Even If - (Mercy Me)

 Oh, this is such a great song, and RIGHT NOW someone I know needs to read the lyrics and if he can, he needs to sing them. Please....remember, Jesus really is the answer every time.  Even if we don't see it. Praise Him anyway -- He is there.

EVEN IF -- by Mercy Me

They say sometimes you win some
Sometimes you lose some
And right now, right now I'm losing bad
I've stood on this stage night after night
Reminding the broken it'll be alright
But right now, oh right now I just can't

It's easy to sing
When there's nothing to bring me down
But what will I say
When I'm held to the flame
Like I am right now

I know You're able and I know You can
Save through the fire with Your mighty hand
But even if You don't
My hope is You alone

They say it only takes a little faith
To move a mountain
Good thing
A little faith is all I have right now
But God, when You choose
To leave mountains unmovable
Give me the strength to be able to sing
It is well with my soul

I know You're able and I know You can
Save through the fire with Your mighty hand
But even if You don't
My hope is You alone
I know the sorrow, and I know the hurt
Would all go away if You'd just say the word
But even if You don't
My hope is You alone

You've been faithful, You've been good
All of my days
Jesus, I will cling to You
Come what may
‘Cause I know You're able
I know You can

I know You're able and I know You can
Save through the fire with Your mighty hand
But even if You don't
My hope is You alone
I know the sorrow, and I know the hurt
Would all go away if You'd just say the word
But even if You don't
My hope is You alone

It is well with my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul

********************************************

Jesus, Thank you for the blessing who is my friend. Heal him, please. 

Photo Credit: Pavbca

Why Men Should Love Strong Women

 I say it all the time to myself, mainly because I would never expect anyone else to listen; I am a strong woman.  I am a very strong woman, and in these days and times being seen and known as a strong woman can be both a curse and a blessing.  I only count my strength as a blessing, and in fact, a blessing from the one who created me in the first place. We are told over and over again in the Word of God that we are to be strong, put our faith and trust in God, and not to worry about what the world sees, hears, thinks, reacts to, or demands of us. We are not to follow the leaders if the leaders don't follow God. We are to make our stand known and not compromise our spirit or our mindset as to what we know to be right and what we know to be wrong.  This is what being a strong willed and strong minded person is; one who knows the boundaries and won't compromise them for the sake of being accepted. 

    God Himself, Jehovah, made me.  This fact is known not only to Him, but also to me.  I was and am extremely privileged and honored to have been raised in a Christian home where it was literally drilled into my skull that I was in fact worth more than the world would ever give me credit for. If I did nothing in this world outside of honoring and loving God, I would be 100% sound and accepted to the only one that truly matters. It brings to mind the verse that says "What profit a man if he gains the entire world but loses his soul?" (Mark 8:36) There is no gain if you lose your soul. Eternal life is for EVERYONE. Eternal life with Christ is another matter. Only those who accept Him will see themselves at peace after this life; there is no true end to it.  Either we are or we are not going to be in Heaven. This fact is not dependent on one's belief system. You can believe that Bella Donna won't harm you, but the simple fact is that is a dangerously deadly plant. Your thoughts about it won't change a damn thing. Heaven is very real, and so is Hell.

    Women, more so than men, I believe, are often rejected and ridiculed for displaying strong attitudes and mindsets. We are literally called names, told we're "aggressive" or "obstinate" when the truth is we are quite in control and quite in line with what it is that we believe to be the right path to take. We understand and even calculate the risks before making decisions. We have the will and the authority to make our own decisions and we do so with confidence; not arrogance. I suppose the word "intimidate" comes up now and again when someone asks me why I'm not married, why I don't even care to date. I think the longer answer would be that I prefer to choose my mate rather than settling, and I won't be picked. I must do the choosing.  I haven't decided to choose yet (that's not entirely truthful, but I won't discuss who I've chosen). When it is time to marry I will marry. I won't date, that's not an option, but I will commit when it's time to commit, and God will be the only one who will need approve the union. I won't accept the opinion of a single person over God's nod.  I am intimidating, I get that. I am brash, I am bold, I am open, I am honest, far too honest in fact. I am brazen, I am steadfast, I am brutally blunt, and I won't tolerate even the slightest of lies. Yes, it's a difficult expectation, but it is mine.

    Perhaps rather than focusing on what the world would see as a negative connotation(s) for a woman being strong, we could now focus on what the innate benefits of her strength may be for a man. A strong woman will be able to follow a man's lead and support his decisions knowing that if he is unsure of his path she will be there to help him find it.  A strong woman will hold, protect, and defend a good man when he is outside of himself with anxiety, sorrow, anger, or depression.  A strong woman who you (a man) could trust to be the refuge you need to fall back on for opinions, argument, research and options would be a good thing.  A woman who reads, studies, and who delves into details to find the validity or a matter is a good prize indeed. A woman who won't back down, won't give in, or won't compromise her position to satisfy an insecurity is a good thing. Though she may go along with a man's poor decision so as to show him that she is in fact his partner, it doesn't mean she believes he is right. When or if the time comes that she can encourage him to make a better decision, it would behoove the man to remember that God made strong women for strong men. Strong women won't put up with a weak man. If a strong woman is praying for you daily she believes in you. She sees your strength, your worth, your value. Keep that in mind.

    If you are a man, and you are lucky enough to have a very strong woman in your corner, you are in fact blessed.  If your woman will pray for you daily, asking her God, your God (because a strong Christian woman won't put up with a man who isn't following Christ. If she does she's an idiot) to keep your heart on the right pathway as He renews your spirit to restore you to His will; you are in fact a very unique man. Women such as this are not only more rare and precious than rubies, they are few and far between in these days of liberal mindedness.  Our world tells us through every medium possible that a woman doesn't need a man, but that's not what God had in mind is it? Women were in fact made for men, this is true, not the other way around, but God's plan is not for either to be solo forever; but to work together, be together, be one, and in doing so, to honor Him. The world would tell the women today that they are to praise and honor themselves and to believe only in their own achievements. This again, is another lie from demonic powers. Strong believers know this, and seek the same like-minded partners who realize the man should be the leader and the head of the house, but that doesn't mean the woman is to be weakened. In truth and in fact, it takes a mighty strong woman to hold and support a Godly man.

