holly jolly

Our little grandson, Jimmer, was on my lap last weekend.  He was looking at my face and running his fingers over it.  He said—Grandpa, you have a crack in your head.  Well holly jolly! 

I hope you plugged your mouth with another piece of pumpkin pie.  I hope that none of you guys lost your family’s inheritance a.k.a. got written out of the will by discussing the Presidential Election over Thanksgiving dinner. Some of you might have lost millions!!!! Ouchy ouchy!! Young LollipopFranky said—I managed to keep my mouth shut even though my father-in-law, the old coot, doesn’t know anything and has a big mouth; I thought it was good business (i.e. zipped my mouth for a return of millions)! I hope this isn’t a precursor!  MissPerfect says—Folks, get over the acrimony! CadillacJack says—You can learn a whole lot by listening to ours telling how much they know or don’t know.  It can be a holly jolly time. Oh yes. 

I heard over the radio on the way to CO for Thanksgiving that 81% of folks say they are going to not eat soooo much during the holiday season. But, 70% have no plans to do it!  Sooooo they say they want tooooo but don’t.  Well holly jolly! I congratulate you folks who can do it (i.e. throw those chips away and get your butts off the couch). You are giving yourself and your family a holly jolly gift.  ProfessionalCounselorIffy says—Stop defending yourself, you must stop deceiving yourself. You’ve got to take an honest look at your life, face the truth, and deal with the issues. What is it in your life you’re pretending isn’t a problem? You are not going to get healing until you first acknowledge the root of your problem. You don’t have to hit rock bottom before you really change. There are wake-up calls going on all around you right now, and you’re not listening to them. Instead, you’re headed on the path toward destruction. But you don’t have to go that way! What’s the biggest problem counselors encounter? They say over and over--People wait too long before they ask for help. Then it’s almost impossible to turn around. There will be warning signs all over the place. Most people are in denial and wait until it’s too late, and they go through unnecessary pain. WorldClassLarry says—That wasn’t very holly jolly! 

Sergeant Walter Ehlers, who died last year at the age of 92, was the last surviving World War II Medal of Honor winner. He was among the first wave of troops that stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944. The Allies sustained more than 10,000 casualties that day, but Ehlers lost not a single soldier from his 12-man squad. Why? Because he and his men kept advancing directly into the face of enemy fire to avoid getting pinned down on the beach. Sometimes it’s like that in the Christian life. In Bunyan’s classic, The Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian sinks in the Slough of Despond but finds his footing on the promises of God and exits the far side of the swamp. His companion, however, quits the journey.

THIS SECTION IS FOR ALZHEIMER’S CAREGIVERS AND OTHER CAREGIVERS.  YOU OTHERS CAN READ IT TOO IF YOU LIKE. I, being a Alzheimer’s caregiver, at times can bend over with my hands on my knees with my eyes closed ready to throw up on my shoes.  It’s no holly jolly time folks; it’s a ridiculous disease. The medical options for Alzheimer's are "none"; not anything to discuss; pretty easy folks. I went to an informational meeting put on by our local library.  Sally from the Alzheimer’s Association put on a presentation.  It’s a disease that has no cure and all folks will die from it. Yuck! Average life expectancy after being diagnosed is 4 to 8 years. It just progressively gets worse (i.e. it lives up to it's reputation).  It’s like sledding uphill; a real head scratchier folks! I heard a caregiver say—Caregiving is not my Christmas model; I didn’t sign up for this! Ouchy ouchy!

My advice/suggestion/opinion to caregivers of folks who have Alzheimer’s--Friends, we need to work on 4 areas: attitude, exercise, humor and faith. WorldClassLarry says—Yabut erv, that is challenging. Yes it is.  But without a positive attitude, we're gonna be dead in the water. So, we must work at finding ways to maintain a positive attitude. ItchieBitchie says—erv, you make me smile inside and laugh outside; it ain’t that simple; it’s ain’t that holly jolly.  Here is an idea, caregivers--Write your plans in pencil and give God the eraser. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you.

