Welcome to Mexico...and all that can go wrong!

If you have ever traveled to a foreign country, you soon learn you never know what to expect...and you learn to just deal with it...it's part of the adventure. This was the sixth year of our annual "Sister's Vacation". Five to Mexico and once we went to Punta Cana in the Dominique Republic. Each trip is unique and some are almost perfect, like last year when we stayed at Dreams Resort (5 gold apples) in Cancun. We were greeted with glasses of champagne when we checked in and a free upgrade to a nice, big ocean front room...but that's another blog for another day. Then there are trips like this one where all just seems to go sideways...so much that it caused my sister Jane and myself to fall into fits of uncontrollable laughter several times a day.... Welcome to Mexico!

 

It started as soon as we arrived at our resort (4 red apples) in Cozumel, Mexico. Cozumel is an island just off the coast of Mexico and every year we would talk about taking the ferry over and spending a day on the island, but we never did. This year we had the chance to stay there for an entire week. It's a little more expensive than the mainland because everything has to be shipped over, but we figured it would be worth it for the experience. As we were getting checked in, I was watching a flat screen TV on the wall behind the check in counter advertising: "You are now in Paradise", I wondered about that as I noticed the paint peeling above the TV. Then the bellhop took us and our luggage to our room. The room wound around the resort to the back part and I wondered if we would be able to find our way out. Our room was to have a garden/jungle view. Well, we did have a balcony and if you stood on the end of the balcony and leaned out to the left you could see some palm trees and flowers. Other than that, we had a view of the wall of the room next to us and a view of their front door and a huge red fire extinguisher. This was an older resort with no smoke alarms. Probably no law about that in Mexico. We were also suppose to have a coffeemaker and a minibar. Neither was in this tiny room. After two calls to the front desk and we also mentioned it to our Apple Representative, we did get the coffee maker....never did see the mini bar. They did provide two small waste baskets in our room which was a good thing because the air conditioner which was over the door to the bathroom leaked a lot, so we used one to catch the water. It made a puddle in the floor that I stepped in the first night at 2am when I got up to use the bathroom. It was raining outside so I really thought the roof was leaking!! Oh, by the way, it rained every afternoon for the first 3 days we were there. Next was the shower. It came blasting out like a high pressure wash. It must have had some sort of water saver on it and no way to adjust it. Only our backs and heads were able to tolerate it. You just had to sort of splash yourself with it and the temperature constantly changed from cold to hot and back again the whole time.  Welcome to Mexico.

 

Then there was the TV in our room. It got about 10 channels and only a few in English and by the end of the week most of those had stopped working or just faded in and out. A couple on the beach one day ask if our TV was working because theirs wasn't. I said "Welcome to Mexico".

Then their was the night we had some sort of a reptile/lizard in the room. We watched it as it darted around the wall and ended up behind the headboard of my bed. It was fast. We were pretty sure it was harmless, but I didn't want to wake up with it's little suction cup feet on my face, so we called the front desk for help. It took three calls, but they finally sent a guy in with a rag and broom. He took down the headboard, caught it in the rag and took it outside and shook it in the bushes. I hope it didn't end up in someone else's room.

Now of course, our Apple Representative ask us everyday if everything was alright. We could have complained and maybe gotten a better room, but we figured for the price they were probably all about the same unless you were in the exclusive part of the resort, but then we wouldn't have had anything to provoke fits of laughter.

 

