10 Items or Less

I was just running in for a few items so I opted to grab a hand held basket as opposed to a cart to ensure that I would NOT get anything that wasn't on my list!! In theory, that sounded good. In actuality, that is not exactly how things went. First unplanned stop was at the pastry table for some donut holes (didn't need those but they looked really yummy!). Second item not on the list was a 12 pack of Diet Dr. Pepper (keep in mind that logistically this was going to be somewhat difficult to carry because a gallon of milk WAS on my list). Next, I opted to get 2 bottles of cranapple juice instead of 1 because they were on sale (2 more items that were not intended to be carted around in a small PLASTIC basket). At this point, I was losing circulation in my fingers because of the weight of my small basket and the additional weight of the 12 pack. I finally hit the dairy aisle for the last item on my list...1 gallon of milk. Where was that darn cart when I needed it???? I felt like a pack mule as I ambled to the check out which was still a beacon in the distance. As I rounded the corner, what to my surprise would appear, but a shiny grocery cart that was calling my name. So much for 10 items or less!!!!

Colossians 3:12

Last Sunday, a good friend of mine from work invited me to go to a "festival" to listen to one of his favorite local bands. I said "yes" to his invitation. I have NOT been to a festival (church or otherwise) in a very long time. There are a couple of reasons for this:
1. I am not familiar at all with any local bands so I do not feel compelled to run around town all summer long going to festivals (there are at least 3-5 church festivals every weekend, along with all the various ethnic festivals that take place throughout the summer months)

2. Quite often these events turn into drunken beer fests (no offense to anyone, but I'd rather not be in that environment - it really does not appeal to me)

3. I honestly don't want to sound elitist when I say this, but I don't feel comfortable around a large majority of these "festival goers". What I believe to be appropriate dress, language and behavior is in complete contradiction to 90% of those in attendance at these festivals. Their beliefs about child-rearing, parenting, etc. are not beliefs that I would choose to adopt (especially when the parent is in the age range of 16-18 years of age)

This is the part where Colossians 3:12 comes in because I have really been struggling mightily with this for awhile.
"Therefore. as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience".

When I was at the festival on Sunday, I was the furthest thing from being kind, gentle and compassionate towards the people around me! I felt so judgmental the whole time that I was there.

Here are a few excerpts from what I was thinking while I walked around:

" I cannot believe that she is wearing that outfit. Things that should not be hanging out are in full view of everyone. Did she look in the mirror before stepping out of her house?"

"I could never imagine my dad walking around in a pair of baggy shorts with his boxers showing, a backward baseball cap with a diamond-studded " $ " insignia on it, a thick gold chain around his completely tatooed neck and a wallet chain hanging from his back pocket"

"I would never want to be invited to THEIR family gatherings......."

"This is like Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind. What am I doing here??? These people are so different than me"

I could go on and on, but the more I think about it, the more embarrassed I feel for thinking those thoughts. Do I think that I am "better" than these individuals, that I am more sophisticated than they are??? Underneath the outer wrapping, no matter what that wrapping looks like, is another human being who has been created by God. Who am I to judge another human being??? The more I think about this, the angrier I become because this is not the type of person that I want to be, nor the kind of person that God created me to be.

Somewhere along the way, I forgot the part about clothing myself with compassion and gentleness. I forgot about seeing others as God sees them. I forgot the part about taking my old self off and putting on my new self.

"Christ is all and is in all".

How quickly I forget.....................................

Golf Etiquette

For those of you that don't know me very well, I am a RULE FOLLOWER - always have been, always will be. Perhaps some of you may find that to be rather boring and uninteresting, but living my life according to the rules has worked quite well for me. My motto is, "Rules were meant to be followed". This philosophy has served me well throughout my lifetime and has helped me to avoid unnecessary trouble. I prefer to live life under the radar, so to speak.

