WHO ARE THEY?

Something has been bothering me lately and I have a bone to pick with "they".
You know who "they" are.
They are the ones we always hear about but never know who "they" are?
You know like in "they say it is going to rain" or "they say blah blah blah"
Who the heck are THEY? I really want to know.

Anyway, "THEY" say that when you get old, you go through your second childhood.

Well, I would like to say emphatically that "THEY" are totally and undeniably mistaken. Wrong, very wrong.
I am older and I know many people even older than myself and I can tell you that there is NO WAY they go through a second childhood.
Who are these dummies?
Have they never watched any children themselves to see?
It is as plain as the nose on your face that there is NO WAY - NO HOW that an older person goes through a second childhood.
We only WISH we could.

Now, if I am wrong and THEY are right, then pray tell, what part of childhood do we go into?
The first few months? The Toddler stage? Preschool/kindergarten? Grades 1 - 6?
I believe the teen years come next, and we don't go into second teen years do we?
So what age group do these people in their second childhood fit?

Now I have a great grandson who is just 6 weeks old.
I watch him lay there. All he does is eat, sleep, and dirty diapers. He lays on his back with his legs and arms flapping all over the place and he stares at everything.
Is that what old people in their second childhood do?
Really now, I don't know anyone anywhere that has ever done that beside babies so I guess that isn't the age group. (Sure would be funny if that is how we all ended up!)

Now I have two grandsons that will shortly be two years old.
I would imagine their behaviour will extend till at least grade six, just getting stronger and stronger as it goes along.
They can both walk fairly well, even run and jump and dance.
They have boundless energy and want to do the same things over and over and over again. They love to be tickled. They love learning new things and learning to talk.
They never want to quit when they are doing something they love and they will let you know it. They like trying things on their own.
They easily express their feelings and go from one feeling to another very quickly.

Now again I ask - Do you know any older people that fit that description?
Sure some of that might fit us but most of us would agree
- no matter how active you are -
that you just can't keep up with kids at this age.
They seem to run with the pink bunny.
They just keep going and going and going and.........

I really and truly believe that this idea of a "second childhood" is a gross misrepresentation of the older generation.
It is a conspiracy I tell you.
Our children are trying to feed us this stuff so they can get rid of us in old folks homes or hospitals or dare I say it " Mental facilities".
They have come up with this - what do I call it? a disease? a condition? what?
Second Childhood! What is that?

We hear them wispering behind closed doors about us going into our second childhood, and that peaks our curiosity and we get excited. Oh, if only it were true. I only wish I could get back some of the energy that children have.

Please, if there is anyone out there who knows how I can get into MY second childhood, please please let me know.
I need a good dose of childhood energy.
I need to be wanting to not give up on things again.
I need a whole lot of what kids have.
Show me the way and I will show you the money....

Also, if anyone out there knows who "THEY" are,
please let them know my position on their statement.
I demand an apology in writing and a general announcement to the public, stating that they are wrong. (and I don't mean some little three lines at the end of the newspaper but a front page apology)

Now, if you agree with my position, I suggest you copy this post and forward it to all your friends and ask them to forward and on and on, so that eventually "THEY" will get it and read it and maybe we can all get together to get this horrible matter cleared up.

Hope you have a childlike day.

USE THE FORCE TINK, USE THE FORCE!

O.K. so it has been awhile.
What can I say?
With CWO cutting out their "Spring into Summer" writing contest, I have no more topics to blog about. Boo Hoo.
I liked the writing contests as it gave me ideas of what to blog on. Not that I ever thought I would win any of the contests. I know my forte is not in writing - but - you just never know what might happen in the blogosphere. Miracles can and do happen.

So what have I been up to you might ask - if you really wanted to know - if you didn’t then why ask at all? Huh. O.k. I am in a mood and just wanting to do something with my time so I am just writing whatever comes into my head. As I was saying - please quit interrupting me. As I was saying - what have I been up to? Well how would you know if you didn’t ask. I can’t ask you now can I? So I guess I just better tell you myself - seeing you asked.

On a Friday about three weeks ago, I gave a type of resume to this place that I thought MIGHT be hiring someone for part time office work. Now, they never had an office person before but word of mouth said that they had been thinking of getting someone. So I acted on gossip I had heard and wrote a resume. Here is the resume - if you can call it that.

To whom it may concern,

I heard you MIGHT be thinking of hiring someone for office work. I would like to apply for the job.

I am 55 years old and have not worked out of my home in years.

Many many years ago I took a course at Red River Community College. At that time I took "Clerical Bookkeeping and Office machines". Many of the machines I learned to use are now obsolete. When I left school I could type 80 W.P.M. on a manual typewriter.

