Leapsters Day

This year is a Leap Year and today is Leap Day, an extra day in February that comes only every four years. It is no ordinary event because according to age old tradition, the 29th day of this month gives women the right to propose to the men they see a future with.  In America, that's not a cause for rejoicing.  In this part of the world, a woman can propose to any man any time of the year.  Haven't you been watching "The Bachelorette"?

Leapsters, as people born on this day are fondly referred to, have the convenience of (technically) getting older only every four years.  For women, that’s a plus factor!  Imagine, adding a year to your age only quadrennially of your life!  That means that if you were born in 1952, and you celebrate a birthday only every four years, you have bragging rights to being only 15 years old this year!  What is the chance of turning half a century in your lifetime?  The bad news is, you might never get to collect your Social Security pension!

The Leap Year tradition might have originated from an old Irish folklore.  It is believed that due to a deal struck by St. Bridget with St. Patrick, women are allowed to propose to men every Leap Year.  In the middle ages, there were laws governing the Leap Year tradition.  In the upper class society in some places in Europe, if a man refuses a woman’s proposal on this day, he has to buy her a dozen pairs of gloves so that she can save herself the public humiliation of an engagement-ring-less finger.  In some places, men were penalized with a sum of money if a woman’s marriage proposal was rejected on Leap Day.

In some countries there are also bad luck connotations associated with this day.  Being born on Leap Day in Scotland has the Friday the 13^th association and used to be unlucky.  In Greece, exchanging nuptial vows on this day is a no-no, completely taboo.

For more details on Leap Day, please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_year.  Interesting facts can be found in http://leapyearday.com/.  Want to know if you were born on a leap year?  Click list of leap years to find out.

photo credit:  the globeandmail.com



Temple Tolerance

In these times of short fuses and limited patience, my BFF Josie passes on a very relevant piece that can make your eyebrows rise and your mind go... hmmmmm?!  Thank you, Awesome Friend!

I wish that the author of this piece is not anonymous so that I could give credit... and thank him or her for the laughs!



mosque



I  am truly perplexed that so many people are against a mosque being built at Ground Zero. I think it should be the goal of every American to be tolerant. Thus the Mosque should be allowed, in an effort to promote tolerance.

That is why I also propose that two nightclubs be opened next door to the mosque, thereby promoting tolerance from within the mosque. We could call one of the clubs, "The Turban Cowboy", which would be gay, and the other a topless bar called "You Mecca Me Hot."

 

Next door should be a butcher shop that specializes in pork, and adjacent to that an open-pit barbecue pork restaurant, called " Iraq o' Ribs."

 

Across the street there could be a lingerie store called "Victoria Keeps Nothing Secret," with sexy mannequins with short burkas in the window modeling the goods.

 

Next door to the lingerie shop, a liquor store called "Morehammered."

 

All of this would encourage the Muslims to demonstrate the tolerance they demand of us, so the mosque problem would be solved.

 

If you agree with promoting tolerance, and you think this is a good plan, please pass it on. for the sake of tolerance.

Friendship quotes (Part 7)

More inspirational words about the tie that binds... and bonds.

Friendship:  It involves many things, but, above all,

the power of going out of one’s self and seeing and appreciating

whatever is noble and loving in another.

~ Thomas Hughes ~

Friendship:  Gentle as the dew from silken skies,

radiant as some glorious diadem, set with countless stars.

~ Yeoman Shield ~

A friend is what the heart needs all the time.

~ Henry Van Dyke ~

If there has come to us the miracle of friendship,

if there is a soul to which our soul has been drawn,

it is surely worthwhile being loyal and true.

~ Hugh Black ~

Keep on loving each other….

Do not forget to entertain strangers,

for by doing so some people have entertained

angels without knowing it.

~ Anonymous ~

Silences make the real conversations between friends.

Not saying but the never needing to say is what counts.

~ Margaret Lee Runbeck ~

It is always good to know, if only in passing,

a charming human being;

it refreshes our lives like flowers

and wood and clear brooks.

