The Wicker Basket Story

I recently received this in an email from a cousin, and thought I would share it with everyone.


The story is told of an old man who lived on a farm in the mountains of eastern Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning, Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading from his old worn-out Bible. His grandson who wanted to be just like him tried to imitate him in any way he could.

One day the grandson asked, 'Papa, I try to read the Bible just like you but I don't understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bible do?' The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and said, 'Take this old wicker coal basket down to the river and bring back a basket of water.'

The boy did as he was told, even though all the water leaked out before he could get back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, 'You will have to move a little faster next time,' and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the old wicker basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was 'impossible to carry water in a basket,' and he went to get a bucket instead. The old man said, 'I don't want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You can do this. You're just not trying hard enough,' and he went out the door to watch the boy try again.
At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got far at all. The boy scooped the water and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty.. Out of breath, he said, 'See Papa, it's useless!'
'So you think it is useless?' The old man said, 'Look at the basket.'
The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basket looked different. Instead of a dirty old wicker coal basket, it was clean.
'Son, that's what happens when you read the Bible.. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, it will change you from the inside out.'

Moral of the wicker basket story: Take time to read a portion of God's word each day; it will affect you for good even if you don't retain a word.

Happy Halloween!

I had a really nice day off today. The City of Tulsa Public Works dept woke me up this morning when they came to fix the water leak in my driveway. I had to go move my car. We didn't know if the leak was in my driveway or my neighbor's yard, because it was all wet. So they started digging up her yard and worked their way south to my driveway. Turns out it was right in the middle of my driveway! I left around 12:30 and they were still trying to fix the leak. When I got home this evening I had a new gravel driveway. They put gravel on the entire 2-car driveway (which actually holds 4 cars) all the way up to the house, which I've been needing for a long time and couldn't afford. It's really nice now!

I went to a baby shower at Nicole's house for her friend, Whitney, who just had a baby boy. After the shower Kiamitia and I helped Nicole get into her Halloween costume for the party she and Clay were going to tonight. They went as Marge & Homer Simpson. Her costume turned out really cute. Didn't get to see Clay in his, he wasn't getting ready until the last minute.

After I got home, I went out to eat at Cracker Barrel with Jack then we went to Promenade Mall to walk around and he did some Christmas shopping. Now I'm exhausted! Ha!

Jack's SURPRISE 50th Birthday Party

Everyone had a great time tonight at Jack's Surprise 50th Birthday Party at Ricardo's. We even managed to keep it a surprise from him. It was fun seeing his family & best friend, David McDonough, again and hearing stories about when they were kids and all the crazy things they did together. David even had cassette recordings of them from 1974, when they were about 13-14 years old. It was funny hearing them at that age. Jack even serenaded us on the tape by singing "Take the ribbon from your hair...shake it loose and let it fall."  :o)

His daughter, Maria, made a really cool book for him with pictures from throughout the years, and she asked everyone to answer questions about him and describe him in 5 words, which she included in the book.

The food was wonderful and we can't wait to go back again!

Happy 50th Jack!

Tomorrow, Oct. 5th, is my good friend, Jack McKenzie's 50th birthday! I fixed him a huge pan of my lasagna tonight, along with salad and garlic cheese bread. He kept saying, "I'm stuffed" as he went back for more! LOL! I didn't get around to fixing anything for dessert. I'll come up with something tomorrow. We were too stuffed for dessert tonight anyway. He started partying early (this past Saturday) for his 50th birthday, like I did for mine. :o)  Another friend took him out to lunch on Saturday, then we went to the Tulsa State Fair that night, and out to Riverspirit to listen to a really great band, Another Alibi. Next Saturday, Marcus, Lesa and I are taking him out for dinner for his birthday, too, so he gets to celebrate all week!  =)  Happy 50th Birthday Jack!

Brrrr...I'm not ready for fall weather!

It's 52 degrees right now in Tulsa and it's supposed to get down to 36 degrees tonight with a frost warning! I'm not ready for cold weather! I haven't winterized my house yet. Guess I'll be doing that tomorrow. I also need to try to light my floor furnace, which is a MAJOR ordeal every fall. Every year I say I hope it's my last in this old house, but I never seem to be able to get out of here. I nearly froze to death last winter in here, not to mention high utility bills. I hope it's not as cold this year. At least Sissy is a good lap warmer! :o) It's just kinda hard to reach the keyboard to type with a 15 lb. dog in your lap! :o)

Tulsa State Fair

It's 1:33 a.m. and I just got home from my date with Jack. We went out to the Tulsa State Fair tonight and walked around for about 3 hours (after driving around looking for a place to park for 30 minutes!). We had a good time. I bought 6 new Italian Charms for my bracelet. I ate a Cheese on a Stick, had a lemonade and later ate a pork chop sandwich with Head Country BBQ Sauce on it. Yum!

We sat down to watch the free concert by Katherine McPhee, but weren't too impressed with her, so we left after the first song.

After we left the fair, we drove out to Riverspirit Casino to listen to a band called Another Alibi. The bass player is one of my co-worker's son-in-law. They were really good!  I've been trying to catch one of their shows, but hadn't been able to until tonight.  We got there for the last 3-4 songs of their first set. Jack was really impressed and couldn't believe how good they were. We ended up staying for 2 more sets. They are a cover band that plays Classic Rock. I'll definitely try to go see them again.  It was also entertaining watching people get up and dance. Some were really good, others were pretty funny! We decided we weren't in the mood to dance, but the music was awesome!

Jack's 50th birthday is Tuesday, so I'm cooking him a lasagna dinner tomorrow. He loves my lasagna recipe, and is always asking for it, so that's my gift to him this year. He took me out to eat for my birthday at my favorite place, Lambert's, in Ozark, MO.

Just call me Stitch!

What an evening! Nicole invited me over for dinner after work. We were having chicken enchiladas, guacamole, refried beans & salsa. She came over to mow my yard for me today, so she took Sissy home with her, along with my new food processor I got to make salsa with. She was running to Reasors for 1 last minute thing when I got there, & the enchiladas were almost done, so I said I'd start on the salsa.

I was washing the new food processor and trying to be so careful with the blade to NOT get cut, when it slipped and spun around on me just as I was putting it in the soapy water. It nearly sliced the tip off on my right ring finger!  Clay helped me get a couple of bandaids on it and I left for Urgent Care just as Nicole got home to take the enchiladas out of the oven!

It was gushing blood so badly that I didn't even have to sit in the waiting room, which was full of people waiting to be seen! They took me straight back and started fixing me up. The 2 shots on either side of it HURT LIKE H..L! to get it numbed. After that I felt nothing. I watched the Dr. put 4 stitches in it.

Now I have a HUGE bandage (thanks to Katie's friend, Rae, who works there). :o) I have to keep it dry for 2 days and the big bandage on it, then I should be able to wear a bandaid for the next 10-12 days, 'til my stitches come out. I also can't go back to work until Tuesday.

The anesthetic is starting to wear off and it's starting to hurt. Gonna have to take some Motrin, and quit trying to type.  :o)