Quotes

Do you really enjoy quotes? Do you have a funny quote, an inspirational quote or a quote about women that you would be willing to share? Quotes encourage us, make us laugh and make us think. Below you will find a few of my favorite quotes and a few funny quotes about women.

Fear knocked on the door, faith answered, there was no one there….. (Author unknown)

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those how mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.  (Dr Seuss)

Today you are you, that is truer than true.  There is no alive who is youer than you.  (Dr Suess)

In my world, everyone’s pony and they all eat rainbows and poop butterflies.  (Dr Suess)

Many promising reconciliations have broken down because, while both parties came prepared to forgive, neither party came prepared to be forgiven. (Charles Williams)

To carry a grudge is like being stung to death by one bee (William H Walton)

Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?  (Abraham Lincoln)

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Quotes about women

There are two things that you don’t mess with:  a girl’s man and girl’s chocolate.  (Kalee)

Women complain about PMS, but I think of it as the only time of the month that I can be myself.  (Roseanna Barr)

No man knows more about women than I do, and I know nothing.  (Author unknown)

Behind every successful man there is a surprised woman.  (Maryon Pearson)

A woman is like a teabag, you never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water.  (Eleanor Roosevelt)

If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant’s life, she will choose to save the infant’s life without even considering if there are men on base.  (Dave Barry) 

One of the most difficult things in the world is to convince a woman that even a bargain costs money  (Author unknown)

A foolish man tells a woman to stop talking; a wise man tells a woman her lips look beautiful when they are closed. (Author unknown)

Things I love about 4th of July

Happy 4th of July from Forsyth Woman/Forsyth Family Magazines!  What a great country we live in as we celebrate the birthday of the USA.  Here’s a few things I love about the 4th of July…..

The explosion of red, white and blue during this time of year, houses with flags, cars and motorcycles sporting our national colors, down to the lady at the beach with the red white and blue bathing suit!

Moving around the different channels on TV and seeing such a variety of opinions and being thankful that we can express who we are and what we think!  I may not agree with everything everyone says, but we can all agree that the ability to say what’s on our mind is special!

Sandy hotdogs, burnt hot dogs, cold hotdogs, but the hotdog none the less.  Fourth of July celebrations are not complete without our American staple – tofu, turkey, kosher, all beef as long as it’s a hot dog and fits in a bun, I love it!  Add some watermelon, potato salad and ice cream and you’ve got a real celebration!

Pool parties complete with those few friends/relatives that wear the bathing suits that don’t really suit them!  This gives the rest of the party plenty to talk about as they dive for that last shot at the volleyball game!  A little Marco Polo, some time floating in the sun, AND a trashy romance sitting by a lounge chair!

The smell of sulfur and dogs hiding under the bed with the explosion of fireworks.  In the mountains, we can lay on top of a mountain and watch them explode right above our head. I love oohing and ahhing with everyone then holding my breath during the finale with the bittersweet feeling when it’s over – of course, the traffic afterwards trying to get home!

What do you love about the 4th of July?

Monumental Open Mic Moments

Have you ever been present when a microphone was on, and the speaker thought it was off? Recently California Senate Candidate, Carly Fiorina said, “God, what is that hair . . . ha ha ha . . . so yesterday.” (She was referring to her opponent, Senator Barbara Boxer.)

On a funnier note, years ago I was present at a church conference when a monumental open mic moment occurred. The speaker, a very poised, beautiful woman was speaking to hundreds of people about a church program she was passionate about. About half way through the morning we were given a break to stand, stretch or whatever. Well, the speaker needed to “whatever” and forgot to turn her wireless microphone off.

Many of us (both men and women) were sitting in the conference room when we began to hear the sounds of many women chatting. Everyone looked around puzzled, and then we noticed her sister, who was also her assistant, jump up with horror on her face and run out of the room. Well, she was too late, we all heard her go into the stall, we all heard her latch the stall, we all heard that tinkling sound and then we all heard a gasp as the microphone was turned off.

When she returned to the conference room, everyone in the room roared with laughter. She was able to laugh at herself and join in on the laughter. She knew and we all knew it could have been worse!

5 tips on taking a good picture with your phone…

We’re all enjoying sharing ourselves with the world using the camers built into our phone.  I’ve been to many a scenic overlook and heard, “Did you bring the camera?  No?  Well, I’ve got my phone!”  Here’s some tips on taking THE RIGHT picture with your phone:

1. Clean the lens.  We’ve butt dialed with your phones so heaven knows where they’ve been, clean out the dust and debris from the lens before taking your picture-WOW it is a LOT clearer isn’t it?
2. Avoid tight focusing, camera phones excel where everything is required to be in focus, take a scene type picture rather than focusing in on one item then trying to make the background out of focus.
3. Avoid bright reflections as this will cause the camera to underexpose the rest of the shot.
4. Set your phone to the highest picture quality.  This is different on all phones, check yours to make sure it is set correctly.  This will also increase the file size of the pictures, word to the wise.
5. Avoid the “mirror shots” or taking the pictures at arms length, not only does it give you the double chin but also will add the pounds due to the close proximity of the phone.  Break down and ASK someone to take a picture of you!

