Instead of the John, I call my bathroom the Jim. That way it sounds better when I say I’m going to the Jim every morning.
Actually, my father’s name WAS John and we NEVER called it the John in my house. However, I saw this phrase somewhere and thought it cute. I'd attribute it but don't know who originally said it.
Today Gary was checking out a campground app we have for our I Pads and found ‘Kennedy County Park Campground Fort Dodge Iowa’ where we stayed last August when we were working on Gary’s father’s home. He then clicked on ‘images’ on that site and was scrolling through them when he found the two images I've included here.
Recognize those two ragamuffins in the third row from the top. I’m thinking that these two country bumpkins modeling the very latest in Home Depot attire, are very familiar. And, who’s that on top of the roof? I doubt that anyone from Fort Dodge would like these two to be representative of them. And, then, there was the series of pictures below. If you’ve been reading this blog you know about our RV awning problems on the side of the road coming home from Fort Dodge last August. And, here is our crippled RV south of Ogden, IA pictured on Google. Not only that, but there is also my picture of some kids playing in the water at the campground and my brother’s recipe for calorie loaded blueberry bread on the yellow paper.
How in the world did my pictures ever get into Google? I was so surprised and astounded that I called a good friend in Fort Dodge, Shirley, and asked her to verify these by typing ‘Kennedy County Park Campground Fort Dodge Iowa’ into Google and scrolling down the page for a ways. Silence as she scrolled until I heard her burst out in laughter. Sure enough, she saw the same pictures. And, of course, as a resident of Fort Dodge, is she ever embarrassed. No, I’m kidding. She laughed just as I did. The following Saturday, we were with Cathy and Tom in Barnes and Noble and we found the same images for them. They are still there.
On another topic: I’ve just had a great epiphany. And, I’m going to share it. Get ready for this - it’s pretty deep. Here it is:
Gary and I aren’t getting any younger.
Got that? WOW, what an insight - and, of course, I’m being sarcastic here. But so often we, and I’m sure many others, just coast along doing what we’ve been doing in the past without realizing that it doesn’t always have to be that way. It’s so easy to keep on keeping on. We had 2 video stores for about 10 years and every day as I was putting on my shoes before leaving the house to go open the stores, I thought that it probably was not my favorite job though, once I got there, I was fine and enjoyed the contacts with customers and employees. And I knew how to do it, I knew what the day was like, I knew this life. And, besides we owned the stores and had lots invested in them. How would we get rid of them? I didn’t know any other life and didn’t know how to get to another life that I didn’t know. I just kept on keeping on. Change means choices, change means making a leap into the unknown, change means making up a new future. Change means going out of your comfort zone. And, shucks, change means work.
But, that all sounds so negative, how about a positive spin on change? Change means reinvention, change means new opportunities, change means growth, change means challenges to face and overcome.
Then, one day both Gary and I looked at each other and decided that we didn’t enjoy this much, weren’t getting any younger and didn’t want to keep doing this, that there was more to life than managing video stores. Maybe we needed to make changes and they could be positive. And, we sold. There, it was done. We could move on, we could start anew. Thus began 10 years as a Wells Fargo employee in Des Moines, Ia. Well, there was lots more involved in the decisions than that but that’s another story.
Another epiphany got us into RV’ing when we had never RV’ed in our lives, had never camped in a campground, knew no one who RV’ed but just thought that it was right for us. A giant leap into the unknown, yes, but also new opportunities, new challenges, new chances for growth. And, hasn’t this all been so much fun?
Now, I’ve decided that we are getting older every day and I don’t want to get too old without having experienced so many other things that the world has to offer. Time to dust off the old bucket list, or how about making up a bucket list? I’ve never thought that I had a bucket list, that I wanted to see everything. But, I’m not going to be able to do that - I don’t have enough time. I’ve got to narrow my focus. I’ve got to develop a bucket list.
So, I’ve decided that we need to:
Hmmm. Well, I’m still making that up.
Although, hiking the Grand Canyon is definitely on the list and we’ve got that scheduled for this October. What’s next? Stay tuned.
I read an article in USA Today that said that snacks should consist of protein and produce: like a 1/4 cup of hummus and 4 carrots, like 3 sticks of celery and 2 pieces of cheese. These are snacks? What about chocolate and sugar? What about cookies and chips? How in the world could anyone look forward to hummus and carrots. How could anyone say: I’ll work a little bit harder so I can earn my celery and cheese? I work hard for chocolate, not for hummus.
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