~ George Eliot ~

To know someone here or there with whom you feel

there is an understanding in spite of distances or thoughts

unexpressed---that can make of this earth a garden.

~ Goethe ~

Kind words smooth all the paths of life

And smiles make burdens light,

And uncomplaining friends can make

A daytime out of night.

~ Carrie Jacobs Bond ~

Friends are angels who lift our feet when our own wings

have trouble remembering how to fly.

~ Anonymous ~

The one who loves with God’s love will not flatter,

or hide anything from his friend, no matter how difficult

it may be to say…. You should be very happy if you are given

a friend who loves you in this way---that is, a friend

who wants to see you progress in spirit and become more

like Christ.  You should thank God for the day you met

a person who is like this, for those are rare indeed.

~ Teresa of Avila ~

The most beautiful discovery true friends make

is that they can grow separately

without growing apart.

~ Elisabeth Foley ~

A friend is one who joyfully sings with you

when you are on the mountain top,

and silently walks beside you through the valley.

~ William A. Ward ~

We never live so intensely as when we love strongly.

We never realize ourselves so vividly

as when we are in the full glow of love for others.

~ Walter Rauschenbusch ~

A best friend is like a completion---

they make you better than you are.

~ Anonymous ~

Friendship is very rare, my dear, and very precious,

And grows rarer and more precious.

~ John Masefield ~

Who but a good friend would put her life on hold

in order to listen, advise, sympathize, and send you

on your way secure in the knowledge that someone cares?

~ Lois Wyse ~

Friends show us who we are, where we’ve been, and where we’re going.

~ Anonymous ~

The greatest gift we can give one another

is rapt attention to one another’s existence.

~ Sue Atchley Ebaugh ~

Dare to love and to be a real friend.

The love you give and receive is a reality

that will lead you closer and closer to God

as well as to those whom God has given you to love.

~ Henri J. M. Nouwen ~

Having someone who understand you is home.

Having someone who loves you is belonging.

Having both is a blessing.

~ Anonymous ~

Friendship is something you consider for a moment,

but cherish for eternity.

~ Tim Traynor ~

A friend is s precious possession whose value increases with years.

Someone who doesn’t forsake us when a difficult moment appears.

And our road will be smooth and untroubled

no matter what care life may send;

If we travel the pathway together,

and walk side by side with a friend.

~ Henry Van Dyke ~



Friendship quotes (Part 6)

More inspirational words about the tie that binds... and bonds.

Dear friends, let us practice loving each other,

for love comes from God and those who are loving

and kind show that they are the children of God.

~ 1 John 4:7 TLB ~

A true friend is someone who listens to us

with real concentration and expresses sincere care

for our struggles and pains.

She makes us feel that something very deep is happening to us.

~ Sister Helen Feeney ~

There’s something beautiful about finding

one’s innermost thoughts in another.

~ Oliver Schreiner ~

My friend shall forever be my friend,

and reflect a ray of God to me.

~ Henry David Thoreau ~

The friend who walk with you on sunlit days

and in stormy weather, helping you through joy and strife,

are the ones who give meaning to life.

~ Anonymous ~

The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand,

nor the kindly smile nor the joy of companionship;

it is the spirited inspiration that comes to one

when he discovers that someone else believes in him

and is willing to trust him with his friendship.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~

We cannot tell the precise moment

when a friendship starts….

It is like filling a vessel drop-by-drop

which makes it at last run over;

so a series of kindnesses…

make the heart run over.

 ~ James Boswell ~

For all of us, whether we walk old paths

or blaze new trails,

friends remain important.

~ Lois Wyse ~

Love is the true means by which the world is enjoyed;

our love to others, and others’ love to us.

~ Thomas Traherne ~

There is in friendship something of all relations,

and something above them all.

It is the golden thread that ties

the hearts of all the world.

~ John Evelyn ~

Heaven comes down to touch us when we find ourselves

safe in the heart of another.

