friday foto...What Not to Wear!

The Hubby and I decided that we wanted to go horseback riding on our cruise last year to Cozumel. The brochure said to wear long pants...I didn't have any...I thought what could it hurt?
Well, the answer to that question is... everything all up and down the inside of your thighs... knees... your ankles which by the end of the day will look like "cankles!!!"
Always wear long pants to ride a horse!! Always!!
Besides the raw butt and legs...I had a great time!
Go see our friend Carrie for more of foto friday !!!
More Cozumel pictures at Travel with Ronda!

Blogging...Blogging...Blogging...

Tuesday...I said someone from the real world wanted to give my blog address out...it was all done in a complimenting manner but I freaked! I know it doesn't make sense but this blog has morphed into something else and the defining it for myself may take some pondering with myself and God.
I started literally blogging on my 50th birthday...just as an act of defiance...not against anyone other than myself! You see, I am a fearful person who worries. I don't worry about what other's think of me...although that may be the problem...I worry about and are fearful about losing control of life. My first blog was watching my grandson run straight down a very steep hill as fast as he could...I was afraid and he was not. He only became afraid when he heard fear in my voice and I admired his little two year old heart for being fearless! My second blog was my riding with a friend on his Harley...so not me... but I did it fearlessly!!!
This blog for me is a record of my struggle with trying to be less fearful and it has morphed into...a walk down the office hallway checking in on my co-workers and hearing what is going on in their lives and how their day is going! I have worked from home these last four years and prior to this I have always had great office friends, ...I still keep in touch with three of them by email. But I miss the daily contact of "partnering in crime, complaining about the economy or "How cute are my grand babies ?" with my co-workers. Some of you have become that for me...and I thank you!!
I told you God was working with me and he is! I got an email asking me if I wanted to take part in a survey for personal bloggers...I checked it out and my computer hasn't crashed so maybe it is legit! The blog said I could pass it on so I am...
I spent some time in quiet refection and self-examination about why I blog...
Bottom line...I think I am normal and not weird...so I will keep blogging away!
Have a great day and if you want to take the survey...here's the link!

The Bonnie Hunt Show Give-away!!

Warning!!!Turn your volume down...I am yelling...I don't know why!!! Also...it is amazing how good I am at this...I should have my own show...NOT!!!
But...my Grand kiddos are so cute...they should have their own show. As I promised Preschool fair!

Yeahhh!!!! Congratulations! Email me with your mailing address and I will forward to Eric on behalf of The Bonnie Hunt Show Give-away! I want to thank everyone for playing...this has been so much fun! The winner receives a Bonnie Hunt T-shirt, coffee mug, Bonnie Hunt DVD's and from Ronda's Rants a Thanksgiving Chocolate Coffee Basket!!!
As everyone now knows....Congratulations Mariah at Insane Mama! Please email me your address and I hope you have a great day!
For more Wordful Wednesdays visit 7 Clown Circus! There is probably less yelling!!

Reminders, Random Thoughts... or Confessions!

Last Day for The Bonnie Hunt Show Give-away entry...Go here. We will draw tonight at 5:00 pm and announce tomorrow morning, Wednesday, October1, 2008...hopefully bright and early...we'll see how it goes! Ronda's Rants is very flexible! We don't believe in writing anything in stone!

Brenda from Queen of Good Intention's has tagged me. That means I have to tell you seven random things about me.

1. First off...I am not flexible ...that is a lie...I admire people who are flexible and take things in stride. I do not. But, God is working with me!
2. I have been forgiven and I have forgiven and it is a lot of work and I struggle with accepting forgiveness, asking forgiveness and being a forgiving person. But, God is working with me.
3. I am an Olympic worrier...not warrior...I try very hard not to be the Eeyore of our family but I still struggle...that and swearing like a drunk sailor in a foreign port-of- call! God is working with that as well, if only I would try harder!
4. My faith is very important to me...God has done things in my life, that are really miracles, things I wouldn't have thought possible!
5. My children are happily married or engaged and that has given me more joy than I can express. I have the peace that comes from knowing they have a love that will endure their whole lives.
6. My Hubby and I have a strong marriage but not always peaceful and for years I have envied people who seem to have a even keel marriage, while mine has been stormy! But, through our marriage difficulties my Hubby and I have grown in our faith and love for God and each other. This is one of the many miracles I spoke of in #4 and the struggle he and I share in #2. But, God is still working with me.
7. Recently, in the real world someone talked about my blog in a complementary way and wanted to give my blog address out in a public forum! I declined not very gracefully. It shook me in a way that doesn't make sense. It is public domain anyone can read it and I am aware of that however...I immediately thought of deleting it the moment I got home...I am wondering why I felt/feel that way...I am pondering this and God is working with me! I am sure I will blog about it... before I delete the whole thing...Tee Hee!
If you feel like being tagged...you are tagged otherwise keep running!