I worked in an office doing some bookkeeping, accounts receivable/payable, payroll, as well as other clerical duties. I love working with numbers and I love working on the computer. (I am self taught on the computer and own Windows XP.)

I cannot give you reference numbers, as most of the companies I once worked for are no longer in existence.

I can offer to work for you for free for the first month or so till I get to know your program and how you do things. If you like my performance at the end of that time you can elect to keep me on or let me go.

I am only looking for an office type job as I have bad legs and cannot stand for long periods of time. I would also like part time work as I don’t know if I could keep up the long hours.

To talk further on this matter you can call me at xxxxxxx or email me at xxxxxxxxx

All I can offer is my best. I would try to be a valued employee.

Well, surprise, surprise, I got a job.

They liked my resume. (Snark, snark) They said it sounded so "honest." I can’t believe I even wrote a resume like that - I learned how to do resumes both in school and at Red River but I did not put much thought into writing this resume at all. I guess I stumbled on a great piece of advice for resume writing - BE HONEST!

They took me on for two weeks to see if I would like it and if they would like me.
I handed in the resume on a Friday and started working on a Monday. Tomorrow will be a month I have been working.

I only work three days a week for approx. 4 hours each day. (Mon, Wed, Fri.) Some days I work 6 hours but only if there is something pressing that needs doing.

The first thing I do when I get there is enter the sales and credit card sales onto sheets of paper. Then I file the days accounts and warranties. Up till now I have been working on some books. I check each item in the book to see the sales history and jot down info. These books are all done for this time. We only will be doing them twice a year. At the end of the month I got all the invoices from the files and sent them out to customers. The other day I sorted through files and stored old files making room for newer ones. Each day I go to the bank to buy change and stop at the mailbox and pick up the mail. Sometimes I have to go to the other store to get them change or drop something off.

Basically I am a gopher or a pilot. I go for this and that or I pile it here and there.

At first I was soooo very nervous.

You don’t know nervous till you get to be my age and haven’t worked in an office for over 35 years. And in all my years, I have been very much a loner. So entering the "Work Force" was the scariest thing. It was like joining the Air Force or some other sort of "Force". I did not know if I was ready to use the "Force" yet.

As I sat at my desk Yoda’s little voice sounded in the distance. "Ready you are, worry do not. Trust the force Luke, use the force." Oooops, oh, where was I. Oh yes, I was very very nervous.

As I sat at my desk the first few days, my body went through the motions they were supposed to go through - I think, but my mind was waging a battle.

Part of me was praising God and thanking him for this remarkable miracle of a perfect job for me.

The other part of me was accusing me constantly for being inept and saying that I would screw up. It also kept reminding me of having to drive all that way each day and what about summer traffic and winter snow. Then I would argue that I didn’t really have to work, that I could make it, if I only cut out a few things. Then I would argue that I didn’t have to stay, I could quit if I wanted to. I wasn’t dependant on a job. Then another part was saying hey, give it a try, what have you got to lose. These and many other thoughts kept reeling in my mind.

When I would get home from work I was totally exhausted from all the thinking. I didn’t even want to talk to anyone yet everyone wanted to know how I liked it.

It is a miracle I even made it through the first week but having the day off in between really helped "The Force" begin to work in my life.

Now it is going to be four weeks and I feel a lot more at ease working and driving. I am even beginning to understand some of what I am doing.

Daily I ask Jesus "THE Force" to either help me to love the job or to hate it. He seems to be leaning towards getting me to like it a little at a time.

I am beginning to feel the "Force" getting stronger and stronger in me. Not that the "Force" gets stronger cause it already is the very strongest, but that I would get stronger at using the "Force" and recognizing the "Force" in and around my life.

For now I will leave you wanting more, more, more.

Till next time - May THE Force be with you.

BLESSED BY BLOGGERS

This article is my submission to the blog challenge sponsored by Darlene Schacht,, the founder and editor of CWO Magazine, Uniting Women of Faith.

Write a post telling us some of the ways God has blessed you through blogging

As many of you know, I am a widow and live alone in a very small town. Through blogging I have met many wonderful friends. My computer is my life line to the world.

If I am feeling lonely all I have to do is read someone else’s blog and I am reassured that I am not alone in my struggles. If I feel like ranting about something, I can do it through my blog and I know that people will read and only take what they need.

I have been so blessed by the comments that people have left on my site and the fact that we are a community of believers.

The blog world is a place where people can drop their ‘masks’ and be themselves. Even when they are trying to be something else, it seems to come through in people’s writing.

Writing seems to be a window to the soul of a person. Even though we may never meet the other person we are reading about, there is connection of spirit and soul and we will know one another in heaven.

