Dog Philosophy

If only we could think like a dog!

1. Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joy ride.
2. Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.
3. When loved ones come home, always run and greet them.
4. When it's in your best interest, always practice obedience.
5. Let others know when they've invaded your territory.
6.Take naps and always stretch before rising.
7. Run, romp and play daily.
8. Eat with gusto and enthusiasm.
9. Be loyal.
10. Never pretend to be something you're not.
11. If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.
12. When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently.
13. Delight in the simple joys of a long walk.
14. Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
15. Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
16. On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.
17. When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
18. No matter how often you are criticized, don't buy into the guilt thing and pout. Run right back and make friends.

Greetings from the frozen North!

This post is for all my cousins in Florida and Alabama who think its fun to live in snow country! The weekend forecast for Rochester is temperatures in the teens with strong winds. Come on up, folks!

In March I will be getting together with my cousins on the "old homestead" for our annual reunion. Really looking forward to that warm Southern weather!!!

More surprises everyday!

I continue to be amazed at my new MacBook Pro. . . forgive me for all these posts on my new computer, but it really is a major step up from my 5 year old Dell!

Just now I clicked on the Photo Booth icon wondering what was in there. YIKES! There I was on the screen looking back at myself!

I love the lighted keyboard too.

I LOVE this thing!

I am just amazed at what this new Mac Book Pro can do! To think only two days ago I was questioning my sanity for buying it rather than another PC.

I e-mailed my friend, Ginger, a dyed-in-the-wool Mac fan telling her of my new discoveries. She e-mailed right back and said, "Try this. First open up several programs on the computer. [Did that] Now click the button on the top row of your keypad that has a big rectangle with little rectangles inside. [Did that] Now get up off the floor and go to whichever page you want!"

When I clicked on the funny looking rectangle key, it brought up the three programs I had opened all on one screen. I could then go back and forth between these pages!

Now I was getting bold about clicking on keys I was unfamiliar with just to see what would happen. At the top left of the web browser page, there was this icon that looked like a cell phone keypad turned on its side. Hhmm. . . click. Wow! Am I imagining this? It brought up small screens of all my recent web pages I had visited. Well, I just HAD to tell Ginger about this!

She replied and told me how to insert "push pins" into the pages I wanted to keep there and then make it my home page!

Thank you to all my friends who encouraged me to go with a Mac!

So I got this new computer. . .

My old Dell laptop is five years old. It was becoming slower and slower and doing goofy things.

I've known for some time now that eventually I was going to need a new computer. I started asking around, "If you were buying a new computer, what would you get?" Most folks swayed me toward a Mac. I went online and scoured the internet with a google inquiry, "Mac vs. PC" I was in a meeting at work. I noticed one doctor had a Mac. "Do you like it?", I asked. "LOVE IT!", he replied. "Wouldn't have anything else."

This week I bought a Mac Book Pro. Now I've been around the block a time or two with computers and have used other people's Macs briefly. So I will just bring it home, punch a button here and there and I'll be back in business.

WRONG!

To begin with, it took me almost an hour on the phone with Roadrunner tech support just to get the internet connected to this thing. My modem kept telling the Time Warner folks that it was connected to a Dell. That wasn't the case. Finally, we got that straightened out. I don't care what Time Warner did to straighten it out, but now it works. I just needed a glass of wine to calm down after that episode.

Next stop. This morning I sent a couple of e-mails with the subject line, "Let me know if you get this." One friend wrote back and said, "You may want to tone down the font size, it's all over the page. On my screen it was "normal".

This weekend, the first order of business is to go through the many online tutorials for people like me who are new to Macs and learn the basics. I haven't even figured out how to make folders for my bookmarks.

The amazing thing about all this is that my kids down South want my old computer. "Jen, you don't understand," I began. "This thing is slower than maple syrup in the Spring." I know what she's thinking. I once had an old TV that wasn't working. John took it off my hands and they used it for another year or two.