Then we decide one day to go snorkeling. My sister gets her flippers and mask on and takes off and I am in waist deep water with my flippers and struggling to get my mask on when the strap broke. Jane comes swimming back into help me and we finally get me all prepared to go. I am snorkeling along looking at the ocean floor when water started seeping into my mask. Since I was only in chest deep water I decide to flip myself around and stand up to fix my mask. When I did my hand hit some coral which is really sharp and poked a now bleeding hole in my finger. A piece of coral lodged under my finger nail I just got it out today...a week later. We finally decide to end snorkeling for the day.  We decided to try it again a few days later and all went well with the snorkeling. We saw lots of fish and a lobster under a rock. The problem came when we went back to the pool and Jane's towel was gone. When you check into these resorts some give you a towel card that is used to get a beach towel. Most people use the towel to lay claim to a chair and leave their things. In all of the years no one has ever bothered anything when we were gone. She went over to the area where you get clean towels and tried to get another towel, but they told her she couldn't have another one without a card. She explained that someone took her towel while we were snorkeling, but it did no good. Now I could understand it if this place was crowded and they didn't have enough towels or if the towels were made of gold. We figured someone ask for two towels and couldn't get them so when we left, decided to take one of ours. My sister went to the front desk and let them know what happened and to try to get another towel card...they informed her she was suppose to take her towel with her and keep it with her...really?....into the ocean while snorkeling?? The little Mexican woman working behind the desk didn't find this amusing and refused to give her another towel card. Jane spent the last couple of days using a towel from the room....more fits of laughter.

 

Toward the end of the week I broke out in small bumps and realized I had sun poisoning. I figured the next day was a good day to stay in the shade and nap. Jane decided while I was napping she would scuba dive with a group off the pier. An hour or so later she is back, limping over to my chair. She had struggled getting out to the deeper waters. The instructor had to keep adding weights to keep her down with her air tank and then coming out she cut her foot on the sharp coral. We decide to go see the medic at the resort and get some antiseptic on it. He didn't speak English very well, but I did see a degree for something in Spanish on the wall. He put something on her foot that looked like green alcohol and covered it with a bandage. When we ask him if he saw a lot of this he replied that he mostly treated diarrhea and vomiting....just what we wanted to hear...so far on all of our trips we have never had any food problems, well, except for a trip to a coffee plantation in the Dominique Republic where we sampled the coffee...after that the food ran through us for days!!....another blog for another day. In the meantime, during my nap in the shade, my ankles got bitten several times by mosquitoes and so she was limping back to the room and I was bent over scratching...no wonder people looked at us weird.

 

Then there was Thanksgiving. Every place we have ever stayed always has something for this American holiday... probably because there are always more of us at these places than anyone. There was a sign up in front of one of the restaurants advertising a nice Thanksgiving dinner with a picture of Abraham Lincoln and the story of how he made it into a national holiday. To help celebrate the occasion the resort brought in two live turkeys, a male and female and had them in a make shift pen in the open lobby near the pool. Each had one leg tied to a part of the pen with a long string...I guess they thought they would fly away. They were well fed and taken care of, but they were always getting their strings tangled up with each other and the male would hiss at us when we walked by. For several days out by the pool, all we heard above the Latin music was gobble, gobble, gobble!! ...which invoked fits of laughter! The dinner itself is their version of ours . The turkey was good and no they didn't serve the two in the pen. The pumpkin pie was not as sweet as what we are used to but I like it. I'm not real sure what the rest of it was, but it was all good. Welcome to Mexico.

 

The resort really didn't have anything to do in the evenings except a few sad shows that didn't start unit 9pm. We went to a couple of them and saw maybe ten people in the whole theater. Unlike Cancun, we couldn't walk downtown. The only city in the island, San Miguel de Cozumel population of 77,236, was about 14k away and so that meant renting a car, scooter or getting a taxi. We decide to go there  and do a little shopping at the shops and back street flee markets.  We opted for the taxi and only went once since it cost us $13.00 each way not including the tip. The trip was really uneventful and not much to see other than the cruise ship port and some really big cruise ships. We found one place with really good prices. We bought some gifts and we each got new beach bags...both for $10.00.

 

This resort had two swimming pools one was in the center of the resort surrounded by all the places to eat, the lobby and the outdoor stage. We chose that one. Mostly because it was close the food. The other pool was around on the side close our room . It had a swim up bar and topless was optional. We had to pass this pool every day to and from our room. There were always several thirty something women who chose this option.... ;)

 

Not all was to keep us in fits of laughter... some just a nice experience...like the day we rented a scooter and explored the island ourselves...wonderful!! There is only one main road which takes you around the island. The traffic was all but non existent other than in the city of San Miguel and it really wasn't bad. Although once, we did find ourselves going the wrong way down a one way street. I love motorcycle riding so this was such a freeing experience and the coast of the island is breathtaking! It is dotted with the usual beach shacks and people selling their wares, offering free shots of tequila and even a Brahma bull ride...we couldn't resist that one, although the ride was really just sitting on this huge animal. We shopped and stopped for water and just walked on the beach, enjoying the beauty of the place.

