I don’t really care if it’s held in the funeral home chapel or a church.  The church would need to be…hmmm progressive if it’s a coc church as I would want some non-churchy music.  As for clothes, something I would wear everyday.  I would want to look like me.  I still remember at my Nanny’s viewing everyone commenting on her nail polish as it was something she would never wear!

Service:

He Reigns (The Newsboys) – I love this song.  It makes me happy so start with this one.

My Hope is Built on Nothing Less – This song has great memories.  The first time Steve led singing, it was this song and his voice broke on Hope…very sweet and I think of him everytime I sing it!

It’s My Life (Bon Jovi) – Come on, you knew there would be a Bon Jovi song! This is where someone can read what I wrote about what everyone left means/meant to me and why this song.  Not quite ready to share that yet.

Must have Done Something Good (Reliant K)

At my Granny’s funeral, a lot of people told stories about her, shared memories, that kind of thing and that’s what I want.  Not necessarily everyone says what an awesome person I was, but just sharing memories.  I think that would be nice.  I do not want my funeral to be sermon, that’s not me or my life, although I can get up on my soapbox!

Other songs I like:

I Come to the Garden Alone

Ten Thousand Angels

Days Of Elijah

so far that’s it.



My goals for the coming year:  blog once a week.  I plan and have scheduled 30 minutes each Sunday to write something here.

Make progress on completing my Master’s degree.  I have already registered for two classes this spring and plan to take one over the summer, two next fall, then the last two in 2011.

Be nicer.  I will commit to making the effort to think before I speak and try to be as nice as possible but still tell the truth…call it my attempt to speak the truth in love and kindness!

I’ll probably add to these throughout the next month.  You may have notice, I don;t have any work goals and I am still pondering a couple of different directions and the details of the plan to move me in the direction I think I want to go, so check back next week.

Well, we took  the emotional intelligence instrument and have a personal journal assignment to complete.  Work on the area of your lowest score…so here goes!  I scored lowest in the area of Interpersonal Skills.  We will go into the whys and wherefores later and will just jump right into the assignment.  At the end of the each chapter in our text are self-assessments and assignment.  Today’s post will focus on the self-assessment for Social Responsiblity.

1. What community organizations are you involved in?  Right now, none.  I did send an email to the newcomer’s club in my town and will go to a meeting as soon as I hear back.

2. What active role do you play? None…yet.

3. What political party do you support?  Right now, none.  At heart I am independent/libertarian.

4. What role do you play in it?  none and will probably stay that way.

5. Do you participate in charitable activities?  If so list them and describe your role.  Right now, my charitable involvement is buying stuff from my friends at work kid’s…pay back for all those things I sold when my kid’s were in activities.

6. Do you feel that you donate enough money to charitable causes?  Yes, I not only donate, but do the buying and when I buy somethings, like coffee, I try to buy the ones that a portion of the proceeds go to benefit something…like Heifer.

7. Do you feel you contribute enough time to these same causes?  No

8. How can you involve your friends, family and co-workers in an effort to be more involved in charitable events?  Invite them to the various activities and go the events my co-workers work with.

9. What have you done recently to help people who could use a hand?  Donated clothing to a women’s shelter. 

10. What have you done recently to help strangers in need?  Bought breakfast for a group of hungry people.

11. Give three examples of situations in which you were sensitive to the needs of friends, acquaintances or co-workers.  In each case, what did you do?  this will just be in the notebook as I really don’t want to sound like I am tooting my own horn.

More to come…next assignemnt is dealing with my apparent lack of empathy.

It is also my reflective time of the year.  Maybe it’s spring but I think it’s just this time, significant days and such gets me to thinking about the past and then the future.  Need to kind of collect the thoughts a little more before I give them voice…so for now, just thinking about a lot of different things.

Just came across this article….http://www.slate.com/id/2215693

and can answer, at least for me, the why.  You think that he will change, that at some point you will be enough and he will see that you have stuck it out because you love him and he will change and love you back.  Suddenly, nineteen years have gone by, you have two kids, no degree and this life is what you know.  You can manage this life most of the time and this life is KNOWN .  One of those days, I had the revelation it wasn’t me that wasn’t enough and he would never love me and I was enough for me.  and that knowledge allowed me to step into the unknown.

As for the President being black…I am very proud to be an American today and to witness a dream coming true.  Every single child in our nation is told he/she can grow up to be President, but until today, only white men have realized that dream.  Today, that dream became realistic for thousands more young men.  Now, what about our girls, we are still dreaming that we can also be President…..it is for us, just that, a dream.  I hope I live long enough to see THAT dream become a reality too.

Lesson 2:  Mike is responsible for his life being in the state it is in and no one can change that but him.  I don’t have to feel guilty any more. 

Lesson 3: I am an okay person.

• What was the best thing that happened to me this year? This is the easiest to answer…..I live in the same town as my husband, followed very closely by becoming a grandmother.
• What did I do this year that I’m really proud of? Left my old job, moved to a new town…I think this is about the 4th time I have started over!

• Who did I really help?
• Who do I need to thank and acknowledge for having been there for me?
• What are the top three lessons I learned?
• What increased my happiness and joy this year?
• What’s something I got through that was really tough?
• What did I avoid that I must pay more attention to in 2009?
• What character trait did I develop most this year?
• What new people did I meet that are now in my life?