Thankful List

I am thankful:

1.   Mom bought me a BlackBerry as an early Christmas present and is paying for six months of Boost Mobile service.
2.   I found new collars and leashes for Hope that are very pretty and were extremely reasonably priced.
3.   After being extremely upset, Mom has settled down and is being human again.
4.   I entered over 100 contacts into my BlackBerry and called several people I had not spoken to in ages. It was nice hearing their voices.
5.   I bought several wonderful books at Sam’s Club and Borders.
6.   Laura, Alex’s fiancée, asked me to do the writing inside their wedding invitations.
7.   We have heat to keep us warm as days grow cold.
8.   Hope, my puppy dog, is adorable, sweet, and lovable.
9.   So far, Mom and I have not been physically sick this season.
10. We are staying home for Christmas.
11.  I am blessed beyond all measure by the Lord who loves me and cares for my every need.
12.  My son, Alex, has grown into a wonderful young man who exceeds my expectations with his sterling character.
13.  I have read so many great books this year. 122 and counting.
14.  I cooked for Thanksgiving Day and Mom said it was delicious.
15.  I am content with my life, though it is not glamorous or exciting.

Thankful List

I am thankful:

  1. Last week Borders gave me $15.00 in rewards to spend as I liked.
  2. I met my reading goal of 120 books.
  3. Mom enjoyed the meals I made for Thanksgiving Day.
  4. Laura, Alex’s girlfriend, has called a few times and I have enjoyed talking to her.
  5. Reba’s grandson was born a healthy baby.
  6. Mom bought a new lawnmower.
  7. I have reconnected with many people through facebook.
  8. I am enjoying reading some eBooks on my computer.
  9. I sent my desktop with Leigh to have the data recovered and perhaps it can be repaired.
  10. I bought two new CDs and loaded them on my iPods.

A Poem For Someone Special

Somehow I Just Know

Sometimes I feel you.
I know you are out there
Reaching toward me,
But I cannot see you.

I am only aware
You are waiting
Just as I am here,
Worlds and worlds apart.

One day somehow
Our paths will cross,
We will recognize
One another.

We will find our hearts
Have been searching
For what we can give
Each other.

All the lonely time
Will fade away
While you and I
Are finally together.

Please do not give up
Because I will wait
However long it takes
For you to arrive.

© Jo Ann J. A. Jordan
Thursday, November 25, 2010

Reply to Unsolicited Message on Facebook

This stranger sent me a message on Facebook and I sent him back a very frank reply. I thought some of you might get a laugh out of it. He never replied so I must have had his motives pretty well figured out.

His message follows:

“Hello Beautiful, how are u doing..My name is ******* am just checking on my facebook before,Came across your profile,Huh U look so beautiful and bearing the same name with my Late mother…if you don’t mind Let get to know each other, Are you married or single for now, Am a single funny man,We can be a good friend,my person Email ************ @*****.com hope to hear from you soon You are so Beautiful,
*******.”

My reply follows:

“I am very wary of people who contact me this way and I do not do personal email or chat with strangers. Compliments without more than seeing a little of my profile do not impress me. I know I am not particularly beautiful and tend to think that men who start out like that are after something from the beginning. If you would like to continue to message this way and see if I can come to trust you that is okay, if not, so sorry. I am single, but am not after a relationship. I have quite enough to keep me busy in life without trying to live up to some man’s expectations.

I almost ignored your message, but thought if you could weather my scathing reply that we might become friends. I do not do internet relationships other than friendships, just so we are clear from the outset.

Sincerely,
Jo Ann”

I am not adverse to becoming friends with people on the internet, but I have some doubts about messages like his. If someone wants to communicate with me it helps to use good language skills. If someone is careless about that, I think they are either not very intelligent or have very poor habits, and I find that very unattractive.

What do you think? Was I rude? Should I have been more kind? I would love to have your comments.

Always,
Jo Ann

Thoughts of Gratitude 2010

As the holiday season begins and Thanksgiving comes upon us, my thoughts turn to the blessings God has bestowed through this year and others. I know I am treasured because I am cared for well.

The greatest blessing in my life has been the gift of my family. We are not the happiest and most well rounded of families, but there is a great reservoir of love between us.

Were it not for my mother’s abiding love, I would not have prospered at all. She has always taken care of me, even when I was unable to care for myself. When the outlook for my life was bleakest, she continued in hope, faith, and prayer for me. I often needed shelter and she gave me a home. I needed guidance and she gently led me. She considered my existence worthwhile, even when all others deserted me. I am eternally in her debt.

My brother, James, who died of lung cancer on March 15, 2009, remains my hero. He did not always like me, but his love for me never ceased. He gave many precious hours in an effort to help me when there was trouble in my life. His efforts made things bearable when situations were dire. He stood in as a strong male figure when there was no one else on whom I could depend.

My niece, Carrie Leigh, has been a stalwart friend and confidant when there were few to whom I could turn. She and I have shared our lives much as sisters and I know she will do what she can to bring a smile even in the most desperate times.

My nephew, Jeremy, has taken on the role of protector that James carried for many years. Though he is young, he can be depended on to do his best in times when he is needed.

My sister-in-law, Linda, is not close to me, but she can be kind. There are times she does things to bring the family together that are beyond my skill.

The person who has most blessed my life is my son, Alex. I never knew before I held him on the day of his birth how large was the capacity of love I could feel for another. My life had often seemed worthless, but knowing he depended on me gave me purpose. Even though the responsibility he brought into my life was great, it could not eclipse the joy he gave from the beginning. I have spent years trying to nurture him and give him a good life. My efforts have paid off in that we are the best of friends and he has become a young man of whom I am very proud. I am so very glad God blessed me with the gift of Alex.