 

Back at the resort, as usual with every place we have stayed, the food was wonderful! This resort wasn't crowded, (can't image why) so getting a table outside everyday over looking the beach for breakfast and lunch was not a problem. I had some of the best salads and seafood I have ever eaten. We had dinner in an Italian restaurant one evening and the food was great there also!! The staff are very friendly and attentive... well, except for the towel card lady. 

One interesting thing about the snack grill by the pool- we ate lunch there a few times, ordered the same thing each time...it was delicious but never prepared the same way...Welcome to Mexico!

 

Well, my suntan is fading and there are places where my skin is peeling, my sun poisoning is gone but my mosquito bites are still itching....I am back in the cold weather and it is snowing....I am already looking forward to next year and to see what that brings....

 

Today I would give anything to be back there in the heat with my sister, in our view less room, having fits of laughter about all the things 'wrong' with our vacation in this beautiful place. Welcome to Mexico!

 

P.S. I forgot to mention how my sister jarred my insides and my butt was sore the day we rented a jet ski and I rode with her...could she have hit the waves any harder?! ...and the phone in the room didn't work correctly. Not only was it hard to hear, we could call out but no one could call in. When my husband did get through to the front desk and ask for the room they always put him through to the wrong room...he finally gave up....and the resort seemed to be having some kind of sewer problem. There was always a bad smell in certain places on the winding walk back to our room...except in the late afternoon when the smell of baking bread from one of the restaurants overcame out the sewer smell. It was always nice to be there at the right time!

...And coming home at our connection in Charlotte some crazy woman employed at the airport argued with my sister for 10 minutes that her carry-on was not a carry- on and the she did not have that on any plane coming from Mexico...unbelievable!! She insisted that she check it. We finally just walked away because we were going to miss our plane. She yelled after us and said she would be at our gate and would take that carry-on away from Jane and check it on. We got to the gate just in time to catch our flight to Pittsburgh. She never showed up. We were sure we would see her on the tarmac flagging down the plane to get that piece of luggage like a scene from Seinfeld....the plane lifted off the ground with fits of laughter!

Welcome to Mexico...and all that can go wrong!

 

If you have ever traveled to a foreign country, you soon learn you never know what to expect...and you learn to just deal with it...it's part of the adventure. This was the sixth year of our annual "Sister's Vacation". Five to Mexico and once we went to Punta Cana in the Dominique Republic. Each trip is unique and some are almost perfect, like last year when we stayed at Dreams Resort (5 gold apples) in Cancun. We were greeted with glasses of champagne when we checked in and upgraded to a nice, big ocean front room...but that's another blog for another day. Then there are trips like this one where all just seems to go sideways...so much that it caused my sister Jane and myself to fall into fits of uncontrollable laughter several times a day. Welcome to Mexico!

 

It started as soon as we arrived at our resort (4 red apples) in Cozumel, Mexico. Cozumel is an island just off the coast of Mexico and every year we would talk about taking the ferry over and spending a day on the island, but we never did. This year we had the chance to stay there for an entire week. It's a little more expensive than the mainland because everything has to be shipped over, but we figured it would be worth it for the experience. As we were getting checked in, I was watching a flat screen TV on the wall behind the check in counter advertising: "You are now in Paradise", I wondered about that as I noticed the paint peeling above the TV. Then the bellhop took us and our luggage to our room. The room wound around the resort to the back part and I wondered if we would be able to find our way out. Our room was to have a garden/jungle view. Well, we did have a balcony and if you stood on the end of the balcony and leaned out to the left you could see some palm trees and flowers. Other than that, we had a view of the wall of the room next to us and a view of their front door and a huge red fire extinguisher. This was an older resort with no smoke alarms. Probably no law about that in Mexico. We were also suppose to have a coffeemaker and a minibar. Neither was in this tiny room. After two calls to the front desk and we also mentioned it to our Apple Representative, we did get the coffee maker....never did see the mini bar. They did provide two small waste baskets in our room which was a good thing because the air conditioner which was over the door to the bathroom leaked a lot, so we used one to catch the water. It made a puddle in the floor that I stepped in the first night at 2am when I got up to use the bathroom. It was raining outside so I really thought the roof was leaking!! Oh, by the way, it rained every afternoon for the first 3 days we were there. Next was the shower. It came blasting out like a high pressure wash. It must have had some sort of water saver on it and no way to adjust it. Only our backs and heads were able to tolerate it. You just had to sort of splash yourself with it and the temperature constantly changed from cold to hot the whole time we showered.  Welcome to Mexico.