I just read Tim Tebow’s book Shaken--Discovering True Identity In The Midst Of Life’s Storms. Many of those football guy’s books are about touting their egos.  This one is not.  It is very uplifting, supportive, and encouraging.  He is very humble.  Yes, he promotes his Christian faith. I think it’s a good read for anyone.  Question—What percent of the American population claim to be Christian—about 82%.  Does that surprise you.  Ok if you knew that smartypants, try this question—What percent of the American population are Afro American?  About 12.2%  Now that surprised me tooooo.  And Iowa is about the same percentage.  That surprised me tooooo. AverageJoe says—We all need to be bold. Brave. Courageous. It’s good to read good stuff.

Spending Thanksgiving in CO with our family was fun but parts were not (i.e. the good and the bad).  Arlene can’t understand a conversation with several folks.  It’s just all confusing to her.  It’s just a lot of noise.  She has a hard time talking as well.  And she can’t do much. Sooooo it is very discouraging to her.  She wanted to go home the first night—pretty ugly. She became a trooper but again the last night she could not handle it anymore and emotionally begged me to just take her home. The next morning, she was again her sweet self.  We drove for maybe an hour.  She didn’t say anything—not uncommon.  Then she reached over and took my hand, started to cry and said, Sorry!  That’s my Arlene. 

Tip for you guys who are around folks with dementia—Just hold their hand.  Pretty simple but very effective. It makes their life holly jolly.  And it takes but just a minute and cost you no $$$$$$. 

A friend told me recently that we need to help folks that want help.  GeorgeTheCrook says--Ya can’t force it on folks (i.e. then it’s not a gift). They have to make the decision. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.  Recently I was humbled once again (i.e. it happens to me a lot).  I was trying to force something instead of just relaxing and letting it happen (i.e. was trying to answer my own prayer).  It seems like it never works when I force things. “No way, José!” I need to put myself in position and do what I can as an assist person but not forcing it.  Does that make any sense to you? Well holly jolly!

You ever laugh at yourself (i.e. sometimes it just comes out of nowhere).  I do a lot let me tell ya.  I am really funny to myself.  I thought I needed a new pair of paints besides my khaki and blue jeans.  I have a very limited wardrobe (i.e. don’t have a need for much).  Soooo I go and buy a pair of Dockers.  I get home and they are tight and short.  It’s the size I wear.  Sooooo I go back and this cute little gal helps me.  She says you have the "athletic fit" pants—I do—yes you do—you probably need the classic fit that is more spacy—are you saying my butt is bigger—you are just more mature!  She was sooooo cute and nice.  What a hoot!

Somewhere, sometime, someone said, “You gotta dance with the girl who brought you.” It is used today as a caution against switching priorities, values, methods, strategies, or goals. It is a call to remembrance, a warning against giving in (i.e. fighting the good fight). My Mom, Anna, always said to me—erv, always do what is right.  Of course I didn’t and paid the price for it sometimes.  Those times were not holly jolly! 

LuckieEddie asks—Have you ever expected and/or hopped folks would react or act in a certain way and they didn’t?  C’mon LuckieEddie, everyone has experienced that feeling! I read recently that we are not to take that personally.  There are reasons why they react or act the way they do.  We don’t know the whole story.  If we cut them some slack, we will enjoy life a lot more.  Like my brother-in-law Larry once told me after I gave our grandkids some stuff that they didn’t seem to get toooo excited about—erv, if you have a good time doing it, it’s a success (i.e. you got your holly jolly)!

I also heard on the radio going to CO, soooo it must right, that you should shop at Charlie’s Boutique in downtown Broken Bow, NE. The advertisement said--The more you buy the more you’ll will save (i.e. you get more holly jolly). That’s funny to me; a distraction of Christmas!  I read in the paper soooo it must be right that 91% of shoppers are willing to spend more money to qualify for free shipping. More holly jolly! Crazy folks, crazy! You really want to have some real holly jolly giving for Christmas?  Help a mentally or physically handicap person or their caregiver.  ItchieBitchie says—It’s a whole lot easier throwing some money at it.  AverageJoe says—We know what happens when we do nothing? Nothing!

Have a FUN day my friends unless you have other plans. (-:

erv 

MyFriendJean says—Never miss an opportunity to make others happy, even if you have too let them alone to do it.

P.S. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”