~ Anonymous ~

A good friend is a connection to life---

a tie to the past, a road to the future.

~ Lois Wyse ~

They say you will never be lonely

from the start of each day to its end

if you walk life’s pathway with love in your heart,

and side by side with a friend.

~ Proverbs 17:17 NIV ~

I count your friendship one of the chiefest pleasures of my life,

A comfort in time of doubt and trouble,

A joy in time of prosperity and success,

And an inspiration at all times.

~ Edwin Osgood Grover ~

Wishing to be friends is quick work,

but friendship is a slow ripening fruit.

~ Aristotle ~

Friendship is a union of spirits,

a marriage of hearts,

and the bond thereof virtue.

~ William Penn ~

The place where two friends first met

is sacred to them all through their friendship,

all the more sacred as their friendship deepens and grows old.

~ Phillips Brooks ~

When you’re with someone you trust in,

never needing to pretend,

someone who helps you know yourself…

you know you’re with a friend.

~ Amanda Bradley ~

The friend given you by circumstances over which

you have no control was God’s own gift.

~ Frederick Roberston ~

Friendships begun in this world can be taken up again

in heaven, never to be broken off.

~ Francis De Sales ~

Friendship quotes (Part 5)

More inspirational words about the tie that binds... and bonds.



It is a gift of God to us to be able to share our love with others.

~ Mother Teresa ~

Friends remind us we are part of something

greater than ourselves, a larger world.

~ Barbara Jenkins ~

Of all best things upon the earth,

I hold that a faithful friend is the best.

~ Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton ~

We sat on the edge of the earth,

with our feet dangling over the side,

and marveled that we had found each other.

~ Erik Dillard ~

Once the realization is accepted that even between the closest

human beings infinite distances continue to exist,

a wonderful living side by side can grow up,

if they succeed in loving the distance between them

which makes it possible for each to see

the other whole against the sky.

~ Rainer Marie Rilke ~

Friends are like windows through which

you see out into the world and back into yourself.

~ Merle Shain ~

Words cannot express the joy which a friend imparts;

They only can know who have experienced.

A friend is dearer than the light of heaven,

for it would be better for us that the sun

were extinguished than that we should

be without friends.

~ St. John Crysostom ~

The beloved friend does not fill one part of the soul,

but, penetrating the whole, becomes connected with all feeling.

~ William Ellery Channing ~

Grant me still a friend in my retreat,

Whom I may whisper,

Solitude is sweet.

~ William Cowper ~

Look deep within yourself and recognize what brings life

and grace into your heart.  It is this that can be shared

with those around you.  You are loved by God.

This is an inspiration to love.

~ Christopher De Vinck ~

How sweet the sound of friends laughing together,

of sharing the joy of knowing each other so well.

~ Anonymous ~

Now may the warming love of friends

Surround you as you go

Down the path of light and laughter

Where the happy memories grow.

 ~ Helen Lowrie Marshall ~

The first blush of friendship is a grace to behold:

a moment of shyness, a tentative hello.

Every other gift in life takes wing from here---

affection, generosity, sharing---until soon your life is rich.

~ Anonymous ~

When I recollect the treasure of friendship

that has been bestowed upon me,

I withdraw all charges against life.

If much has been denied me,

much, very much, has been given to me.

So long as the memory of certain beloved friends

lives in my heart, I shall say that life is good.

~ Helen Keller ~

Indeed, we do not really live unless we have friends

surrounding us like a firm wall against the winds of the world.

~ Charles Hanson Towne ~

Hearts never lose touch; friendships linger forever

in a place that no words could ever describe.

~ Anonymous ~

We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world,

And the best that we find in our travels is an honest friend.

She is a fortunate voyager who finds many.

We travel indeed to find them.

They are the end and the reward of life.

They keep us worthy of ourselves;

and when we are alone, we are only nearer to the absent.

~ Robert Louis Stevenson ~

Many people will walk in and out of your life;

Only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.

