COURAGE

It 

Takes 

Courage

To Believe 

That

The Best

Is Yet

To Come

Robin Roberts

WINTER CHANGES EVERYTHING

As I drove through Kentucky and Tennessee yesterday, I was surprised and delighted to see how different things look in the winter. 

Farmers fields, affected by the Kentucky flooding looked like river ways rather than hibernation plots. The forest topography seen through the snowy woods was now 3D and you could see the sharp stone cliffs that usually disappear in the foliage. 

I am fascinated by the water that freezes from between layers of rock along highways creating ice icicles. Decorating the edge of the highway so elegantly. 

I love to see all the trees, the evergreens, surrounding by leafless sentinels, some bare, some sporting snow shawls. Silent and majestic. 

 I also love the ponds, in various degrees of frozen states. It’s all just magical to me. 

Then there are the animals! Yesterday I saw a farm with more than a dozen Shetland Ponies! They were darling! 

I saw a farm with Bison! (They have been a favorite since I was little.)

There was one field that had something in it, but I wasn’t sure just what. 

I drove slow so I could see. I thought they were turkeys, but I had never seen so many. There had to be about three dozen. As I got close enough to be sure, and there was Tom right in the center of his close knit community with his tail feathers all on display. He was huge! I was very impressed!

I saw squirrels at the lake. I am always surprised at how different squirrels look wherever you go. 

And I passed fields with groups of deer. So many! 

I was glad to see them. They tell me ‘it’s a perfect day’. They’re so beautiful.

I was also very glad they weren’t too near the roads I was driving!

 This girl from the desert may never tire of all Mid West Winter Wonders! 

It was a PERFECT DAY!

SOMEWHERE NEW TO ME

GALLATIN, TENNESSEE 

EVERY WINTER

Every winter I start day dreaming about growing a garden. In years past I have had very successful little gardens, and I have enjoyed them so very much. 

Last year I didn’t do one at all.

This year I’m going to do things in a new direction. I have been sprouting some garlic and and green onions on my kitchen windowsill for the past week. So today I put them in soil. 

I have ordered some new lids for growing sprouts (I love sprouts on my salads) and I am ready to put in an order for micro-green seeds.

I have been saving other seeds for a long time, so I need to pick and choose just what I want to grow. 

This year I’ll work on planting companion planting to see if that will help my garden little grow. 

It’s the end of February and I’m starting to garden, I’m excited!!!

REGRET

I don’t have any regret. 

That is something 

I live by. 

Everything in my life brought me to 

who I am right now.

And I love this version 

Of Me!

AMJ

JOHN IN EUROPE

https://brilliantmaps.com/john-europe/?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter&user_id=66c4bf685d78644b3aa504c9

A LONG COLD WORK WEEK

 It’s been a long cold week. The office has been busy, and I’m grateful for that. But we are short staffed, so there just isn’t enough time to get everything taken care of. My job is done behind a desk, but there are about a million components to each file that I have to be on top of to make them run smoothly. Computer work, paperwork, phone calls, more phone calls, getting docs signed. There is no time to do the extra stuff the company wants done, the new training, new phone systems, new onboarding systems, experience modules. Heck, I took my mandatory lunch at 4pm yesterday, it was my first free moment of the day, and I worked through that. Then clocked out 30 minutes late because I had so many client files open on my system. I like my job, but it’s tough, it makes my brain tired. I’m not in love with the company I work for, at all. But I enjoy what I do. It challenges me. But I fell asleep on the sofa more than one night this week. And it’s been super cold. 

This Travel Agent is dreaming of a Vacation!

7:32am

SNOW DAY

ARIZONA DESERT

My friend Kyle was doing a family camp out / hunt in the Arizona desert. They found a tortoise shell. Rather unusual for the desert, but pretty interesting!

WORD OF THE DAY

POOLINGUAL: A person who speaks fluent bullshit.

HUMAN MEDICINE

Some people are human medicine. You spend an hour with them and everything feels better.

I am blessed to have a couple of these people 

in my life. 

They are truly the 

very best medicine!

MY BEST VALENTINE

BEST STORY EVER TOLD

Take pictures of everything.

Tell people you love them.

Strike up a conversation with strangers.

Do the things that scare you. 

Because so many of us leave this world and no one remembers 

a thing we did. 

Make your life the best 

story ever told. 

Don’t waste it!

BE MINE

CONFORM

“One of the wonderful things about getting older is that I don’t have to conform. I don’t need to fit in, nor do I need to prove a damn thing to anybody.” 

Alton Brown

FRAUD CASE

Two days before Christmas I got an email from Kohl’s letting me know that my order was ready. But by the time I read my emails I also had one that said that my order had been shipped. 

I hadn’t ordered anything.

Yet… a 10 inch Twin Extra Long Mattress in a Box was being sent to my house. 

WHAT!!!

As soon as I read the emails I called Kohls.

I was told that my card would be cancelled and a fraud case would be opened. I would need to wait for 60 days for a letter from the fraud department.

Like I said, this was two days before Christmas. My head was all over the place. But the day after Christmas I called back to Kohl’s, because the man I had spoken to never said anything about this package that was still en route to my home. 