October Bloggy Book Club

For the month of October...I have chosen The Shack by Wm. Paul Young or William P. Young as I have seen it credited both ways. He has a blog here.
This will not be an easy read...The back cover page asks the question "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?" This is a novel about a father who's youngest daughter is abducted during a family vacation and evidence points to the fact that she was brutally murdered in a shack. Four years later, in the midst of his great sadness, he receives a note apparently from God asking him to come to the shack for the weekend! What he finds there will change him forever.
This is the book I received from Rhonda at A Day in Rhonda's Life for her pay-it-forward contest...
We will all blog about it Sunday, October 26th.
** Candid Carrie is bringing the cheese ball.***

Bloggy Book Club

Well, let's see...I know this book was popular with many people and I did enjoy the idea of the Book Club itself...I really love hearing what others think of books and I do think our lives and perspectives color how we respond to a book in general. That being said...I did not really care for this book!
I enjoyed the first few chapters but I think I enjoyed them when I thought I would be given more information about the characters and to some degree I was... but it wasn't enough information for me to care about them. I think a big point of reading a novel is that you care about what happens to them as either individuals or as a group and I never really did develop that relationship. I actually feel badly about picking this book for the Bloggy Book Club.
This book did make me want to be a part of a book club in real life and I want to start one...there are things you can do in a real life book club versus the Bloggy Book Club that I think are missing from this forum...besides the cheese balls! I think it's easier to build that relationship with other people you wouldn't normally associate with based on the love of a book!

How many of you are in real-world book clubs and why do you enjoy them?

This book club in The Jane Austen Book Club contained very different people and yet they developed relationships with each other...ones I didn't care about... but they seemed to care about each other and I understand the importance of that kind of relationship!
However, I don't understand the appeal of this book...

Community or Cult ? You Decide...Next on The Bonnie Hunt Show

BTW...That won't be a real Bonnie Hunt Show topic...I was so kidding!!
MamaHut gave me this award and I think it is beautiful...I have seen others with it and have had a mild case of blog envy...I am not proud of this... just honest! I also want to say how funny I think she is and how I love where she lives...she hasn't just supported The Bonnie Hunt Show Give-away she has named her Alpaca Bonnie Ronda Hunt! BTW...I think Bonnie Ronda Hunt is far more beautiful than the other Alpacas!

OK here's what I have to do,

Explain the meaning which is...

To translate the gift from Portuguese to English, it means:"This blog invests and believes, the proximity"[meaning, that blogging makes us 'close' -being close through proxy] I have taken this to mean a feeling of community.Many others have already received this award and I agree they do give us all a sense of community in this blogging neighborhood! I think of this in some strange way...as like when my Mom during the 50's used to hang out on the front porch talking to the other Moms or when she would have ladies over for coffee...I maybe wrong maybe I have joined some kind of cult and I am ready to drink the cool-aid! I don't know but I am having a good time! So, thank you to all of you...Many of you already have the award so I am going to try to acknowledge those who haven't and who make us all feel like a community so......

Next I give it to 8 people who I want to be proxy with:
Kori at See Kori Rant
Brenda at Queen of Good Intentions
Lisa at Adventures in Jujoboo
Karen at Food Glorious Food
Gina at Lattes & Lipsticks
Blog Stalker at Blog Stalker
Beth Ann at Team Thornhill
Elizabeth at Thoughts From an Evil Overlord

Speaking of Elizabeth...she is celebrating the two year anniversary of her bone marrow transplant...Yeah! To spread awareness of this awesome gift she is doing a Give-away...please stop by and see her. I have donated a Thanksgiving Coffee Basket to be used as a prize and there are so many other great prizes ...so send her some love and please tell all of your friends!!! Please remember my Give-away and the deadline...Candid Carrie is really in competition with me for the best Bonnie Hunt fan award so she is making some deals with the gods about who is going to win this thing. I will put the Grandson in charge of it so it will be Pre-school fair...which as you know is the fairest rules of all!!! Also, besides the great Bonnie Hunt Show Gifts...I am including another Thanksgiving Coffee Basket to this drawing as well...I love this company...just the best!!!

Visit The Bonnie Hunt Show