 Have fun and totally ignore all the advice above if it stops you from taking a picture.  Send that shot out into the world proudly – it’s your work of art!

Act Your Age Not Your Shoe Size….

I honestly don’t know how old I am, I’m not talking about how many candles I’ve blown out on the birthday cake, and that’s enough to tickle the smoke alarm.  I’m talking about how I feel, I really don’t feel as old as I am and sometimes this gets me in BIG trouble.

I was getting ready to go out with some friends and wanted something new to wear so I started perusing all the boutiques out there.  I found a few dresses I liked and luckily the owner, who is a good friend understands my age deficiency.  When it looked like I was settling on the hot pink leopard print, she politely brought over a few more, ahem, old suggestions.  You see inside I feel like I’m say, middle to late 30’s but I have to realize that outside I’m slightly OLDER than that.  With her help I steered away from the dresses with the cut out waist (mine hasn’t seen the sun since I was 16) and into a beautiful sun dress that still accentuated my assets.

Not realizing my true age hurts me in my exercise pursuits, I readily agree to follow my friend on a bike ride through the country.  I thought, “Sure I can handle this, I ride my bike all the time.”  Friends, we didn’t ride the bike we RODE the bike like we were running from the law.  When we finally finished the 35 miles, I fell over in my driveway and lay there for a few minutes willing my legs to keep moving.  Later I sit with my husband two big heating pads on each thigh, “I don’t understand, I was dying out there.  How do they do it and still look like the fresh flower petal?”  My husband, the only time he looks at a bike is to ride to get the newspaper at the beach one block away on vacation says, “They’re 15 years younger than you, they have less on the odometer.”

I like feeling young inside, even if it does get me in trouble.  Feeling my shoe size inside helps me learn and explore like a child, but with my age comes the wisdom to know the difference.

Ever had an experience where you acted your shoe size and not your age?

We fall well, don’t we?

My running partner and I are going along a lonely trail enjoying the comraderie of exercising together.  She trips on a log, then rights herself and we continue running talking about all the fun we have exercising.  Yes, we are insane-we LOVE exercising.

I talk about falling over on my bike (my feet were clipped in) at the starting line of a Half Ironman, yes, in front of thousands of people. The quick stand back up with a “I’m fine!”  She smiles and says, “We fall well don’t we?”  Then we launch into how many times we’ve fallen over on our bike-out in the middle of nowhere, pointing out a golf ball for a golfer then wiping out, stopping at a bridge going up on the beach and forgetting to pull the foot out, going down our driveway as our family proudly looks on.

As older, ahem, more experienced exercisers we do fall well, because we’ve learned how to get back up.  We’ve left our ego at that first major wipeout and realized that we’ll never win the race, but we will finish-we’re in it for the journey.  Every time we lace up our shoes, put on our bathing suit, clip our feet to the pedals of our bike, it’s another step in our journey and each step makes us stronger.

So we fall, we try to do it gracefully, then we get right back up and keep on going because soon the fall is forgotten but the “keep on going” part is still there, and as we cross that finish line we can pat ourselves on the back at another one done.  There are two ways to look at a fall, stay there and wallow in it, or as one friend said, “If you trip in life just make it part of the dance.”

Do you fall well?

Roller Coaster of Life – Update

“This blog was written back in February, it’s now April and my mother is back in KBR Hospice Home were I’m watching her take her last breaths on this earth. Thank you to everyone who will be participating in the Hospice Hope Run. I stated in my first post that Mom probably wouldn’t be alive for the Hospice Hope Run, she’s doesn’t want to make me a liar. Thank you to all the Hospice staff @ KBR and the community comfort care team, we couldn’t have gotten through this journey without ALL of you. Thank you Forsyth Woman Magazine to allow me to take everyone along on the Rollercoaster of Life. Keep your hands in the cart as the ride is about to end”

We’ve been with Kathylyn as she put on her tutu and just “did it”, we’ve cried reading about life, laughed at moments in her blog.  Thank you to Kathylyn for letting us take a peek into her life and see what Hospice really is.

Hospice goes beyond Hope, they are the support there for the family as they prepare for a loved one’s final hours.  They are the information we look for as we make sense of medications and different ways the body shuts down, they are a shoulder to cry on as we wait, they are the life in the room while everyone else feels down.  They are with us witnessing life as it passes and we thank them for their time and effort for us.