Well, enough about that. I did however need to set the stage for you to help you understand my slight irritation with my first golf outing of 2008. If anyone is NOT a golfer, the following information may prove to be rather BORING. Those of you that are non-golfers; however, may want to continue reading in case the following blog contains any amusing anecdotes.

I decided to hit the links around 5:00 p.m. because it is a perfect time to golf because the course is typically pretty empty. I was pleased to find that this was the case. I got on the course right away and was able to golf alone - alone is the key word in that phrase because I really wasn't in the mood for idle chatter with a complete stranger. I wanted to work on my golf game and not be distracted. The other bonus of being alone was that this was my first time out and I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of someone else. (I know, why should I care what someone else thinks about my golf game...unfortunately it does matter to me. Pride + Perfectionism= EMBARRASSMENT. Being a competitive person by nature, embarrassment is the last thing that I want to experience while participating in a sport).

Broken rule #1 -things were going fine until I happened upon a 5-some which is something that one should NEVER see on a golf course. The highest number of golfers allowed in a group is 4. Sidenote...the 5th member of the group looked like she was about to go into labor on the golf course - I'm not quite sure why a pregnant lady would be out golfing that far along in her pregnancy....

Broken rule #2 - hitting an additional tee shot because your 1st shot went about 25 yards. If you have someone breathing down your neck like I was, you NEVER EVER take another tee shot regardless of how far your 1st tee shot went.

Broken rule #3 -The group in front of me obviously was not familiar with the concept of "ready" golf. It never dawned on them to go to their own individual ball while the rest of the group was trying to locate their individual golf balls.

Broken rule #4-finally, it is common courtesy (a.k.a. Golf Etiquette) to let a single play through. While it may not be officially listed in the U.S.G.A. rule book, as far as I'm concerned, it should be. Everyone (except these folks) knows this and lets a single person continue on so as not to delay him or her on every hole. It wreaks havoc with your tempo when you have to wait and wait and wait and waaaaait........................

Aside from the complete lack of respect for the game of golf exhibited by the group in front of me, I managed to enjoy my round. I didn't lose any balls, I managed to avoid the sand traps, I didn't get anything higher than a 6 and I was overall pleased with my performance. Anyone up for a game of golf with me??????? It's really not as bad as it sounds!!!!!!!

3 Day Weekend

Three day weekend.....those words are MUSIC to my ears!! While I truly do love my job (I'm thankful that I can say that AND actually mean it), I cherish my time off! I love the fact that I have nothing specific planned (other than going to church on Sunday) and that I can be just like the wind and go in whatever direction that I please. Can you tell that I am smiling as I write this??? I am sooooooooo looking forward to getting outside to enjoy the nice weather. Perhaps I will go for a bike ride or hit the links for my first round of golf in 2008 or sit in a lawn chair and read a book or ????????? I don't know what I will end up doing but I can guarantee one thing........there will be NO "To Do" lists for "Kraemer" this weekend! Gotta LOVE it!

Vanity Plates

How many of you, while driving, try to figure out what those personalized license plates mean?? How many of you could really care less what they mean?? Some drivers are simply too preoccupied with a cell phone conversation or are off in their "own little world" to even notice when a passing car has a vanity plate. Lately, I seem to be running across more and more cars with those license plates (makes for an interesting ride to and from work!). For the most part, I can figure out what the driver was thinking when he or she designed his or her very own "special" plate. Some are rather easy to figure out, while others may take a bit longer to figure out phonetically. I love it when I have that "A-HA" moment and realize what it is supposed to mean. On some licenses, it is the name of the happily married couple (JIMK8T, JONKIM). Others contain a favorite hobby or pasttime (SKIBUM, GOLFER). Still others list the name of a favorite sports team (PKRFAN, GATORS , GOCUBS). Some plates even list the car owner's personal attributes (CATLVR, SK8TER, DOGLVR).

It's frustrating to me when I cannot figure out what the creator intended when deciding what to put on the license plate. When I see a plate that I can't figure out I say to myself "That makes no sense!!!!" Why would someone put THAT on the license???"

