Category Inspire

Do you believe in Guardian Angels?

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I meant to write this post on October 2nd, the Feast Day for Guardian Angels. I found this day interesting. I woke up with a sad feeling. It happens to all of us. Turn on the news and it’s “doom and gloom.”

On this particular morning, I knew I had a choice to make.

Be sad… OR… Be happy!

I’ve learned, our minds are powerful and we “own them.” It’s up to us to CHOOSE what we think about. It takes practice to change the direction of our minds, but it can be done!

It was early in the morning, I decided to walk and stop by church. Our church has a 30 min mass every day. At the steps of the church, I was greeted by happy school children heading in for mass. So sweet, hearing their cute little voices and the teacher instructing them.

When it was time for the Priest to speak, he said, “Today is a special day, it’s the Feast Day of our Guardian Angels.”

CHEERS from the children.

WOW – my own ears perked up.

There had just been a woman doing the reading. She had not done her homework and couldn’t pronounce many of the cities in the text. It was PAINFUL to listen to her. My mind drifted off, not uplifting at all.

Imagine my SURPRISE to learn that there was “no time” to feel sad. Instead, I needed to CELEBRATE my Guardian Angel. My heart grew big. I kidded MY ANGEL and said, “So, that’s why you wanted me to walk by church. To celebrate you! How clever!”

I always think of Clarence, the angel in the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life,” too, so cute.

As we head into the weekend, if you believe in guardian angels, you might want to THANK yours.

Look, I even saw this angel in a store this week. My Angel wants me to know she is grand and beautiful! Come on, you do have to chuckle. Perfect timing!

Have a wonderful Fall weekend! —> (You might spot your angel somewhere too.)

The Lion’s Roar…

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My father passed away recently. When I think of my father, I imagine this lion.

It’s how my family feels right now — A HUGE ROAR!

My father loved music, he had an Ipod full of great songs. One song, I distinctly remember was “Rose Marie I Love You.” Here it is for you to enjoy too. It’s sung by Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy.

A passing makes us reflect on life, so many emotions.

So, dear Blogging friends, stay well, hug your family and friends! 💕🙏

Chicago Skyline…

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When you need to get away, where do you go? For me, I love a large body of water.

In Indiana, on a clear day, you can see the Chicago skyline across Lake Michigan.

First photo, if you have an eagle eye, you can see the Chicago skyline at a distance. Second photo, I zoomed in, so you could see it better. What’s interesting is that in person, the sun was shinning on the building to far left, it was magical. Zoomed in, you can see what I saw in person.

Here’s to finding that special place that brings us peace, calmness and joy.

Have a nice day!

Cicada… the real deal!

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For those of you who follow me, you’ve seen the artistic cicadas I’ve posted. Now, it’s the end of August and the cicadas are in full force. We didn’t hear them in June or July, but now, they’re here.

I was at a friend’s house. I went to open the window and look what I saw… A CICADA.

I stared him straight in the eyes, I thought he might be scared off, but he wasn’t. He held on to the screen. Looking at him up close, I realized this would be a great picture to share with you.

From this photo, he (maybe a she) looks like a good friend stopping by.

Have a lovely day!

Lake Michigan, Fall weather – already?

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This weekend I was able to walk by Lake Michigan. We were having strange weather, it had gone from hot summer days earlier in the week to suddenly cooler temps like Fall. You can see a bit of the fury in the Lake.

Some people were swimming, it’s a bit dangerous with waves like this, the undertow is strong. As a child, I loved swimming in waves like this with my friends, it was scary and exciting at the same time. The undertow would suck us under tumbling us around in water and sand.

We held our breath forever hoping we’d get to the surface. Oh and when we did surface, hoped our bathing suit was still on properly. To give you a visual, imagine a dog with a soft play doll, violently shaking the doll in his mouth right and left. That’s how it feels to be in an undertow.

I really liked this photo. It was so windy, I took the photo quickly. I didn’t notice that there was a person in the picture; otherwise, it would have been perfect.

