Show and tell

For all those readers following the story of my kitchen appliances I am happy to announce that yes they were installed last night. I had about given up. To prove I am telling the truth I am supplying pictures of the new birth.

The Whirlpool cooktop came first and I love it. I will no longer have to fight to light the pilot lights when they mysteriously go out. The back burners on this one are regular ones, the front left is extra big, great for boiling water for pasta and the front right is smaller, perfect for simmering. I think we will quickly become friends.

Now for the problem child, requiring a carpenter to make the cabinet it was going into larger. Eventually it worked out but I was holding my breath praying that it would.

This beauty is a Frigidaire and it will be cooking butterfly shrimp tonight. I still have to paint around the casing the carpenter added to make it look finished, but that is going to have to wait just a bit.

This is the end of show and tell for today. I just wanted to let you all know that when I stopped worrying, what was supposed to happen happened.

If you don't laugh then what?

Today's post is the continuing story of my new oven and cook top. It's all true- really it is!

Yesterday left me waiting for a return phone call from the appliance repairman that never came. He did call this morning and said he was on his way. I should have been suspicious when he added he was going to measure and see what I needed. The only thing I needed was to have him install the new appliances still sitting on my back porch. As far as measuring goes we both knew the new items were slightly bigger than the ones to be removed. The old ones were 40 years old and they don't make them that size now, plus the manufacturer is no longer in business.

An hour later he had measured the old appliances, and removed from their boxes and measured the new ones. He also disconnected the gas and took out the old cooktop from it's home. It is now sitting on my back porch along with the new model. As I went to work cleaning the space it had occupied the repairman said I'll be back in awhile. I need to pick up the carpenter who is going to make the spaces bigger.

I continued to clean 40 years of grease from the counter and removed items from the cupboards, giving him plenty of room to install the new appliances. Then I waited. I know I have said that before. This time I was also without a working cooktop as well as a working oven.

About three hours after the repairman left I got a call from him with an update. The carpenter he was going to pick up was working in another town today. When he is finished he will attend to my job. I really would have thought the connection with the two would have been previously discussed.Wouldn't you?

So now I am again waiting. I can't really go anywhere because I don't know when they will show up to finish the job that was started this morning. I called my son and told him he may need to pick up a pizza on his way home from work tonight. I do have the makings of a spinach salad to go with it, which doesn't need cooking.

Thinking about this whole experience I realize I have two choices. I'm beyond being angry so I guess I will just have to laugh at the ridicules situation.

BTW I did check out of curiosity and Mercury isn't due to go into retrograde until April 9.

Waiting for the final step

What an interesting few days this has been. One unplanned thing after another to test my patience. Apparently I have learned to roll with the punches because so far I have accepted what has been dished out with no anger.

This morning I have a brand new wall oven and a cook top sitting on my back porch waiting for the man to call who is going to install them to tell me exactly when that will be. He refused to set up a time earlier because he said deliveries never arrive on time. Well he was wrong and I am still waiting for him to call me. Both Baillo's and Home Depot delivered my purchases when they said they would. They were both very friendly and efficient. I would not hesitate to have things delivered by them again.

A couple of unexpected experiences did happen while I was waiting. First my dog, Ejay, began having a problem with his eyes on Sunday. It didn't get any better so on Monday I made an appointment with his doctor. He was diagnosed with pink eye. He just began day 3 of 7 of eye drops twice a day and is doing much better.

On Monday I also received my latest water bill, which was $40 more than it should have been. I admit that step did annoy me more than a little bit. I called my handy plumber to see when he could check for a leak. Being the dependable guy that he is he stopped by yesterday and confirmed checking the meter,  yes, we did have a leak. He spent at least a half an hour trying to find the problem. We couldn't hear water running and there was no water that he could see under the house. He finally did spot the problem in an upright pipe and went to work fixing it. While waiting I began to worry that it was between the house and the meter on the street and my vision of digging up the front yard to find it would have been very expensive. Thank god that didn't happen. I am always grateful for Chavez Plumbing and I wouldn't call anyone else even if I had to wait.