 

Then there was the TV in our room. It got about 10 channels and only a few in English and by the end of the week most of those had stopped working or just faded in and out. A couple on the beach one day ask if our TV was working because theirs wasn't. I said "Welcome to Mexico".

Then their was the night we had some sort of a reptile/lizard in the room. We watched it as it darted around the wall and ended up behind the headboard of my bed. It was fast. We were pretty sure it was harmless, but I didn't want to wake up with it's little suction cup feet on my face, so we called the front desk for help. It took three calls, but they finally sent a guy in with a rag and broom. He took down the headboard, caught it in the rag and took it outside and shook it in the bushes. I hope it didn't end up in someone else's room.

Now of course, our Apple Representative ask us everyday if everything was alright. We could have complained and maybe gotten a better room, but we figured for the price they were probably all about the same unless you were in the exclusive part of the resort, but then we wouldn't have had anything to provoke fits of laughter.

 

Then we decide one day to go snorkeling. My sister gets her flippers and mask on and takes off and I am in waist deep water with my flippers and struggling to get my mask on when the strap broke. Jane comes swimming back into help me and we finally get me all prepared to go. I am snorkeling along looking at the ocean floor when water started seeping into my mask. Since I was only in chest deep water I decide to flip myself around and stand up to fix my mask. When I did my hand hit some coral which is really sharp and poked a now bleeding hole in my finger. A piece of coral lodged under my finger nail I just got it out today...a week later. We finally decide to end snorkeling for the day.  We decided to try it again a few days later and all went well with the snorkeling. We saw lots of fish and a lobster under a rock. The problem came when we went back to the pool and Jane's towel was gone. When you check into these resorts some give you a towel card that is used to get a beach towel. Most people use the towel to lay claim to a chair and leave their things. In all of the years no one has ever bothered anything when we were gone. She went over to the area where you get clean towels and tried to get another towel, but they told her she couldn't have another one without a card. She explained that someone took her towel while we were snorkeling, but it did no good. Now I could understand it if this place was crowded and they didn't have enough towels or if the towels were made of gold. We figured someone ask for two towels and couldn't get them so when we left, decided to take one of ours. My sister went to the front desk and let them know what happened and to try to get another towel card...they informed her she was suppose to take her towel with her and keep it with her...really?....into the ocean while snorkeling?? The little Mexican woman working behind the desk didn't find this amusing and refused to give her another towel card. Jane spent the last couple of days using a towel from the room....more fits of laughter.

 

Toward the end of the week I broke out in small bumps and realized I had sun poisoning. I figured the next day was a good day to stay in the shade and nap. Jane decided while I was napping she would scuba dive with a group off the pier. An hour or so later she is back, limping over to my chair. She had struggled getting out to the deeper waters. The instructor had to keep adding weights to keep her down with her air tank and then coming out she cut her foot on the sharp coral. We decide to go see the medic at the resort and get some antiseptic on it. He didn't speak English very well, but I did see a degree for something in Spanish on the wall. He put something on her foot that looked like green alcohol and covered it with a bandage. When we ask him if he saw a lot of this he replied that he mostly treated diarrhea and vomiting....just what we wanted to hear...so far on all of our trips we have never had any food problems, well, except for a trip to a coffee plantation in the Dominique Republic where we sampled the coffee...after that the food ran through us for days!!....another blog for another day. In the meantime, during my nap in the shade, my ankles got bitten several times by mosquitoes and so she was limping back to the room and I was bent over scratching...no wonder people looked at us weird.

