Pennies

You always hear the usual stories of pennies on the sidewalk being good luck, gifts from angels, etc. This is the first time I've ever heard this twist on the story. Gives you something to think about.--------------------

Several years ago, a friend of mine and her husband were invited to spend the weekend at the husband's employer's home. My friend, Arlene, was nervous about the weekend. The boss was very wealthy, with a fine home on the waterway, and cars costing more than her house.

The first day and evening went well, and Arlene was delighted to have this rare glimpse into how the very wealthy live. The husband's employer was quite generous as a host, and took them to the finest restaurants. Arlene knew she would never have the opportunity to indulge in this kind of extravagance again, so was enjoying herself immensely.

As the three of them were about to enter an exclusive restaurant that evening, the boss was walking slightly ahead of Arlene and her husband. He stopped suddenly, looking down on the pavement for a long, silent moment.

Arlene wondered if she was supposed to pass him. There was nothing on the ground except a single darkened penny that someone had dropped, and a few cigarette butts. Still silent, the man reached down and picked up the penny.

He held it up and smiled, then put it in his pocket as if he had found a great treasure. How absurd! What need did this man have for a single penny? Why would he even take the time to stop and pick it up?

Throughout dinner, the entire scene nagged at her. Finally, she could stand it no longer. She casually mentioned that her daughter once had a coin collection, and asked if the penny he had found had been of some value.

A smile crept across the man's face as he reached into his pocket for the penny and held it out for her to see. She had seen many pennies before! What was the point of this?

'Look at it.' He said. 'Read what it says.' She read the words ' United States of America
''No, not that; read further.''
One cent?' 'No, keep reading.
''In God we Trust?'
'Yes!'
'And?'

'And if I trust in God, the name of God is holy, even on a coin. Whenever I find a coin I see that inscription. It is written on every single United States coin, but we never seem to notice it! God drops a message right in front of me telling me to trust Him? Who am I to pass it by? When I see a coin, I pray, I stop to see if my trust IS in God at that moment. I pick the coin up as a response to God; that I do trust in Him. For a short time, at least, I cherish it as if it were gold. I think it is God's way of starting a conversation with me. Lucky for me, God is patient and pennies are plentiful!

When I was out shopping today, I found a penny on the sidewalk. I stopped and picked it up, and realized that I had been worrying and fretting in my mind about things I cannot change. I read the words, 'In God We Trust,' and had to laugh. Yes, God, I get the message.It seems that I have been finding an inordinate number of pennies in the last few months, but then, pennies are plentiful! And, God is patient...

Turning an old T-shirt into a reusable shopping or grocery bag

Turning an old T-shirt into a reusable shopping or grocery bag is a simple, clever craft to help everyone be "green." It's a Good Thing that will help protect the environment.



Tools and Materials

Heavy-weight cotton T-shirt

PinsSewing machine

Medium-size bowl

Water-erasable marking pen

Scissors



T-Shirt Bag How-To



1. Turn T-shirt inside out and pin bottom of the T-shirt along the hem. Using a sewing machine, sew bottom of T-shirt closed. Flip shirt right side out and lay flat on table, making sure all seams are lined up.



2. Place medium-size bowl about half-way over the neck hole. Using a water-erasable marking pen, trace along the edge of the bowl. Cut along the outline, making sure to go through the front and back sides of the shirt, in order to create an opening for the bag that's larger than what the neck hole allows.



3. Line up the hems on the front and back side of the sleeve and cut, making sure to go through both sides of the shirt. Repeat on the other sleeve. Tip: A jersey shirt would also work well for this craft, as it is already sleeveless, and it's made of a great mesh material.



Resources



Water-erasable marking pens can be purchased at most fabric stores for about $5. To purchase an already-made t-shirt bag, visit greenteebag.com.

After 65 years, couple inseparable - even in death

'They couldn't be parted': After long life together, husband and wife die of natural causes within 23 hours of each other.
By DOUG IRVING
The Orange County Register

