Rhonda's Ramblings

A house with daffodils in it is a house lit up, whether or not the sun be shining outside!

I know I’ve blogged about this before and probably even used the same quotes. But it’s that time of year again. Daffodils have begun to bloom.

I really enjoy seeing the flowers in their natural environment. But it has been pouring rain and VERY windy the last few nights. So, I had to rescue these poor flowers. They were all knocked down and lying on the ground. And I love to have the fragrance and the beauty of their loveliness fill my house.

I picked huge bunches. This is only some of them:

cheering up my kitchen table:

on my woodstove (that I rarely use)

and in my window box

No profound thoughts or updates on my life. But I am giving you a link to a site that I have been enjoying.

A painting a day

I have been having fun spending time with my sister who is home from college. We are off to go wedding dress shopping. For her, not for me.

I love my friends!

Colleen and Vanessa…who aren’t really friends with each other, but are both very good friends with me, decided to plot behind my back and make plans for my birthday.

So, they informed me that I was required to dress up and wear my red heels. And we went out to dinner and to see Motorcycle Diaries, a movie that I loved!

This is our attempt at curtseying. Obviously, we are not well practiced.

Fun Times!!!

Finally, I can access my blog again. And I know I should write about the amazing weekend that I had in Nashville. Or share some thoughts on being another year older. And maybe I will…soon.

But for now, I am gonna post a story that I memorized for a speech meet when I was in Jr. High. I got an email tonight that reminded me of this story…and so I’m sharing it, for no good reason, really.

Appointment with Love (Author Unkown)

Six minutes to six, said the clock over the information booth in New York’s Grand central Station. The tall young Army lieutenant lifted his sunburned face, and narrowed his eyes to note the exact time. His heart was pounding with a beat that shocked him. In six minutes he would see the woman who had filled such a special place in his life for the past thirteen months, the woman he had never seen, yet those written words had sustained him unfailingly.

Lieutenant Blandford remembered one day in particular, the worst of the fighting, when his plane had been caught in the midst of a pack of enemy planes.

In one of his letters, he had confessed to her that he often felt fear, and only a few days before his battle, he had received her answer: “Of course you fear…all brave men do. Next time you doubt yourself, I want you to hear my voice reciting to you: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for Thou art with me”… He had remembered and it had renewed his strength.

Now he was going to hear her real voice. Four minutes to six.

A girl passed close to him, and Lieutenant Blandford started. She was wearing a flower, but it was not the little red rose they had agreed upon. Besides, the girl was only about 18, and Hollis Meynell had told him she was 30. “What of it?” he had answered. “I’m 32.” He was 29.

His mind went back to that book he had read in the training camp. Of Human Bondage, it was; and throughout the book were notes in a woman’s writing. He had never believed that a woman could see into a man’s heart so tenderly, so understandingly. Her name was on the bookplate: Hollis Meynell. He had got hold of a New York City telephone book and found her address. He had written, she had answered. Next day he had been shipped out, but they had gone on writing.

For 13 months she had faithfully replied. When his letters did not arrive, she wrote anyway, and now he believed he loved her, and she loved him.

But she refused all his pleas to send him her photograph. She had explained: “If your feeling for me has any reality, what I look like won’t matter. Suppose I’m beautiful, I’d always be haunted by the feeling that you had been taking a chance on just that, and that kind of love would disgust me. Suppose I’m plain (and you must admit that it is more likely), then I’d always fear that you were only writing because you were lonely and had no one else. No, don’t ask for my picture. When you come to New York, you shall see me and then you shall make your decision.”

One minute to six… Then Lieutenant Blandford’s heart leapt.

A young woman was coming toward him. Her figure was long and slim; her blond hair lay back in curls from her delicate ears. Her eyes were blue as flowers, her lips and chin had a gentle firmness. In her pale green suit, she was like springtime come alive.

He started toward her, forgetting to notice that she was wearing no rose, and as he moved, a small, provocative smile curved her lips.

“Going my way, soldier?” she murmured.

He made one step closer to her. Then he saw Hollis Meynell.

She was standing almost directly behind the girl, a woman well past 40, her graying hair tucked under a worn hat. She was more than plump; her thick-ankled feet were thrust into a low-heeled shoe. But she wore a red rose on her rumpled coat.

The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away.

Blandford felt as if though he were being split into two, so keen was his desire to follow the girl, yet so deep was his longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned and upheld his own; and there she stood. He could see that her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible; her grey eyes had a warm twinkle.

