Empirious pearlz of honest to goodness service!

An Honest Mechanic - you can find one, very much so! We've been going to the same one for years! In all reality he resurrected both of our cars from the dead; one by one he returned them to us in working order. We have been with him ever since. If something mysterious is going on, he'll find. He doesn't nickel and dime us. He's up front and he does good work. Even our children will drop their cars by there for a look see. Joe's Stop Brake Shop has been the salvation of our transportation, and he's saved too, letting his walk be his talk.

I'm so comfortable going to Turn 'n Headz to get my hair done - its like a mental vacation and a pleasant walk into the warmth and comraderie of Barber Shop. In reality I'm usually there early in the morning with Lynn, and I've seen her do short hair, long hair, cuts, color and weaves. I relax with a cup of coffee while she restores me, whether its a casual look or to 'the nines', to my best lookin' me - outside and inside . Her hands are gifted and she has an eye for style and her company is a breath of fresh air. I look forward to going. She is not only my stylist, she's a blessing and my friend! My son even goes to the shop to have a barber cut. I like that the stylists have skillz, and especially take particular care about their work and don't just turn around customers. I've seen them give their customers the best hair care advice, whether or not it was to their own profit. More than likely, if there's something you want to achieve, the Shop does it and more! Now if you want to top off your day just right, go next door to Moe's Chicken and Waffles - its a warm and friendly family owned business with some good food!

Finally on the hundred degree day, I am really grateful we found our spa. Today, we needed a part, called them up, and were able to go right over to pick it up. Being me, I had a few what about if this happens questions, and they amiably gave us the answers we needed. In the state of the economy some spa retailers are folding, but the strength of their service and customer feedback keeps them open. And you can pretty much custom order the design of your spa. If you are looking for that massage from a hard day or just the quiet gentle motion of water on a starry night, they have the jacuzzi. We actually saw what we would like to step up to - the swim spa. It was nice and the price was nice. Even if you don't buy there, you'll have the standard from which you'll make your decision. If you buy somewhere else, you'll end up remembering you didn't buy there ;-). Where? Spas Plus in Colton! Go for the warm and informed customer service and the spa you always wanted!

I went to two of these treasures today and felt moved to share all these gems with you. If you're guessing what the second was, let me just say I am not looking my best today. At any rate, if you check any of these Inland Empire businesses out, let them know you heard about these pearlz from Shelz!

weighty words ...

Being a critic is by nature something we do with regard to things we are most familiar with and most appreciative of the best. In watching Ratatouille this month, I appreciated this quote about the work of criticism:

"In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face is that, in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. Last night, I experienced something new, an extraordinary meal from a singularly unexpected source. To say that both the meal and its maker have challenged my preconceptions is a gross understatement. They have rocked me to my core. In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for Chef Gusteau's famous motto: Anyone can cook. But I realize that only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere. It is difficult to imagine more humble origins than those of the genius now cooking at Gusteau's, who is, in this critic's opinion, nothing less than the finest chef in France. I will be returning to Gusteau's soon, hungry for more."

Our words and opinions are often weighed toward things of little significance and not given to things of true measure. Anyone can tear down, but the skill to build is finer!

"I come to the garden alone ...

While the dew is still on the roses
and the voice so clear whispers in my ear
The Son of God discloses.

[refrain]
And He walks with me
And He talks with me
And He tells me I am His own
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known."

I have to find the sheetmusic for that song - it was a favorite of my mom's; I was re-acquainted with it last week at our women's study. I had not previously read any Max Lucado, but I am certainly impressed with Cure for the Common Life. It was in the book's chapter 11 - Take This Job and Love It - that our study engaged in. Among other story points, it reflects on two workers (a successful crowd attention grabbing messenger and a no net worth frustrated fisherman), in the book of Luke, by the Sea of Galilee; and it brings about a forced interflection on one's own attitude. It is well worth the reading, regardless of one's calling or the source of one's paycheck in life. Lucado's words and especially their message and the precious words of that song, He Walks With Me (In the Garden), resonated with me. I was reminded that even knee deep in mire, I am in the garden of His love. Where are you right now? ... take time to smell the roses ... Come to the garden!

"He speaks, and the sound of His voice,
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing."

[Refrain]

Wherever we are, work or whatever, the questions continually begs if His voice is calling, are we listening? is our response obedient? are we answering 'Yes, Lord"?