 

Then there was Thanksgiving. Every place we have ever stayed always has something for this American holiday... probably because there are always more of us at these places than anyone. There was a sign up in front of one of the restaurants advertising a nice Thanksgiving dinner with a picture of Abraham Lincoln and the story of how he made it into a national holiday. To help celebrate the occasion the resort brought in two live turkeys, a male and female and had them in a make shift pen in the open lobby near the pool. Each had one leg tied to a part of the pen with a long string...I guess they thought they would fly away. They were well fed and taken care of, but they were always getting their strings tangled up with each other and the male would hiss at us when we walked by. For several days out by the pool, all we heard above the Latin music was gobble, gobble, gobble!! ...which invoked fits of laughter! The dinner itself is their version of ours . The turkey was good and no they didn't serve the two in the pen. The pumpkin pie was not as sweet as what we are used to but I like it. I'm not real sure what the rest of it was, but it was all good. Welcome to Mexico.

 

The resort really didn't have anything to do in the evenings except a few sad shows that didn't start unit 9pm. We went to a couple of them and saw maybe ten people in the whole theater. Unlike Cancun, we couldn't walk downtown. The only city in the island, San Miguel de Cozumel population of 77,236, was about 14k away and so that meant renting a car, scooter or getting a taxi. We decide to go there  and do a little shopping at the shops and back street flee markets.  We opted for the taxi and only went once since it cost us $13.00 each way not including the tip. The trip was really uneventful and not much to see other than the cruise ship port and some really big cruise ships. We found one place with really good prices. We bought some gifts and we each got new beach bags...both for $10.00.

 

This resort had two swimming pools one was in the center of the resort surrounded by all the places to eat, the lobby and the outdoor stage. We chose that one. Mostly because it was close the food. The other pool was around on the side close our room . It had a swim up bar and topless was optional. We had to pass this pool every day to and from our room. There were always several thirty something women who chose this option.... ;)

 

Not all was to keep us in fits of laughter... some just a nice experience...like the day we rented a scooter and explored the island ourselves...wonderful!! There is only one main road which takes you around the island. The traffic was all but non existent other than in the city of San Minguel and it really wasn't bad. Although once, we did find ourselves going the wrong way down a one way street. I love motorcycle riding so this was such a freeing experience and the coast of the island is breathtaking! It is dotted with the usual beach shacks and people selling their wares, offering free shots of tequila and even a Brahma bull ride...we couldn't resist that one, although the ride was really just sitting on this huge animal. We shopped and stopped for water and just walked on the beach, enjoying the beauty of the place.

 

Back at the resort, as usual with every place we have stayed, the food was wonderful! This resort wasn't crowded, (can't image why) so getting a table outside everyday over looking the beach for breakfast and lunch was not a problem. I had some of the best salads and seafood I have ever eaten. We had dinner in an Italian restaurant one evening and the food was great there also!! The staff are very friendly and attentive... well, except for the towel card lady. 

One interesting thing about the snack grill by the pool- we ate lunch there a few times, ordered the same thing each time...it was delicious but never prepared the same way...Welcome to Mexico!

 

Well, my suntan is fading and there are places where my skin is peeling, my sun poisoning is gone but my mosquito bites are still itching....I am back in the cold weather and it is snowing....I am already looking forward to next year and to see what that brings....

 

Today I would give anything to be back there in the heat with my sister, in our view less room, having fits of laughter about all the things 'wrong' with our vacation in this beautiful place. Welcome to Mexico!

The Best Mother's Day Ever!!!

 

The best Mother's Day I ever had was last year, May 2010 and that is saying something since I am not a mother, well not physically anyway. My sister's three year old grandaughter, Kirsten was staying with us that weekend. She is a delightful little girl we all love and I always have a good time with her. We were on the couch watching cartoons and Kirsten was laying with her head in my lap eating her Dora fruit snacks. After a few minutes and for no apparent reason, she looked up at me tenderly with those big blues, gently touched my cheek with her little sticky fingers and said, "I love you". My heart melted.  I replied "I love you too"  blinking back tears. That had never happened to me before...ever. She went back to watching cartoons while I savoured this wonderful moment. I didn't do anything special for her to say that to me, she just wanted to. It was the best Mother's Day gift I ever got.

