Rest in Peace, Carol

Carol Reden lost her fight with Cancer this morning.

She was surrounded by family and is now at peace.

A Woman of Valor (Proverbs 31)

An accomplished woman, who can find? Her value is far beyond pearls.

Her husband's heart relies on her and he shall lack no fortune.

She does him good and not evil, all the days of her life.

She seeks wool and flax, and works with her hands willingly.

She is like the merchant ships, she brings her bread from afar.

She arises while it is still night, and gives food to her household and a portion to her maidservants.

She plans for a field, and buys it. With the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.

She girds her loins in strength, and makes her arms strong.

She knows that her merchandise is good. Her candle does not go out at night.

She sets her hands to the distaff, and holds the spindle in her hands.

She extends her hands to the poor, and reaches out her hand to the needy.

She fears not for her household because of snow, because her whole household is warmly dressed.

She makes covers for herself, her clothing is fine linen and purple.

Her husband is known at the gates, when he sits among the elders of the land.

She makes a cloak and sells it, and she delivers aprons to the merchant.

Strength and honor are her clothing, she smiles at the future.

She opens her mouth in wisdom, and the lesson of kindness is on her tongue.

She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children rise and praise her, her husband lauds her.

Many women have done worthily, but you surpass them all.

Charm is deceptive and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears God shall be praised.

Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.

True Riches

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.

The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation.
Every afternoon, when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this in exquisite details, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine this picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon, the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man could not hear the band, he could see it in his mind 's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.

Days, weeks and months passed.

One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away.

As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window besides the bed.

It faced a blank wall.

The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window.

The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall.

She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you."

Epilogue:
There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations.
If you want to feel rich, just count all the things you have that money can't buy.

Happy New Year

My Holidays were nothing short of amazingly fun, laid back and thoroughly enjoyable. I was lucky enough to have Christmas Eve off, so I had a nice 4 day weekend to wrap up all of the projects I had going and take time with the people I love.

Lindi's Store Christmas party was on the 22^nd, so we enjoyed an amazing buffet of American and traditional Mexican food. (Mole' anyone?) The next day, we had another McDonald's Manager and his wife over to play the Wii, since we had been talking about it. We're going to plan a cooking night were Lorena teaches me to cook mole' and tamales and Lindi will teach Lorena how she makes her enchiladas. And Jason will just sit back and have an amazing dinner. Slacker.

We spent our Christmas Eve with Lindi's family at her Aunts and Uncles house where we enjoyed her cousins amazing food and our niece's adventures with Christmas presents. The weather wasn't very enjoyable as it had just blanketed everything, but we made it there safe, and home safe. Sarah spent the night at our house, so we opened our Santa stockings and hung out until well after midnight. Santa was very, very good to me and gave me a beautiful white gold, sapphire and diamond ring, with matching pendant and earrings. Gorgeous, just gorgeous.

Christmas Day, we met at Lindi's mother's house and enjoyed our Sticky Bun Breakfast tradition, opened gifts, then headed to my parents house. We really had a great time with my family. We were all laid back and the presents were thoughtful and funny. We fell into bed pretty early, since both Lindi and I had to work the next day. I ended up with a screaming migraine from Friday through Saturday, but thanks to Lindi and lots of medication, I was ok.

In lieu of a New Years Party, we held our very first Wii Party with our closest friends on the Sunday before, since we can really only have a handful play at a time. Oh, my God, we had a total blast! Bowling and boxing and all sorts of mayhem. We're going to have to do it again very soon.

New Years was pretty uneventful, which it always is, since Lindi has to go into the store on New Years Day early to finish month-end. I spent my day installing and getting my new World of Warcraft account set up and playing online. Amazing graphics. I was so impressed! I'm going to have to be very, very careful about spending too much time on WOW and making Lindi a widow. That's okay, though, she bought 2 new Wii games, so we have our gaming nights together – but separate!

It's official, I am teaching the Excel classes! There are enough students and I got all my paperwork finished, including getting fingerprinted for the FBI – jeez! Now, I am arranging my lesson plans and activities to make sure I am organized. I am so thrilled and excited. My sister and her friend are taking the class, and Lindi can even sit in for free, so that's nice.

I also found out my adopted soldier made it home okay, (YAY!) so I will probably be adopting another soldier in the next couple of weeks. It has been so rewarding to do, I can't imagine not having a soldier-friend. soldiersangels.com/

Well, this update is pretty long, so I will leave it at this and just wish everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!