    There will be times. There will be days. There will be weeks, even months when a man may find himself unable to stand on his own inner or mental stronghold and do what he is called to do. God never said that being a believer or a follower of Christ would be an easy journey; it is harrowing at times. The agony brought by stress of doing what is right can be excruciating. There will be times when a woman is softer and unable to pull it together; her strength must fall to her partner, and that partner must be grounded in his faith with Christ even if it isn't particularly evident. It must be real.  Strong women and strong men are meant to be powerful, but our power does not come from within our bodies, it comes from within our faith, and the One who has been sealed inside of us.  If I ever get scared or nervous about something I repeat this one thing over and over again, I say, "Greater is He that is living in me, than he that is in the world."   I look to the Lord and I cry out. He hears me.  I am never without that fact. I will be restored, or I will go home. Either way, He is in control. I don't mind being strong for Jesus, what I do mind is being questioned about it. I will not be moved.

    A strong woman is a good thing. Arrogance is not.  Know the difference.  

    
Photo Credit: Unknown

Clean Investment

 I wrote earlier about how I woke up and made the decision to make soap for profit.  Who knew that castor oil was the ingredient that could or would cause soap to lather? What?  I'll be honest with you, I may just end up making it for fun, but I want to be able to add it to my list of crafts that I can make and sell when I move to Scotland so I can have both work from home, fun work, and it will (hopefully) be enough to sustain me while I carry out my two-year VISA for researching and working on my books. If I can stay longer of course, I will. VISAs can vary from time to time, and I can get extensions if I need to through either employment or .... well, I guess I could get married and stay in the land of Heather, but employment sounds like the better end. Maybe some company will sponsor me for years and years if I don't ask them to pay me. LOL.  Why is it that I always get sidetracked when I open a blog? I really couldn't tell you -- rabbits!  

    I've spent the better part of the day researching my new hobby of soap making. I'll do the same when I decide to make candles, which will be a week after I make the soaps.  Candles only take a day to cure, you pour them and let them sit a few hours and they can be packaged immediately, where soap literally takes 24 hours to set, and another 3-4 weeks to dry out so you can package them and send them out for use. (Did you know that? I have to admit I did not know that) I watched three or four videos online for the process and the various recipes of both solid milled soaps and clear soaps. I worked my brain for several hours going through the cost basis of each; what it would cost per unit to make, package, and distribute.

    Without adding postage, as that can and will vary, I can tell you that the 3x3.5 or 3.4 inch bar that I will be creating will cost me about $.97 each to make before I mail it off, and that is if I use the ultra expensive fragrances.  I do plan on using only the best ingredients in my soaps; I know that. I know I can chinch here and there and make it more commercial. I may end up doing that in the long run if I don't have to compromise the integrity of the product. I am not above saving where I can as long as I don't do so at the expense of the client.  I think you know what I mean. There are too many products I once bought whose recipes have changed over the years.  The size of the products have managed to shrink in proportion(s) but yet somehow the price of the damn things usually go up, not down. Quite shocking! (smiles)

    For milled soap there are only three ingredients (types) to use.  You use oils, lye, and water.  For the clear soaps you use quite a few more ingredients and the are mostly chemical in nature. That didn't really surprise me, but I was happy to hear that the glycerin is actually vegetable based.  I understand there is a controversy now concerning the use of palm oil. I'm not really sure how to respond to it yet, I need to research more. If using palm oil will be a hinderance to my clients I'll use another oil, there are too many to choose from to be picky.  I have no problem listing every ingredient on the packaging. I may even go so far as to have little recipe cards created and included in each bar that I sell. That would be fun.

    The initial cost for me to start the hobby is going to be around $300.  I've set the limit at $300 so that it is not overly expensive, it's not a drag on my budget, and if I don't end up selling the product I can use them for gifts down the road. Soap doesn't depreciate in value, nor does it dissipate with time. You can leave a bar of soap in the cabinet for a 100 years and it will dry up a bit, maybe start to crack, but it will likely still be about the same size as it was when it was made. OK, maybe 100 years is too long, we'll cut it to 40.  I know it's at least 40 because I went to a thrift store the other day and found a bar of Irish Spring soap in its original box!!  I bought it for $1 and it was perfectly green swirly and smelled just as pretty and pleasant as it did back in the dinosaur age when it was first sold. Not kidding.  I only bought it to show my kids the size differences between bars of soap these days.

    The fragrance for the soaps are by far the most expensive part of the process. Water being the cheapest ingredient of course, then the lye, then the oils, and finally the scents.  Oils range of course, but you can buy 35 pound (5-gallon) containers of coconut oil for $75.00 and if you only use 1.5 ounces of it in clear soap the cost to you soap is less than nine (9) cents per bar.  I'm going to start out with only a gallon, so my cost will be closer to 18 cents per bar. Pennies for now, but in the future pennies will equal dollars if I am going to be making soap for a sustainable living. I will still use the best grade of ingredients, but I will buy them in bulk for sure.  There is an ingredient that I'm having a hard time finding anywhere but on Etsy or Ebay. It is Triethanolamine.  It's a detergent additive and you don't have to use it, there are other things you can use, and if it's not readily available I may have to. We'll have to wait it out and see. It's the only ingredient I can't get by this weekend and I want to make the soaps for Christmas. 

    If I make the soaps Saturday, November 20, they will have time to dry out by Christmas. I'll be giving the first 3 batches away as gifts to family members and friends. (If I have anything left over I'll actually use them myself, but I hope to be able to find enough friends and family to gift them to.)  Once I get the Triethanolamine I will make the clear soaps with the really cool trinkets, beads, herbs, and swirls. I want to try and make soap marbles for the grandkids. That would be really fun.  Have you looked at all the soap things you can do and make on Pinterest? I have to stop going there. Hours fly by and I've not done a damn thing but stare, gawk, oogle, and make plans. My little pencil was flying today!  My trip to Hobby Lobby was not only adventurous it was EXPENSIVE!  Well, I say that, it really wasn't. I decided to buy the supplies in smaller bulk for the weekend and then later I'll buy more and make more as I build up my clientele and even get business cards, set up a webpage, and try to market my wares.

    When I visited Whole Foods, Target, Walmart, and a few sweet gift boutiques around the city today, I learned the average price for the same size bar that I'm going to make is $4.99 - 8.99.  I'll charge $3.00 per bar, maybe $3.99, but shipping will need to be additional if I'm sending them off. I'll do a 3/$10.00 thing if I go up to $3.99.  That will help.  The little clear fish soaps that I saw at the boutique were about 2.5" long and about that wide. They were $5.99 EACH.  They weren't even an inch thick, closer to 3/4 of an inch.  My 3"x3.5" bar is about 7/8" of an inch thick and will be $3.99 tops (until inflation drives up the costs).  I may do molds such as fish, hearts, stars, etc. You have to have fun with it. Some of the molds were a bit naughty and I wasn't really sure what I was looking at until I realized what I was looking at. I decided against those molds. I'm not saying I'm a prude, but I don't think I want to be that person who make THOSE soaps.  I bet there's a market for it though.