I love this little girl so very much and I cherish our relationship. I thought about our Heavenly Father and how He must delight in our "I love you" for no apparent reason. When we, His children, reach up toward heaven with our little sicky fingers, sticky from the world, from sin or whatever we have been into and touch the face of God and say I love you, I think His heart melts. I think He delights in us far more than we realize. I think He longs for a deeper relationship with us. I think He longs to hear more 'I love you' s for no apparent reason other than we just want to tell Him. I want to tell Him more often...because now I know how it must make Him feel. 

Feeding the Fed

 

I feel like we do so much of this - feeding the already fed. Some have asked me if I am going to our local District Ladies Conference. Probably not. I have several reasons why:

 

1.  I have been going to these for 30 years and not much has changed. It's basically the same message in different packages. I feel like most of us already weigh about 500 pounds- spiritually. We waddle in, get fed again and waddle back out the door and settle back into our comfortable lives. There has to be more....I am so totally burnt out with this that I really could scream.  I have felt this way for several years, although I did attend the conferences up until now, because it's what we do, but I really can't do it any more. I want to feed the lost and hurting souls outside of the four walls of the church. We say we are all about soul winning...really??? How many times do we need to hear about it before we take it out to the street? Now if our conferences included doing something out in the community....

 

2.  I notice this years theme of the conference was something about Generation to Generation. I guess that's fine if you and your entire family have been in the church since great, great grandma.  Mine has not.  And it seems a lot of it is good if your husband is a minister. Mine is not. My husband doesn't even serve God and neither does anyone else in my family. I am the lone Christian here. It seems most of the time the conferences are geared toward these things, although a few years ago I did get to speak for 5 minutes on praying for your unsaved husband.

 

 3.  I feel like when I do attend I have to be someone I am not. I am a motorcycle rider and I am very much burdened for Hollywood. I have been involved with The Hollywood Prayer Network for 4 years and every year I always ask if I could set up a display at the conference with material on this mission field. Every year I get the same answer: "It would probably cause problems for the church because Hollywood is seen as sin and we we don't get involved with sin. " You've got to be kidding!  I can't even wrap my mind around  that....What did Jesus get involved in if wasn't sin and sinners?? Hollywood - "the world's most influential mission field" and no one gets it.  Don't get me wrong, my Pastor and his wife support what I am doing but many of the ladies coming to the conference would not. So, when will be the time I can present it at the Conference? In 5 years, 10 years?? Other churches and denominations are involved with this and have been for many years. Why are we always behind the times?? So, I don't talk about this burden to feed the lost and hurting that we see on TV everyday. I just try to stay as connected as I can to those in Hollywood with the same passion as myself.

"The movies, the people who make them, and the people who see them are important. The absence of God's people from the movies has been tragic. Millions of people are being misled and corrupted because the salt has been absent and because the lambs have not roared. A reentry for Christians presents very formidable challenges, but God is able if His people are obedient.The movies can be both an important mission field and and an important vehicle for the gospel."   from the book: Roaring Lambs, The Movies: Box Office Closed  by  Bob Briner

 

 4. This really has nothing to do with the Ladies Conference, but I thought I would throw it in, since I am talking on this subject. I am an AzusaStreetRider. As far as I know I am  the only biker from my church that joined this group. We are not a motorcycle club, but a motorcycle ministry. Really?? I am our website quite a bit and the only thing I see we do is ride from one church rally to the next. We all wear back patches with our logo and Acts 2:38. We wear those not only so people will know we belong to this group, but also so others outside the church will ask about it....it's a soul winning tool. The thing is though, you actually have to go some place other than our own saved church folks for it to be effective - like our Moutainfest Motorcycle Rally. What a field ripe for the harvest. Last year there were 80,000 registered bikers. I go every year.  We have several other AzusaStreetRider members in our area.  I am the only AzusaStreetRider who attends. I also thought maybe this ministry would get somewhere with our own Biker Sunday we have had for the last three years, but now, even that has been cancelled.

