Things my father taught me.

As my siblings and I were growing up, my father was the best teacher in lessons of life. Reading our local paper this week, I stumbled onto an article about being happy. Surround yourself with people who are happy, people who have a positive attitude toward life, people who can laugh. Our father had the best outlook on life, but it came from lessons learned and being true to himself. As I have approached the twilight years (maybe just the afternoon years) of life, I realize that not everyone I meet has a chair at my table. I don't have time or energy in my day for negative people. No longer do I feel guilt for removing them from my life. It is a choice we need to make. It is a choice you need to make and for goodness sake don't feel guilty. You cannot please everyone and you shouldn't. Daddy was not a religious man, but he did live and teach by some pretty good guidelines. He always said "A man is as good as his word." He lived by that. There were lots of other pieces of advice he gave us and he was as good as his word. Some of the things he taught me were:
Don't complain about your spouse to your in-laws. Don't talk about yourself when you meet people and definitely don't talk about your ailments. Everyone has them. Don't complain about your money problems. Don't give your grown children advice unless they ask for it. (This is a sure way to alienate them.) There is no material thing that is more important than your children's love. Things can be replaced, children cannot. Treat others the way you wish to be treated. If you don't vote, don't complain. These are a few....more will follow later. I have siblings with very serious health issues, but they keep a positive attitude and don't spend time dwelling on them and don't bore others with their problems....something no doubt learned from Dad and his outlook on life. So we surround ourselves with people who make us feel good and people who aren't looking for sympathy. I miss my painting groups, they were people who didn't complain and who made me laugh, but they are still at my table. Some very good friends whom I have known forever are still at my table. Daddy was an honest man, a hard working soul, but he knew how to have fun and knew how to laugh. He was not a complainer. Now for these confusing pictures. I have been painting the floor in my craft room. I am not sure how these pictures will come out but there are three which will show the contrast in the bare cement and the finished gridded squares. I marked 18 inch squares to resemble tiles. They were masked and then painted with a contrasting paint. I uses floor paint and it was odorless and dried fast. Where all of the branches are, were the inevitable cracks in a cement floor. I added leaves and a few stenciled flowers. I normally wouldn't stencil, but this was a pretty monumental project and quite frankly, I was tired of the whole thing. However, I must say that I am really pleased with the final result. Will post another picture later.