    Well, that's about it for the clean investment tip for the day. I think the pots, the stick blender, the measuring cups, digital scale, and silicone molds along with the smoothers, the cutter, and the spray bottle to hold the Ever Clear in, will run me about $75.00, and the rest of the $$$ will come from buying supplies which will include a small bottle of Ever Clear. Who knew that you could and should spray a fine mist of Ever Clear on the clear soaps to remove any bubbles? CRAZY!  Chemicals are funny things -- just too fascinating.

WARNING:  If you decide to make soap you have to use LYE and it is DANGEROUS, so read up on it, use appropriate gear, ventilation is required, and you MUST keep it away from anyone who may mistake it for water.  NOT joking about that, and keep all of your soap supplies and tools separate from your other housewares and food supplies. You just need to be safe and smart.  If you do decide to do it, you can buy all of your supplies online at www.bulkapothecary.com and www.essentialwholesale.com.  Great places!!  You can use Amazon and get prime delivery faster, but the prices seem to be higher. Check and see; I don't want to discourage or influence anyone.  BE SAFE.

    

Photo Credit: pikadilly charm blogspot

    

Channeling the Pioneer Woman in Myself.

 Most of you know I'm from Oklahoma and that Oklahoma is part of the Great Plains region of America. Well, it's also a Southwest state, being on the eastern and norther side of the Southwest region.  We are an interesting state in deed and indeed.  We rival the bigger, more experienced states in sports, agriculture, technology, and you can't beat Oklahoma for call centers! Yes, yes, it's true, we do give good phone voice here in Oklahoma. Some say our accent (we don't have one) is not as heavy as those folks from Tennessee or South Carolina; and of course, we speak more clearly than our cousins down in Texas. 

    Well, today I woke up as I do most mornings, and thought out loud because I can. The dog seems to think I'm speaking directly to her when I do that, and she begins her morning routine of pestering me until I physically rise, dress, use the bathroom, weigh myself, and then take her for her stroll. While laying in bed petting the dog, choosing not to get out of the warmth of my incredibly smotheringly comfortable comforter, I thought I could do more in terms of sustaining my income and offsetting any debt that I may have. Maybe you don't think out loud about finances but lately I've been doing just that.  I decided that to have fun is just as important as covering the cost basis of sustaining a casual lifestyle.  I thought about what I could do from home to become both flush and feel good about life. It's a Southern Thang.

    BAM!  (I do say Bam a lot) Soap!  I can make soap.  I can make soap, and I can make candles. I can sell said soap and candles as a set or separately. I can easily charge a good amount and expect people to pay it. I can mail off said wares and expect customers to pay for the postage. I'm not like most people, I'm not going to rip people off with postage. I will consider the packing and the handling, but I'm not going to gouge anyone. That piece of morality may end up being the one thing that keeps the boats floating in my ocean. We'll have to wait and see.  Soaps and candles. Easy peasy.

    We have the world's largest hobby store here in Oklahoma, it's called Hobby Lobby.  You can find it easily enough at www.hobbylobby.com and when you go there, be sure to check out the clearance. Many people worldwide have NO IDEA how often Hobby Lobby places their every day things on 50% off, and you'd be surprised at how often they place out of season holiday items at over 70% off retail price. It's absolutely worth your investigation.   So, for the soaps that generally sell online for around $8 a bar, I can make the bar for less than .30 cents.  Packing, wrapping, and shipping costs will end up being another $3.00 in the US;  If I charge $3.99 a bar and actual shipping (around $1.80 and I'll charge $3 to include the labor and driving the product to the post office) the person will pay about $6.99.  My actual cost will be about .30 + $1.80 or  $2.10.  I make a profit, they save a $1 or so buying from me, and since I use Amazon to deliver, they can (if they have Prime) get their soaps faster.

    Candles are another matter because you have to buy the tins or the glass. Tins travel better in the mail of course, and you don't have to pack them in bubble wrap.  I think I will invest a bit on the candles and make them in two sizes.  Candles I sell online will be around $4.99 per tin, and again $3.00 shipping. So a $7.99 cost to the client and about a $1.00 investment for myself, since you buy the wax and/or soy cheaper than you can soap products. There are also little things you put into the soaps and candles, such as grasses, herbs, flowers, beads.  Hobby Lobby has all of these things, and yes, I can buy wholesale, and I will, but to start out to get the ball rolling, I'll hit up my local Hobby Lobby this weekend and begin the newest chapter of my life - - I can't call myself the Pioneer Woman, we already have one of those here in Oklahoma too.  She's really cool too, by the way. 

    Soon, and very soon, I'll come up with a recipe blog book, come up with ways to cook great food, desserts, roll out cookies, quiche, and even talk about making pottery, candles, jewelry, soap, and even butters. Yes, you heard me, butters. I will make the butter first, add seasonings, and then give them away to friends and family before trying to market them. Because they are food products I would need both a license, and more regulations. It may be that I just make the stuff to give away - - you never know. I like garlic butter, honey butter, lemon butter, and spicy red pepper butter. It could be a niche market for me, you just never know. Cooking, pottery, trading stocks, writing books. Something tells me I may need a bigger kitchen with an island.  Oh, and I could get a roaster and roast coffee!

    Now, that's an amazing idea too. Like with butter, I would need licensures and such, but I have enough friends who do this I can ask them what is required. I can do this. I can roast coffee out on my balcony and the entire neighborhood would be over ever day early for breakfast.  They could wash their hands using my soaps, eat whatever I cook and use a flavored butter perhaps while sipping rich amazingly roasted homebrewed coffee. I'm actually liking this fantasy. I can do this....right after I walk the dog. She's staring at me. 