 

I'm sure there are those who will misunderstand, condemn and criticize what I have said. But that's ok. I am not bashing the Ladies Conference. There is just noting there for me and I am simply stating the reasons I don't want to go. If you enjoy the Ladies Conference, that's wonderful. I'm sure there will be some good things there for you. I just can't do it anymore.

 

I am really trying to be a "roaring lamb" and make a difference in our world, but I can't do it alone. But then again, I keep saying that, but the truth is, I have been doing it alone for several years. And I can't do it by constantly being fed and never doing anything with what I have already eaten - spiritually, that is. 

 

Like I have been saying for a long time now, "I feel like a root bound potted plant.  I am going to have to be planted so I can branch out and grow, be all that I am suppose to be, do all that I am suppose to do, or I will eventually die." 

American Idol and Perfect Pia

 

American Idol. A show I never watched until the last couple of years when my husband Mark began watching it. He really likes those kind of shows. I didn't, but after watching for awhile, I must admit it's fun to get all caught up in it. This season is no exception. It's really different from the previous seasons...different judges and a more exciting atmosphere. We get a kick out of new judge Steven Tyler and some of the things he says. He has been known to say some outrageous and shocking  things, but for the most part, he has calmed down some for the show. Mark and I refer to his witty comments as "Stevenisms".  Such as the other night when Scotty, who changed his usual country style and did a fabulous job with an Elvis song, Steven loved it and commented, "I thought you were all hat no cattle"!

But last night brought the biggest shock of all when Pia was voted off. In the very beginning of the season I was sure if she wasn't the one to become the next American Idol she would be the one  standing next to the winner. And we still have a long way to go before we get to the winner. Last night she was in the bottom three and standing next to Stefano, who is good, but has barely squeaked by in this season. I was sure he was the one leaving....I was wrong and shocked. So was everyone else including the other Idol contestants. The audience was upset and booing. Others were in tears. The judges looked stunned and when ask about the vote their comments were: "I have no idea what happened here. I'm shocked. I'm angry," said judge Jennifer Lopez. Steven said viewers were wrong, adding, "She's beautiful. When she sings, she's a bird." Randy said,"I'm never upset on this show, and I'm never really mad, but this, like, this makes me mad. What is going on?"

I wondered myself what is going on and why would she of all people, not get enough votes. Everyone on that show is excellent, but Pia....well, Pia is perfect. First of all she is stunning. Long dark hair, perfect figure, perfect smile. She could be a model/cover girl for anything and from what I have seen on the show she has a wonderful personality and of course she can sing. She can really sing. She can sing perfectly. So why wasn't there enough votes cast to keep her in? Maybe because she seems so perfect. Perfect is hard to relate to. Not many of us feel perfect. We tend to root for the underdog or maybe the ones who seem to struggle. Although I'm sure Pia has struggled and worked hard to get this far.  It seems that way in life - we look at those who seem to have it all and wonder why everything just falls in place for them. No work, no struggle, life just seems to give them everything. But I am sure if we could look into their lives we would see all the pain and brokenness they have had to endure. We sometimes do tend to "judge a book by it's cover". I have been guilty of that myself, wondering why someone elses life seems so perfect and mine is such a mess. We tend to compare our lives with others, which Jesus warned is not wise. We all have our own lives to live. Our own callings. Our own path to follow. We are each born with a different Destiny and God knows best how to get us where we are suppose to be.  My heart went out to Pia. She held it together until the show was over. As she was being consoled by the other contestants you could hear her sobbing. I prayed for her last night.  I thought of how broken hearted that "perfect" girl was right now. We never know what is going on in the lives others. I'm so glad for a Savior that knows us inside and out. He knows our heartaches and struggles and He's our healer and our strength. He truly is the only perfect one. I'm glad He loves ALL of us...because not one of us is really perfect.

It is what it is......

 

"We all have to start with ourselves. It is time to walk the talk. Take the journey of making very difficult decisions. Start removing things from your life that are not filling your cup and adding things that bring joy in to your life."

~Lisa Hammon

 

"It is what it is......"

