A Week of Thoughts and My Ramblings...And A Couple of HAPPY BUNNY PICS!

This week has been a busy one! I helped Wayne on Monday with his work and that was fun! I haven't had the opportunity to do that in a long time, so it was kind of neat. I learn so much about how a house is constructed (a HOME is constructed in an entirely different manner!), I learn what is called what, how it all fits together, etc. and VOILA! It's a house! Well, not THAT simple, but there is a "process." Wayne can do so many things and I am in awe of that talent. I work hard at not taking for granted that we do not have to call anyone to do really anything. He can fix anything...and fix it correctly...and if you knew WAYNE, you'll already know it would be better than new! He's just "like that!" I call him "HOWARD" as a nickname. That comes from not the nutty Howard Hughes, but the "neat freak" everything has to be done JUST RIGHT side of Hughes. When we watched the Aviator, before ol' Howie went out of his gourd, Marah was saying OH MY GOD MOM! I understand now!!! HA! We all had a great laugh about that.
Frieda has always laughed at how Wayne will try to eek more out of 60 seconds that anyone she has ever known. When he says "just a minute," I typically count on at least 30 of those minutes. Wayne is a part of a dying breed of men. He actually CARES about what he does. He CARES about his work being honest, ethical, fair and complete. I have seen him paint a house twice because the clients "changed their mind about the COLOR" that they had been on and on about for MONTHS!" They selected the color and since all the painters were charging an arm and a leg, Wayne painted the house. When it was finished, the (I'll save my description) ahem "people" decided they didn't LIKE THE COLOR!!!!! I almost had a stroke. I was devastated. "Didn't like the color? After carrying around boards with the paint on it in the car? After doing test paints all over the house? But, Wayne painted again...doors, trim, walls, EVERYTHING. So you see? My husband works HARD. VERY hard. It does me good to help him and be reminded of just how hard he does work and what a magnificent brain he has. I hurt for him when he deals with ungrateful people or people who think they are entitled to something for 'nothing.' There's a lot of that going around these days, everywhere, as I understand it. I know our property, nor its upkeep is free...so I don't understand those kinds of people...nor do I want to. I wouldn't want to be around them. GOOD PEOPLE RULE! Wayne can think and have something figured out before I can even understand what the problem is!! And many times, he's working alone. He has learned to adapt to that too...that people can be unreliable. As for that paint work, Wayne painted that house twice for less than the price that quotes from painters did it for ONE PAINTING! Not two. That is another great quality Wayne has. He would give you the shirt off his back. That's a dying breed of men too. I've noticed that "MEN" in the context that I was raised aren't REAL MEN anymore. That's sad to see. I think about my great-grandfather and what his motivations were...to help others. And he did just that. Helping your neighbor was MANLY. Men who didn't help out, weren't generally considered "neighborly." Those were good days and I'm glad I was raised in that tradition.Wayne and Buddy work great together. They are a great "Ying and Yang" and offer each other stability. Wayne is a fantastic motivator. Buddy is a fantastic leveling person and together they've got it down pat! I'm so proud of them both and what they do. We have been blessed with our businesses and we are so excited to see them flourish and we are most of all, THANKFUL.
With overpriced real estate and the market sinking, (WE ARE NOT IN A RECESSION, BY THE WAY! I'll cover that later!!) We are dealing with a nation of GREEDY PEOPLE. People who are so happy to put unrealistic prices on real estate and then the crazy people who pay more than it's worth on an ARM mortgage...and now the TALKING HEADS are wondering WHY these homes are being foreclosed on??? GIMME A BREAK! And the real estate slickers are wondering why and boo hooing about nothing selling? I speak for around here only....perhaps some of those agents should have done like the rest of us and put back some kind of nest egg. There are some real estate agents that might as well be selling bad used cars. They are just trying to pass off anything as "wonderful" to turn a buck. Not ALL real estate agents are that way, but there are many who could care less about anything except a "closing." P.T. Barnum said "There's a sucker born every minute" and if you pay some of the prices that people pay around here for SWAMPLAND, you do QUALIFY ( to use a real estate term) as a SUCKER!
