What's on YOUR Desk?

A friend sent me the question:  List ten things on your desk.  Now, I know you didn't lose sleep because you didn't know what's on my desk, and I know that knowing this doesn't matter one whit in the grand scheme of things, but answering this was kinda fun!

Okay.  I am a coffeeholic.  I have cups of coffee, some still hot and some that have cooled completely, all over my house.  Well....maybe not all over....  Nevertheless, the first noteworthy thing on my desk is my cup of coffee.

I don't have a lot of "open space."  I've always been like this.  When I was employed outside the home, I had "disorganized organization."  That's a nice way of saying that my desk looked like a bomb exploded on it.  Perpetually!  

So this corner of my desk has a phone (yes, I still use a landline!), business cards are clothes-pinned together, a Netflix DVD that I need to return, and a menu for Chinese food!  In the background is an organizer (which, in itself, for MY space, is really ironic!) with bills and greeting cards and statements and CDs, then there is a Facing Your Giants calender.  Apropos!

 

On the other side of my desk is my Greyhound mug filled with pens and pencils, stuffed Panda bears, and behind the bears is a wall calender hanging from the back wall of the hutch.  Then I have pix of some of my sponsored kids, HP printer, a stuffed chickadee (?) is on the printer (this was a Christmas present--when I squeeze it, it cheeps!), the paper behind its head is a list of 2012 suspense dates for a newsletter that I do for an organization, and a fold-out greeting card is taped to the back wall of the hutch.  Oh!  To the right of that is a pic of a friend and the book for a Bible study--"When Life is Hard."  In front on the desktop is my mouse, a wooden star which reads BELIEVE (another Christmas present!) and the remote control for my radio.

Well.  I have not been in the work force for over ten years, but little has changed regarding my desktop.  And I guess I still have trouble counting to TEN!

Now, I'm going to fire another question back to my friend.  Before taking pix, did you "tidy up a bit" first???  HA!

Got Some Free Time?

I enjoy volunteering my time for a person or an organization.  I don’t drive, and I like to write, so one of the ways I volunteer is to write letters.  One of my past commitments included Adopt A Platoon.  I chose to write about them today because I just received their e-newsletter Full Battle Rattle and it jogged some pleasant memories from the dusty recesses of my brain!

Go to http://www.adoptaplatoon.org/ and, on the left-hand side of the page, you can click on Pages/Ways to Support, and there are several from which to choose.  I was a Pen Pal and wrote a letter each week.  Now, up front, A.A.P. will tell you (and I will tell you here) NOT to expect a reply.  If your soldier does reply, that’s really wonderful but, oftentimes, they are simply too busy.  Even so, they do appreciate hearing from home.  I know I would were I in the same situation.

Pleasant memories?  One time, I was able to meet one of my soldiers face-to-face when he was stationed at an Army base here.  That was just off-the-charts!

I also like Green Beans Coffee at http://www.greenbeanscoffee.com/ where you may buy coffee or another beverage for one service member or ANY number!  There is an option to send a note and say “Thanks!” with your coffee and indicate if you would like to be email “pen pals.”  To this day, I still touch base with one of my coffee recipients!

So, who knows what experiences are waiting for you when you invest a little of your time in those who are defending our country?!

Meet my 4-legged "kidz!"

I hope to cover a variety of topics on this blog:  Greyhounds, recipes, Multiple Sclerosis, volunteering, the Answer to life, amateur digital photography, books, humor…and YOUR ideas about where you would like to go on this journey.

I think I’ll begin with my four-legged family.  I am a Greyhound Mom, and adopted my first retired racing Greyhound in 2002.  I will talk about ALL of my “kidz” later on, to be sure.  But I have only two right now—the oldest is my fawn-colored boy Max who will be 13 this May.  The second is a seven year old red fawn and black brindle girl, Mia Pasha, and each of her names is from my two closest friends.

My favorite story is about, Max.  A few years ago, I was fostering another Greyhound in addition to mine.  She found the basket of stuffie toys that I have for my Greys, she found a toy she liked, and promptly trotted out the dog door with the toy in her mouth!

I was outside on the patio and thought that I’d just retrieve the toy when she dropped it.  But I didn’t have to!  Max then came out the dog door, looked at me as if to say in disgust, “Doesn’t that new dog know any better?!  We don’t take our toys outside!”  He went up to her and took the toy from her, turned around and took the toy into the house!  I never taught him to do that!

But he is a very smart boy…well, he’s an old man at 13.  Ah, he’ll always be Mommy’s Boy!

I’ll think of a story to tell about Mia Pasha tomorrow.