Only God Knows the Truth

For those of you who have missed my inspirational blog (LOL) . . . I apologize . . . recently I learned that I'll be soon joining one of the masses of unemployed. Yes, my dream job has been eliminated due to the economy. It's taken me a bit to get used to the fact that I will soon be included in those numbers that you hear on the nightly news: 'Unemployment has reached an all time high' . . . I know that everything happens for a reason but honestly I'm frightened sick of the unknown. I keep practicing my 'elevator speech' and who knows, perhaps McDonald's will be the lucky winner of my undying dedication and dynamic work ethic!! So, I was thinking about that and the numerous other things that are rattling around in my head on the way into work this morning - when I pulled into traffic from my neighborhood I found myself behind a huge dump truck with this inspirational phrase painted on its lift gate in huge lettering:

ONLY GOD KNOW'S THE TRUTH

So at first I thought that God was trying to get my attention (as it's easily diverted these days) and then I chuckled . . . KNOW'S??? . . . why didn't anyone catch the typo (knows - plural)? I'm thinking that someone had to come up with the awesome idea then propose it to the boss and then to the sign company and along the way no one caught the error? Or, just maybe it was intentional so that it would stick in one's brain for a long, long time like those awful songs that just won't quit? Bye, Bye Miss American Pie . . .

OK, so here's some other signage errors that bug me:

We Rent Harley's . . . they rent Harley's what? His house, his dog, what?
Adult Video's . . . now granted, those that frequent those stores probably don't care about
grammar but??

So, I'm on a quest now -- the self ordained grammar police. Let me know if you find any to add to my collection :-)

Save the Date! -- Zarling Heritage Family Reunion

Whew! I just finished addressing the last 'Save the Date' postcard for the reunion. I thought it would be a great idea to get these cute postcards so people could start planning months before the reunion . . . however, I didn't count on having to manually write the invitation and address information on each one! And, the fact that my favorite Pilot Precise V5 smeared too easily on the cards was quite disappointing. Which accounted to a level of frustration equal to 400 cards!! So, I did it like a game . . . address 10 and then rewarded myself with something more fun than addressing postcards (folding laundry, doing the dishes, anything!) . . . address 10 more and I earned an Easter Peep . . . address 10 more and I'd be done for the day. I certainly won't do this again!

The reunion is scheduled for July 18th at our church in Menomonee Falls. The rental cost ($25) and location (2 blocks away from the house) and the fact that there's plenty of room to spread out for various workshops made this choice quite appealing. We have always had some family members that are interested in genealogy and some that are not and n're the two should meet kind of stuff going on . . . cousin Dale puts on a great fire safety program and this year we're going to teach the kids the games and toys that we played with as kids -- no batteries included. I've got some more ideas formulating and am looking forward to pulling it all together so stayed tuned!

Cats! Cats! Cats!

Christie and Kent surprised Kent's mother, Jane, and myself to see the musical, 'Cats' on Saturday afternoon. The show was magnificent!! I would gladly see it again (hint, hint). Christie wouldn't go down with me to meet the cast but I cut out the picture of the cat that I wanted to take home with me (ha ha) and put it on my inspiration board in my office. There is quite the story line that goes along with the musical and now after reading up on it I think I'll enjoy the show even more (hint, hint).

Afterward Christie and Kent treated Jane and me to dinner at their favorite Ethopian restaurant downtown. Eating Ethopian food is certainly an experience; no utensils, no salt & pepper, just fine food, surrounded by a great authentic atmosphere.

Later I enjoyed a cup of coffee at their house while listening to Kent's new record player. For Christmas I bought him the albums that were mine and Gregg's most favorite when we were young -- Gregg's was the Carpenters, Close to Me and mine was The Who, Who's Next . . . what's that they say about opposites attracting? It was wonderful to sit back and chill to some great music while watching their three unique cats romp through the house. Little Stewie is a riot -- always checking stuff out and picking on old Mac. Mac stands his ground though and lets Stewie know that he doesn't appreciate being nipped at when he walks by; Stewie takes it all in and then tries it again. Buster comes out when he thinks that Stewie isn't around to bug him and bingo! Stewie jumps at him from behind the couch, they wrestle on the ground and then Buster runs back for cover. Christie has her own 'Jellicle Cat' tribe alright!

Manny's 12th Birthday!

Manny and his 'dirt cake' that our uber creative Christie made for him -- it came complete with worms (gummy ones). He loved it!

My uber talented son-in-law, Kent, drew Manny this awesome card for his birthday. Christie and Kent found some of his favorites: a Simpson's tshirt (similar to the picture of all the characters that Kent drew and has displayed in their diningroom), a knight and a dragon. As he described it, 'SWEET'!


Wow, twelve years! How fast that time has gone by; how many memories have filled those days! Manny often asks me to tell him the story of the day that he was born. Gma Zarling was his mom's coach, I was the chief photographer, Gregg and Christie waited in the hall, and Juan (his dad) was there to be the first to welcome him into the world. We spent the night in the hospital on chairs; I'm not really sure that we slept at all. It was the most magnificent sight to see the glory of God's blessing (rather than being the participant)! Juan cut the cord and then held him in his arms and cried with such joy and amazement. We all immediately fell in love with this little guy and had no idea what an impact on our lives that he would have.


Manny is an artistically gifted child; he sees the world differently, in a visual sense. Seeing the world through the eyes of an artist has provided me the opportunity to see things differently also. So in that way I've been doubly blessed. Manny just doesn't look at the colors of a sunset; he gives them life. Playing pictionary with him has always been a challenge as my stick animals are completely oblivious to him and his depictions of something takes longer than the egg timer permits. His tremendous gift has at times been difficult for him as his thought patterns aren't the same as other kids his age and as often times happens with gifted children, he exhibits ADHD tendencies. His mother has searched for the best doctors, best therapists, best treatments and with her tenacity he's now doing remarkably well. The weird thing about ADHD is that it's a constant moving target so once Carrie feels that she's got it under control he'll have a growth spurt or some other challenge enters his already busy brain and she has to go back to the drawing board. I've heard that once he passes through puberty this constant change won't be as apparent and I pray that will be a smooth transition! For now though, we have learned to detect the signs of an imminent melt-down and attempt to redirect him to more positive feelings.


Do I wish that things were different for him? Yes, and no. He leads a very rich life in ways that are difficult to describe. I am blessed with the fact that God chose to give him to US.