What would you put on your plate??? I have often wondered what I would put on mine......KRAMER ????? BKLVR??? JHN316????? Maybe some day I'll do something "Wild-n-Crazy" and come up with my own "special" license plate....Stay tuned. You never know when I might step "out of the box" and do something a bit unconventional for this CAUTIOUS 1!

Mom

Kind, compassionate, thoughtful, encouraging, funny, loving, supportive, protector, provider, great listener and most importantly, best friend. These are just a few of the many words that I could use to describe my mom. I had one of the best relationships a daughter could have with a mom and for that I am grateful. I could go to my mom for anything and everything and know that I would still be loved unconditionally, regardless of what it was that I had done. Good, bad or indifferent, my mom stood by my side through it all. I could not have asked for a better parent. I loved spending time with my mom because we had so much fun together whether it was going out to lunch, shopping at the mall, watching a movie that we both balled our eyes out at, driving around at Christmastime looking at all the brightly decorated houses or sitting down and enjoying a mocha from the local coffee shop.

How I long for those days.......I would give anything to have one last opportunity to take a drive through the park or down to the lakefront and enjoy a conversation with my mom. I can picture us doing that as if it was yesterday. Unfortunately, it wasn't yesterday. Our last car ride together was approximately six years ago. Tears well up in my eyes and a lump still forms in my throat when I think of all of the things that I did with my mom but can no longer do because she is no longer with me. While the pain is not so fresh and gut-wrenching anymore, a huge part of me died that Easter morning six years ago.

I still get a queasy, uneasy feeling whenever I go to a hospital now. I can still remember the exact smell of her hospital room in the I.C.U. The smell reminds me of death and takes me instantly back to the final hours, minutes and seconds of her life. We sat in her hospital room and waited for my mom to take her very last breath. I couldn't believe that her life was actually over. Who would have thought that that very day would have been her last??? That's the thing about death...we're never, ever prepared for it whether it's expected or sudden, whether the person is young or old. It just happens and in an instant our lives are forever changed.

You never really get over the loss of a loved one. There will forever be a huge hole in my heart because of the loss of my mom. While I have moved on in my life (something that I thought that I would NEVER be able to do), the fact that my mom is not around to share in my joys as well as my sorrows is still very difficult to deal with. With today being Mother's Day, I still have a tough time dealing with the fact that I don't have my mom here on earth with me. I am comforted by the fact that I will meet up again with her in heaven. I envision my mom right now flitting around in heaven with a long white robe on with wings that take her wherever she wants to go. There is no more pain and suffering. No more frustration with my dad and no more feeling as if she is a burden to our family.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! I love you and MISS you but I know that you are in a BETTER place!

It's Spring - (I think)

While the calendar says that it is May 11th, I'm not so sure the weather realizes that it is May 11th. Our temperatures have ranged from the mid-high 60's all the way down to the low 40's with frost advisories. Come on - can we get a break one of these days???? All right, I'll stop complaining about the weather, especially since I have devoted at least 3 of my blogs to my dissatisfaction with the chilly, snowy, unpredictable weather that one is subjected to in the Midwest. Now, for those who have NEVER visited the Midwest, it's not always as bad as you might think (especially those of you that are used to rather balmy conditions without a snowflake to speak of). I would encourage you at some point in your life to visit because there really are some nice places to see along with some friendly faces to meet! We really are nice people (and I'm not just saying that).

The official rite of passage of winter into spring occurred for me yesterday as I cut my lawn for the very first time in 2008. I LOVE the smell of freshly cut grass - it always makes me smile because it brings me back to my childhood. The smell of fresh cut grass and the whir of lawn mowers signaled the end of the school year and the rapid approach of summertime when I was a child. I still love that smell and know that summer break is right around the corner for me. There's nothing better than looking at my newly trimmed lawn and reveling in the fact that summer will soon be here.