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Tables Have Legs, And the Big Picture of Life

I had been helping Mom dust since I was quite young. She had handed me a dusting cloth one day and asked me to dust the tops of the tables in the living room.

I remember a rerun of the t.v. show Maverick was on at the time. I remember that because my first crush was James Garner. That particular day, he was not on the show. It was one of the other characters. Hmmmph! not even interested in watching that day. As I was complaining Mom handed me the cloth and put me to work.

Mom moved the breakables, she showed me how to wipe off the tops of the tables and told me I did a good job when I was finished. Easy Peasy right?

This was a pattern for a while. Mom making it safe for me to dust and then me wiping the tops of everything. Mom took care of the rest.

Then, one day, I did what I had always done and instead of saying good job; Mom says, "You aren't finished."

What? Of course I was finished. No, she said you aren't finished. What did you miss?

I was stumped. I had done my job, it was finished.

And that was the first time I heard Mom say, "Tables have legs."

Mom went on to explain that dusting the tops of things and even the things on things was only part of the job. Tables have legs that get dusty, some things have sides that get dusty, you need to check for cob webs on the bottoms and backs of things, there is much more to the job than just the tops of things.

With that new perspective, Mom had me re-dust the room.

That day I learned to pay more attention, to look beyond the obvious. I learned to finish the job. I understood. I got it. Tables have legs. In life, so many things have more to them than first meets the eye. Many things in life end up being a much bigger commitment than we first thought. Some people end up being more complicated than we thought and take more nurturing than we expected. We have to learn to see the big picture of life, not just the surface stuff.

In life there are very few simple things. In real life, tables have legs.

Small Victories

I am going to say something that many of you have already figured out and if you haven't figured it out, you will sooner or later.

Here goes: Life is hard. Life is a precious gift and a wonderful thing. But, life is hard.

As we go through life we have to live with victories and defeats.

I was talking to someone the other day and they made a comment to me about needing to have small victories.

That comment made me think. It is part of human nature to want big victories. We want things taken care of, fixed, all of our ducks in a row right now. That doesn't happen often. Life is more a series of smaller victories and defeats.

Sometimes we find ourselves overwhelmed. That usually is not by one massive event. Sometimes we have a 9-11; but mostly life gets us down with one small defeat after the other.

And on the other hand, often the best way to be in a better place, to have a happy ending, a good outcome, a success, is to have a series of small victories.

Here is to a year of small victories! Go forth and conquer!

Life is Short

We have lost several friends recently. Lost being a polite euphemism for they are no longer with us. Oh, wait, that is another polite euphemism.

Let's see, we say people pass on or pass away. Sometimes we say that someone has gone over the bridge, or went to the other side.

In times past different cultures had names for where they believed people went when they die. Today, we frequently use euphemisms to avoid saying that someone has died.

Several friends of ours have died recently. Some, due to illness. One friend, a woman I saw on a fairly regular basis, died in a car accident.

She was doing normal things at a normal time of day. A woman ran a stop sign; and now my friend is dead. The funeral is over, and life has moved on; and she is dead. She had friends and family, a job, a life. In a short moment of time, she was no longer with us, had passed on, had went to the other side, went over the bridge, had died. Because a woman ran a stop sign.

This time of year it is easy to get distracted while driving. This time of year traffic can be a challenge to navigate. This time of year we all need to be extra vigilant on the roads.

Please drive safely and defensively!

Random Thoughts

I have been a little distracted lately.

I have been spending a lot of time with my grandson. Mr. 2Half and I only have one grandchild. I was one of those people that thought we would have several of them. But, we don't. We have one grandson, and he is still young enough to enjoy spending time with us. That won't last forever so we are trying to take advantage of it now.

And then there is the Kindle Fire. I love reading books on the Kindle Fire. I love playing games on my KF also. You can do an amazing number of things with that puppy.

My nine year old grandson loves my KF also. Sometimes I let him use it by himself and sometimes we play games together.

There have been several funerals lately. Some expected, some not.

Our friend, Amy, got her lung transplant. She did great during the surgery. There have been a few bumps along the way since the surgery. Apparently all of the bumps are ones that can sometimes be expected. She was in hospital for 44 days, then released to stay in the Cleveland area. She may get to go home this week. All in all, she has done well and there have been lots of happy tears.

Been trying to not watch too much of the coverage on the school shooting. It is so horrible. I have appreciated the fact that some of the news people are choosing to not mention the shooter's name unless needed. We need to remember the names of the innocents instead.

I still have lots of random thoughts, and I am still making friends in all sorts of places. Just haven't been doing as much of the writing part. 

Adventures At The Art of Animation Part Two

More photos from my guest poster, R. Keith Lambert otherwise known as the happy hubby, otherwise known as Mr. 2Half.

To recap:
Earlier this month Mr. 2Half and I were treated to a short stay at the Art of Animation Resort. From the photos it is pretty obvious that this is a Disney Resort. The theme is as the name suggests, based on Animated films. We stayed in the Little Mermaid section of the resort, specifically the Ursula building.

Enjoy the photos! (But remember all photos are the property of R. Keith Lambert and may not be used without his permission.)

Lion King Section of the Resort

Building in the Finding Nemo section

This photo is really cool because it shows the building as it looks in real life from across the way a bit. It almost looks fake, like a movie set building. Be assured this is a real building with real rooms.

Another Photo Taken in the Cars Section

The Law is Watching!

Cozy Cone Building in Cars Section

Tow Mater

Feels Like We Stepped Into the Movie!

We can't say enough good things about this particular resort. If we had this much fun and didn't even have a kid with us, how much fun would an actual kid have there?

For Love of Amy

I did not add the second part of our trip to Art of Animation yet. I will be adding it either tonight or in the morning.

Just wanted to let everyone know our dear friend, Amy Flowers, finally got her new lungs.

There have been so many tears for happy around here.

If you aren't familiar with Amy's story please check the page about Amy. It may make you smile to know that somewhere tonight there are a Mom and Dad, a brother and two sisters, and a very large extended family of relatives and friends that have so much happiness because someone they love got the help they needed in time.

So many have helped and have been supportive. Amy is one of those people that notices who is there for her and appreciates any encouragement.

Yes, sometimes there are happy endings and those happy endings are really a happy beginning.

Amy is alive today because of research and new medicines and treatments. If you don't have a favorite charity please consider donating to COTA or to Cystic Fibrosis Foundation if you can. If you can't donate and you hear of one of those fund raisers for someone waiting for a lung transplant, please consider volunteering.

We were at the Magic Kingdom last Monday night watching the fireworks display. During the display there was a commentary of sorts playing with snippets of Disney characters talking. At one point there was the voice of Jiminy Cricket and he said that sometimes wishes can come true in unexpected ways. I have thought about that a lot the past couple of days. Yeah, he may be an animated character but there is a lot to be said for that thought.

Sometimes, we can be part of the unexpected source that helps make something wonderful happen.