Santa Ana -- Jerry Aten didn't last a day without his wife Marilyn.
She died on a Monday evening last month. He tried to give her one last kiss, but he was too unsteady to get out of his wheelchair. He held her hand, laid his head on her bed, and cried.
Their friends always use the same word to describe Jerry and Marilyn: inseparable. And so, 23 hours later, when his caretaker heard his breath go heavy and deep, and then stop, it seemed to them more a gift than a surprise.
Doctors who work with the elderly say it's not unusual for the death of one spouse to make the other feel more at peace with dying as well. Some researchers even believe that the loss of a loved one can stun the heart and cause symptoms similar to a heart attack, a phenomenon often called "broken heart syndrome."
But what happened with Jerry, 89, and Marilyn, 85, left even their pastor searching for words. "It's almost like they planned their departure perfectly," said Rev. Wilfredo Benitez of St. Anselm of Canterbury Episcopal Church in Garden Grove.
"I don't have any explanation for that. I can't say whether God planned it," he added. "It just seemed to me that the bond between the two of them was so strong that, even in death, they couldn't be parted."
They met on a blind date. He was a Michigan farm boy stationed with the Army in Northern California. She was a small-town California girl who always called him "Honey."
They were married 65 years ago in April. He went to work as a chemist; she stayed home and raised their only son, David. They bought a house with a big front lawn on a quiet street in Garden Grove, spent their weekends rooting for the Angels, spent their summers traveling the country in their camper.
There were rough spots, of course, but they did their best to live by the rule they had set early in their relationship. Never go to bed angry.
"There was always a little touch," said Pat Smith, a neighbor who was close to the Atens. "He'd sit down and she'd serve him dinner, and she'd touch him on the shoulder."
Marilyn was rushed to the hospital with stomach pain on Christmas Eve a few years ago. Doctors found cancer, removed two-thirds of her colon, and told her she would probably die in a matter of months. But she beat the cancer into remission with chemotherapy.
Jerry, meanwhile, was starting to get confused. Names didn't come to him so quickly anymore. One night, he walked out the door and wandered down the street. Doctors diagnosed Alzheimer 's disease.
But even on his worst days, he knew who Marilyn was. A few times, she checked him into a care center, and he would cry for her when she left. She brought him back home every time; "I can't stand not having him here," she told friends.
The pain in her stomach returned earlier this year, and she knew. She told her son, David, "If it's my time to go, it's my time to go." She and Jerry, she said, "had a great life together."
She died at home, in her bed. Jerry tried to lift himself out of his wheelchair to kiss her good-bye, then fell back and laid his head on her bed, next to her arm. He didn't say anything, just cried softly.
It was 11:40 p.m. on May 5.
Jerry woke up the next morning, talked to his son, greeted a neighbor. But he began crying again in the afternoon, and he was still crying when his caretaker, Theresa Palepale, helped him into bed that night.
She heard his breathing change and then stop about an hour later. She felt for a pulse, but didn't find one.
It was 10:40 p.m. on May 6.
Physicians would later determine that Marilyn had died of gastric cancer, and Jerry had died 23 hours later, to the minute, of cardiopulmonary arrest. They were buried in Riverside National Cemetery.
Their obituary ran in the newspaper on the day of the funeral. "Aten, Marilyn and Jerry," it read. "Together for eternity."

Lunchtime at Our House on the Last Day of School

Summer vacation has started......and the kids are bored already. Too hot to play outside and getting hotter. Need to water the garden but will wait till this evening. But then again maybe I will do it now.

Going through the kid's clothes. Need to do a check on what they will need for the summer. I may get a pool pass though. So we will have stuff to do. I think we will start going to the library for story hour and find other gatherings to go to this summer.

Hubby is home for today. Only a 4 day week :( Unemployment doesn't pay the bills. But we get a lot of stuff done when he is home. I love him so much........<3

What do you use when you go grocery shopping? Paper? Plastic? Reusable bag?

Starting a few weeks ago I started using reusable bags. They are so nice and make putting groceries in the back of my van so nice as they line up nice and neat unlike plastic. So I did some research on the issue of reusable bags.



Facts on plastic bags
~Each year billions of bags end up as ugly litter.
~Eventually they break down into tiny toxic bits polluting our soil, river, lakes and oceans. Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they photodegrade—breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways and entering the food web when animals accidentally ingest.
~Production requires vast amounts of oil.
Countless animals needlessly die each year.

The grocery stores we go to offer that you can get reusable bags. Wise Markets even pays you back 3 cents per reusable bag that you use.

How many plastic bags does your family use a year?About 400 a year, if you're an average family. All of that could be stopped by using reusable bags.


Source: http://WWW.deh.gov.au/settlements/publications/waste/plastic-bags/analysis.HTML


So what do you use and why?What would it take to make you use reusable bags if you don't already?

Win Lisa's Homesteading Ebook!

Win our eBook, Homestead Simplicity!
Looking for a little simplicity? Seems a lotta folks are these days! We’ve got it, by way of our Ebook, Homestead Simplicity: A Primer, and YOU can win a copy!!


How do you win? Just post a comment here, with your first name and email addy….you’re entered! Want another chance to win……? BLOG about this contest and get TWO more entries, just post your comment with your name, email and link!
NOW–want even more chances to win? We’re running this contest the whole month of May! Each Monday I will draw a winner out of the ol’ hat, so if you don’t win one week, come back and leave your comment/post again the next week….try, try again
Thanks for playing along~
Lisa

So much Rain

The rain is still pouring. It has been pretty much constantly for weeks. We have the garden pretty much ready but now it has rained for almost 3 days straight so we can't get into plant. :( I bought many plants and seeds for the garden. We wanted to plant today but alas more rain. Now the sun has come out so hopefully by Wednesday we can get into the garden without sinking.

My brother's fiance's daughter had prom last night. Oh what beautiful ladies. It is sad though they don't do tux's. When I went to the prom all the guys wore tux's. How sad the standard is going down. The one guy that was there looked like he pulled his shirt and pants off his bedroom floor. Stained dingy white button downed shirt with a tie and black wrinkly pants. I felt so sad. Your prom is a once in a lifetime experience :(

This picture is my brother and I while we were taking pictures of the prom goers.