Most people don’t realize that Lake Michigan is really a large body of water. At first glance, you might think it is an ocean. It’s really quite vast.

Here’s to enjoying the last bit of summer. Labor Day is almost here.

Feeling powerful like the Olympians!

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It’s all in the mind, isn’t it! Yesterday a friend sent me these lionesses.

I was thinking what perfect timing. I was feeling that way, strong, powerful, unstoppable.

We don’t feel like that every morning, but there are days when our energy is at an ALL TIME HIGH!

I did start taking some vitamins lately. Maybe that’s been helping, making me feel like Superman!

I’m off to go walking. Now, I just need that perfect song that goes with these lions.

How about this. Hats off to the Olympians who are FIGHTING for GOLD! They must have some powerful songs and/or motivational talks they listen to when they need to erase a bad performance, come back the next day and FIGHT to WIN!

Have a great motivational day!

Some new friends…

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I was visiting a friend. We were out walking. It was early evening and these little birds were out in full force. They were chirping and chirping and flying so fast. I was lucky to get a few photos, because they do not rest in one spot for long. I’m not sure why my IPhone has the photos looking a bit blurry.

This bird was interesting. Look how disheveled he looked. I imagined my mother telling my brother, “You aren’t going out like that. Go comb your hair.”

We’re almost into August, soon Fall will be here. It’s nice to be out walking and enjoy our nice weather.

Enjoy your summer!

Multi-can opener… It works!

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Why did I wait so long to get this? Actually, I didn’t even know this multi-opener existed. For the past few years, I’ve found myself having trouble opening certain jars.

In fact, I was just at my daughter’s house and she could not open a small jar of garlic sauce. If I had known, I would have brought my new multi-purpose gadget. Instead, we spent a good 15 minutes, doing everything possible to get the glass jar open. We did finally do it, but it wasn’t fun!

I found this multi-opener by accident. It was on a sale rack.

My first thought was, “Wow, this is cool!” My second thought was, “Do you need to spend money?” My third thought was, “It’s on SALE, heck yes, opening cans will be easier.”

The red gadget is self explanatory. However, that grey one in the middle was a bit puzzling. I Googled it to see how it worked. Sure enough, there was a video that showed the six different ways to use it. How great!

I tried using it to open a tuna can that had the metal ring on top. You know, where you pull up on the metal ring to open the can. Unfortunately, user error, I ended up pulling the metal tab off. Obviously, I need to practice. So, I had to use a can opener to open the tuna can. I’m determined to do it right next time.

I highly recommend this type of product. I’m sure they have other brands, choose one. It’s for ALL ages. Even my daughter needed it the other day.

Guess what she is getting for her birthday?! She will thank me!

Help – Why do my tools smell so bad?

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There’s nothing worse than opening a tool box to be welcomed by the most horrible smell. I mean horrible. I was ready to give up on my picture hanging project. I quickly closed the tool box lid.

For a while, I’ve known I had to deal with this smell. The funny thing is, these are all the tools I have. Oh, I lied, I do have a hammer and a staple gun, but I knew they were not the smelly culprits.

So, a five minute picture hanging project turned into a two hour long project.

I got my bucket out, I put the tools in it. I added some dishwashing soap, baking soda, water and then some vinegar. Wow – it was a sizzling explosion in the bucket.

After half an hour, I scrubbed my tools in the water they were sitting in. Dumped water, rinsed the tools, put tools back in bucket. Then, added more water, detergent, baking soda and vinegar.

After another half an hour, I decided to add more baking soda and vinegar. Again the sizzle.

Finally, after an hour, I decided I was done. I rinsed the tools, put them on the towel to dry.

RESULT – Only one tool has a very faint smell. The second one from the top. The others, nothing.

BIG QUESTION – Will the smell be gone forever OR will it come back after some time? I’m not sure, but boy is it nice not to have my tools smelling so bad.

How have you dealt with smelly tools?