HERE'S TO YOU THURSDAY

It is that day again. What day is that you ask? How can you have forgotten? Drum roll please. It is HERE'S TO YOU THURSDAY, of course! The very best day of the blogging week. It is the precursor to the best day of the work week.

I notice that I actually have some newbies for this event. How exciting! Well, here is what is going down. This is a weekly event. The best (or worst) part is that I am not going to explain why I chose "whatever" footage for each of you. If, you watch your footage and are scratching your head at the end, well that means I didn't do a very good job. However, all is not lost. You can email me at rarichards68@gmail.com and ask me what I was thinking when I chose that particular piece of footage off of youtube and connected it to you. And then I will tell you. Then I will start sending up prayers that I haven't offended the crap out of whoever is on the receiving end of that email....lol. Because, honestly, I will tell you right now... I admire all of you enormously so I really hope that doesn't happen.

Also, this is not an exclusive venture by any means. I hope that you will take the time to watch ALL of the footage because I don't pick bad footage:-) I also hope that you might check out the blog of the person I dedicated the footage to because they are pretty darn awesome. If you haven't figured this out yet... I pick the footage based on something that you've written or something that I've gleaned from your personality. Think on that for a while... If you are having trouble watching the entire video (meaning it is being cut off on one side), click on it a couple of times and it will take you straight over to youtube. If you click on the four squares at the bottom corner of the video, it will enlarge it to fill your screen. The escape key will bring it back to normal size. The back arrow will bring you back to my page. Of course, you will have to deal with this all over again: Lastly, don't forget to turn off my music player at the bottom of the page. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Now, let's get this PARTY STARTED!!!!

This one is for everyone:




This one is for Phoenix at Res Ipsa Loquitur:




This one is for Miss Angie at My So-Called Chaos AND Ro Magnolia at Soft Winds and Roses:




This one is for Lira The Struggling Actress:




This one is for Gabriela at Enjoy The Silence:



This one is for Becky at Farmgirl Paints:




This one is for Carol the Gardener:




This one is for Kim at Saving My Life:




This one is for Mitzi at Southern Style:

Click here to watch the video. If it doesn't play, click on one of the other videos to the right to see if it will play. If it does come back to this video. It will likely play the second go-round. This player is a bit persnickety.


image found at www.weheartit.com

DAY 6: DEAR STRANGER

Dear Librarian,

When I first embarked on reading the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris, I had to reserve the first couple of books at the Main Library, because that is where we were, but I picked them up at our small local library. It is wonderful having this interconnected library system. The Main Library is huge, and the librarians are efficient, but they aren't particularly nice. I suppose it is because they get asked a lot of dumb questions all day long and the line is never ending.

It was a complete change of pace when I walked into our small local library and met you. You were all smiles, very helpful, and made the library feel homey. It reminded me of how I felt about the library when I was a kid. I loved the library. I left the library skipping. Not really. But in my head, I was skipping. I left with a smile on my face and happiness in my heart. It was the same smile you were wearing when I walked in.

When I got the notice that my next set of reserved books were in, I went back to the library to return the ones I had read, and to pick up my new ones. This time you greeted me by name, and with a smile. Wow. I felt like Norm when he walked into Cheers. You helped me figure out which books were next in the series, reserved them, and I left humming.

The next time I came to the library you weren't working, and I felt a bit sad. However, your co-workers are nice. They don't have a smile that lights up like yours, but they share that same desire to help with kindness. Now I know that whenever I go to the library, no matter who is working, that person will reach out and treat me with goodwill. In fact, he or she will go out of his or her way to make sure that I find the book that I am seeking. It is the best customer service I have found in a long, long time.

However, even though I still don't know your name (shame on me), you are still my favorite.

With Greatest Respect,

Me

P.S. I am also guest posting today at Destination Unknown. Nicole is on vacation and I am stepping in to fill the void. I hope you drop in to check it out!

image grifted from Miss Angie at My So-Called Chaos

DAY 5: YOUR DREAMS

Dear Me,

I am writing you this letter because your dreams may not come to fruition as quickly as you want them to, and you may need some inspiration to not let go of them and give up. You already did that once and the only thing that stopped you from moving in another direction was your mattress pulled out of storage. Such a small thing that created this huge medical setback. You spent nearly a year very angry about that setback. It wasn't until recently that it clicked in your head that the mattress put you back on course with your dreams. You wrote about that here.

Ever since you wrote that down, the dream has become clearer and clearer. Back in 2008, you had a logo that popped into your head, knew that it involved a website, and the goal was to help sick people who could no longer help themselves. They, like you, had run the doctor circuit for years and gotten nowhere. And they fell through the floor. Not because they were lazy or didn't try hard enough. They probably started out working. They had insurance and they got sicker and sicker. Eventually they couldn't work and their savings started going into doctors. Still, no one could help. Back then, you knew who you wanted to help. You just weren't exactly sure how. Worse yet, you knew it was likely going to be a non-profit organization that you were going to be founding (and you know nothing about how to do that) and creating a website (you can barely navigate this site).

So, when the dream popped out of the woodwork to smack you upside the head about ten days ago, it also brought clarity with it. You now know the name of the non-profit (assuming it isn't taken already), exactly what you want on the site, and the next two stages, after the site is up and running, and able to support itself. Now, you spend a bit of every day visualizing the site as it will be once it is fully functional.

I am writing you this letter because I know you. You have an idea and you want it now. Well, this isn't going to happen now. This is likely years away from fruition. And there will be people who will tell you that it just isn't realistic. Once you get well, you would be better off getting a sales job, which you know you are good at. That is true. I am good at a sales job and it would support me. But this dream will change the lives of hundreds of people. Maybe thousands. Is me taking the easy way and getting a sales job right when I know that I have been called to do this?

Even this... Blogger... you thought it was for your writing. When you first opened this account you had this crazy idea that an agent was going to read your writing and decide that you should be published. Don't you find that ludicrous now? Then you enjoyed reading other people's blogs as much as your own. It is like a community of friends with whom everyone shares their stuff. Whatever they want to share. Now, you see that even Blogger wasn't an accident.

This dream is all part of a Grand Design to make the world better. All you are is the catalyst. You thought that you were going to have to take college computer classes to do the website. That would have been you trying to do it all for quite a while. Now, you think you were meant to meet someone here who would do the computer design, because you are just never going to be good at that, and you will be partners in this venture. It will be your idea, but the work you will do together. You will be doing all of the calling and running stuff down for the site. And you will be sending out requests for information to your blog friends, like a net. And they will throw that net further. And this site that you thought would take a year to get off the ground... won't. Oh, and your Greek friend will make it possible for you to talk to someone about non-profits before you start this, so that you are able to set up this whole thing. Otherwise, you would be lost in that sea for a long time.

Your dreams are going to intertwine with the dreams of people you already know in person, and some that you have met here. This whole process has been like a chain bringing people together for good. Everything has a reason. With some of your friends, you can already see some sort of promise of what that reason might be. How they might fit into this, if they want to be a part of it. For others, maybe they will know someone who is ill and just needs help. It might be as simple as that. And as rewarding.

Don't give up on your dreams. They will happen when they are meant to happen. Continue to focus on your dream and visualize it so that it gains clarity.

Love,
Me


image nabbed from Miss Angie at My So-Called Chaos