Day 12 - Do something different today - (something you haven't done in awhile or have never done)I know that everyone is on the edge of their computer seat waiting to see what I did that I have never done before. I was trying to think all day what could I do that I've never done and with the schedule I had, could not come up with anything. I had appointments in the morning and Miss Anna in the afternoon so I couldn't' go anywhere that I had never been or eat anywhere that I had never eaten. By the time my hubby got home I was beginning to panic - what if I couldn't fulfill my challenge today? Well, as I had hoped my hubby John came up with a great idea. The above picture will give you a clue. He said, "Well, I need to put air in my tires. Why don't you do that?" I thought for a second and then realized it was perfect. No I have never put air in tires....never.
I am very blessed to have a husband that does all the little handy man things around the house before I can even mention them. The good thing about that is I usually always have stuff done, the bad thing is I am totally incapable of doing much of anything but talk and write blogs. :)
So, back to the experience, I really began to be excited at the prospect of doing this new thing. John told me about 3 times that I was going to get dirty......no problem there.....then we walked out to the garage and he pulled out the air compressor....then we pulled out this long snake like hose to attach to it. I was really surprised because I thought the only thing you used the air compressor for was to blow up the kids swimming pool....so anyway I attached the snake hose to the compressor turned it on and then pulled it to the tire - I then was instructed to remove the valve stem cap (are you impressed yet?) then I attached the air chuck to the stem cap, holding it in position just so it did not seep air - I inquired whether I could blow up the tire and was told I could not....I was instructed after a few moments to remove the air chuck and check the pressure with the tire gauge to see if the pressure was at 42 - after a few tries it was perfect!
Wow, what an experience! I am totally serious when I say I really had fun and felt happy that I tried something different - something that under normal circumstances I would never have done. It has made me realize that I need to try to do more things that are outside of my normal range of activities. Who knows maybe I will change the oil next.......
Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. Ecclesiastes 3:11 (New Living Translation)
Tomorrow; Give people more than they expect
5 comments:
I put air in my tires this morning, Kathy. I have a slow leak so I do it about every two weeks. But I go to the gas station down the road, and eye ball it instead of measure it. :) Good for you! (Now I know what the right reading should be. Thank you, Johnny.)
I had planned my day a while ago but it matched the Happiness Day just perfectly. One of my favorite things to do is going someplace I have never been and exploring. I haven’t done it in a very long time. I used to like taking one of my friends out with me, one that really never goes anywhere adventuresome unless I am taking her. She is such a good sport for the places I drag her and in great shape for being 74 since I love to walk. I tried to hit all three aspects of the challenge – something different, not done in awhile or never done. I got the ‘not done in awhile’ off the bat. The others took some thinking and allowing myself to be on the lookout.
We went to Safety Harbor to have our adventure. First was a coffee at a hole in the wall, local café (a latte with half and half – evidently different then a regular latte). Next was the once a week Farmers Market. I saw crowder peas being shucked by hand with this hand-turned machine that looked somewhat like a wood planer with a spinning wheel attachment. The pea pod went into the box-like structure (the man cranked the wheel), was somewhat shredded and came out the other end, the peas dropping through the bottom into a bucket. Evidently these might be in the black-eyed pea family, but they look more like a pale green split pea.
We walked to a Greek restaurant and since we wanted fish, I was bold enough to go up to a waitress and do an interrogation for details. We got a large piece of fried grouper, the best Greek salad with white potato salad made by Mom (mom to the waitress). She also made the dressing from scratch. Just the best; beats anything I’ve had in Tarpon Springs (the ones I had in Greece were pretty good though); all this with a marvelous grilled pita for only $7.95. Next on the list was a walk down the pier to watch some men throw a cast net, something I never could master. We finished the walk at the Veterans Memorial, reading the names engraved in the bricks and granite from all the conflicts, down to two names that have died in Iraq. I silently prayed for all their moms, thanking God my son’s name was not etched here.
The last thing I like to do as I leave a town is to drive up and down the different side streets, looking at the houses and how the gardens are kept. We stopped at quite a few (I am known for trespassing and coming up with the most interesting stories to keep the owners from coming to unnecessary suspicions). There are many houses there that are well over 75 years old and ones that have been remodeled and added to; there are those that are smaller than a one car garage and extremely huge waterfront mansions. I also like to make up stories as to what the owners are probably like. I was bold and waved gaily as we were stared at when parked too long at someone’s mailbox. I find when you are very friendly; people are usually relaxed and warm up to you much better. There was one derelict house that allowed us to sit and come up with all sorts of thoughts considering the crime tape that marked off a section. It had been abandoned for a very long time. The very old lady next door was intently checking us out so I backed up and remained a bit longer parked blocking her driveway telling Pearline to watch how she would react. The sun was beginning to come down and it was time to go home before the police were called out.
In all of our conversations that day, what stayed in my mind most was Pearline’s comment to many things we shared – happiness and joy is a choice you make for yourself. You can choose to not allow someone else or circumstances to take it away from you. It’s because you know who you are in Christ no matter what else goes on around you.
1 Cor 1:30
But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,
NASB
Bettsy,
I am EXTREMELY impressed! :)
Juliette,
What a wonderful day you described. I wanted to go on one of your neighborhood stalkings one day. How fun.
The best take away from your comment was:
"happiness and joy is a choice you make for yourself. You can choose to not allow someone else or circumstances to take it away from you. It’s because you know who you are in Christ no matter what else goes on around you. "
So so true!!
I thought ALL day about what to do that I haven't done before and came up with a couple ideas, but they didn't work. For instance, I thought maybe after everyone in the park left that Ethan, Eric and I could take a blanket and go lay down under the stars. But then we watched a movie and when everyone left the park I was ready for bed. Oh well.
But its a good thing to do so its still in my mind. I'm gonna come up with something!
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