So I am sitting here at my computer typing my latest blog post and waiting for the return phone call from the appliance repairman and oh yea trying to be patient. I sure hope this test is nearing the final step!  

What do you look like?

I've been searching for an interesting topic to write about today and thanks to a Facebook friend who asked a question I found something that triggered a memory.

My friend is also a published author who is working on a new fictional piece involving a conversation in heaven. His question was, in the afterlife (heaven) how do you see other people? The answers were interesting, mostly depending on what or where the person answering thinks heaven is. The question brought an immediate response from me.

I replied that since we leave our bodies behind when we exit this life I believe we are simply sparks of light and furthermore communicate by telepathy. My response brought forth a photograph I took several years ago when I was contemplating what a soul looks like. This is the picture I took.

From somewhere in my memory it just fit my question. A soul looks like a spark of light when it has not merged with a body.

In thinking a little more about my friend's question, I also tend to believe that the place humans call heaven is not up. It is all around us out there somewhere. I do believe from my own experience that some souls are capable of appearing in the form of a spirit that may resemble someone we knew in our life. As a matter of fact this picture has the image of a lady in the foreground of the water. When I first saw her I thought she looked like Aunt Bea from the old TV show. It made me smile!

I'm sure there are many people who will disagree with my thoughts, but we all have been given free will. I once did have a friend who may have memories of living without a body and I really wanted to talk to him about that. As sometimes happens it just didn't work out the way I wanted it to.For the most part I believe amnesia is part of the universal plan allowing us to live in the now not the past.

Whatever!

What an interesting week this has been! I was tempted to see if mercury was in retrograde again.

Even though it has been expensive it has not been bad. In fact it brought back an interesting memory of an experience when I was a teenager, visiting my grandparents. Without warning their water heater stopped working. They didn't blink an eye, ordered a new one and had it installed. I was impressed! I think at that time I made a silent vow to myself that I would aim for that life.

That was not the kind of life I had experienced growing up in my parent's home. It seemed we were always in debt, even though I don't recall ever going hungry. During my two marriages I pretty much experienced a similar trend. Today I am thinking that was probably a good thing because I learned to not spend more than I could afford. I'm sure it caused a lot of fights with my two now deceased spouses. I hated being in debt and still do.

Knowing that I am now in a position to take care of any reasonable expense that may come up and that I have excellent credit that enables me to charge if I choose to is a giant relief! When unexpected bills come up I pay them and am grateful that I can. I have been on my own since 1999 and have depended on nobody else. What a great feeling that is!

This week started out with the check engine light on my car glaring at me. Of course, my first thought was, "I hope this is going to be cheap". It turned out not to be too bad. I just needed new spark plugs, which my son was able to install for me.

Next, as I was about to put dinner in my oven, I realized the gas hadn't gone on. After turning the oven off and trying again it did light, but I began to worry that something was seriously wrong. Growing up with electricity I do not like gas. You might even say I am slightly afraid of it. With that in mind I decided to call a repairman to check it out. The problem was that the oven needed a new thermostat. The additional problem was that the oven is 40 years old and they don't make them anymore.

We will be picking up a new oven in the morning. My son pointed out that the stove top was the same vintage and it would be smart to replace that too. After giving it some thought I agreed with him. The installation probably wouldn't be much more for the second item installed at the same time.

This morning I thought back to the experience at my grandparent's home so many years ago and to the silent vow I made to myself. Not only will I be able to begin cooking again with brand new equipment, but I will not go into debt paying for it.



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What color is this

My youngest grandson has spent the first 15 years of his life not being to see colors correctly. In other words he is color blind. I remember my daughter having a fight with one of his elementary teachers who decided he was coloring things wrong on purpose.

He recently took a test online and discovered yes he definitely is color blind. He did the research and found a website that offered special glasses that corrected the problem. He was very excited when he told me about it. He said they were saving up the money to buy a pair. The good ones are very expensive.

