An old post....

For some reason, I was reading an old post that I wrote back in 2011 and thought I would share it with those that read my blog today.

It was entitled, 'Who has the Power?'

I'm the type of person who finds logic very comforting. I need to know all the 'why's before I can truly understand the whole picture. For example, back in the dark ages when I went to college, my biology teacher couldn't tell me 'why' a cell decides to divide--I was just suppose to accept that it does. Well, that wasn't happening and I didn't do well in the class. [Of course, later on, when they invented microscopes that could look inside a cell, they found that there was, indeed, rhyme and reason for what a cell does. *insert 'I was right' dance here*]

Of course, sometimes, the logic thing can take my brain on tangents that are better left untaken. One example is our juvenile next-door-neighbor. I wondered how my calling the noise control people on him affects his wife. Does he take it out on her by yelling at her? Does he make the house walk on eggshells because nobody knows what to say? But then, I realized that I shouldn't have that much power over his life and he's a fool if he gave it to me!


And I think about the silly person with the 30-year grudge I posted about earlier. Why is she letting me affect her after all this time? I k now I'm good, but didn't know I was THAT good!!


I think about someone I know that wants me to tip-toe around and never get loud because, in their far, far away past, somebody yelled at them and made them feel bad. Sorry, kiddo, being loud sometimes is who I am. Our family gets loud. That's who we are. You need to deal with it. Why are you letting someone who is probably dead (or, at the very least, not even aware of their impact) have power over you a half a world away and several decades later? I don't want to be able to make you feel bad by reminding you of someone in your past. Nobody should have that much power.

So for all those people whose lives are governed by the words and deed of others, I say, Life is about choices. 

Choose to believe that God loves you exactly the way He made you.
Accept that you are worthy of respect and love simply because you're breathing.
Choose to overlook other folk's imperfections if you want them to overlook yours.
Quit letting other people decide if you are going to be happy. No one should be able to make that decision but you.
Decide to be happy every morning!

A wild night

No, it wasn't a partying night, it was a winter storm with horrendous rain and winds that blew rain three feet through the cat flap even with the back door not lined up with the porch doorway!

Yesterday from early afternoon, our house had no lights and only had power in the one lounge outlet and all the kitchen outlets--for which I was wonderfully grateful with so many in the area having no power at all, as you can see by the map below. (We live slightly below 'New Plymouth').

Cooking by night-light, was a new experience :) but I was glad that I could do that because I didn't want us going out for take-outs in the awful weather.

The lounge outlet was a blessing to have. It kept the TV going and could be used for charging phones and laptops, if needed. When it was bedtime, Hubby ran a power cord from the lounge to our bedroom for heat and clocks.

When I woke up about 5AM, I tried some light switches and some of the lights came on a bit dimly, so it seemed that things were getting back to normal although it wasn't all fixed at that time. Later when I did get up things were a lot better, although not quite totally to normal, yet.

Through it all, I was very grateful for a fireplace with plenty of wood to burn along with the layers of clothes and socks!

I want to say a big 'Thank you!' to all those that worked so hard overnight and are still working in the wind and rain to get power back on across the country. Be safe out there.

After 10 years....

After 10 years in New Zealand, I thought I had experienced all the things that would just throw me for a loop. As it turns out, I was wrong.

Yesterday, I found another one of those 'English' words that don't mean the same thing everywhere that English is spoken.  When I first got here, I saw these little square cakes called 'Lamingtons' in the bakery display cases at grocery stores with the little signs that explained that they are 'sponge' cake covered in coconut flakes.

Well, my idea of 'sponge' cake is 'sponge cake', aka Angel Food Cake.  It's fluffy and great with fruit but there's not a lot of texture to it. So, I imagined Lamingtons being Angel Food Cake covered with coconut and I really didn't think Lamingtons would impress me.


When Hubby came home from work, he had stopped for milk. Very rarely does he actually only come home with milk... because 'it was on special'!! And one of the things he bought was a pack of Lemony Lamingtons that were, of course, on special!

I tried one just out of curiosity and, lo and behold, they are not Angel Food cake but regular 'cake'. Tasty cake! I'm not a huge fan of coconut but I think I might have to try different flavors now, just to satisfy my curiosity.

Where did it go????

Over the years, I've had a few 'favorite' things disappear from the store shelves. Most were just a favorite flavor or scent here and there, but I always took it personally :) even though there wasn't much I could do about it.

A few weeks ago, I sent Hubby to the store for my favorite spot remover that I use for his work clothes and the occasional coffee drip or food spot. He went to our favorite store, Countdown.

I love using this stuff because it got every little stain out of every kind of fabric. And the best part is that I can rub the stuff all over the stains and not have to wash it for up to seven days. That works great for me since there are only the two of us and laundry is two loads a week, at the most.

Well, he came home with something different because my 'usual' wasn't on the shelf. Same company, but different product. I was wary, but I used it.  It didn't work. At all. Not on the pen marks where hubby put his pen back in pocket a hundred times a day. Not on the coffee stain on my shirt. NOTHING! UGH!

So, the next weekend, we went looking at New World, the other major chain that usually carries it. Again, nothing. Just the replacement stuff that didn't work.

I decided to write an email to both stores to tell them to put it back but before I got started, I thought I'd send them a photo of what I was talking about so there would be no question about the subject.

Well, lo and behold, all I could find was this:

Unavailable in your area. Noooooo!!!! 

OK, now it's personal.

What to do? What to do? Hubby to the rescue! There's a chain of small grocery stores that have a store in most of the small towns in Taranaki that would never support one of the larger stores. According to their website, there are sixteen of them in Taranaki and Hubby started stopping at the ones he encountered in the northern part of the district on his truck-driving job and brought home one, three, one...five! I was ecstatic!

So, we spent Mother's Day driving to the stores in the south of Taranaki and scored six at one store and one or two at some others! The cashiers looked at us funny and we explained it to a couple of them but I now have a collection that will last me quite a while. I do hope I can eventually find a suitable replacement before it runs out!

Just for the record, the company that makes Vanish products has been advertising quite aggressively with their 'stain removing' technique of using their power to make a paste and rub gently. I'm sure that works just fine for those that have one grass stain a week. I have 5 sets of work clothes to get clean every week and can't imagine how much 'paste' I'd have to make to cover man-size shirts and pants. And with a product that is easy to use, why would I want to make more work for myself?

I did email the company but haven't heard back. But I did find this review from last year: Click here to read how it earned a Shonky Award!