Photo Credit: Wild Thymes Botanicals

Keeping in Touch

I am compelled to write to address an issue that is too often ignored.  One of my friends decided to go off the grid a few weeks ago and he's not been seen or heard from really.  He's not close enough that I could pick up the phone and call him, that wouldn't be appropriate, but I did want to reach out this way and let him know that he's not actually forgotten. I know that sometimes when people decide to stop posting on social media it's because they suffered an injury and they can't physically post. There are times when people have had enough of other people online, their nasty comments, the way their followers, friends, fans, or whoever, tend to give free advice to every situation under the Sun, and it just seems prudent to step away from the keyboard.  But....and this is a big but....most people let you know they'll be offline for a minute.  It's been a few minutes.

    When people just stop writing, stop posting, stop communicating in general, that seems to make the rumor mill crank up and then whatever the situation really is could become so much worse by loose lips, talking heads and/or anyone who thinks they know exactly what to do and how to fix the problem. Well, some problems aren't meant to be fixed online in front of God and the whole world. Some problems are only solved in quiet meditation and prayer.  That's my take on it anyway.  

    Since I don't know what exactly happened to my buddy, I'm just going to ask Jesus to be in touch, and to hover over his soul for the time being. It must have been something big or else he would have said something.  Whatever the reason(s) for him not letting the rest of us, and the world, know his personal business, I'm fairly certain he'll be keen to remember to clue us in the second he feels comfortable doing so. If that never happens then it's not really our place to meddle; it is our place however, to pray. Prayer is always expected, it is always made available, and with or without the permission of the subject, prayer is always offered from those who truly do care.  Silent prayers are heard too, so if you're out there friend, and you're reading this, I hope you'll join me in my prayers for you, and you'll agree with me that God has not only a rightful place in His plan for you, but that your time and His time may be different. Let's go with His time for the sake of the prayer union. He will deliver you.

    Being mindful is important. Knowing that others have your soul in their minds is good too.  We all, every last one of us, need help from time to time and we will learn to lean on others. I love the song you know, and my friend sings it often.  "Lean on me, when you're not strong, and I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on."  There isn't a day that goes by that I don't remember being in trouble, being in need, being so hurt and at the edge of the universe at times. I find it too hard to forget because of all the times someone was there to help me. JESUS saw to that. He will see you through -- if you just lean on Him. Lean into those everlasting arms. Pray. Cry, yes, don't forget to cry, don't hold back, let it all out, and do it again, because it just hurts sometimes. It really does. No one can judge. Let it go.

    Anyone out there who is suffering from sadness, depression, anxiety, or just stress - - c'mon, we can stress ourselves, we don't need all the external stuff too. Let it go, and let God have the reins. You don't need to be driving that carriage with tears in your eyes, you need to be faithful and let someone who knows all the answers to be in control right now. It's OK to not be OK, isn't that what you say? It is. It is perfectly good to be afflicted.  David wrote about it Psalms 119:71.  He said "It is good that I am afflicted as I then know the ways of God".  If you feel like the world is crumbling, it very well may be crumbling, and that's really a good thing.  We don't call this place home. We're passing through, and soon, very soon, we will all go home.  I know I can't  wait to fly.  Pray.  You'll be fine. I promise.  The reason I can say I promise is simple - - He said so.

Photo Credit: The Disciple Maker www.thedisciplemaker.org

The Pangs of Growing Old

 When you're a kid you hear your grandparents complain about all the aches and pains in their old bodies and you think to yourself how sad it would be to get to be so old! You jump, play, run, do flips in the air. You dive, you climb, you wrestle, move, dance, you have next to zero concerns about biting a pecan open with your teeth because you know that teeth are pretty hard and you can do this! You really don't give much thought to any of it until you have the first real knee injury, or perhaps you shoulders hurt the day after you helped brand a few Mustangs. Why is that? Wasn't it just yesterday that you were hang gliding off the side of a craggy old mountain in the southern hills of Oklahoma? Wasn't it just a few weeks back that you ran a mile for the hell of it to see if you could beat your best friend's time? She said she was pretty good, if you beat her time that would make you pretty good, right? We get old.

    Now, the word "old" is a relative term of course; you can said you're old in comparison to something or you can say you're old just because you feel like crap and don't have a better way to describe how it that you feel. You say words like "he's too old for her" or "she's too old to do that", and maybe you'd be right if what you said about the person actually had a time limit. If I'm older than say, 40, I can't go off and enlist in the U.S. Army, but that doesn't mean I can't pass every physical they would have given me. (I wouldn't pass, but all I'm saying is, there are times when time matters.)  You can say you're feeling old when really what you're feeling is down, out, tired, exhausted, hurt, injured, scared, or just plain done. The reason(s) you're feeling that way likely have less to do with the clock and more to do with the lack of energy you have created or reserved for yourself. It's been my experience anyway - - so far, and yes, in about 11 days I'll be officially "old" to some. I've been officially old for others, and I'm actually still rather young to still others, so what is old? Old is when you give up.

    I hurt, yes. I have aches, I have pains, I have knee tendons that don't want me to continue my exercises, but my knee tendons can suck an egg! I'm working out.  I have aches in my joints, and tears in my ligaments at times. I heal. It's not fun, but it happens. It is what we do. We heal. We get over it, or we learn to live with it. If we give up, we're so much worse off. I say that, if I were to die today I'd be so much better off because I'd be in Heaven but I'm trying to keep this on an Earthly and more in-real-time thing. It is and would be a REAL event if I died and went to Heaven, but here on Earth we like to say "keep it real" meaning, keep it in the reality that we experience on a daily basis here. So yeah, I'm old in some ways, younger in others, and it really doesn't matter to me what anyone else may call me I have to decide for myself what I will accept as a compliment or an insult. Believe me, I don't feel anywhere near as old as the calendar says I am. Why should I? I work hard not to let the clock catch up with me like it has to so many of those I graduated high school with back in...wow...1979. 

    I went to the dentist yesterday to have a tooth pulled. He gave me a great compliment and said he had just taken 28 teeth out of a 42 year old woman who didn't take care of her teeth. He said I had. The fact that the tooth I was having removed was even a thing was due to my age actually. In the late 1960s and early 1970s some of the medications given to kids actually caused lack of tooth enamel and it left us with hollowed out molars. Yuck. Some would say "that's not fair" and they may be correct, but what is fair in life? The medicines saved our lives otherwise. Now, after so many years, and for some, bad hygiene, it's time to pay the piper - - we have our teeth pulled. I know people of all ages with missing front, back, and side teeth. It happens. I've tried to live my life in such a way as to be more concerned with how I handle a situation as opposed to the situation itself. I lost a tooth, now, instead of feeling old about it, I'm going to learn to adjust my chewing habits. The dentist was quick to tell me that we really don't use our back molars that much anyway; that was kind.

