I was reading in the newspaper the other day about a couple that lives in a neighboring city who won $233 million in the lottery. First I was jealous of their good fortune, then I started thinking about all the stories about prior winners who later wished they had never won. What's wrong with this picture? My husband told me a story of a good friend from his high school days who won the lottery. There were 3 sons in the family, and the mom would buy three lotto tickets each week and hand them out. My husband's friend was a winner! The family was happy until the other 2 brothers insisted that the winning brother split up his winnings. He didn't like being forced to do anything, so he refused. It split up the family. The other 2 brothers still don't talk to him. This happened 30 years ago... 06/01/2010

Hello Everyone - Long Time/No Post. I can't claim being overwhelming busy, but I can claim being busy with life. It looks like most of the rainstorms here in Southern California are over, and the hillsides are green and the weeds are high. My husband and I are always talking about moving to a less-populated place, somewhere where we can get out of the fast-paced world of what is our life. We also realized that the main culprit in our dilemma is.................US! We buy into the world around us and let it affect our way of life and well-being. You know what I mean - if we are waiting longer than 1 minute in the drive-thru at the local Burger Queen, we get antsy and upset, and it affects the rest of the day! We've been programmed to think that a 30 minute oil change/lube is awesome. I w... 02/22/2010

It's been a while since I had the chance to post a blog - I apologize. Life got in the way. It has a funny way of doing that. My husband and I have been busy ever since the earthquake hit Haiti. He leads a disaster relief ministry at our church, and has been attending meetings and sending out/answering e-mails on a constant basis. Our little troubles pale in comparison to what has happened there. A few days after the quake, our relief team was able to get a group of 8 men into Haiti via the Dominican Republic. They visited Port-au-Prince and were shocked at the devastation (some of these guys had been to Thailand after the tsunami and the Gulf Coast after Katrina). It looks like the Lord has led us to a city of 40,000 souls 50 miles southwest of PAP, a town called Jacmel. Hit just as ha... 01/25/2010

First of all, happy new year to all of you! I think we all are looking forward to a better decade than the last one. There is some good news on the home front - we finally have a "negotiator" assigned to our case, and hope to hear something from her soon. The listing expired on our house, and we decided not to relist quite yet (plus we want to see how many expired packages we get!). Out of the 50-60 applications that Scott has filled out, he finally had a call and will go in for an interview!!!! After nine months of rejection after rejection, he is smiling. "Someone actually wants me," he told me yesterday. The job is a "Community Advocate", someone who assists developmentally disabled adults with learning life skills and getting jobs, among other things. The pay isn't much, but it is g... 01/05/2010

I just got over Christmas and now New Year's is heading straight at me! As most of you know, 2009 is a year I'd rather forget. Scott was laid off, I switched offices, we are still trying to sell our house and we are in the middle of an attempted loan modification. For the first time ever, I won't be able to make this month's house payment. Our once stellar credit rating will no doubt take a huge hit, which will pretty much mess up any future home purchases or even renting or leasing a place. There are always bright spots along the way, Our health is pretty good. We have reliable transportation. Our kids are not in jail. So I guess we are pretty blessed. You know those old cartoons that portray the year ending as a white-bearded old man who looks ready to kick the bucket? And then the ne... 12/28/2009

Okay, here's another "walking the dog revelation". First of all, you gotta rent this movie called "Door To Door" with William H. Macy. Saw it last night and I guarantee that whatever you are going through, watching this will give you hope. Okay, back to the story. Got up earlier than usual this morning to walk Annie, so it was still dark when we started. About halfway through the route the sun started to rise.  There's some clouds in the sky (unknown what kind, but not cumulus. Maybe stratus?), and at one point the combination of just the right amount of sun and just the right angle on the clouds and WOW! Thirty seconds of absolutely the most beautiful sight you'll ever see! Too bad I only had 30 seconds to view this awesome show. So about 15 minutes later I notice someone walking towar... 12/18/2009

I was on my morning walk with my yellow lab "Annie", complaining to myself about how cold it was. It was 42 degrees, and I was bundled up like Randy in "A Christmas Story". I know that in other parts of the country 42 degrees would be a heat wave, but here in Southern California, that's cold! Walking my usual route, I noticed all of the leaves on the front yards of the houses that I passed. I love that sight, and it really brings home to me the cycles of life in nature and in our own. We start off like Spring, all fresh and new and green and full of life. Then we pass into Summer, where things heat up and life can be a challenge. Fall arrives, and we slow down a little and seem to enjoy life more as we shed excess stuff. Now Winter sneaks in and it grows cold and the beauty of Spring is... 12/09/2009