"I’d stay in the garden with Him
Though the night around me be falling,
But He bids me go; through the voice of woe
His voice to me is calling."

[Refrain]

A Hiro by any other name …

Another form of relaxation I’ve mentioned has been watching TV series DVDs – we’ve been catching up on Stargate SG-1 again and have now taken up a new one – Heroes. I didn’t know what to expect – figuring something along the lines of some heroic feat being featured every week. Wow – the show is a hit as R. Charles might say. We started it (a marathon of sorts) over the Labor holiday weekend and have been captivated. I particularly like all of the allusions superhero, sci-fi, and otherwise – the writer in me is quite pleased to now look for references to Star Trek, Superman, and the like. From IMDB, I’ve noticed a lot of the cast have cross paths on other shows ["Touched by an Angel", "Gilmore Girls", "The Guiding Light", "Days of Our Lives", "24", 7th Heaven", "Numb3rs", "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation", "ER"; among a quite extensive list] – possibly picked for someone having known them at a particular time and place. They have made very good character choices – the ones you lose you hate to see go – no one seems dispensible. A long ago "Dynasty" fan, I found that the Heroes character Mr. Bennet (Jack Coleman) was the young Steven Carrington back then – you can see it in his eyes! You’ll probably remember the little boy Micah from the delightfully mystical Lady in the Water. Anyway to say the least, Heroes is a pearl of a series! DVD sets for new seasons for Atlantis and Smallville are on the near horizon!

RMR's lit'rary reviews

_{excerpted from RMRodriguez; christian daughter, wife,
student, writer, tyrtle expert, and cinema/lit'rary critic (of
the infamous RRod [Gable] & RNorm [Bogey] opposition)}

"i read a whole book in a day (approx. 350pgs). it was called kite runner, good book!--about a boy growing up in afghanistan and his relationship with his father and his servant whose the same age as him. and i read a lesson before dying, on friday and satuday. and over the previous two weeks before that i read the sin eater. which is by francine rivers. i think you'd like her writing (must reads--Redeeming Love, and the Mark of the Lion series). i do. but i must say the sin eater is one of my least favorite. in the end it was worth while, but it took 200pgs before it started to really grab me. oh, and b4 that i read Lying on the couch, fictional book about counseling, written by a psychologist. the title is a play on words layin down and tellin lies. and i learned 6 new words reading it-- skein, avuncular, nihilism (which i was vaguely familiar with), sophistry (i like that one), genuflect, excoriate (i like that one 2). i wanted to read another of his, but they don't have any at the library. so, now i'm starting A Map of the World. We'll see how that goes. I think you'd really like the Red Tent and the Time Travelers Wife too."

Maydays!

Mayday Mayday Mayday! Where is the time going? The youngest has about 8 weeks left in the second grade (applause) - we did not like that teacher (military school for free).

A turtle risked life and shell to enter our yard this weekend. To its dismay, our dogs were very entertained when the kids came to its rescue. 'To keep or not to keep' now is the question - whether it is too costly or troublesome to give the youngest the pleasure of having a turtle and where did it come from anyway? I spent the lunch hour addressing such questions at PETCO. Of course a naming process has began -- turk? Slider? - anything but Shell!

The giant went to an Orange County auction and bought a car - yippee! We've been sharing mine of late.

Getting back to my blog title, the phrase, first used on May 1st, 1927, comes from Mayday which wiki says "is an emergency code word used internationally as a distress signal in voice procedure radio communications, derived from the French m'aider, meaning "help me." It is used to signal a life-threatening emergency by many groups, such as police forces, pilots, the fire brigade, and transportation organizations. The call is always given three times in a row ("Mayday Mayday Mayday") to prevent mistaking it for some similar-sounding phrase under noisy conditions, and to distinguish an actual mayday call from a message about a mayday call.

The holiday, May Day, itself is May 1, and refers to any of several holidays celebrated on this day. May 1 was a traditional summer holiday in many pre-Christian European pagan cultures, and many elements of these holidays are still celebrated on May 1 today, such as the Maypole. While February 1 was the first day of Spring, May 1 was the first day of summer: hence, the summer solstice on June 25 (now June 21) was "midsummer."

Besides the two major May holidays, Mothers Day and Memorial Day and Believer's Ascension Day (17th) and Pentecost (27th), also proclaimed for commemoration this month are Cinco de Mayo and Armed Forces Day (20th).