    My dentist gave me nitrous gas and about four shots to work on the back molar. It was painful and it was so much not fun, but the alternative would have been so much worse. Thank you, Jesus for drugs. Thank you for skilled people. Thank you for tools, thank you for electricity, thank you for suction drainage systems. Thank you for comfortable chairs to sit in, and to be able to be at the right angles. I'm telling you, we have so much to be thankful for, and saying it's not worth it to have a tooth removed that hurts or cuts my tongue just wasn't an option. Age or no age, it was "time" to let that go. I spent over 10 years rubbing my tongue over a hard jagged edge and I was finally just tired of having to adjust my speech to avoid a calamity with my tongue! Nothing in this world is "normal" really -- we have to adjust and compromise at times. We have to adjust and change. We have to overcome if we can, and yes, we have to surrender at times and admit defeat.  I was glad to have the nitrous but I didn't accept any pain meds after the procedure. God made Ibuprofen for that.

    My good friend (no name) is in the medical profession. He/she (no I won't say) is about 60 pounds overweight, smokes, and has a drinking issue.  When I asked him/her to go for a hike the other day the answer was quick and with a finalization that left no wiggle room. He/she said "I'm too old, hell you're too old. We're too old to go climbing and put ourselves into that sort of situation. You can fall and break a hip! You can get caught out there with no one to help you. I can't help you and you can't help me. It's stupid and you should act your age for once!"  Well, as you can imagine, I let him/her rant, but I didn't agree.  No, my thoughts were more along the line of, "Here's a thought; lose weight, stop eating crap food, put the bottle down, ditch the smokes, and really live again. Breathe!"  I stopped going to High School reunions after the first one. Who wants to listen to a bunch of liars comparing themselves to other liars? Nope.

    God made us with an expiration date. I get that. We don't necessarily know when that will be and the world tends to place (put) time limits on us from the day we're born to the die they think we should slow down and take it easy. Be that as it may, I say you're in charge of your own work out. You're in charge of your own decisions to be healthy. You buy the food don't you? You take the cart around the grocery store yourself (or you call it in to be delivered now) and you make the final decisions about what goes into your mouth, and that includes drinking alcohol, soft drinks, sugary frizz drinks, caramelized drinks, sugary fancy coffees, shakes, whatever. You make those decisions. We all do. No one is forcing us to drink that next latte or Frap are they? No, we do that to ourselves. What about the push ups, sit ups, running, walking, climbing, jumping, moving, dancing, and the whole I need to get in better shape thing? You do if you do, and you don't if you don't, but you make that decision if you're still healthy enough to do so. Did you let yourself go to the point that you can't? Maybe it's not too late.

    I won't be the one to cut down or berate someone for having let themselves go, but I will be the one to say get up, take a breath, make something good happen now. Make a change, be the change, keep the change, and become a new you.  Brand new can be good. It may not be easy -- no, it won't be. If it's worth the prize you have to work for it. You may not have been blessed with good genes. Have you been using that as an excuse too? You still have a shot! Take it. You still have a way. Make it. If you can't, and all you want to do is give up; I'm not your girl. I can't do that to myself. Sorry. Maybe I'm "cheeky", maybe I'm conceited, maybe I'm arrogant. I know I don't have a Peter Pan syndrome but  maybe I just love myself enough to really try and keep myself in health for as long as I really can. That clock will some day chase me down, I'm sure it will, but until that day, I'm moving through the pain.

Photo Credit:  Amazinartco

Let Go! (Let God)

 I've probably written this particular blog before, but I was just listening to one of my online preachers, J.D. Farag of Calvary Chapel Kaneohe.  He was giving his weekly prophecy update on his channel at www.jdfarag.org where he was saying the same things he's been saying for a very long time, and using words I personally live and breathe by.  I'm sorry, but I just have to say it again, I'm not sorry for saying it again.  No, I'm not the least bit sorry, because the word (The Word) needs to be spoken, needs to be heard, and whether YOU are the one that needs to hear it, or someone else, I need to say it, so it's going to be said. Here we go.  LET GO.  Let go of what it is that is holding you to this Earth and LET GOD have the reins of your life. Sounds so simple, right? Just say a prayer, accept Christ, and all of your worries and problems will just melt away - - right? No. They don't melt. They are still right there and they are still very real, very bothersome, quite in the way, and no, not fun.  The difference is though, when you give God the reins to your life and let Him have the control over the baggage you seem to be dragging behind you, He finds ways you couldn't even imagine, ways you couldn't possibly think of, to clear the way for you to live again. He truly is the ONLY one who can do that for you. (Psst....and He does that all the time for those who ask Him to do it. It's sort of His thing.) 

    Pastor J.D. was saying that people are super worried about losing their jobs and not being able to gather for holidays because of the "You know what".  You can't even say it without being censored, and that's when you KNOW it's bad, right? If you can't even say something about something because someone told you you can't do it without consequences for having done so, you need to LET IT GO and give it to God. Let the world have the world. Let the rich have the rich, let the famous have the famous, let the people have the people. As Fanny Crosby (hymnist of over 8000 hymns including "Blessed Assurance") said, "Keep the world, but give me Jesus!"  Yes, keep the world.  You can have it. There's more of less nothing but less and less; every day it gets smaller, weaker, lessened by the opinions of those whose opinions really don't stack up to Jesus. What good is it if you gain $$$$ but you lose your soul? Where will you spend that money when you're in Hell? Where will you spend it if you stay here and the world goes to Hell? Money? Stature? Position? Power? Can anyone you know or anyone you've ever heard of create air? Can thy hang a star? Can they calm an ocean's wave? Can they put a coin into a fish's mouth and then direct a man to go fish and pull out the first fish he finds to find that coin and pay debt? C'mon!

    Jesus was with God during the Creation. They are two of the Trinity, and with the Holy Spirit, they are the Trinity, and THEY are God. They created it all, they are in charge of it all. Do you really have anything anyway? How long will your pretty new Tesla survive? (and then what?) Nothing remains when time ends. Time is not even real, folks.  He's coming back. Jesus is coming back, and there's nothing, not one thing on this Earth that I would want EVER and I mean EVER, that could keep me from letting it go and choosing to let God have what I thought was mine. PEACE like no other when you let it go. PEACE that only God has and only God can give, and ONLY YOU can ask Him for it. I can't ask Him for you - - I can only ask Him for me; and I did.  I don't worry about anything now and that's a really big thing to say.  

