preconceived ideas about dieting?  It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking the types of foods we need to eat to lose weight consist of carrot sticks, cottage cheese and lettuce and that we can never have another bite of any food that we love.  I have learned that nothing could be further from the truth.  Several "experts" at work have taught me that healthy food can also be delicious food.  It's just a matter of knowing how to buy it at the grocery store, then how to prepare it when you get it home.  GRITS (girls raised in the south) like me, didn't even know some of these foods existed!  (Case in point:  Quinoa)

I am a firm believer that each person is the maker of his/her own destiny.  I have always known that whatever situation I find myself in, if I really think back and trace the steps that got me there, I am ultimately responsible for where I am.  When I'm in a mess, it has been my own negative choices that have put me there.  (And believe me, I've made messes of things from time-to-time.)  On the other hand, if I'm doing well and have experienced success at something, I can usually pinpoint the good decisions and choices I've made that led me to that success. 

I guess I've said all this just to let you know that today I CHOOSE GOOD OVER BAD.  To be more specific:

• I choose wholesome, natural, healthy foods rather than the foods I have consumed in the past.
• I choose to stop unhealthy personal habits that I have done all my life.  (i.e. nail biting)
• I choose to be more proactive instead of procrastinating so much.
• I choose to be more savvy in my finances.  (No more credit cards for me!)
• I choose to spend more time in personal study of God's word.  (This one should have really been at the top of the list!)
• I choose to be more kind, more helpful and more like Christ instead of getting caught up in evil habits of judging, self-serving and walking through life with blinders on to the pain and circumstances of others with whom I share this planet.

Yall, there are so many other choices that I could name here that would greatly improve the quality of my life, but hey, this is a good start, don't cha think?  Besides, if I fix everything this year, what would I do for a New Year's resolution next year?  Say some prayers for me, wish me luck and time will tell if 2013 is truly "My Year".  (And if anybody offers me a Three Musketeer's Bar, I will probably take it, eat it, enjoy it then get right back on the wagon.)  

Until next time,

Moe

Hi and welcome to my very first blogsperience!!!  This is going to be fun, I just know it!!!  I have had a desire to create a blog of my own for quite some time but have had so many random ideas, I had a hard time harnessing them all into one "comprehensive" idea for the blog-o-sphere.

You see, this past October I turned 50.  (Yeah, I know most women don't go around advertising their age, especially if it's over 29, but to be honest....i'm really quite proud that I made it to the ripe old age of 50!)  Who knew I'd last this long?  Anyhow, I decided that if I was going to do some things that are on my bucket list, I'd better start now.  Top of my list?  Start a blog.  And what better time to start than the beginning of a new year, the beginning of my next half-century?

The title of my blog is "BORN TO".  I came up with this name because a few days ago I began to wonder (as I have many times in my life), what I was really born to do.  Was I born to become a wife and mother?  Was I born to use my creative talents in music or crafts and floral design to enhance the lives of others?  Was I born to work a 7 to 3 job, come home to cook and clean, go to bed and do it all again the next day?  (Yuck, I hope that's not it!)

I am a Christian, so I know I was born to "....fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man" (Ecclesiastes 12:13) and all that, but I couldn't help but wonder....what else is there that I am supposed to be doing that I am leaving undone?  I know God didn't give me all these tools to keep them in my tool bag and get rusty from lack of use!  I just wish they came with instructions.  Tell me, has anyone else out there ever felt this way?  I hope I'm not alone in my wonderings.....

So, this blog is part of my journey to discover the next 50 years.  Won't you join me?  Check back here often to see how I'm doing in my discovery.  One things for sure, life is a magnificent adventure and it's always more fun to share it with friends!  TTFN!  (ta-ta-for-now) - Melissa (aka Moe)