Jesus was not recognized after his resurrection until he spoke to the two men on the road to Emmaus. Then they recognized his soul or spirit.

I believe that is what the blogging community is like. If we read someone’s posts we get to know their spirit and will know them when we see them in heaven.

I have also been blessed by personal emails from bloggers wanting to get to know me better and I have also had bloggers send me gifts for Christmas.

When needed I have had a large army of prayer warriors on my side fighting the enemy along the way.

God has blessed me with an extended family of loving caring brothers and sisters in Christ.

I love my blogging community.

SHARING GRACE

This article is my submission to the blog challenge sponsored by the devotional team blog, "Laced with Grace."

"How do you share the grace you receive from God on a day-to day basis?"

I signed up for this challenge and boy is it a "CHALLENGE". I wanted to take my name off of the list as I was sorry I entered. How does one share the grace they receive? That is a very hard question.

First of all there is the ‘age old’ question; What is Grace?

At the beginning of the epistles, it seems to be used as a customary form of salutation or a blessing of some sort for all Christians in common.

Grace seems to have many definitions but mostly it is understood as the unmerited "favor" of God. It seems to work opposite of "works". It is something you cannot earn for yourself but must just receive it from God.

So we get back to the question, How does one share the grace they receive from God, on a day to day basis?

O.k. so maybe I don’t share that grace on a day to day basis. I do try to live a life that I think would be pleasing to God. Knowing me I am probably deceiving myself and am doing everything wrong. BUT!!! regardless of how I live my life, I have been promised that I would receive salvation if I truly believed in Jesus. Now that is Grace. Living with the knowledge that all my sins - past, present and future - are already taken care of. I can now live my life guilt free of sin (although that isn’t always the case.)

I think Grace brings HOPE. And Jesus is our blessed Hope. I live in hope daily thinking that ‘perhaps today Jesus will come back".

I don’t spend every day trying to live like a Holy Person. I just live my life in Jesus and try to let him have full Reign. I don’t try to work my way into heaven. I don’t do things for others so that I can get points with God. I do things for others because of a genuine love that God has placed in my heart.

I love giving things away. Maybe that is a form of grace. I enjoy making others happy. I love making things and then just giving them away. If I am out shopping and I spot something I think someone else might like or could use, I try to pick it up for them as a little gift of love from me.

So all in all, I can only think that grace is the unmerited favor of God. God loves me and that is all I need to know. God loves me no matter what I do or don’t do.
I can live my life with hope and knowledge that the creator of the universe loves little ole me.

That is Grace.

GAETEN (GATOR) RAYMOND CHARLES IVANISKI (1964 2007)

GAETEN (GATOR) RAYMOND CHARLES IVANISKI (1964 2007)


Suddenly and unexpectedly on March 31 at his residence in Winnipeg Beach, Gaeten passed away at the age of 42 years.

He is survived by his loving mother Pauline (Cesare); brother Eugene; sister Charlene (Shane); nephews, Travis and Jesse and only niece, his princess Natalie, of whom he loved dearly; his aunts, Gert (Ian), Lavina (Barrie), Joyce (Jim), Marvel (Dan), Dorothy, Jeanette, Olga (Bert), Vi (Ron); uncles, Les (Loretta), Nick (Ruth), Walter (Betty) and Bill (Barb); great-aunts, Ellen, Evelyn (Eigill), Rubina and Pearl; and over 100 cousins. He was predeceased by his father Steve in 2004, which he never really got over; his grandparents, Jim and Gladys Johnston and Jack and Mary Ivaniski.

Gaeten was born on June 16, 1964, in Selkirk, MB. He attended school in Selkirk, participating in hockey, football, baseball and Ukrainian dancing. Gaeten joined the 737 Canadian Regiment in 1980 for three years. He worked numerous jobs over his short life, but his most memorable was working security at concert events in the old Winnipeg Arena.
His unique personality and humour will be greatly missed by his friends and family.

Honorary pallbearers are his close friends whom he enjoyed the company of.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, April 7, 2007, at 1:30 p.m. in the Gilbart Funeral Chapel, Selkirk, with The Ven. Godfrey Mawejje officiating.

Dear brother, our family is getting smaller, the crib table in Heaven is getting crowded, give Dad a kiss from us till we meet again - we love you dearly and will hold you in our hearts forever.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Gaeten's memory can be made to Evergreen Basic Needs, 96 3rd Ave., Gimli, MB R0C 1B0. Gilbart Funeral Home, Selkirk in care of arrangements.


I am sorry to say that I did not get to attend the Funeral as I didn't know about the services till Monday. My prayers go out to the family.