I never understood that saying until a few weeks ago. Mark says it all the time. I always thought it was so annoying...until lately... and it just to came to light. It was an "aha" moment. When everything becomes clear and all you thought you knew just disappears and you're left with the thought that all the thinking, discussing and analyzing is not going to change some things that you've know all along. It's taken me a very long time to see things and people as they really are. Wow, it really is like a clear day....I wish I would have known years ago what I know now, but then again... I guess I did. I wouldn't have accepted it before. I was just wishing for something better....this is the something better.

 

A friend ask me the other day if I was still blogging. I told her yes, but I just hadn't posted anything for awhile...about March 14 to be exact. And that was something I had written back in February. I just couldn't think past all that has happened this last month. It's been interesting and enlightening ....strange and beautiful....... I'm still not sure what it all means. I'm just following answers to prayers. Some of the fog is lifting. It's that clear day I've been searching for....It's not what I thought at all....time to move on...time for change... I suppose .....bittersweet...but- it is what it is.... I feel like maybe for the first time I have landed on planet earth! Looking around and seeing where I am in this life. This is probably one of those blogs that is not going to make since unless this has happened to you. But maybe since I am writing my thoughts, such as they are, something new will come into my head to write about.  
  

So many good sayings and quotes fell in my lap during the last month. I love good quotes. Some I used as my status on facebook...I wanted to share them in here also. They sum up better than anything all that happened to me this last month:

 

"Your happiness and peace results from uncovering what is true for you and what truly works and nobody can uncover those things for you. You alone must assume the risks, dive in, and take your chances. A life well lived is a life of taking chances and hanging out with people who help you grow."

Dick Warn

 

"You can pray but sometimes God just wants you to take care of it yourself.  You can sit and listen to the music but sometimes you must get up and dance. You can complain but sometimes you need to do whatever it takes to correct something. You can believe but sometimes you must take action, make a plan, change your ways, add to,take from, build up, tear down, walk away, come back, climb, fall, get up, lie down, move ahead or move on."

- Bob Perks

 

"Oh my cup is full, it’s come full circle. "

~ And Furthermore

Judi Dench

Girl's Day Out...

 

Girl's Day Out.... I loved girl's day out. A time for fun and fellowship, shopping, eating, laughing, getting into deep discussions...all the elements of everything female! Discussions of hair and weight, clothes, shoes, purses, getting older, wrinkles, children, grandchildren, husbands, life, the Bible ...etc. I loved it all!! 

 

.....but we don't do that anymore....

 

I miss our girl's day outings. It used to be a priority. Everyone was busy but we made time in our hectic schedules.  We worked and went home to families, responsibilities and church. But somehow we always found time to do lunch or go out for a cup of coffee or something and then we had the one grand event every year of a one or two night girl's get away!! It was wonderful!!

 

I was thinking the other night once again how much I missed the fellowship with women from my own church. Oh don't get me wrong, I still have girl's day out and all nighters -just not with those from my church. My friend Fran and I went to Cass last summer and stayed two nights. We rode the train and then stopped on the way home at what became one of my favorite places - Helevtia and we had lunch at The Hutte. We get together every chance we get and have for many years. We love to shop downtown Morgantown and eat at The Mother of India. 

My friend Donna and I go out all the time - shopping, eating and sharing the goodness of God. I introduced her to Helvetia and now we go there every time we get a chance. We stayed for a couple of nights at The Beekeeper Bed and Breakfast.

My sister and I spend a lot of time together and try to vacation every year in Mexico...not to mention the holidays, cookouts and time in her swimming pool we have together.  I also have an assortment of other friends I get together with when we can. It's not that I don't have fellowship, I do. I love my family and friends and all the wonderful things we do together, but I miss the connection with my church family.

I miss the bonding  and the feeling of belonging that goes with that. Some always have that because their families are all in the church. Mine are not. I am the only one. I'm sure they don't feel that disconnect once they leave the church. Fellowship outside the church is really, really important to me, but no one has time anymore. Our last outing was summer of 2009. I tried for a while to have a girl's day out, but it was unsuccessful. No one was really interested....it's not a priority anymore, everyone is too busy, too involved with other things and other people.  I really missed spending time outside the church with these women. I really missed our girl's day out.....