Maybe YOU can be the one to give someone that lift.

The new year and decade can be a fresh beginning for personal goals, priorities and ways to make a difference in the world.

The movie and book, Every Monday Matters, puts into action the idea of making a difference by offering one activity for each of the 52 Mondays. Watch this 3 minute movie to get inspired about how to be involved in making a positive impact in the lives of those around you and the world!

So take a minute to watch… no, take 3 minutes.

Here’s to a fantastic 2010!

Thanks go to Angie for this one:

It’s said that you can never have too many friends, but Christmas was just a week away and I had five people left to shop for on my Christmas list and only three dollars to my name. How do you tell you mother, brother, and three friends that you can only spend sixty cent on each of them?
“Let’s set a price limit on our gifts this year,” I suggested to my best friend, Joanie.
“That’s a good idea,” Joanie agreed. “How about nothing over five dollars?”
“How about nothing over sixty cents?” I felt like the biggest cheapskate in the world.
“I guess this is where I’m supposed to say it’s not the gift, it’s the thought that counts,” Joanie smiled. “But don’t blame me if all you get is a stick of gum!”
It is almost impossible to buy anything for under sixty cents, so it was going to have to be very small gifts with very big thoughts. I’d  never spent so much time or effort trying to come up with the right gift for the right person. Finally, Christmas day arrived, and I was worried how people would feel about my “cheap” gifts.
I gave my mother a scented candle with a note that said, “You are the brightest light in my life.” Shoe almost cried when she read the note.
I gave my brother a wooden ruler. On the back of it I’d painted. “No brother in the world could measure up to you.” He gave me a bag of sugar and had written on i t “You’re sweet.” He’d never said anything like that to me before.
For Joanie, I painted an old pair of shoes gold and stuck flowers in them with a note that said, “No one could ever fill your shoes.” She gave me a feather and a Band Aid. She said I always tickled her funny bone and made her laugh until her sides ached.
To my other two friends, I gave one a paper fan and wrote on it, “I’m your biggest fan.” To the other, I gave a calculator that cost one dollar and I painted a message on  the back, “You can always count on me.” They gave me a rusty horseshoe for luck and a bundle of sticks tied with a red ribbon because “friends stick together.”
I don’t remember all the other gifts that I got from people last Christmas, but I remember every one of the “cheap” gifts.
My brother thinks I am sweet. My mother knows she is the most important person in my life. Joanie thinks I’m funny and I made her laugh, which is important because her dad moved away last year and she misses him and is sad sometimes.
I was worried I wouldn’t have enough money for Christmas gift, but I gave to five people and still had twenty cents left over. We all still talk about our “cheap” gifts and how much fun it was to come up with a gift that cost pennies but told someone how we really felt about them.

On my bookshelf, I still have a bag of sugar, a feather, a horseshoe, and a bundle of sticks. . . and they are priceless.

It’s been a long time since I got to go play Bingo (except on a lottery scratch card) so I’m going to do my darndest to be there.

Remember when the VFW held Bingo games every Friday night at VFW hall? There was a group of us who attended every week – and I’m not going to say just how many years ago that was!

The game benefits the Priest River Chamber of Commerce, and it’s health benefits the town, so put this on your calendar!

The Date: Thursday, December 3

The time: 6 to 9 p.m.

The place: Priest River’s Frank Chapin Senior Center

Wild turkeys in the pasture

This flock has expanded to a little over 3 dozen now, and they pass through my pasture morning and night – heads bobbing down to eat something. Not sure what they’re finding in the now-dry grass, but they look busy.

When they get a little too close to the house the dogs remove them promptly. It’s interesting to see just how high and how far they can fly! I wouldn’t mind them stopping by, except for the “presents” they leave behind.

The turkeys don't usually come this close...

I hear there’s another group of them not far from here, and someone counted 60+.  That’s fun, too. Kind of like trying to count fish swimming in the lake… they never stay still.

It does surprise me that there are so many, because I hear the coyotes often, and they’re close in.  Maybe they stay because they roost in the trees at night.

That’s an interesting sight, as well…when they’re roosting in a Cottonwood it looks like a tree filled with basketballs.

If you or anyone you know is a homeschooling family please see this site for yourselves or pass it on to someone who would benefit. http://www.hubb-bub.com.

Also looking for businesses to sponsor the site and get some advertising space.

Happy Tuesday!
Jamie

Visit NetworkIN CDA: IN the Know! North Idaho & Eastern Washington at: http://www.networkincda.com

Bonner County Homeschool Group is having a family Bonfire Night, Friday Oct 23rd at 6 pm.  We’d really like to meet more homeschooling families in our area!

Come join us.

See our website at www.bchg.webs.com or call Michelle at 208-255-2798 for more info.

…………………

If you homeschool, go and meet like-minded parents and kids. I sure wish something like this had been available way back  when I was homeschooling my kids! I think I was the only “oddball” in town at that time.

http://calljerry.biz/BywayProgress8-09/

In spite of seeing the maps over the years, I didn’t really have a feel for how that road would lay. Seeing it under construction and looking at where it is with relation to other things makes it a lot clearer.

These are from almost 2 months ago… maybe we’ll get lucky and he’ll post new ones before long.

Meanwhile, I’m told that a trip from Priest River to Sandpoint can be a time-consuming proposition right now. Lots of that wonderful waiting at times – so the best advice is to go by Dufort Road or take along a book.

Here’s your chance to help them out – and possibly win a cord of firewood!

I read on the Q-6 weather report that Priest River set a new record this week with an “official” reading of 88 degrees. But someone told me a reader board in town said 92.

Even this morning’s heavy rain turned to heat by mid afternoon.

But I’m not complaining – I’ll just enjoy it while it lasts.

Meanwhile, I’m covering the garden at night and I see that where the covers didn’t quite make it to the edge of the squash plants, they’ve been nipped.