People wonder about me sometimes because I so often don't have what I need to make ends meet, but I'm not freaking out over it. Why would I? Does freaking out help? NOPE.  I am nothing on my own and He is everything. I let it go. I haven't ever been let down. It hasn't been easy, but I don't worry about what will happen -- because I have His word (Word) that it will be OK.  "All things work together for good for those who love the Lord and who are called for His purpose."  All things. Not all things except this or that. ALL THINGS. 

    If He lied about one thing He's a liar. God can't lie. Let Him have whatever it is that you seem to think is so very important that you can't stop squeezing onto it -- you don't need it. Let it go. It's holding you back from your personal freedom. Believe me, not money, not a person, not a kid, not a grandkid, nothing will stand between me and Jesus. I won't let it -- I let it all go. I want things; sure I do. I work toward goals, and I occupy my time while I'm waiting on Him, but I don't think about whether or not I'll be successful - - He is to be praised. Not me.  If I do what He's asked me to do, He has promised me the desires of my heart. That's all I need. Money? No. It's overrated. Fame? Never. No thank you. Status? Power? For what? Nah, you keep the world, just give me Jesus.  Peace out....well, peace always.

Photo Credit:  James Avery

There is a Difference.

 She's a COUGAR? No, she's not. She's a mountain lion, and while they may look the same, there is a world of difference between the two. It may not be all that easy to detect, and the fact that people interchange the words without thinking and without actually knowing the subtle differences, the cougar and the mountain lion are often mistaken for the other one both in the wild, and even in nature parks where one has been captured for the sake of observation and study. This is both incredibly sad and hurtful when you think about it. If I taught your kid that it was OK to misspell a word just because I didn't want to take the time to spell it correctly, would that be on me or you for not stopping me? (I'm thinking of words like "there", "their", and "they're" or maybe "your" and "you're".  Cougars are smaller than mountain lions, thank you very much. They are a different shade of brown (tawny) and they have darker facial features, often smaller heads, and they are simply smaller by nearly 40%; they are not mountain lions. Another really big difference between the two would be geography. Mountain lions are found in North America, ranging from Canada to Florida, whereas the cougar is an animal from South America and yes, also around the border areas.  Why am I telling you all this? Read on, please.

    My daughter Laura loves it when she can teach me something and she decided to use a quiz she found online to do just that. "Hey Mom," she cried as I was minding my own business studying for another stock broker exam.  "Yeah, what?" came the answer.  "Think of an animal, and tell me what you would want to be if you were one...an animal".  I thought about it, and I said the obvious answer, a dog.  A dog, OK, yeah, a dog. I am thinking of a dog, I would want to be a dog, so I said a dog.  "A dog is good", she added, and then "OK, God didn't make dogs, so now pick another animal if He decided there were no dogs."  I thought for a second, and knowing me, if you know me, you know I love my horses, so I said with almost no surprise in my voice, "I'd be a horse I guess".  Her answer, "Oh hey, good answer, and yeah, I can see that."  She continued, "OK, but God decided there were no more horses, so pick a third animal you think you would like to be."  I said the mountain lion, and she came back with "Like a cougar?"  WHAT? NO...I didn't say a cougar, I said a mountain lion!

    She said she didn't see the difference, and it didn't matter for the quiz. She went on to tell me that according to the experts who came up with the quiz I see myself as being a dog, while the world sees me as being more like a horse.  In reality, if the truth was known, I was actually a mountain lion. She then read off the characters of the cougar and I stopped her. STOP. "Stop Laura, not a cougar, I said a mountain lion, and there is a difference. Lots of differences in fact." She said the test or quiz didn't have mountain lion characteristics but it did have the cougar so she was going with that. According to Wikipedia, because it does list the characteristics of mountain cats vs the jungled lower lands type cougar, the mountain lion is a nearly perfect predator. It only kills for food, never for sport, and it stalks, observes, researches, understands, studies, and learns the habits of its prey before striking. The cougar strikes and will strike out of fear or for territorial rights. The mountain lion will roam to hunt and will rehome itself rather than be held captive by its environment.  THAT is the difference I wanted to make clear to my daughter. 

    People say "regular lions" this and that, but there is no regular lion. What they are saying is an African lion will do this or that; and I get that. The coyote and the wolf are two canine for sure, but they are worlds part when it comes to looks, actions, behaviors, habits, family, socializing; everything.  The mountain lion is a loner of sorts, you don't see packs of them. You see one, if you see one. They are stealth and quite capable of watching from a far without any intent of coming near; only observing. They are intrigued, genuinely interested in their surroundings and capable of going days without eating to learn more about their future meals and their resting habits. It's essential for the mountain lion to know what its getting itself into; it won't pounce on anything it can't take for itself, and it will never take more than what it needs. They do not kill for sport. If they have cubs they will kill something larger such as a deer, but for the most part they take smaller animals for themselves.

    I didn't know the test would be about comparing my personal life and my personality traits with that of an animal. You're not supposed to know that fact, you're supposed to speak from your heart, from you soul.  I did that.  I see myself as a loyal friend, a good natured person (dog) who will kill or die for its person or for its friend. I see myself as being attached to things and people, but in reality, I'm really not. I'm loyal, absolutely, but I am not attached. I have reasons to roam now, and I will roam. As for the horse, well, that's how others see me.  They see me as being strong, willful, free, wild, even strong headed and stubborn, but able to be wrangled and tamed if necessary.  But then...well, then there's the truth of it all.  I am out there roaming, hiding, watching, thinking, learning, deciding if and when I will pounce, or if I will simply watch for now.  I think I find it fascinating that I knew in my core that I wanted to say an American animal. That was never part of the question or expected criteria.  I choose an American animal all three times really - - in my mind I chose a mutt, not a purebred dog like a German Shepherd or a Labrador Retriever. I was thinking more of a Pit Bull mixed with a larger terrier type, maybe throw in a little Dachshund for the hell of it because I do think of myself as being a bad ass sometimes.  The horse? Oh, that's easy, the American Mustang. There is no other.

