Sandi Chats

Last Saturday morning found us hurriedly packing food and clothing and other supplies into the camper for a trip to Lakeside, Nebraska. This was our postponed 4th of July trip that didn't pan out this year due to the holiday landing in the middle of the week and work schedules, etc. We always look forward to our summer trip to Lakeside where we do NOTHING.  And I mean NOTHING. We don't even go get our snacks and drinks, we ask the kids to bring them to us. Well this year didn't disappoint! We arrived to find that the pop-up tent was already "popped up" and all I needed to do was set up my own lawn chair and find a cold drink! So for the remainder of Saturday and all day Sunday we enjoyed sitting in the warm breeze, visiting and watching kids play and trying to keep the dogs from fighting. We had grilled burgers and summer salads and brownies and all sorts of good stuff to eat and drink. It was a very relaxing couple days. However, there was an undercurrent of

 I pledge my head to clearer thinking,   My heart to greater loyalty,   My hands to larger service,   And my health to better living,   For my club, my community, my country, and my world. If you were ever a member of a 4-H Club, you can probably recite the 4-H Pledge from heart. In fact, even to this day, nearly 50 years after being a 4-H member, it still makes it way to the forefront of my mind directly following the Pledge of Allegiance. One evening at Fast Draw, I launched into the 4-H Pledge at the end of the Pledge of Allegiance...and a fair number joined me! If you were a child in the 60's, you were probably a member of a 4-H Club. Locally we had probably about 6-8 4-H Clubs with a combined membership nearing 100 members! 4-H was in vogue! I joined 4-H as soon as I was old enough and stayed in it until later in my high school years. I belonged to the Busy Bees 4-H Club, which was an all-girls club. Consequently, we didn't show cattle, sheep, hogs or hors

I've mentioned in previous blog posts that I love to travel, which is kind of an oxymoron since I'm also a homebody. Curiosity about this great land we live in trumps being a hermit most days. I see on Facebook that many of you are traveling to far away and exotic places. I have looked at pictures from Europe, Alaska and Hawaii, all popular vacation destinations. Alaska isn't totally out of the question as it can be accessed via motor vehicle. But Hawaii and Europe are separated from the continental United States by very large and very deep bodies of water. And, yes, I know you all made it safely there and back, and for that I am very thankful, but no thanks!  This continent we call home, more commonly known as North America, which is also connected to Central America and South America, will likely provide all the travel opportunities I can afford. I have seen only a small percentage of the awesome destinations in the United States, and it's obvious I will never liv

If you've read any of my blogs, you know that I am currently obsessed with Pinterest. It's the big "idea" website where you can customize your boards according to your interests and "pin" websites to them for easy access. If you've never gone there, I would strongly encourage you to do so. I currently have 23 boards with just over 2000 pins. Some of my boards are the usual kinds of things, "gluten free" recipes and tips, "health", "crafts", "Thomas Kinkade" "genealogy", and on and on it goes.  All the things that interest me, with more boards and pins being added regularly. One board that I set up has kind of been a catch all for just general good ideas. I named it "Be A Better Person". This is all the sites that give tips for working smarter, developing better habits and traits, and just generally becoming the person you wish you could be. This is not healthy living, I have another board fo