Paid in Full & 2 Birthdays.

Post 557 ~ ~ ~ Tuesday, 13th January, 2009.

Hello my friends ~ ~ I hope you have had as much fun the last couple of days as I have.
My two cousins and I never stopped talking and enjoying the time together. Our mothers were three sisters in a family of ten. Two boys and 8 girls,,, and my grandmother used
to say, "10 kids and not a dud among them." They have all passed away now, but most of us have been close to each other and the cousins still do keep in touch. My Home Care Lady came today, so she took a couple of photos of us.



Three cousins, 2009, Pam, Merle with eyes shut and Michelle.



The same three of us again. I am the oldest, Pam next and Michelle the youngest.

We have two great bloggers and friends having birthdays tomorrow on 14th January.
First is my dear friend Joy and also our photographer friend who takes us all over the
world Jerry aka Lazy Blogger. I hope you both have a wonderful day and many happy
returns. Please drop by their blogs, to say Happy Birthday and for a good read.

My story tonight is called "Paid in Full," Author Unknown. I think it is a good one.

A young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer's showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.

As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his
private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautifully wrapped giftbox. Curious, and somewhat disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely leather-bound Bible, with the young man's name embossed in gold.

Angry he shouted at his father and said, "with all your money, you give me a Bible?" and stormed out of the house.

Many years passed and the young man had become very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and wonderful family, but realized his father now was getting old, and thought perhaps he should go to see him. He had not seen him since graduation day.
Before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willing all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things.

When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart. He began to search through his father's important papers and saw the still gift-wrapped Bible, just as he left it years before. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. His father had carefully underlined a verse, Matt.7:11 - "And if ye, being evil, know how to give
good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father which is in Heaven, give to those who ask Him?"

As he read these words, a car key dropped from the back of the Bible. It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had wanted. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words "PAID IN FULL."

How many times do we miss God's blessings because we can't see past our own desires?
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The following list was sent to me by my good friend Sherree MeLernan. Many thanks.

20 ways to Maintain A Healthy Level of Insanity.

1. At lunchtime, sit in your car with sunglasses on and point a hair-dryer at passing
cars. See if they slow down.

2. Page yourself over the Intercom. Don't disguise your voice.

3. Anytime someone asks you to do something, ask is they want fries with that.

4. Put your garbage can on your desk and label it "IN."

5. Put Decaf in the coffee maker for 3 weeks. Once everyone has gotten over their
caffeine Addictions, switch to Espresso.

6. In the memo field of all your checks, write "for smuggling diamonds."

7. Finish all your sentences with "in accordance with the prophecy."

8. Don't use any punctuation.

9. As often as possible, skip rather than walk.

10. Order a diet water whenever you are out to eat, with a serious face,

11. Specify that your drive-through order is "To Go."

12. Sing along at the opera.

13. Go to a Poetry recital, and ask why the poems don't rhyme?

14. Put Mosquito netting around your work area and play tropical sounds all day.

15. Five days in advance, tell your friends you can't attend their party, because you are
not in the mood.

16. Have your co-workers address you by your wrestling name---Rock Bottom.

17. WHEN THE MONEY COMES OUT OF THE atm, SCREAM "I WON, I WON."

18. When leaving the Zoo, start running towards the parking lot, yelling, "Run for your
lives. They're loose."

19. Tell your children over dinner, "Due to the economy, we are going to have to let one
of you go."

20. And the final way to keep a healthy level of insanity - - Send this e-mail to someone
to make them smile. It is called therapy.
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Gregory finally got up the nerve to tell his wife he wanted a divorce, so he could marry another woman.
"Can she cook like I can?" asked the distraught woman between sobs.
"Not on her best day," he replied.

"Can she buy you expensive presents like I do?" she asked.
"No, she's broke," he said.
"Well then is it sex?" she inquired.
"Nobody does it like you, babe," he replied.

"Then what can she do that I can't?" the woman tearfully asked.
"Sue me for child support."
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A father asked his 10 year old son if he knew about the birds and the bees.
"I don't want to know," the child said bursting into tears. "Promise you won't tell me."
Confused the father asked what was wrong. The boy sobbed, "When I was six, I got the
'There's no Easter Bunny' story. At seven I got the 'there's no tooth fairy speech."

"When I was eight, you hit me with the "there's no Santa speech" "If you are going to tell me that grown-ups don't really get laid, I'll have nothing left to live for."
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Arthur is 90 years old. He's played golf every day since his retirement 25 years ago.
One day he arrives home looking downcast. . ."That's it," he tells his wife. "I'm giving
up golf. My eyesight has got so bad, once I hit the ball, I can't see where it went."

His wife sympathises. Once they sit down, she says, "Why don't you take my brother with you, and give it one more try?"
"That's no good, ," sighs Arthur, "Your brother is one hundred and three. "He can't help."

"He may be one hundred and three, but his eyesight is perfect." says his wife..
So the next day he sets off to the golf course with his brother-in-law. He sets up and takes an almighty swing and squints down the fairway. He turns to his brother-in-law and
asks, "Did you see the ball?"

"Of course I did," says the brother in law. "I have perfect eyesight."
"Where did it go?" asks Arthur.
"I don't remember."
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A woman and a man are involved in a car accident on a snowy cold Monday morning.
Both of their cars are totally demolished but amazingly neither of them is hurt.
God works in mysterious ways. After they crawl out of their cars, the woman says,
"So you are a man. That's interesting. I am a woman. Wow look at our cars, there's nothing left of them but we are unhurt. This must be a sign from God that we meet and be friends and live together in peace for the rest of our lives."

Flattered, the man answers, "I agree with you completely. It must be a sign of God."
The woman continues, "And look, here is another miracle. My car is completely demolished, but this bottle of wine didn't break. Surely God wants us to drink this wine and celebrate our good fortune."

Then she hands the bottle to the man. The man nods his head in agreement, opens it
and drinks half the bottle and then hands it back to the woman. She takes it and puts the cap on and hands it back to the man.

The man asks, "Aren't you having any?"
The women replies, "No, I think I will just wait for the police."

Moral of this story ~~ Women are clever, evil bitches. Don't mess with them !!
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Donald Rumsfeld briefed the President this morning. He told Bush that three Brazilian
soldiers were killed in Iraq. To everyone's amazement, all the color drained out of Bush's
face and then he collapsed onto his desk, head in hands, visibly shaken almost whispering
Finally, he composed himself and asked Rumsfeld, "Just how many is a brazillion?"
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Time to call it a day. Take great care, my friends. Love and best wishes to you all.
Merle.

Post 557 ~ ~ ~ Tuesday, 13th January, 2009,
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