Tip for a Tuesday....

Save it....

Last week I picked up some more treasured items from my mother's house.  Among the parcels set aside in the garage was a large manila envelope.  Inside it, my sister had placed several cards, letters and drawings my three daughters and I had given to my mother over the years.

What a gift these aging papers bring!  As the reality of her passing continues to settle in with each of us, my daughters and I find great comfort and joy in sorting through what were clearly treasured items for my mother.  

For me, the most precious item was a letter I had written to my mother, which was delivered to her while she was attending a Church retreat called "Cornerstone" in 1993. In the letter, I thanked her for a recent "Guardian Angel" pin she had given me. I then described in great detail how she had always been my Guardian Angel - from seeing me through bouts of croup as a youngster, comforting me during the angst of the teenage years, and now sharing the joys I found being a mother myself.

If I ever look back and wonder, "Did she know...." - I need only open up that card to reassure myself that I did in fact tell her how very much she meant to me.

My tip? Whether you are a mother, daughter, treasured aunt or dear friend, save those cards and notes you've received from those you love.  Stick them in a box or drawer, to reread and savour.

In doing so, many years from now, you too will give a very special gift to those loved ones you leave behind.

You will reassure them that they took the time to tell you how very much you meant to them.

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A Monday Memory....

Anyone else old enough to remember these?  

I recently came across a "pin" of these products on Pinterest, which immediately sparked a memory from June days gone by. In our grammar school, the last week of classes called for intense cleaning, beginning with our desks.

We were required to bring in our own supplies - wax and clean rags.

My mother generally sent me in with Pledge and an old undershirt.

My nearest desk neighbors would sometimes have the Jubilee wax glass bottle, pictured above. 

 I confess, I preferred the smell and consistency to my Pledge spray.  Thankfully, fellow students were always generous when it came to sharing their cleaning products.

Wiping down the desk tops always proved to be the easiest part of the operation.

Discovering what was lurking in the deep recess of our desks could bring either joy or disgust.

As I recall, the girls seemed more methodical in their approach - pulling out individual items and laying them neatly in a pile on the floor.  The boys?  They would pull out the lot all in one go.  Or maybe the teacher would find it necessary to speed up the process for them, and simply turned their desks over, emptying the contents in a lump in front of their feet.

Once our desks were cleaned, books stowed safely on the back shelves for the summer and excess debris packed away in our bookbags, we turned our attention to the rest of the classroom.  Individual and group duties were assigned by our teacher, the more coveted tasks being those which required a trip to deliver something, somewhere else in the school building.

A few people may feel that students shouldn't have to clean up their classrooms - it should be left for the staff. The truth is, at least for me, I enjoyed those days.  

Putting the room to rights, as they say, gave us a sense of closure.  As we toiled, our endeavours offered a last chance for a few more casual conversations with classmates, before heading off in our separate directions for the summer.  And we most certainly learned cleaning and organizing skills.

There was also a sense of camaraderie, and a bit of relief I suspect, as we set about our tasks.  A feeling of having come through the year together.  

In my life, some of the more lasting "lessons" I learned in school didn't come from a textbook.

Tip for a Tuesday....

General Election Day in New Jersey.

VOTE !

My mother frequently said this.

And you should always do what your mother says, right?

I'm voting today.

Are you?

Thursday's Thought for the Day....

"Do the best you can until you know better.  

Then when you know better, do better."

~ Maya Angelou

This is my absolute favorite quote from Maya Angelou.  I heard Oprah Winfrey discuss it many years ago when she was upset about how she had handled a situation, finding great fault with herself.  She shared that this counsel from Maya brought her through that and gave her peace.

This phrase has often helped me to put many experiences in my life into their proper perspective.  
I try to do the best I can, each day, with the knowledge and experience I have at the time.
And when I learn more, either from experience or from others, then I work hard to do better.

I suspect most people are trying to do the same thing.

Wednesday's Wisdom....

There have been few posts from me on "Wednesday's Wisdom" as of late.  Mostly because I have not been feeling at all wise these past few weeks.

I did have a thought this morning I wanted to write about, but then I saw a post on Facebook from daughter #2, saying that Maya Angelou had passed away. I clicked on the article, (myfox8.com, with info c/o CNN) and there at the bottom of the piece, they had shared her last "tweet":

Maya Angelou ‏@DrMayaAngelou  May 23

Listen to yourself and in that quietude you might hear the voice of God.

(taken from her Twitter account)


Oh, I just love that.  
I so heartily agree with her. 
Such wisdom! 

And I've decided to be quiet today.  And listen for the voice of God.  Which, based on my experience, will provide me with the wisdom I need today.

Tip for a Tuesday....

Ready....set....grill!

Outdoor grill ready to go for the season?  

I like to get ours clean and in shape for the start of the grilling season by giving the grills a good scrub.  

This morning I soaked them in the hottest water the tap put out, with a good amount of dish detergent.  Since my sink isn't large enough to accommodate all of the grills in one go, I turned them after twenty minutes or so of lying in their bath.  Lots of scrubbing with the scouring side of the sponge and they are, as they say, "good to go"!

Easy Peasy!

Burger, anyone?

Friday Fotos....

Let us remember....