    So yeah, it matters. When you think of an animal, when you think of a friend, when you think of your family, and when you think of yourself, remember we are all multi-faceted, multi-layered and we have so many differences and sides to us. At times I could be considered an eagle type bird too; but not an American Bald Eagle. No, I wouldn't want that sort of fame and glory (or pressure). I would have to be more like the red-tailed hawk in Oklahoma; a predator for sure, a hunter, a protector, and again, a loner of sorts.  The mountain lion? Sure, I can see me as being one of them. I prefer a little meat on my bones anyway -- and I do like to watch before I pounce. I'm really good at watching. I'm pretty patient too. Very willing to wait. (Her head down, crouched behind a rock, panting, thinking, gently twitching her tail; no one sees her but she sees them.)  God knows what He's doing. 

Photo Credit: A-Z Animals

Shock the Metabolism!

 For many people, diet and exercise sound like a lot of work, and it is. Working out, taking the time to get off your bum and either drive or walk to the gym is a hassle; let's face it. We don't want to do that! We would rather sit at home and lounge out, or just not exercise. For most of us the idea of eating less food, or less sugar, or less carbs just seems like a nightmare.  We hate forcing ourselves to be better and do more for ourselves, but it's something that's both unavoidable and unrealistic if our personal goals are to be anywhere near close to being healthy. Am I right? I know I'm right. I was there for far (far) too long. It's a pattern we allow ourselves to get into; it's a rut.  Ruts are not good. Keep that in mind at all times, ruts bad.

    From time to time my dog has taught me a really good lesson by just being a dog. She'll lay on my lap and just be chill. She isn't working, she isn't worried about anything, she's just there to be there and she lets me know I'm doing what I do and it's OK with her.  This week she taught me that the same treats I've been giving her for years are boring and frankly, she's had enough of them. She began setting them down and walking away from them as if to say I could do better.  OK, how does that equate to this blog? Well, I'm so glad you asked. You did ask, right? Well, it seems that shocking my system is the best way to get my body back on track again. I had allowed it to take a break from all the routine work outs and the conscientious dieting it had been accustomed to.  My dog's reaction to the stale routine and same old same old, let me see that I needed to shake things up. I was...well... I was boring. Can't have that!

    Knowing there are several key tricks to jumpstarting your metabolism is a good thing to have in your back pocket. You can pull this information out whenever you need it, and it's there, always there, to remind you that you're not alone in this journey of yours. Nope, there are literally millions of others just like you who need and want to work out, need and want to eat correctly, need and want to feel better but for some reason(s) or another, they aren't able to force themselves (me) to get up and make it happen. I mean yeah, I do the jump roping, I do the vibration plate, I do the weight training, and I walk. I ride horses, I do Doga (not the same as yoga, as you have to manipulate the dog while stretching) and I do the basic things I know is right -- oh, but I stopped short. I began allowing sugar to creep into my body again. I allowed creamy gravies, and I allowed carbs like no other, for about a week. I did this, by the way INTENTIONALLY! 

    That's right, I knew what I was doing, and I hope my body can figure it out as well. During the week I allowed myself to eat anything and everything I wanted. I packed in the calories, I put up with the knowledge that what I was eating wasn't "on my diet", because it would never have been on anyone's diet if they were trying to lose weight. What I was doing is stepping up to the plate and creating a starting line to start the race over again. You can do that you know. You can start over and over and over again, and not be any further behind than you were because you hadn't started so you are where you are. You need to draw the line in the sand! Make the point of making a point, and then stick with it. I choose the easy route, which was to eat what I wanted to  and get the body ready to be shocked. 

    By going from 2200 calories a day to about 1100 I'll not only shock my metabolism, but I've also put my bowels on alert, my heart, my brain, and even my liver. Everything is now on alert, waiting to see what will happen over the next 21-40 days. It takes about 21 days to get a cycle set, so if and when you're ready to shock your system keep that in mind. You cram the food for a week, then you stop doing that and you diet correctly with the needed supplements and required protein, and you do that for the next 21 days at least. I'm going to try to keep it up through the end of the year, allowing both Thanksgiving and Christmas day as cheat days, but I don't want to over do either of those. I'm one of the lucky ones who can cook and bake, but not have to "sample" everything to be sure it's good. I'm good knowing if I made it it's gonna be good. Too many years in the kitchen to start doubting myself now. Besides, I have Gramma staring down at me from Heaven every holiday to be sure I'm still using her recipes since I stole her mixing bowl when she passed. (Yep, that was me...confession)

    So, if you're into change and you want to be the best you can be for yourself, do a few things that tell the world and yourself that you are absolutely worth the effort -- because you are. YOU ARE FABULOUS. You are the only you that you can be, so be the best one ever. For me, and for millions, just a simple change of metabolic mix-up can make good.  I bet I lose 5 to 8 pounds in the next two weeks, and by my birthday, which is just under 3 weeks from today, I should be about 10 pounds lighter. That will be good. That will make me really super duper happy and I may even post a pic! Why not? I'm FABULOUS too!  We all are. Shake it up baby.

    For breakfast I had a two-egg omelet. I added heavy whipping cream and cheese for the proteins. I added Texas style chunky salsa and sour cream on top. You don't have to worry too much about the fat, just the calories; keep that in mind too.  I decided a pea protein shake would be great, because the more protein you can add to the breakfast meal the more you'll be charged up for the day.  I add a scoop of pea protein, a scoop of collagen powder, psyllium husk powder, maca powder, ginger powder, papaya seed powder, sesame seed (ground), chia seeds, honey, strawberries, another egg (raw) and milk. Believe me when I say WOW..just WOW...it is good, and good for me. It's thick as mud if you leave it to hang out for 10 minutes like I end up doing since I'm typing -- and you're done for hours! I don't think I'll even have lunch. I may just wait until 6 to eat dinner and be done. It's that filling. It is for me anyway. 

    My motto has always been "Make it Happen".  I'm that girl. I will force it (on myself) so that I make it happen. If I want it to happen it will happen. I'm the one behind the curtain in my life. I can do this with Jesus' help of course, but I can do this.

Photo Credit:  Me

She Might Like the Bee Gees!

 When did it start? Oh, I don't know, somewhere between "Jesus Loves Me" and Elvis' "Jailhouse Rock", but I was there in my bedroom just listening to the radio.  The bedroom, mind you, was a shared room. I had two older sisters and Mom placed my smaller-than-a-twin sized homemade crafted bed that Daddy made in his workshop, in between my Big and Bigger sisters.  Mine was the less attractive piece of real estate in the room, as it wasn't an end piece, and the front of my bed faced the open closet. It would have had doors on it, but Daddy had taken them off to paint them and that project got set back on the back burner for a few years.  Our matching beds were long boxes with a large drawer that pulled out for storing clothes. Daddy also made small (maybe 15-18" wide) tall cabinets that reached from the ground to the ceiling. Those cabinets had drawers too, and two shelves on top. In the middle he had crafted a hidden cubby that was "hidden" using a flat door that opened to make a desk that was about 15" x 15" wide. I'm telling you, we were special.

