Give a little whistle, Whoo-e-oo!

Things I have learned…

To trust my heart…About 3 months ago a friend of mine brought me her grandfather’s coat and asked if it would sell in our shop…I looked at it and fell in love, feeling that somehow it reminded me of my Dad.  When I did my walk down memory lane a few days ago, I found a picture of my brother and I hugging my Dad when he got home from work…and he was wearing the exact same coat.  (Well he had the same type of coat, not the exact same coat…just to clarify!)  I never had brought the coat to the store…I couldn’t seem to part with it and now I know why.  It’ll be in my possession from now on…I’ve even worn it a few times…what a fun memory to have.

To listen to my inner Jiminy Cricket…I got a request from a friend asking for her help with a ride last week and didn’t respond right away, nor did I write it down…I was awaiting a response from my in-laws to see if they’d be traveling with me on the same requested day…when the decision was made the night before, what did I do?  I forgot about my friend until it was too late.  When I realized what I’d done, I sent her a note and asked for her forgiveness and she graciously gave it.  Now to explain the title – do you remember watching Pinocchio?  Although it was not my favorite movie – a little too heavy on the bad guys, I loved Jiminy Cricket and his song…Give a Little Whistle…aka “Always Let Your Conscience be Your Guide”…and of course I love Geppetto – such a sweet little man.  So there you have it…whoo-e-oo!

That Gabi and I probably shouldn’t watch Castle right before bed…AAAAAAHHHHH – did you catch the last two episodes???  We snuggled up and watched Monday nights episode actually on Tuesday (we dvr it since we’re all early to bedders) and we both jumped a few times and finally breathed a sigh of relief in the end.  I won’t spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet!  We LOVE this show!

That two year olds are hilarious!  Of course I already knew this…but it’s always good to be reminded of good things, isn’t it?  Especially when there’s a funny little face looking up at you with that devilish glint in her eyes!  And when you look behind you and you see her little determined body tromping through the snow in her little snowboots and Stay Puft Marshmallow Man snowsuit pulling her sled filled with 4 pieces of mail.

That it’s best to think of other things when you’re feeling pain, rather than focus on the pain.  This one’s for my new-found blog friend Meg in Australia – although I’m sure your pain is more severe than mine, I hope this helps you as much as it does me.  I think of Spring and flowers and the smell of fresh cut grass and warm sunshine on my face…(ok, I know many of you are thinking – but the sunshine is always warm…let me correct you…when it’s 20 below outside that sunshine does NOT feel warm).

That I LOVE fundraising (for a great cause)!  With a little more time on my hands I decided to take on the role of chair of our Young Life Sweet Spring Auction (yes my rheumatologist and husband both cringed)…now I may not be the best leader yet, I’m getting into the swing of things with help from our YL committee chair (thank God for Martha)!  We have a GREAT time and it’s for such a great cause…if any of you readers haven’t heard of Young Life, please visit the website (and feel free to make a donation while there! – see I’m not afraid to ask for money!) at www.younglife.org.  It’s a wonderful program and we’re very fortunate to have an amazing leader who’s fun, youthful attitude, and faithfulness has brought in about 1/2 the student body to participate throughout the year.  It’s a great way to keep kids out of trouble, lead them down a Christian path, and have fun (like frozen turkey bowling!).  Both of my older two girls have participated and Sam is hoping to work with Young Life some day as a Wyldlife leader (for grades 7 & 8)!  If you do decide to donate please specify Ely, Minnesota’s Young Life!  And if you’re in Ely on May 10th come on over to Amici’s Event Center at 6 for a lot of fun, some great auction items and wonderful company!  Thank you!  OK, enough campaigning…

That I need to take stock!  Here I was yesterday…all ready to print out more donation request letters, feeling pretty smart as I’d run out of ink but I KNEW that I had a backup cartridge…only to find it was a color cartridge…hrmph.  AND, get this…I had just been to the store and now they were closed.  Hrmph.  Hrmph.  Oh well, what does Scarlett say?  “After all, tomorrow is another day…”  My response is still Hrmph.

That I LOVE visits from my cousin Randy!  Not only did he bring us treats, but we had a really fun visit, he and Gabi and I!  Gabi had a burning question that she’s been asking me and I really had no idea what the answer would be…she wanted to know just how many second cousins she had.  Now I know it must seem odd that I wouldn’t know the answer, but what I must point out is that my Mom had 18 kids in her family…and there are some that I’ve never even met!  In total we tallied approximately 66!  I think we may have missed a couple of Mom’s siblings so I’m going to call my Aunt and try to get a definite count…but either way – what a number, hey?  We had some good laughs and he brought news of his life, his Mom and his siblings which is always great to hear!

That you can teach old dogs new tricks!  (And I don’t mean Hershey our 13 year old chocolate lab.)  Yes, it was my youngest daughter who did the teaching, and yes it involved my computer…little whipper-snapper!  Yes I just said whipper-snapper…as another gray hair popped out of my head…

I think that’s enough cataloging of my learning experiences for one day…we’ll save the rest for another post.

Have a GREAT day everyone!  And be sure to listen to your inner Jiminy Cricket!  Whoo-e-oo!

Patty O