Happiness is?

I found this in my paperwork today and thought it would make a good subject for my blog. I don't know where it came from, but I had obviously copied it out on yellow legal paper for my own enjoyment. Probably when I was taking some adult courses at our local Junior College a few years ago. I'd give recognition for whoever wrote it if I could, however, I did not save the original. So with your indulgence, here it is:





WHAT CONSTITUTES HAPPINESS?





- Control over your own life


- Optimism


- Belief in God


- Meaningful activity


- Satisfaction with job, hobby, etc.


- Close relationships


- Having a clear purpose in life





- Also:


- Look for the humor - acting "happy" makes you feel happy.








For myself, I would list Belief in God as number one and Close relationships as second. Control over your own life would be very important to me, as would Satisfaction with job, hobby, etc. I think a good exercise would be for YOU to put these in the order that you feel most important to you! Enjoy!



I also found this:



"Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you." - Carl Sandburg, poet (1878-1967)

This 'n That

Photo courtesy Associated Press

Ms. P. called on Friday night and asked if I wanted to go to see Prince Caspian (Chronicles of Narnia) the next day with the rest of the gang and, of course, I said, "Sign me up!" I have to say I enjoyed "Prince" even more than "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe." There is just one unfortunate thing (this was pointed out in Christianity Today and when I heard it I had to agree) - Prince Caspian has an accent. He is a Telmarine, not a Narnian so actor Ben Barnes, I'm thinking, decided he needed to sound different and made up an accent. I say unfortunate because it sounds exactly like, "My name is Prince Caspian. You killed my father. Prepare to die!" But then, Ben Barnes, being so very young probably never saw The Princess Bride!

I have been experimenting with something called hypermiling. (Google hypermiling to get more information on this experimental way of driving.) Hypermiling is driving your car in such a way as to save miles per gallon of gas. Since I started hypermiling, my mileage has risen from 9.8 to 15.4 miles per gallon! Here is how it is done...first, though, I would caution you to ONLY do this on the highway (always stay in the right hand lane) or when you are on back roads with not a lot of traffic as you can expect to receive many different kinds of hand signals and mouths opening wide with what I can only guess are friendly people trying to say "hi."

Okay, here it is: drive at the speed limit or 5 miles below it. KEEP OFF THE BRAKES. Drive slowly enough to be able to coast up to traffic lights and any traffic ahead of you. This is very, very important as coasting is an important part of hypermiling. When going uphill go as slowly as possible and take your foot off the gas when going downhill. This is sort of like driving as if you were on a roller coaster. Stay as far behind the car ahead of you as is reasonably possible...because zooming up to traffic and then slamming on the brakes is what uses up so much gas. Also, whenever you can, take turns without using your brakes. Do this ONLY when there are no other cars around and you are going slowly enough to do it safely. It is a little hard to get used to because of how we were taught to drive and how we have thoughtlessly driven our cars for so long.
In this day and age of almost $4.00 per gallon (and maybe even more in the future) gas, I am willing to try anything and I think hypermiling just might catch on. Then I won't be the only one on the road doing the legal speed limit!

The Ultimate Collector

I am a collector. No, I mean really, I AM A COLLECTOR. It is getting really serious because I even collect the fruit and vegetable labels and keep them on the backs of my old business cards! I think I'm becoming obsessed. Or am I just a packrat? Someone said that collecting is a way of keeping your life in order. Well, if that was the case, my life would be in perfect shape. HA! Anyway, here is just a sample of what I collect or have collected in the past: McCoy pottery, Wade Whimsies, Quimper,angels, swans, birdhouses, pigs, refrigerator magnets, Mickey Mouse figures, books, art by local artists, pens and pencils, ephemera (paper, cards, etc.), crystal figurines and so on and so on.

Well, today I want to tell you about one special collection I have gathered over the past few years. I collect quotations. I started quite slowly, just jotting down one here and one there. Usually on a piece of paper and then loosely piling them up in my desk drawer. Then I transferred them to a small notepad. After awhile, when the notepad filled, I started putting them in a little spiral bound notebook. One such quote is: "When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth." George Bernard Shaw, writer, Nobel Laureate (1856-1950) and, "No one has ever become poor by giving." Anne Frank (1929-1945)

Mark Twain said, "A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval."

And this from comedian and actor, Emo Phillips (1956 -)"I used to think that the brain was the most wonderful organ in my body. Then I realized who was telling me this."
While this short poem is not a quotation, I still liked it:
We're building up or tearing down
In everything we do;
Are you on the construction gang
Or on the wrecking crew? Anonymous

Well, there it is...my secret is out. If anyone out there in bloggerland has any unusual or quirky collections - I'd love to hear about them!

A Beautiful Day in my neighborhood

Today was so beautiful I could not stay inside. I had purchased 4 tomato plants, 6 pepper plants and 16 Impatiens for my garden plot and I decided today was the day! I dressed in my old gardening togs: black pants, pinkish, maroonish top and my oldest shoes (I am very messy when I dig and weed!) Since I had to prepare the ground first and it had rained earlier in the week, the ground was pretty heavy and, therefore, digging and hoeing was a little harder than normal.