    I laid on my little bed with my tiny little transistor radio, that if I had to guess I would say it had both AM and FM bands. I don't really remember, but I know I listened to WKY which was on the AM band. I listened to the Top Forty mainly, but you know there were hundreds of other songs being played. I knew most of them, and I liked many of them, but I got really excited when I heard the Bee Gees singing...no other band could capture my spirit, no other band could keep my attention. To this day, if you ask me who my favorite artist is, it will be the Brothers Gibb - - The Bee Gees.  When I met my bestest best friend Jeannie in high school, she was wearing a Bee Gee t-shirt. I literally said "I get Maurice" before I said hello. He answered back, "I get Barry".  We're still best friends, even after all I've put her through.

    One of the reasons I liked the Bee Gees so much was that I had decided at age 6 or 7 that I was going to marry Maurice Gibb; he was the younger of the twins, and he and his twin brother Robin were about 3 years younger than Barry.  Maurice was already married to a pretty lady named Lulu, and she was a singer, but I was pretty sure that if I waited it out, grew up, and moved to England I could convince Maurice to marry me. I was really excited to find out a few years later that he had not only divorced Lulu, he was living in Florida, so that would have made things so much easier I guess it it wasn't for his new beautiful wife Yvonne.  I'm telling you, my timing has always been off by just a smidge. (giggles)  Married or not, it didn't stop me from writing to Maurice when I was about 14 and we became pen pals of a sort. He wrote to me, I wrote to him, we chatted twice on the phone about music and about the Oklahoma vs. Florida State game. He was more of a U of M fan, because he lived in Miami I guess, but it was fun chatting with him.

    On Saturday, August 4, 1979, my best friend Jeannie and I (and three others) pooled our money together and we rented a hotel room in the same hotel as the Bee Gees for their Spirits Having Flown concert tour. I can't say it without being understated, but I was pretty excited about finally getting to meet Maurice in person, and being able to see the "Boys" in concert.  You don't know the backstory of how it was that I came to work for Concerts West, or how I was able to wrangle tickets at next-to-nothing if not nothing prices. I think Jeannie and I have attended more than 300 concerts together, and separately, I couldn't tell you. I really couldn't, the years between 1978-1985 become a blur after I try to force myself to remember who all I've met, what jobs I worked, what assignments I had, and all the fans I had to beat back with sticks to keep my job(s).  I was a driver, an errand girl, I cooked, I made reservations, I worked backstage, I worked the stage, I worked front stage, I couldn't really be counted on for security due to my size, but I was alert and used my cat-walking tight-rope skills to pull a few excited fans from places they weren't supposed to be roaming! (It made it so much easier for myself to roam because I worked for the venue!)

    The Bee Gees put out about 28 albums I think, several singles, and they did some solo work as well. I KNOW I have every last LP even "To Whom it May Concern" which REALLY sucks. Sorry Barry, I know, you know it sucks. Sorry. Not sorry. I have not listened to it since 1982 I think. I also caught Andy Gibb in concert. Andy being the Boys' younger brother. His concert was a hoot too! My mom had made me a white satin pantsuit to wear, and I purposely curled my blond curls to look as close to Andy's as possible.  I knew I would be on stage, but I had no idea how that was going to happen. I wasn't working for the venue at that time. Make it on stage I did. I went backstage and one of the roadies literally grabbed me and pulled me to the side saying it wasn't safe for me to go out without my manager present. Well, there you go. He thinks (in the dark) that I'm Andy, so I'll stay put.  I met Andy. He laughed. The roadie shook his head and basically chased me off stage after that.

    The Bee Gees have forever and will forever be in my spirit, in my mind, in my veins, in my dreams. I can't let them go and I have no plans to stop singing their words any time soon. I'm too too too excited that all of the Boys are Christians, this means I'll have eternal concerts to go to, and Maurice and I can talk more about football, music, paintballing, animals, living in Australia, and horseback riding. I'm still planning on hanging out with him for about a million years once I get to Heaven. (Nobody gets  "Too Much Heaven" you know.) Ha!  (If you know, you know, and if you don't, you should.) There has never been a time when I couldn't pull myself out of a funk just by recalling the words to a tune I have known a 138 years; or longer. Jeannie and I will often text one another using ONLY Bee Gee lyrics as means of communicating, and that can be hilarious. I'll start off with "I had to follow you, though you didn't want me to."  and she'll come back with "You stepped, into my life, and I'm oh, so happy".  It goes on and on and it may take us days before we run out of things to say.

    With years upon years of happy songs, sad songs, crazy songs, and songs no one has ever heard before "Mr. Natural", "Blue Island", "High Civilization", "E.S.P." and more, and I know virtually every song on every LP....and every silly movie - - I don't know of any other band with a more eclectic range of titles or subgenres. I mean, Cucumber Castle in and of itself is more than enough to send most die-hard Bee Gee fans into endless conversations about which of the brothers they would follow.  For me it's no question, Prince Marmaduke all the way -- silly sexy man, that one. Forever!  I will follow that man around Heaven FOREVER! ("You can believe what you wanna, but I know what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna believe in the Lord!)  At age 53 that man left us far far too early. 

    If you've never seen the movie "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" from 1978, you should run out, don't walk, RUN out ("Run to Me") and buy it. It's probably less than $2 and let me tell you, the acting in that film is not worth that, but you'll never forget it, you'll watch it over and over again, you'll sing, you'll laugh, you'll shake your head, you'll laugh more, then you'll realize that the Bee Gees (and Peter Frampton) sing the Beatles songs so much better than the Beatles. Aerosmith too!  Yeah, Aerosmith, and Alice Cooper!! They're in the movie.  Aerosmith's version of "Come Together" far exceeds expectations...it really lands! You'll just have to listen and watch and watch and listen. But you can't have Bob...Bob Henderson is SPOKEN FOR!!  He's mine.  Mine. All mine, just....just .... well, he's mine.  I'd love to get "Closer than Close" and go "Above and Beyond"  but it's not going to happen, he was and will be the "Omega Man" and he is gone; until the rapture. HURRY UP, Jesus!

Prince Marmaduke on the right.

Photo Credit:  The Bee Gees