When Alex went to Parris Island to become a United States Marine there was a void in my life. One Sunday after church, Mom and I went to Wal-Mart. In the parking lot, we found Shih Tzu puppies for sale. I held one and we went on into the store. I knew I could not really afford a puppy, but Mom encouraged me to get one. That is how Hope came into my world. She is a great blessing to me, because she loves me unconditionally, loyally, and totally. I can also bestow lots of love on her.

I am blessed to live in the United States of America, where freedom exists and there are so many advantages. I am able to worship God as I see fit and I can speak my mind. I am protected from injustice and allowed to follow my dreams. As a creative person, I may write what I have in my heart, draw and paint my vision, and be unafraid of persecution.

God is my strength and source. All I have and am come from His grace. The Lord Jesus is with me in all my days and every situation. When I turn to Him, He will not deny me. If there is anything good that I have accomplished, it was through Christ’s efficacy. I am nothing without God.

I am grateful for a multitude of things. The details I have given today are only a beginning. I hope as you read my note, it brought to mind things for which you are thankful. Maybe if we all enter the season with gratitude it will make these holidays some of the best we have ever experienced.

May many blessings be showered on each of you.

Always,
Jo Ann

Thankful List

I am thankful:

  1. I bought some very good books lately.
  2. The library has had an excellent selection of books recently.
  3. Mom has been doing fairly well.
  4. I have my dog, Hope.
  5. I enjoyed going out with Jana a great deal.
  6. I have had a good time spending some time with Laura, Alex’s girlfriend.
  7. Mom helped me plant the lily bulbs so I will have beautiful flowers to take pictures of come Spring.
  8. I joined Twitter and have found it interesting.
  9. The weather has turned cooler.
  10. Mom bought me a new light jacket and a sweatshirt I adore.

Thankful List

I am thankful:

1.   I downloaded some wonderful ePubs or eBooks to my computer.
2.  I have made some more wonderful connections through Facebook.
3.  It rained here today.
4.  Though there were thunderstorms we had no power outage nor damage from the storm.
5.  Alex is keeping in touch though he is in Djibouti.
6.  I have a comfortable place to live, food to eat, and many things I enjoy.
7.  God is with me and blesses my life.
8.  I have a wonderful puppy dog in Hope to keep me company.
9.  I was able to enjoy listening to some music turned up yesterday.
10. Mom is enjoying the extra channels we have on Directv right now.

Photo of my sweet Hope.

DSC_0124

Another Day, Another Computer Fiasco

I have had some interesting moments with my computers of late.

Thursday, September 30, 2010, I had to call Microsoft Technical Support because Outlook was malfunctioning. After a couple of hours that problem was resolved again. I am not convinced it is permanently resolved, but for the time being it works.

Monday, October 4, 2010, I downloaded Google Chrome. That went well and worked smoothly, but that was the best of my recent adventures in computing. Also on Monday, I had to migrate my blog, Chronicles, from MSN Live Spaces to WordPress. Overall that has worked out okay, except that the photo albums, lists, and links I had on MSN Live Spaces did not migrate. These omissions are not pleasing to me.

Thursday, October 7, 2010, Alex called from Djibouti and informed me my yahoo email account had been hacked. He thought I might have a key-logger on my laptop. I spent a good bit of the day changing passwords on many of the sites I frequent. I also ran Norton scans to find out if there was anything wrong with my laptop which has become my primary computer. I found no problems and am fairly sure the laptop is secure.

Today, October 8, 2010, I turned on the monitor on my desktop computer which was already on and the screen was asking for a boot disk. I turned the computer off because I thought it was just an odd error. I turned it back on and it worked fine until it should have opened the desktop after the Windows loading screen. Instead it rebooted and brought up the HP opening screen. I found out this is called boot-looping and that it could be a software issue or it may be a hard-drive failure. I am hoping my niece’s husband can help me recover the computer from this failure or I will have to take it in to the Geek Squad at Best Buy. I had no printer access with the laptop because it had been networked through the desktop, but I carried the laptop into the bedroom and plugged the printer cable directly into it. That worked, but I knew there was wireless access to the printer, so I called HP Technical Support to get their help setting up the connection. At first they told me my warranty was not active, but they finally verified that it covers my printer. The technician took about three hours to get everything working properly… there were several problems so it took longer than usual.

I sincerely hope that the desktop can be recovered because it has a great deal of programming and data on it that is not accessible any other way.

Hopefully nothing new will go wrong with the laptop, the network, or the printer. I do not think I can deal with another computer related fiasco any time soon.

Always,
Jo Ann

Photograph of Alex in Uniform

This is a picture of my son, Alex, who is a United States Marine. The pictures I had posted on my MSN Space did not transfer here because they were in albums. Alex is currently in Djibouti and expects to be there until sometime in 2011. He is very happy as a Marine and has recently re-enlisted for another five years. He has been in the Corps since June 4, 2006. He has been stationed in Cherry Point, North Carolina, but his station will change to Japan after he returns from Djibouti. I am very proud of him and pray he stays safe.

Always,
Jo Ann

Thankful List

I am thankful:

  1. Alex called Monday from Djibouti and sounded good.
  2. Our trip to bring Alex’s Ranger home from Cherry Point went amazingly well.
  3. We had the dogs groomed on Monday and their appearance is much improved.
  4. Mom has been riding the stationary bicycle and some feeling is coming back in her legs and feet.
  5. The weather is cooler and I am able to walk with Hope more often.
  6. I have bought two new books that I am looking forward to reading.
  7. I downloaded Google Chrome and like the browser.
  8. The heater came on without any problems when I turned it on for the first time this season.
  9. We have a Sam’s Club membership.
  10. My leg and foot are feeling a bit better.