As we all run the race tomorrow morning, some will run for those that passed, some are still with Hospice, some will celebrate the beautiful day as we all learn about the hope that Hospice provides.

Our Forsyth Woman/Forsyth Family Team has 44 members, let’s all put on our tutus, lace up our shoes and get out there and run!

Rollercoaster of Life – What IS Hospice?

by Kathylyn Barnhill

I was curious about the name “Hospice Hope Run” as many associate Hospice with dying, but as I read the following description from the website, it all made sense.

“Hope for care, the best possible quality of life
Hope for comfort, pain and symptom management
Hope for compassion, support and peace of mind
Hope for choice, a sense of control “

While Mom was at hospice she was cared for by a supportive, compassionate staff. But I feel the best part of Hospice was the care for me. My extended family went home after a few days. The staff supported me when I was an emotional wreck. They even laughed with me when after a particularly difficult night watching Mom “actively dying”, she awoke and asked me what I was doing with her at 10:00 pm.

“I’m watching you die Mom, what are you doing?”

On the way home I told the nurses, “If you call me tonight to tell me that Mom has died, don’t be offended if I ask for a 2nd opinion” They couldn’t believe she had rallied…….again. They understood my frustrations, fear of the unknown and the inability to predict….anything. Often Mom’s Nurse Practitioner remarked “I wish I had a crystal ball.” I gave her one that hung in the window of Moms apartment.

I have been counseled by the grief counselors’ and the chaplains (anticipatory grief is often worse than grief after the person dies). The Hospice team that is currently following Mom is genuine advocates for her.

“ Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31

Last year over 250 people died awaiting Hospice services. How can you help Hospice continue to provide hope??? Have you registered for the race?

Finding my waist-Can you get homework in exercise class?

Today was one of those days where my waist let me down. We had a different move this morning, a move where my whole body including my befuddled brain said, “Huh?” Note to self: Taking a few days of vacation including eating like I’m on a vacation NOT a good idea before mania class.

The move was a: Crouch down (thinking of crouching tiger here), roll onto your back; roll back up to a standing position without using your hands, sounded easy until the no hands part. You see you had to use your waist line muscles (mine were still at the beach apparently) to get up onto your feet from the roll back position. Thus started a full 7 minutes of this move, and I didn’t get up into the standing position once, not even ONCE. I was the Keystone Cops of the class, starting by using hands to get up, then hands got stuck behind my knees as I was trying to get up, one leg ended up straight out and not crouched, several times I thought, “I could just roll back and not even roll up, just close my eyes and go back to the beach, my waistline likes it there.” Determined, I wouldn’t let myself stop, I wanted ONE roll up, sad when you are looking for just one. Well, I didn’t get it.

After the class, I knew that my waistline and I had to have a serious talk. “You’ll have to practice those rolls, you’ll get it,” I hear from my coach, April. “It’s like this,” she says then beautifully rolls back and jumps right up to a standing position. It doesn’t look that hard, “yeah right, doesn’t look that hard” my waistline complains back to me. I guess I have homework. Do you get homework in exercise class? I’m determined now to practice my rolls, to show who’s boss and sadly say, get one right. But, I tell myself, just like the 4 minute mile, once you get one under your belt and know you can do it then the rest will follow.

What exercise move are you practicing? Have you taken any homework home from exercise class?

That Black Cloud Following Me…..

Ever had that series of missteps, that one day where there are many things thrown in your way, things that want to take away your sense of peace? For us endurance athletes, it’s like that pebble that finds its way into your shoe, but you’re just too stubborn to stop and get it out!

My first black cloud was working out next to Grace, you know the one in the class-perfect in form, no jiggle no wiggle. Grace did each dive bomber with ease while I was leaving my trail of tears. It felt like tears, my muscles hurt so much but it was actually a trail of sweat! As my hands slipped I moved a bit down to get a better grip, by the end of 7 minutes I had a trail of sweat drops that looked like a trail of tears!

Second came when I went to take my shower and had the SMALLEST towel in my gym bag, close enough to be called a “hand” towel but this was supposed to cover my “body.” Nothing like walking into the shower with it ALL hanging out! After the shower the only think I remembered to bring was a sports bra – ever try to put a sports bra on a wet body?

I went through my day pushing against all those forces pushing against me. Went to the car wash and somehow broke the car wash after the foam soap was applied to my car. Sat there for a few minutes wondering, do I pull out? Is it working? Did I choose the pre soak mode? My 7 dollar car wash turned into my 14 dollar car wash as I left it with the wand hanging half way and went to another one.

Now I sit at my computer and pull at the good mood that’s still floating around until I realize that for some reason I got an AARP card in the mail! I’m not even close to AARP age, I gotta go get some hair color.

This is that type of day where every time I use the bathroom, I’m checking my foot!

Ever had that series of missteps that try to take away your peace? What do you do to push back at that black mood?