Ann

As a young minister, I was asked by a funeral director to hold a grave-side service for a homeless man, with no family or friends. The funeral was to be held at a cemetery way back in the country, and this man would be the first to be laid to rest there. As I was not familiar with the backwoods area, I became lost; and being a typical man did not stop for directions. I finally arrived an hour late. I saw the backhoe and the crew, who was eating lunch, but the hearse was nowhere in sight. I apologized to the workers for my tardiness, and stepped to the side of the open grave, where I saw the vault lid already in place. I assured the workers I would not hold them up for long, but this was the proper thing to do. The workers gathered around, still eating their lunch. I poured out my heart and soul. As I preached the workers began to say "Amen," "Praise the Lord," and "Glory"! I preached, and I preached, like I'd never preached before: from Genesis all the way to Revelations. I closed the lengthy service with a prayer and walked to my car. As I was opening the door and taking off my coat, I overheard one of the workers saying to another, "I ain't never seen anything like that before and I've been putting in septic tanks for twenty years."

That is a good time for me!

That is a good time for me!

That is a good time for me!

I will be keeping you, Carlton and your family in my thoughts and prayers. I know how scared you are right now and my heart definitely reaches out to yours!

I wish I was there to give you a big hug. Like everyone has said, the "firsts" are really hard to cope with. After time, these special days will be a bit easier but the pain on those days always seems to be fresh for me. In honor of your mom's birthday, do something that she would have enjoyed and know she is right there with you.

How many pairs of shoes do you own?

As a trucker stops for a red light, a blonde catches up. She jumps out of her car, runs up to his truck, and knocks on the door. The trucker lowers the window, and she says "Hi, my name is Heather and you're losing some of your load." The trucker ignores her and proceeds down the street. When the truck stops for another red light, the girl catches up again. She jumps out of her car, runs up and knocks on the door. Again, the trucker lowers the window. As if they've never spoken, the blonde says brightly, "Hi, my name is Heather, and you're losing some of your load!" Shaking his head, the trucker ignores her again and continues down the street. At the third red light, the same thing happens again. All out of breath, the blonde gets out of her car, runs up, knocks on the truck door. The trucker rolls down the window. Again she says "Hi, my name is Heather, and you're losing some of your load!" When the light turns green, the trucker revs up and races to the next light. When he stops this time, he hurriedly gets out of the truck, and runs back to the blonde. He knocks on her window, and after she lowers it, he says... Hi, my name is Kevin. It's winter here in Maine and I'm driving the sand truck. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A married man was having an affair with his secretary. One day they went to her place and made love all afternoon. Exhausted, they fell asleep and woke up at 8 PM.The man hurriedly dressed and told his lover to take his shoes outside and rub them in the grass and dirt. He put on his shoes and drove home. "Where have you been?" his wife demanded."I can't lie to you," he replied, "I'm having an affair with my secretary. We had sex all afternoon." "You lying b*stard! You've been playing golf!"

Well, if I was still living in Tennessee, like Tina and Bruce, I would be having a hot tamale with chili and crackers....better known as a full house. But...since hot tamales aren't available here in Florida (not the Mexican type of tamale) I'll have to go to the next best thing. Now, that's hard to decide, as I like so many types of food. I would have to say a big bowl of chili with cornbread crumbled up in it and raw onions on top would be my favorite. Mac and cheese would run a close second! Kasey...I like the idea of wine and chili. I usually have a tall glass of cold milk with my chili but I think I'll try wine the next time!

Since it's freezing cold today. let's talk about cold weather/comfort food. What is your absolute favorite food to eat on a cold day when all you feel like doing is curling up under your blankie and getting warm.

I know that many of you live in areas that have very cold weather but...I'm in Florida and it was 37 degrees at my house early in the morning!!! Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I just wanted to let you know that even Florida has cold weather!!! What are the temps today where you live???/

No nursing home for us. We are checking into the Holiday Inn! With the average cost for a nursing home care costing $188.00 per day, there is a better way when we get old & feeble. We have alr eady checked on reservations at the Holiday Inn. For a combined long term stay discount and senior discount, it's $49.23 per night. That leaves $138.77 a day for: breakfast, lunch and dinner in any restaurant we want, or room service. Laundry, gratuities and special TV movies. Plus, they provide a swimming pool, a workout room, a lounge and washer-dryer, etc. Most have free toothpaste and razors, and all have free shampoo and soap. $5 worth of tips a day will have the entire staff scrambling to help you. They treat you like a customer, not a patient. There is a city bus stop out front, and seniors ride free. The handicap bus will also pick you up (if you fake a decent limp). To meet other nice people, call a church bus on Sundays. For a change of scenery, take the airport shuttle bus and eat at one of the nice restaurants there. While you're at the airport, fly somewhere. Otherwise, the cash keeps building up. It takes months to get into decent nursing homes. Holiday Inn will take your reservation today. And you are not stuck in one place forever, y!ou can move from Inn to Inn, or even from city to city. Want to see Hawaii ? They have a Holiday Inn there too. TV broken? Light bulbs need changing? Need a mattress replaced? No problem. They fix everything, and apologize for the inconvenience. The Inn has a night security person and daily room service. The maid checks to see if you are ok. If not, they will call the undertaker or an ambulance. If you fall and break a hip, Medicare will pay for the hip, and Holiday Inn will upgrade you to a suite for the rest of your life. And no worries about visits from family. They will always be glad to find you, and probably check in for a few days mini-vacation. The grandkids can use the pool. What more can you ask for? So, when we reach that golden age, we'll face it with a grin. Just forward all our email to:

Wow...17 million??? Right now???? And to think I'm sitting here at work!!!

Yep...I was flying right through it. Neat!

Go Colts........ I'm finally getting a chance to wear my Colts sweatshirt with Peyton's name and number on it. It's really cold here in sometimes sunny Florida and we even have a freeze warning in effect for here tonight.

Ok guys...this is it! Just one week until the Super Bowl in Miami. Will you be watching the big game? What team will you be rooting for....Colts or Bears?

Amen.

Yes, Bruce, thanks you very much for thinking of this.

I absolutely love an answer to this question that came from this MB some time ago. When someone asked if this person smoked, their answer was "only when I'm on fire." That has to be my favorite. I now use it when someone asks me if Dennis was a smoker.

This is a tough question for me and I'm the one that asked it. I love the actual work that I do but I absolutely hate all of the company "politics" and "drama" that goes on every day. And...when I say "drama" I mean it! I would love to be able to come in and do my job without ever opening the door all day. Sometimes, when I think of doing this until I'm old enough to retire, I get extremely depressed! Oh, BTW, I do all the job bidding and permitting for a construction company that is rapidly growing.

Thanks so much for sharing that with us. Although I have read it before, I always love reading it again. It helps me to remember why I feel so close to those I have loved and lost when I'm standing outside on a very dark night and look up at the starry sky!

Irritating

Do you really like your current job or are you just there because you need the income and "have to be?" If you're retired, did you like the last job you had? Just wondering how many of us really love what we do everyday.

Never take anything or anyone for granted.