The end of an era

So yesterday I had an unexpected trip to the hospital for an ultrasound on my legs (apparently it's not normal for your toes to turn blue after surgery :) ) On my way out of the hospital I found this. The empty casing. It's all that is left of the pay phone the location the hospital emergency room.

In todays age of technology I realized how much we just assume everyone is "up with the times." and the typical assumption is made that "everyone has a cellphone" (at least that's what my 14 y.o. daughter tells me.) I found out how much everyone assumed this trying to look for a pay phone a couple of months ago. My cell phone had died, my car charger wasn't working. It was down pouring rain and my mom was trying to call me with a grocery list. I had to drive to several different gas stations before even finding one before realized I didn't have change in my purse to call (know what it's like to have to rummage around on the floor of the van to find enough change to call (which BTW isn't a dime or even a quarter anymore its up to $.35) Thankfully it was a short call and I didn't get to hear the operator's voice say "please deposit twenty-five cents for another 3 minutes"

I also ran into this recently trying to get a "gmail" account with google. My children have one and I wanted to avoid my current account (too many ads.) Well apparently I cannot apply for an account unless I give them my cell phone number so they can "text" me the activation code. I have a cell phone but don't have text service (I have to pay per text) so I would have to pay to get the activation code for the "free email" meaning it's no longer free. So I tried to contact them about "what to do about it" their suggestion....ask a friend or family member if you can use their cell phone to receive the text... WHAT??? I don't generally give out my cell unless it's to someone I really want to get a hold of me why in the world would I want to give out my number to a mega corporation. (That tells you upfront it stores the number for later.)

These experiences leave me wondering, what about those that don't choose to carry a phone? How do they make a call at the hospital? I guess that doesn't matter "everyone" has a cell phone. What about those that can't receive text messages, I guess they don't get the benefit of gmail... and well you can always bug your friends to let them use their to receive a text. And then the ultimate what happens when you cell phone dies, I guess you'll find yourself driving around in the rain praying there is a one of those dying breeds of communication from yesteryear the public pay phone.

So here's to the pay phone. Once the only way of communication on the road, now just a long lost ago relative of more "modern" forms of communication!

Love is...

Forgive the tardiness of this post, I have been recovering from surgery. Everyone said that it would be a "piece" of cake and I would recover quickly...not so sure about that...I'm really not totally myself yet and realized oops I forgot to post the challenge this month ...so here it is...granted a bit late!

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, naturally ones thoughts turn to love in February. Hearts, and cupids decorating the walls and boxes of chocolates lined up in rows ready to be gifted with “the perfect” card for your loved ones fill pretty much every store we walk into.

As emotional beings naturally we all enjoy feelings of love and being “in love” We love hearing those little words “I love you” whispered in our ears. It sets our hearts a fluttering and our pulse a racing. Sadly though many are quick to declare “I love you” but when the going gets tough, they get going.

Dear children let us not love with words and tongue but with actions and in truth… 1 John 3:18

Love is an action. Sure it starts with feelings and emotions. Who can forget the moment you first “connected” with your sweetie? Or the first time you held your child?. Our hearts swelled up, overwhelmed, wondering how it could feel so full of joy, of happiness. Feelings though can fade.

You find out your sweetie is really crabby in the morning and even crabbier on the freeway. That sweet bundle of love grows up to color on walls and scream “I hate you” when you take the crayons away. What happens when things get worse… you find your spouse was involved in illegal activities at work, or your teenager gets in trouble with drugs. Will those feelings still be there then? Probably not and this is when love becomes action. At times like these our actions speak much louder than words!

Jesus says “If you love me you will obey my commands.” We show our love for God by doing, doing what he says. We show our love for others in similar ways.

Love is over looking the appearance. Love is speaking the truth. Love is also teaching proper responses. Love is discipline. Love is always hoping, standing by them in support not condoning what they did but encouraging them to change and helping them to accept the consequences of their actions. Love is an action persevering when times get tough!

True love goes beyond feelings. Feelings come and feelings go. But the investment, the commitment, the way you act with and respond to that person is how you really show what love truly is!

The Blessing of Love!

If you haven’t guessed by now our focus this month is “The blessing of love”. There are so many people in our lives to love, a spouse, our children, our friends, our savior. Those special people in our lives that make it worth living. This month as you focus on the many people you love (and that love you in return.) Be sure to thank the Lord he has given them to you.

Questions to ponder:

• Has the love of a person ever changed your life?
• How did you meet the “love of your life”?
• What is a special way someone has shown love to you?
• When do you feel most loved?
• When have you KNOW you were loved (even though you haven’t felt it)
• How do you show love to others?
• How have others shown love to you?

For more information on the 2010 Blessing Challenge visit Faithfully Yours

Undercover Boss

Ok I admit it I was intrigued by the ads for the show "Undercover Boss" after the Super Bowl. The idea of the "big boss" doing jobs just like the average Joe or Jane really had an appeal to me. (Especially since my husband had a stint working for WM for all of 3 days after he first got his CDL.) It was interesting to to see someone that normally wore a suit and tie to work to don work boots (which for one job were the wrong thing to wear,) overalls, and get his hands dirty (and needing to protect his arms in some cases from needles.) I was impressed by his responses and really touched when he had to do something for all of the gals he worked with (immediately for one.)

There are so many people out there that this IS their income, it's the way they earn their money for food, rent, take care of their families and to have to deal with things like not being able to even take a bathroom break shouldn't happen. I'm glad the COO of Waste Management at least got a taste of what his some of this employees have to deal with on a daily basis and even happier he is taking steps to do something about it. I hope they truly is action to accompany those words!

The DAR

The one thing about being part of a crafty family is that EVERYONE gets involved in projects the other one is doing! From helping my sister make blankets for her Sr. Captains for the High School Flag Corps to helping mom create banners for Delta Kappa Gamma (an educators sorority.)

For the latest project mom came to me and said "do you have any ideas for table favors for an awards function for DAR?" ...Since there would be children receiving the awards Iwanted to make something they could take home (vs. something that would get thrown away.) Oh and did I mention I had 2 weeks to do this?

...LOL So I thought bottle cap pins would be fun! We could attach them to some treat bags and they had something to snack on and something lasting to wear!

So after putting an SOS out to Fiskateers (where several generous Fiskateers Rak'ed me some bottle caps) I got busy. The images are from the vintage workshop and the disk is titled "Celebrate America." I used the medium round and round squeeze punch to punch out the images. Then they got glued to the inside of the cap and then coated with Glossy Accents. I embedded jewels in the glossy accents when they "just started" to get tacky. After it dried, I added a pin back to each one (or you could easily do magnets.) These are really fun to make and a great kids project (If they can be patient enough to let the glossy accents dry (you could make them without but you lose the durability factor!) 105 pins later... I hope they like them!

Fiskatruth!

There are certain things that all Fiskateers know....

Orange and green are very becoming colors!

It's all about the scissors. (and the punches and the trimmers....)

And now the world knows..

Friends don't let friends craft alone!

Brains on Fire asked the Lead Fiskateers to gather a few fiskateers to help come up with some fiskatruths. These would be put on buttons to be handed out at CHA this past January. One of the ones I submitted was selected! (and it even has my Fiskateer number on it) How cool is that???!!!

Some of the others...Where's the crop? (#936) , Orange you glad you're crafty? (#411), Ask me which Fiskars tool I named. (#009) , We crop till we drop (#002), We don't cut corners, we punch them and Measure twice cut everthing (#6676) and my favorite ...you had me at scissors (#4635)