Of course, my attention was taken right away by all those pesky weeds that had sprung up (when my back was turned!) during the warmer days in April. Now, they were a formidable enemy encroaching on the very turf that was to become home to my tomatoes. Now, it's not as if I have this huge garden plot, but when you are as out of practice as I am it can be daunting. I started in on the weeds, then the "runners" on the Astillbes which were marching towards and under the Alberta Spruce trees and the runners on the Periwinkle were trying to overtake the stepping stones. Before I knew it, my back was aching and I hadn't even planted one plant!

I, also, am very cheap so instead of using the black anti-weed material sold in nurseries, I gathered up old newspapers (begged from friends and neighbors) and put them in a large bucket of water to soak. Finally, I started to plant. Okay, how far from the edges should they be set? I eyeballed the space and made a decision. In went the first tomato plant. Yay! This is progress and I set about putting in the other three plants. All right, now we're getting somewhere! Then, oh dear, where am I going to put 6 pepper plants? Ha! I'll put them in front of the wooden bench no one sits on except the birds. That works for me and the ground is not as hard to dig. I get to work setting out the pepper plants and find that I only have room for 4 plants in this area. To remedy this, I find my old plastic window box and fill it with potting soil. Two more plants planted and, I'll say it myself, they look pretty good sitting in that window box.
Now, only 16 Impatiens to go...hey, I can do this I tell myself, not listening to my back telling me, "I'm really hurting - you're going to be sorry later." I doggedly arrive at the half-circled area under the tree where the hot pink Impatiens will share space with the lone surviving Azalea and one peaked looking Hosta. Oh, what am I thinking? The ground out here has not been prepared either...go back to the garden shed for the hoe and returning, scratch up the earth to receive the tender, young plants. Whew! I did it! Just wait one minute...didn't you forget something? Oh yes, the newspaper "mulch." Ugh! Forgot how heavy water-logged newspapers are. Take out two sectios at a time and spread them around the tomatoes. Okay, lookin' good -just need to clean up the tools and put them away.
That done, I turn and look back at my handiwork and I am very satisfied with my few hours work. God's handiwork, the sun and the rain, will do the rest.

Nor'easter - Third Link

Over this past weekend, we had a Nor'easter move in over us and slammed us with gusts of wind up to 75 mph which is hurricane force. It was pretty scary - the wind just shrieked around the eaves and shook the windows and window screens all night. I was awakened around 3:00am by the noises of the storm. I listened for a few minutes and, then, thankfully fell asleep for another few hours. The storm continued throughout the next day and into the evening hours. A very strange, late winter storm -- in the middle of May! The next morning I looked out the window and my little pear tree was still standing but had lost some leaves stripped off in the wind (no branches, though) and lots and lots of pink Azalea blossoms were spread all over the front sidewalk. God was with me throughout that stormy night and I know that He watches over me every night. One of my favorite bible verses is Jeremiah 33:3 also known as God's phone number.



Ms. Daisy

Notes From the Daisy Chain - Second Link

I am liking this blogging thing and getting to "meet" some of the nice people is exciting. I can't wait to visit more bloggers and see what wonderful things they are up to. Very creative people!
Talking about creating, Jillian and I were brainstorming some names for my blog and we came up with a list and bantered them back and forth for awhile. Some of them were pretty funny such as, With Pen in Hand, Jas Times, Jake's, The--------Surfer, (couldn't think of anything to fit!) Song of Garden Road (from a poem I had written) and then there was Making Waves because I wanted to be able to give my opinions on topical things--although we came to the agreement that that was a little more than I wanted to handle! We laughed and had a good time on her pretty deck before we settled on a name. #7 on the list was "A Daisy Never Dies." Jillian's suggestion because she remembered I had told her that a fellow I dated in my Senior year was on the Yearbook Committee. He wrote under my picture this couplet: "The rose has but a summer's reign, the daisy never dies." So, of course, entry #8 was The Daisy Chain! Thanks Jillian for a lovely and productive afternoon!

Notes from The Daisy Chain - First Link

It has been a long time coming but here it is! I am a first time blogger and since I love to write I will start by saying I hope you will bear with me and my first few fumbling, bumbling rambles. The window I am sitting near is overlooking a bank of azaleas in salmon, red, white and lilac. The birds are singing in the distant wood. Now that it is May we can be fairly sure that summer is near. Yippee! However, with summer comes the weeding, digging and caring for my teeny tiny garden plot. It is what they call a "postage stamp" plot as it is only 20' by 40'. I was out in the garden one day last week cutting back some hosta "gigantica." They have grown so big over the last ten years that I just had to do something about them. Let me tell you it was quite difficult getting part of them out. It was worth it, though, as they are growing in very nicely. The Crepe Myrtle is just starting to leaf out and I can't wait until it blooms, although I waited all last summer and got just one (1) flower! Maybe I should have followed directions and fertilized it! I never said I was a Master Gardener!