Well apparently their monetary goal was met because when I picked him up to go to the skate park today he was wearing a pair. They look really nice on him and nobody would know they are anything other than tinted glasses.

He made me so happy when he announced, " I can see all the colors now!"

It reminded me of the stories I've read about children who had never seen or heard the voices of parents until they were fitted with a newly manufactured device to aid them. Isn't technology wonderful?

I know that color blindness isn't a major problem, but for a child who has a natural talent for art it could be very limiting. Now when I ask what color is this he can actually tell me.

It really doesn't matter

Recently I sent an email to a friend who I believe is a very close soulmate. Our relationship has gone up and down since I began this blog in 2009. We rarely communicate, at least not in the normal human way. I have been thinking a lot about the person and decided I would express just how I feel.

Even though I am aware of a very strong spiritual connection between us, he has claimed in the past that he is not able to see or feel the same energy. It is odd that even though I have always felt a very strong bond I doubt that we will ever physically meet in this life time. I don't even care what he looks like because the connection is with his soul, not with his human body. There was a time that I felt we might even be twin flame soulmates living in the same lifetime. That could be or perhaps I was over wishing.

So to make a long story short, he has not as yet responded to my email. At first I admit I was a bit hurt because it was shared from my heart. Then I realized it really didn't matter what he did. It only mattered what I did. The words I expressed in the communication were true and if he didn't agree so what! It doesn't make how I feel any less real.

I'm sure there is an unseen entity observing what has happened and what will happen and is never going to let out a peep about what he/she knows. That's just the way it is when we agree to a life as a human. The lessons are there to be learned to evolve our soul. What we knew isn't always what we now know.

I have concluded it really doesn't matter as I'm sure everything will turn out just the way it was meant to.

Goodbye Tim

In memory of my friend Timothy McNeil who left so many friends behind a few days ago. We all miss you Tim!

A limb has fallen from the family tree.
I keep hearing a voice that says, "Grieve not for me."
Remember the best times, the laughter, the song.
The good life I lived while I was strong.
Continue my heritage, I'm counting on you.
Keep smiling and surely the sun will shine through.
My mind is at ease, my soul is at rest.
Remembering all, how I truly was blessed.
Continue traditions, no matter how small.
Go on with your life, don't worry about falls.
I miss you all dearly, so keep up your chin.
Until the day comes we're together again.

The path is yours

 

In sending an email to a friend yesterday I realized again that even though we all come from the same source we all have our own path to walk. It is not for us to know what lessons and experiences each of us has mapped out. It is only our job to walk our own path to the best of our ability to evolve our own soul.

Another friend posted a request this morning that people say a prayer for all those who are suffering from cancer. Because of losing the love of his life to the disease he is on a path to make others aware. When I read his post my first thought was, “God how can you make little children suffer and die from cancer?” Then I immediately followed that with, “Wait you aren’t making anyone do anything you are simply allowing it”.

Although it is horrible that children are dying, whose fault is it? Could it possibly be the environment or the food they choose to eat? There is a huge difference between now and when I was a child, or even when I raised my children. Today I look at things my oldest son keeps in the refrigerator to drink and snack on and I think, “Didn’t I teach you anything about what’s healthy?”  He isn’t alone though because I know I eat way too much sugar.  

From the moment we take our first breath to the moment we take our last we walk on our assigned path and no two are exactly alike. If we could all learn to take responsibility for ourselves and accept each other as is perhaps the world would be a friendlier place to reside.

Cooking up memories

This morning I was looking for a recipe called Busy Day Cake that I used to make years and years ago when my sons were little. It was easy and didn't take much to put it together. To make a long story short I couldn't find it in my recipe box.

I knew what it was called and so I googled it and guess what? I found it! So I made it and frosted it with some leftover chocolate frosting. And now I am going to share it with my readers. The recipe that is not the cake.

