Joke From Bill

My father-in-law has a great sense of humor and loves to share jokes with my husband and me. I've been blessed to have terrific in-laws and I'm grateful for who they are and the many ways they contribute to my life.

Here's one of the latest jokes from Bill, entitled My Latest Diet. Enjoy!

I was in Wal-Mart buying a large bag of Purina for my dogs and was in line to check out. A woman behind me asked if I had a dog........Duh!

I was feeling a bit crabby so on impulse, I told her no, I was starting The Purina Diet again, although I probably shouldn't becauseI'd ended up in the hospital last time, but that I'd lost 50 pounds before I awakened in an intensive care unit with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IVs in both arms.

Her eyes about bugged out of her head. I went on and on with the bogus diet story and she was totally buying it. I told her that it was an easy, inexpensive diet and that the way it works is to load your pockets or purse with Purina nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry. The package said the food is nutritionally complete so I was going to try it again.

[I have to mention here that practically everyone in the line was by now enthralled with my story, particularly a tall guy behind her.]

Horrified, she asked if something in the dog food had poisoned me and was that why I ended up in the hospital. I said no..... I'd been sitting in the street licking my butt when a car hit me.

[I thought the tall guy was going to have to be carried out the door.]

Let's laugh out loud frequently this week.

What Not to Think

Have you ever watched TLC's What Not to Wear? It's one of my favorite TV shows and I always learn something from watching it, whether it's about clothing or about philosophies and mindsets.

I think my life right now should be called What Not to Think. My husband and I are contemplating becoming homeowners for the first time, which we've wanted to do for several years but haven't been able to because of our transient careers.

I'm going through a similar process that a participant on What Not to Wear seems to go through. Stubbornness and resistance to change is first (I don't want to lose the "freedom" that comes with renting--we could pick up and leave at any time if we have to).

Next comes the fear that changing what clothes are worn will mean identity has been lost (If we become homeowners we'll lose that carefree spirit and willingness to travel spontaneously).

It seems the next step in the process is getting a glimpse of how much better the change is from the past, followed by a change in philosophy (I know we need to own a home before long--it's part of a smart, planned financial future in addition to giving us so much more than we've ever had while renting, like freedom to paint the walls in our choice of colors and customize it for our lifestyle).

The final step is happiness with the decision and its outcome (I know that none of my fears are valid--we'll still travel whenever we can and if we have to pack up and move suddenly that will work itself out).

So that's my candid confession of the process we're in. The excitement about the process and the desired outcome is (so far) outweighing the fears. To many of you veterans who've owned homes for years or even decades this probably sounds silly, and if you have any words of wisdom for me, I hope you'll share. Just click the comments link below.

Enjoy the beautiful weekend!

Spring

The trees are almost fully leafed out now and several have beautiful blossoms as well, the sun is shining, the sky is blue, and the birds are singing. It looks, smells, and feels like spring today and in light of that here's a piece by Joy that is appropriate to share today.

Don't you just love this time of year? Spring is such a special time, watching the world come alive again after a long, cold winter!

Are you taking a little time to enjoy the wonders around you? To marvel over the perfection of a tulip? To be inspired by the exuberant songs of birds as they celebrate life? We would do well to think of the birds--they don't count moments or months, but still have time enough for work and for play. Someone once said, "there are solus in this world who have the gift of finding joy everywhere and of leaving it behind them when they go."

I want to be like that...how about you?

Has spring arrived where you are (or fall if you're down under)? Enjoy!

Picnic

Here's something funny I found yesterday in the Reader's Digest. I experienced this a couple of times several years ago when running a computer consulting business.

"The latest term being bandied about our IT office is
PICNIC: 'Problem In Chair, Not In Computer.'" -Arlin Johnson

Enjoy!

Diversity

I saw this great old proverb in the tag line of a colleague's email yesterday, and it made me think about how valuable diversity really is.

If all pulled in one direction, the world would keel over.
-Yiddish proverb

The word "diversity" gets bandied about so frequently these days that I think it has become one-dimensional in its meaning. We now take it to mean only the differences in the color of one's skin.

I think we should go back to a more broad interpretation of this word, and this proverb made me realize why. Think about it: if we all were the same--same culture, same socio-economic background, same skin color, from the same country, believing the same things--we truly would make the world keel over.

My parents used to frequently say, "It takes all kinds to make the world go 'round." I guess that's their version of this proverb, but either way you look at it, I think we're much better off with diversity in ideas, people, cultures, and beliefs.

See you tomorrow.