I thank GOD that even when markets change, things look bleak( if you listen to the media) and dishonest people think they are in charge of how things work around here, ol' Wayne keeps right on moving forward. He and Buddy are both SMART MEN! They're both creative thinkers and they can run a business like nobody's business. Yep...so I got all of that out of me just by talking about working with Wayne on Monday! Good for ME! I eeked out a word or two, huh?
We've had two big storms this week. We need the rain badly and it has done that. I'm glad. The storms anticipated were not as bad as predicted. I was glad for that. Now WHO wants tornado watches and warnings in the DARK? On Tuesday when the WARNINGS were out at 1am, NOAA weather was saying "If you SEE a FUNNEL CLOUD..blah blah blah..." and I'm like SEE????
WHAT? WHERE??? It's flipping DARK out! And RAINING! And STORMING! Perhaps between flashes of lightening I can catch a glimpse of said "funnel cloud!"
So, by Friday of this week, I was GLAD it was Friday. Wayne, Buddy and I watched the movie "MICHAEL CLAYTON." I didn't want to like it because I thought it was going to be George Clooney anti-American propaganda. But it was SO good! I really liked it a lot. It shows how "lawyers FIX things," etc. I'm going to watch it again because it was so enlightening. Hmm...maybe take notes this time! (Giggle!)
My friend Flavel and I had a LONG conversation last night after the world was asleep!! We had a blast talking and remembering. We lost a friend this week WAY too early. Janet was only 44. One of Flavel's" kids" had also passed away when she got home from work. One of her 2 adopted kitties "Shadow" had been ill. So, I hoped that our phone visit would cheer things up a bit for her. As always, Flavel is forever the optimist. She has to be..you ought to see her list of "friends!" HA! GOTCHA FLAV! (We only talked 95 minutes and 54 seconds...so, what's the big deal with that??)
I pray a lot while I'm doing things around here..typically alone and singing to the top of my lungs. I guess the folks across the creek "wonder." Let 'em wonder...they're getting a free concert! So, I was singing "Somebody's Prayin'" and thinking about everyone I love and care about and even those I don't love and care about. They need prayer very much too. As a mere human, I can say that. I don't" love everybody." I don't love mean people, harmful people, dishonest people, but I TRY to seek forgiveness for that. I figure praying is a step. Anyway, one of my dogs, Chris, loves to "sing" with me....so I sang and he howled...and I loved it.
I came in and emailed the song to many people who are on my mind often and that I do indeed keep continuous prayer for. I didn't email the "mean people" because I don't have their addresses! (OH I'M BEING BAD TODAY!) I gave them to God, because I didn't want them hassling my heart anymore! God can handle them. I can't. I'm sincere in what I say and I'm also sincere in my humor...so, I don't mind a little tongue in cheek humor with my sincere discussions on the importance of and the POWER of prayer.
So, it's still cloudy, wet and blowin' a gale... I'm heading out to feed and sing and see what the world is doing today...and here's hoping you have a great weekend!!! Wayne and Buddy are, of course, out working on something! I'll see what they're into and move along.If I stay too long, they'll ask me to help or hold something or I'll end up "involved" somehow! I couldn't have that TODAY! It's SATURDAY!
Life is good, we are so blessed and so very, very fortunate. When things are bad, remember..."Somebody's Prayin."
Check out YouTube and do a search for Ricky Scaggs "Somebody's Prayin'. What a fantastic song! Blogger is acting up with me and I can't get the link to post! ARGH, so you'll have to search it out, if you'd like.
Pray for us too. None of us can ever have too much of that. (And when I talk about the "mean people," I'm just having FUN! Something else we all need more of!)
And that's it from the DBR (as Flavel calls it! THE DUMB BELL RANCH!) Just do the right thing and you'll always be A-OK.
Till next time, my friends!
Annie
PS: I'm going to want my HOUR back tomorrow. I do fine in the fall, but it just BUGS me to give up my hour in the spring!!! I'll be looking for it until fall arrives. (And yes, I'm aware of the extra daylight. I just miss my HOUR!) Hope you got your clocks all changed by the time you have read this! Or that you didn't show up for church AFTER the service was over! I've sure done that before!

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