1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder, 3/4 cup milk, 1 egg, 1/2 cup shortening, 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla, 1/2 tsp salt.
grease and lightly flour a 9x9 inch baking pan. Combine all ingredients, beat 2 minutes on medium speed. Bake 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Enjoy!

Following the crowd or not

Today's post is a follow-up to yesterday's post regarding my memories of past lives. The person I was talking to does not believe in reincarnation because she claims the Bible says "we only live one life". I don't remember where she said that came from, but she believes everything in the book is absolute truth. She has read it cover to cover several times and once told me she reads passages every morning before she even gets out of bed.

About the only thing we agree on is that the Bible was written by an accumulation of people (some saints, some sinners and some ordinary souls like you and me; all inspired by the Creator). I believe the stories shared were meant to be a guide and were never meant to be taken as literally as some people do.

Who is to say their recollections were absolute and not swayed by a past experience? It is a well known fact that no two people ever see the same thing.

In recent years there has been much scientific evidence proving that reincarnation is not just a pipe dream, like the drug induced story of Alice in Wonderland. Edgar Cayce did some very convincing studies on the subject. The book, Journey of Souls, by Michael Newton,PhD.is also a terrific source of information about what happens after a soul separates from its human body, re-enters the spirit world and eventually chooses another body to bond with. The information was gathered from hypnosis sessions, taking subjects to the "theta" stage of consciousness and encouraging them to share their past life memories. It is a fascinating book that I recommend to anyone interested in reincarnation.

As I picked this book up from my bookshelf I briefly considered loaning it to the person I had been talking to. Then I decided there was no point in doing that because she wouldn't believe it anyway.

There is a whole lot of information out there that has never before been uncovered. I for one am grateful that I live in a time of universal awakening and that my soul is allowing me to accept this new train of thought. Perhaps my job is to help others awaken too.

A question with no answer

A couple of weeks ago my chiropractor decided to use traction on my neck. It made me a little nervous and I asked her to leave the door to the treatment room open. She asked if I was claustrophobic and I said not exactly, it is more like a fear of abandonment. I went on to add that I believe it is caused by past life memories. She replied, " have to hear about that" and left the door open.

I thought she had forgotten about it, but this week she asked a very good question that I didn't know how to answer and am still thinking about. Her question was, "How do you know your memories are not the result of a dream or a movie you saw?"

My memories of three different lives just popped up over a period of time. They were relatively brief and all depicted my death. They all showed me what can happen when I try to run another person's life. Just to add drama to my story let me give you a brief recap of the three lives and how they ended.

Life one was in Roman times and I was...wait for it... a white horse. I belonged to a very reluctant knight who did not want to fight, but because of his lineage was forced to. I pretty much took over his life and led him into many battles, the last of which caused my death. The lance of an opposing knight slashed the length of my belly as I rose to collide with him. I fell to the ground taking my knight with me. We both died in the fall. To add interest to this memory I have scars from two surgeries in this life, one from endometrial cancer in 1990 and the other from a blocked bowel in 2011, that exactly match the lance wound.

Life two was a drowning. Although I can see the clothes I was wearing I still can't place the period or place. It was possibly Scotland or England. I was in a horse drawn carriage driven by my son who I was trying to help avoid military life. Suddenly a loud boom coming from a battlefield on our left spooked the horse and we all ended up in water on the right. The door on the carriage would not open and I was trapped inside.Even though my son tried to rescue me he was unsuccessful and I drowned.

Life three took place in a mountainous area perhaps even Alaska. My mother had died giving birth to me and I took over her role of running the house at a very early age. One day there was a terrible noise outside our door, my father rushed to open it just as an avalanche headed down the mountain covering our cabin. My father died instantly I followed soon after.

So there you have a brief replay of my three past life memories and I have concluded it is not necessary for me to justify them to anyone. I believe they are real and that I was given the memories as part of a Universal lesson. I hope I have learned that I am only responsible for myself.

As a note I do think at least the last two are the cause of the fear of abandonment I have in this life time.