The woman that I spoke to on call number 2 said that NO fraud case had been opened. 

WHAT?!!!!!

She said she would start the fraud case. I would need to keep the package once it was delivered (no I could not just take it to the local Kohls store and get a refund) and wait for the fraud letter that would come within 60 days. And I would not need to make a payment until the fraud case is determined.

January 6th a large box was delivered and there it lived, in my small entry for far too long. 

The first week in February 

I get a call from the collection department at Kohls. 

They want to know why I have not made a payment. 

I was speaking to Maggy this time. 

I’m sure that wasn’t her given name.

And she got to hear the entire story. And she said… there is NO FRAUD CASE HERE. 

WHAT?

She told me she would open a fraud case for me. I will get a letter in 60 days. 

But yes, I should take the package to the store and get a refund. 

So that night, after work I took the large box to the Kohl’s store and the sweet manager was happy to help me. But when she tried to ring up the refund, she could only ring up a portion of it… because…

It wasn’t as I had thought, it wasn’t some thoughtless person who used my account to buy a mattress and was not smart enough to not ship it to my address. Nope!

They didn’t want the $635.00 mattress. They wanted the $129.00 of Kohls Cash that they got automatically. 

(It didn’t come to me, even though it was my account, it went to them)

So

The store manager called the fraud team and they said… there is no fraud case on this.

I KID YOU NOT!

He said he would open the fraud case and I would get a letter with in 60 days.

 I wanted to cry. 

I left the box with the store manager but did not get the refund. 

The store manager gave me the phone number for the fraud department. And told me she would be back in the store in two days. 

The next day I called the fraud number, just because I could. 

And the girl I spoke with told me that there was  NO FRAUDE REPORT 

So I asked to a manager. 

After requesting a manager for over 10 minutes 

I got Laura. 

She had a lovely British accent. 

Her attitude was far from lovely.

 She also told me there was 

No Fraud Case.

 She got my entire story. 

She told me to go to the store and get the refund I could get and the remainder would be at the mercy of the FRAUD CASE! 

I told her that I was sorry but I did not trust her that there was truly now going to be a FRAUD CASE!

The following day I called the store manager, she ran the refund to my card… and the entire amount was refunded to my account. I was shocked and so was the store manager. 

I love Kohl’s but I will never have a Kohl’s account again. 

Ever!

I would like to teach all their fraud department where they could put their FRAUD CASE!!!

VS

Co-Workers VS Friends

I worked in my last office for 10 years. I can say that all those that I worked with except one, were friends. 

I would have been there for any of them in a crisis outside the office. I associate with all of them outside business hours. I liked most of them. 

But there was one, who made it a point to say, for all ten years, that she wasn’t there for friends she was there for a paycheck. 

I think that was pretty sad. She and I had more in common than I had in common with anyone else at that office. But we were not friends. 

Last year, I moved to a new office. It’s small. I have nothing in common with my coworkers. But my direct coworker is my friend. 

Being someone’s friend is a choice. 

When you spend more time with your coworkers than you do your family, I think it would be nice to be their friends, not just someone you share office equipment with. 

Just my thoughts.

THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING

Optimists tend to explain bad events as due to a temporary external cause and have a generally positive view of life’s ups and downs. Because optimists tend to actively engage in planning and problem solving, they may experience less anxiety and stress than pessimists. Research suggests that positive thinking and optimism can impact health. Positive emotions are associated with a decreased production of the stress hormone cortisol, along with improved immune function, and reduced disease risk. Even simple laughter may boost immunity, relieve pain, lower stress, and help protect against heart disease by lowering blood pressure.

Dr Weil

https://www.drweil.com/blog/health-tips/optimism-gratitude-the-power-of-positive-thinking/?utm_campaign=Daily%20Tip%2002122025&utm_content=Daily%20Tip%2002122025%20CID_8cbede8af74e42cc55d4c83b518b1129&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Email&utm_term=The%20Power%20Of%20Positivity

JUST GO

Stop asking for directions from people who’ve never been where you’re going. 

Just go!

LETS WONDER

     The more I wonder…

the more I love.

Alice Walker

DISTRACTION

$1M Dam Project in 2 Days

Beavers know a thing or two about efficiency — and this story is evidence of that. Last week, a beaver colony in the Brdy region of the Czech Republic cut out the middlemen and built several dams right where they were needed, all in the span of about two days. For context, the local government had a plan in the works since 2018 to restore waterways in the area, but the animals essentially beat them to it.
​
“They built the dams without any project documentation and for free,” Bohumil Fišer, head of the Brdy Protected Landscape Area Administration, said in a translated statement, per Radio Prague International. He added that the beavers saved the government around 30 million Czech crowns — the equivalent of $1.2 million.
​
The beavers’ craftwork will go a long way, benefiting the rare stone crayfish, frogs, and other wetland species. “Beavers always know best,” added Jaroslav Obermajer, head of the Central Bohemian Office of the Czech Nature and Landscape Protection Agency. “The places where they build dams are always chosen just right — better than when we design it on paper.”

Nice News

GIRL TIME

Thank you to Brenda and Jessica for putting on a wonderful girls event. I so needed this.