I've been struggling a bit with motivation which reminds me of a word from one of our daughters (and she knows who she is) - disencouraged. I like it! Thanks be to the Lord (not the lord that Sara called her hubbi) and the husband, I've been able to push past these feelings enough to keep on my program.

On the movie tip, we recently enjoyed 'Corpse Bride' - I liked it, 'Night at the Museum' - I loved it, and 'Deja Vu' in which it was great to see work from Erika Alexander from the "The Cosby Show". The movie was very captivating, in some ways reminiscent of Denzel's the 'The Bone Collector' and appears to have similarities to Cage's movie. We shall see. Meanwhile the husband bought me 'Beauty Shop ' with Queen Latifah and an 'old school' cast with people I haven't seen in awhile (from "Martin" Laura Hayes, 'the Cosby Show' Keshia Knight Pulliam, "The Jamie Foxx Show" Sherri Shepherd, and others)t o give a 'looksee'. Meanwhile we are so behind on '24' and all of our sci-fi regulars, not to mention movies we've purchased.

I'll try not to be a stranger. You too okay?

Twinkie, Twinkie, little triv...

this is so out of left field and have nothing to do with price of tea in China but I guess appropriate to the day! I learned what a twinkie defense was

"a derogatory term for a criminal defendant's claim that some unusual factor (such as allergies, coffee, nicotine, or sugar) diminished the defendant's responsibility for the alleged crime. The term arose from the trial of Dan White, who was convicted in the fatal shootings of San Francisco mayor George Moscone and city supervisor Harvey Milk.... (Compare Chewbacca Defense - here's an audio.)

and everything and more (or not!) you'd ever want to know about the Twinkie invented on April 6, 1930!

sun downer

Don't let the sun set upon your wrath.

Well my question at times is - where to put it? I could sweep it under the rug or proverbial mattress. Would I be able to sleep then? More than likely it would resemble the Princess and the Pea - and be disturbing as long as it was there - so ultimately no solution.

I was listening to a radio station this morning (KSGN 89.7) and the program airing suggested to place the wrath in forgiveness. Hardly seems fair does it? I need to have it, savor it, feel justified with it.

But think - at least my thinking became:

• In this way you can give the problem an identification - what is the problem. This situation went down, and this happened, and this is how I feel about it.
• You can give it ownership, even shared - they did this; I did that; and this was beyond anyone's control.
• Now you can determine what you are going to do with your part. I will work on my behavior when these circumstances occur.
• You can share your difficulty with the other person as to these circumstances. Now (personally, I wouldn't because I haven't overcome my nature to be the introvert and just stuff everything inside); don't be like me.
  
• At this point you can decide to forgive, one - yourself, two - any others. Therein lies the freedom to let the sun set.

Sure - we can't change others, but we can go on with our life even if we have to be around them. Admittedly this is simplistic, but essentially the process. With the circumstances placed in forgiveness, we can approach what lies ahead with a more beneficial attitude which will enable me to pray for the situation and all involved with a right spirit and mind.

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. _{From PSALM 51}

It was through the Lord's forgiveness that I am continuously renewed. I am going to practice that forgiveness. Surely mine will be so meager by comparison; but it's funny how its me who benefits most in the end.

Go ahead sun, make your appointed rounds; I'm ready for you today.

at Hello!

"So ... tell me how you met your wife."
"Oh", smiling, "well that's a funny story. See, one Christmas my young son, being concerned about how I was dealing with the death of his mom, calls a talk radio show to discuss it with them. To make a long story short a host of mail resulted from the airing, and my son fixed upon one particular responder. After a series of events he set in motion we met, she and I, on Valentine's Day atop the Empire State Building" - _{hypothetical conversation with the Sam Baldwin in Sleepless in Seattle.}

Sleepless is most definitely a frequent viewer for any romantic. I have no idea why I didn't mention this in my Affair to Remember coverage. If someone were to inquire of me, "how often can you watch this movie;" I'd clarify "in a day?" While simply falling in love with the story in its entirety, box of kleenex by my side, I too thoroughly enjoy the timelessly romantic soundtrack. Another such sountrack is the one to One Fine Day also from a delightful romantic comedy, not based at Christmas.