Lieutenant Blandford did not hesitate. His fingers gripped the worn copy of Human Bondage which was to identify him to her. This would not be love, but it would be something precious, a friendship for which he had been and must ever be grateful…

He squared his shoulders, saluted, and held out the book toward the woman, although even while he spoke he felt the bitterness of his disappointment.

“I’m Lieutenant John Blandford and you — you are Miss Meynell. I’m so glad you can meet me. May – may I take you to dinner?”

The woman’s face broadened in a tolerant smile. “I don’t know what this is all about, son,” she answered. “That young lady in the green suit, she begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said that if you asked me to go out with you, I should tell you that she’s waiting for you in that restaurant across the street. She said that it was some kind of a test.”

Cute story…but one that sets us up for the “happily ever after”. But I do love how the guy chooses to go with what he knows is a wonderful friendship, rather than with the hot girl. Of course, he ends up with the wonderful friendship with the hot girl.

I also have always loved how the woman is described as “springtime come alive”. Such a wonderful description. I would love to be thought of like that.

What kind of Christian school has this in their list of poems for the jr. highers to memorize for a speech meet? I just want you to imagine me, a chubby 12 year old, trying to act this line out…

“a small, provocative smile curved her lips. “Going my way, soldier?” she murmured.”

Yeah, not so much. I couldn’t even do it now. But how funny would it be to have a videotape of me trying to do it then?

I am leaving for Nashville tomorrow! I will be meeting up with a bunch of crazy people. Of course, it is one in the morning, and I’m pressing out my clothes beside my bed. Wait…I mean I have some clothes piled on my bed. But I have packed nothing. And I have a kajillion things to do before I leave and I have a huge headache. But I thrive on procrastination. And I’m trying not to have to check any luggage…so I don’t want to bring 50,000 things.

You know what I always have a hard time with when packing for a trip? Jackets. I know it could get pretty chilly…but a jacket takes up so much room in my bag…but wearing it all day tomorrow on the plane and in the airports is just annoying. And I’m such a dork that I would probably lose it or something. Yes, I have traveled a ton…and always manage to make it just fine. But I have to make these oh so important decisions. Shoes…another issue. They take up lots of room

It will be nice to get away for a few days. We had a huge group come into the restaurant tonight (who tipped me VERY poorly), and there is a huge party coming into the restaurant tomorrow night….and I won’t be there. And my boss Carlos has been more annoyingly flirtatious than usual, and spent the evening telling me that he could make me happy.

I did have a customer give me $20 bucks to buy myself a drink in the…shoot…I forget the name of the place I am supposed to buy myself a drink. I guess I’ll have to spend it some other way.

Do you think drinking Dr. Pepper at 1 am helps a headache? Do you think I should be writing a blog post right now instead of packing? Is it okay if I wear the same outfit the whole weekend? Have you ever watched The Shepherd’s Chapel?

I love the Christmas season. Though it is often a little too packed. My mom’s birthday, my birthday, Christmas day, New Year’s, and my sister’s birthday are all packed into a 3 week window.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year….Well, I like spring and summer and fall also. I love all the seasons. As a side note, do any of you tell “scary ghost stories” at Christmas time? Last year, my family and I were at Arches National Park on Christmas day. How fun was that? Very fun. Christmas roadtrip around the southwest. So, I know I had my Christmas cds with me in the RV…and now, this year, I can’t find them. They must be at my mom’s house somewhere. Lots of my stuff is still there, because, you know, I was moving into my grandparents house temporarily 2 1/2 years ago. I loved the Christmas road trip last year, but it will be nice to have a more traditional Christmas this year. And really, I have a great job. They give me lots of time off. Pretty much anything I request. Which is nice.

My tree is decorated beautifully. Vanessa helped me hang the lights outside on Saturday, and we made persimmon pudding with persimmons that she liberated from a tree. But since Jesus is the reason for the season… ( I wonder if Christian bookstores are still filled with everything imaginable with this phrase on them. I haven’t been to a Christian bookstore at Christmastime in a while.) So, my house is all festive for the season, but I didn’t have a nativity scene and this made me sad. I was my mom’s house the other night, and she told me that my nativity scene was there. Having no recollection of having a nativity scene, I was eager to see what she was talking about. My recollection of it is still kind of fuzzy, but I know that I bought it in Honduras.