They need another computer because they have "sharing" issues in their house with one computer! With three kids in school now, the boys need a computer of their own and Jen thinks my old Dell will work for them.

So stay tuned. This little machine, flat as a pancake, may just become my friend once I learn the proper care and feeding. Right now, it reminds me of having a new puppy in the house.

Not a good day to be on the road!

Whew! I'm thankful I only have a very short commute to work. Traffic is moving at a crawl this morning in Rochester.

I heard on the news that 49 of the 50 states have snow on the ground. Naturally, I assumed that one state would be Hawaii. Wrong! It's Florida, my home state. In my growing up years in Pensacola, we had snow on the ground several times. One year Pensacola got about 4 inches overnight and the world came to an end!!! Everyone stayed home and off the roads, as well they should do down South on these occasions. They don't have the tools or the know how to deal with snow.

Mindless entertainment

There are times when your mind just let's go of the everyday garbage. . . when you find yourself totally entertained by "nothing"! That was the case today as I rode the shuttle bus from my work location over to the main campus of the University of Rochester Medical Center, about a 10 minute ride.

It was a cold, drab day. . . a typical Rochester winter day. I was on my way to a meeting at the Medical Center. From my front row seat on the shuttle bus, I found my eyes staring at, of all things, the windshield wipers on the bus. The driver had them on intermittent. As the wipers sat motionless for a half minute or so, they collected hundreds of tiny bouncing snow pellets. These little white jewels bounced several times before they settled into place. Then a new crop would fall and bounce playfully before piling up on the ones below! For reasons I cannot explain, I found total joy in watching this show!

Why did I feel less stressed when I walked off that bus?

The story of an old TV

Hollywood couldn't have written a more heartwarming script!

Last month I finally bought an HD TV. I thought I was the only one in the Universe that didn't have an HD TV.

I was with my good friends, Harold and Juanita, one evening and told them I bought the new HD TV and it would be installed within a few days. "What are you going to do with your old TV?" they asked.

"Oh, THAT thing? I'll just put it out for the garbage to haul off. It's old and there isn't a market for that kind of thing anymore."

Turns out they were looking for a used TV to put in their basement to connect Wii for their grandchildren when they came over.

I was thrilled to find a good home for an old relic and they were pleased to get a TV for the grandchildren to enjoy their Wii.

The day they came to my home to pick up the TV, they told me they didn't have an HD TV. "WHAT? Then let me show you what HD TV is all about!"

They were sold! Now they have an HD TV!

But wait! There is more to the story.

Their son-in-law took their old TV and put it in their basement for the children to have a place to enjoy Wii at home. The kids think Santa brought the two new Wii connections.

"See how much joy you spread!" Jaunita said to me in an e-mail.

Now who would ever imagine that an old, big, heavy TV could be the beginning of so much Christmas joy for three small children?

Comfort

The dictionary defines the word “comfort” as “to soothe, console, or reassure, to bring cheer to.” Being comfortable is important every day of our lives. But I think during the bleak winter, comfort is even more important.

What brings me comfort? First, and foremost, is my home. My home is my refuge from all the unpleasantness in the world, globally, nationally, and in my everyday life. Then there are the little things that I value. My flannel lined jeans. My morning coffee. A good book to read. One of my favorite winter things to do is going through my cookbooks to find a new recipe to try. It brings me joy and comfort to invite friends over for dinner and serve them a special meal I prepared.

My Labrador Retriever, Molly, is a tremendous sense of comfort. When I return home she is always glad to see me, with her tail wagging and that look of excitement in her eyes. She loves sitting in my lap licking my face, even when I don’t want her to do that.

And then there is my Bible. It is a source of strength and comfort when things just seem to get out of control.

Merry Christmas!

To all my readers, Merry Christmas! May the peace and joy of Christmas be with you now and all through the year.

I am very grateful for those who follow my blog both near and far. When you create a blog, you just never know who is reading it! It is not uncommon for someone to comment on something in my life and I will ask, "How did you know about that?"