But to get to my point, there's a dialogue in Sleepless where Rosie O'Donnell - the best friend - having been told that 'boy met girl' and boy said 'hello,' asks Meg Ryan what did she say - She tells her with dismay, she could only say to Tom Hanks 'hello'. They flash to the scene in Affair to Remember to witness this exchange between Carey Grant and Deborah Kerr as she also says as Terry McKay: And all I could say was, "hello". (Watch the movie - really!) I was reminded in that moment of another 'hello' with Renee Zellweger and another Tom - Cruise, in Jerry Maguire (1996). There you have have this discourse that ends with:

Jerry: I love you. You... complete me.
Dorothy: Shut up. Just shut up. You had me at "hello".

I conclude, romantically 'hello' can say everything!

on Yom Kippur

The dahli (under my "Bloggin Buddies ..." in the left column) has a post on Yom Kippur that is well worth the read - check it out. All of the Jewish feasts point to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Another good site is Biblical Holidays; enjoy!

the jury is still out ...

Judging and perceiving who is right and who is wrong and ill feeling conversation brought this to mind. The one who judges will say they are right; while for the perceiver, it often seems the jury is still out, leaving the judger to conclude that the perceiver is blind to the obvious truth. But is that the case? Isn't Godly knowledge, wisdom, and discernment not so cut and dried?

For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; Col 1:9

Was Solomon's reasoning so simplistic when he decided over the two women claiming one live baby? Still the perceiver is considered the fool and the procrastinator. Kiersey and Briggs and Myers personality charts characterize these two traits - I see good and bad in both - hey, but then I am a perceiver... so l guess the jury is still out. A Kiersey verdict:

If I do not want what you want, please try not to tell me that my want is wrong. Or if I believe other than you, at least pause before you correct my view. Or if my emotion is less than yours, or more, given the same circumstances, try not to ask me to feel more strongly or weakly. Or yet if I act, or fail to act, in the manner of your design for action, let me be.
I do not, for the moment at least, ask you to understand me.That will come only when you are willing to give up changing me into a copy of you.I may be your spouse, your parent, your offsping, your friend, or your colleague. If you will allow me any of my own wants,or emotions, or beliefs, or actions, then you open yourself, so that some day these ways of mine might not seem so wrong, and might finally appear to you as right -- for me. To put up with me is the first step to understanding me. Not that you embrace my ways as right for you, but that you are no longer irritated or disappointed with me for my seeming waywardness. And in understanding me you might come to prize my differences from you, and, far from seeking to change me, preserve and even nurture those differences.

"Let's call this what it is ..."

There are a lot of movies out there from which one can draw thoughts about marriage, a favorite subject of mine. The one l have currently been watching over and over and over again - just ask my husband - is Mr. And Mrs. Smith (M&MS) with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie - as an aside, the one celebrity couple l am presently caught up with (I Know, I know!). Vince Vaughn also adds much to the movie who, oddly enough, is currently rumored to be with Brad's former wife - Jennifer Aniston. Also did you know (I wasn't aware) there are other M&MS films - 1941, 1996 TV Series and TV-Series 2007-????

Anyways (my word, hmmmm... or maybe our eldest daughter's - who said this movie is more like War of the Roses) - again, anyways that being neither here nor there, the movie is a theatrical anatomy of a marriage relationship - you meet, you develop a set of assumptions from which you determine the basis of a relationship, the assumptions get tested and, God willing, you re-evaluate and make any needed adjustments.

"We are going to have to redo every conversation we ever had".

The chemistry between the couple makes the movie very much enjoyable for me - which is what caused me to be intrigued by the acting couple. I have read critics who didn't like the movie but I particularly found the banter delightful - check it out for yourself. Hope you enjoy!

Rosie (Mishelle)'s & John's Anniversary

Our eldest has been married 3 years now. They would equally be glad to tell you that tomorrow will be the anniversary of the beginning of their relationship - such symmetrical synchronism sigh. A year ago she and he moved out-of-state and now they almost have their hands on a house. They've had their struggles, isn't that the way of it; but they stick! They generally have a positive and humorous outlook on life as they rely upon the Lord to guide them.

Lord bless them that their stick always sticks and that they ever look to you as their all-in-all. As my husband often (and I mean often) recites

"And if a man prevail against him that is alone, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken."

Lord wrap yourself around them all the days of their lives.

Happy Anniversary Rosie and John!