I really like it, because it is not all glitzy and gaudy. It is very primitive perhaps. But I love that about it. It is made out of natural things, such as leaves and cornhusks and seed pods.

So, yeah…that was a very stream of consciousness post.

The other night, I commented on Jason’s blog that I love the title of his blog and the artwork that goes with it.

So, he made me this amazing piece of art. I don’t even know Jason. I do know his girlfriend, Alisa. But I think he is my new best friend for right now.

And as soon as I figure out how to do it…or find a friend to do it for me, this will be my new blog background or header. Isn’t it beautiful?

“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.” -Thomas Merton

Thanks to Matt who posted this recently. It definitely encouraged me.

I have no desire to wait tables forever. But I don’t really have any desire to have a “career”. (I want to be a wife and mom)
I really think I should probably focus on pursuing something other than serving beer to drunk men every night. I have a bachelor’s degree, but these days that’s not really all that helpful.
I’m thinking about going back to get my teaching credential…but there are also lots of different Master’s programs that I would be interested in. But do I want to go into further debt?
My problem is that I want to do it all. I’m interested in lots of things…most of which don’t make any money.

So, what should I do with my life?

So, remember when I was talking about Fear Factor, the other day. I’m watching it right now…and one of the guys is going to get a butt implant if he wins. Um….okay. That’s the best way to spend $50,000 dollars.

I love reading the police botter in the local paper. It almost always makes me laugh. Here are some recent entries.

• A caller at the Rood Administrative Center reported at 11:12 a.m. that a man was talking to himself and his backpack. The man reportedly said, “I just want you to remember that I finished my box first.”

• At 7:43 p.m., a caller at a gas station on East Main Street told dispatchers that he wanted to go to jail because it was too cold outside.

• At 1:09 p.m., a caller on the 13000 block of Idaho-Maryland Road reported people on all-terrain vehicles had been entering her house through a crawl space. Now, she said, they had removed part of her roof so they could come in through the top of the house. Deputies found no evidence to support the allegations. Several hours later, the woman called to say that the same people had thrown a dead animal onto her deck.

• A caller on Nevada City Highway, near the old Togo’s restaurant, reported at 7:37 a.m. that for the second day in a row, as he was going for a walk in the area, he saw a man’s feet sticking out of some bushes in the area. Deputies did not find anything.

• A caller reported at 5:15 p.m. that a man wearing a blue or black jacket was carrying a rifle on Scandling Avenue. When police responded, they found a man wearing a black jacket carrying an umbrella.

• A caller on the 14200 block of Old White Toll Road reported at 11:34 a.m. that a keg had been stolen from outside her home sometime the previous night.

• At 10:25 a.m., a caller on the 10000 block of Lime Kiln Road reported a suspicious man was on his property and had asked to retrieve marijuana he had buried there.

• At 8:12 a.m., a woman on the 300 block of Sutton Way reported she had a restraining order on her neighbors. That day, the woman said, she had seen the neighbors dumping a plant on her porch.

The previous day, the caller continued, her neighbors vandalized her mat. Police could not find the restraining order

• A caller on the 300 block of American Hill Road reported at 1:58 p.m. that there was a woman on her front porch acting strangely. The woman reportedly had her legs tied together. Police found the woman, who said she was a victim of a kidnapping. Police determined that “she was under the influence of something,” according to a report. Police told her to call them back when she was sober.

• A horn on a county vehicle parked at the Rood Administrative Center reportedly began blaring at 10:31 a.m. Deputies could not disarm the horn until about 10:50 a.m.

• At 5:10 p.m., a caller on the 500 block of S. Pine Street reported that the water at the residence had turned milky and smelled.

• A caller at First Baptist Church, on the 300 block of Main Street in Nevada City reported at 2:46 p.m. that someone was sleeping behind the church.

• A caller reported at 3:13 p.m. that he had been flagged down by a man near Bear River Bridge on Highway 174. The man reportedly told the caller that there was a body in the water. Deputies found a fully clothed dummy, described as a Halloween decoration that had probably been illegally dumped into the water, underneath a blanket in the water. The dummy was retrieved to prevent further calls to authorities.

• At 9:53 a.m., a caller on the 10700 block of Walker Drive reported the theft of a 200- to 300-pound unpainted gnome statue.

• At 12:31 a.m., a caller on the 11100 block of Alpine Lane reported that people were shining lights into the residence and going in and out of walls. Authorities opted not to respond.