the benefits of getting lost

Groovy things are found!

Being directionally challenged, I tend to get lost ... a lot.   This is not without benefits.

The girl and I ended up in a very different area of the city today, unintentionally.  Snaking our way back to a main artery we saw a Latin American grocery!  I have been looking for (the above) chili salt spice FOREVER so we stopped to check if they had it. Chili salt is sprinkled on fresh fruit and cucumber. They did (!), amongst other delightful things including -  orange blossom honey with honeycomb, in an aesthetically pleasing jar. 

 

It was the best kind of lost.  Grocery store location noted for future reference.

 

If you can get a hold of some of this chili spice, do it!  I was introduced to it at a fruit stall in Los Angeles, and have been an addict ever since.   



extreme anglers

Regarding last post ...Okay, I got it wrong... .it's not a WWF voice, it's the MONSTER JAM voice.

Tonight "Captain Never Happy" was pretty happy : )
The boys have been going fishing
Every.
Single.
Night. .... to keep Never Happy, Happy of course.

This was their score this evening!  Smiles all around.
(oh and they have been saying they are "Extreme Anglers" in the Monster Jam voice of course)

A most interesting day.

In our family we have WWF (world wrestling federation) nicknames for ourselves.
They are as follows; (must be said in WWF aggressive gravelly voice)

the boy - "Captain Never Happy"
the girl - "Truth Stretcher"
daddy - "Dream Crusher"
myself - "Joy Killer"

Joy Killer reared her ugly head today.

My daughter bless her heart, has an out of control entrepreneurial spirit. 
She wants to make money.
And she wants to make it now.
Target date : August 9th, local rodeo garage bake sale table.

I of course am caught up in the hurricane of her schemes ... and can not stop her.
I am along for the ride, whether I like it or not.
In the last two days, I was host to 17 dozen cookies, a bazillion cupcakes, 20 gallons of icing, cake sprinkles sprinkled across my floor....  and needless to say I was a little bit grumpy.  My grumpiness was killing her joy.  She was indeed joyful as she toted her baked goods to the truck, and dreamt of the cash she would make.

I knew my heart wasn't in the right place, and when we prepared to haul the goods into the hall, I sighed a quick prayer, "Lord please let me have the right attitude towards this."

We had to go back and forth between truck and hall, and a gentleman stopped and asked if he could help me carry anything.  Exasperated I looked at him and said, "Yes."  As we walked to the truck I gave him a quick briefing .... "It's my daughter.  She wants to make money to go to Disneyland." 
"Oh that's wonderful!" he exclaimed. "She's a little entrepreneur!" 
I told him how I did not have the right attitude and he went on to say, "Oh no, if she has that drive it has to be encouraged.  The entrepreneurial spirit is what has got me through life.  Please encourage her."  I wanted to tell him right then and there that this encounter was an answer to prayer. 
(An almost immediate answer to prayer.)

I don't know how or in what order his story came tumbling out, but he mentioned that his family got to go to Disneyland and important that was for them, as 3 months after the trip his 11 yr old sister was killed by a drunk driver.  He treasured the memories of his time in Disneyland with his sister. 
It's pretty cool the unexpected ways that God shows up.

I was able to shake Joy Killer, and encourage my daughter as I should have been doing all along.
She made $105.  From experience, if you ever endeavour a bake sale table.... cookies and rice krispie squares - YES - cupcakes NO.

gramps

 

 

 

 This evening.

 

Now I have seen everything.  Gramps wearing a rainbow loom ring.