~ Anonymous ~

I cannot count the number of times I have been strengthened

by another’s heartfelt hug, appreciative note,

surprise gift, or caring questions….

My friends are an oasis to me, encouraging me to go on.

They are essential to my well-being.

~ Dee Brestin ~

A friend is one to whom one may pour out

all the contents of one’s heart, chaff and grain together,

knowing that gentle hands will take and sift it,

keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness,

blow the rest away.

~ George Eliot ~





Friendship quotes (Part 4)

More inspirational words about the tie that binds... and bonds.

 

I thank my God every time I remember you.

In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy.

~ Philippians 1:3-4 NIV ~

Who we are is connected to those we love

and to those who have influenced us toward goodness.

~ Christopher De Vinck ~

A mile walked with a friend contains only a hundred steps.

~ Russian Proverb ~

Line by line, moment by moment,

special times are etched into our memories

in the the permanent ink of everlasting

love in our relationships.

~ Gloria Gaither ~

Our best friends are the ones who pack easily

and travel well on the road of life.

~ Lois Wyse ~

Friends help us feel secure.

Our footing is surer when we know that someone

accepts us as we are, someone has

our best interests at heart, someone is

always glad to see us, someone plans to stick around.

There are few blessings like the blessing of a friend.

~ Emilie Barnes and Donna Otto ~

I’d like to be the sort of friend that you have been to me,

I’d like to be the help that you’ve been always glad to be;

I’d like to mean as much to you each minute of the day

As you have meant, old friend of mine, to me along the way.

~ Edgar A. Guest ~

The language of friendship is not words but meaning.

~ Henry David Thoreau ~

What brings joy to the heart is not so much the friend’s gifts

as the friend’s love.

~ St. Ailred of Rievaulx

Meeting someone for the first time is like going on a treasure hunt.

What wonderful worlds we can find in others!

~ Edward E. Ford ~

Your best friend is the person who brings out of you

the best that is within you.

~ Henry Ford ~

Let us outdo each other in being helpful

and kind to each other and in doing good.

~ Hebrews 10:24 TLB ~

Friendship, gift of heavens, pleasure of great souls!

~ Voltaire ~

I thank God far more for friends

than for my daily bread---for friendship is

the bread of the heart.

 ~ Mary Mitford ~

Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart,

and the pleasantness of one’s friend

springs from his earnest counsel.

~ Proverbs 27:9 NIV ~

Every house where love abides

and friendship is a guest

is surely home,

and home sweet home;

for there the heart can rest.

~ Henry Van Dyke ~

The true way and the sure way to friendship

is through humility---being open to each other,

accepting each other just as we are,

knowing each other.

~ Mother Teresa ~

It is by loving, and not by being loved,

that one can come nearest the soul of another.

 ~ George MacDonald ~

I breathed a song into the air;

It fell to earth, I know not where…

and the song, from beginning to end,

I found again in the heart of a friend.

~ Longfellow ~

A cheerful friend is like a sunny day,

which sheds its brightness on all around.

~ John Lubbock ~

Don’t walk in front of me,

I may not follow.

Don’t walk behind me,

I may not lead.

Walk beside me and just be my friend.

~ Albert Camus ~

Friendship quotes (Part 3)

More inspirational words about the tie that binds... and bonds.



Life is fortified by many friendships.
To love and to be loved,

is the greatest happiness of existence.

~ Sydney Smith ~

These are the things I prize

And hold of dearest worth:

Light of the sapphire hills,

Shelter of the forests,

Comfort of the grass,

Music of birds, murmur of the little rills,

Shadows of clouds that swiftly pass,

And after showers

The smell of flowers

And of the good brown earth---

And best of all, along the way,

Friendship and mirth.

~ Henry Van Dyke ~

A fiery sunset, tiny pansies by the wayside,

The sound of raindrops tapping on the roof---

What an extraordinary delight to share

simple wonders with a true friend!

With wide eyes and full hearts,

We come to cherish what others have missed.

~ Anonymous ~

What the heart gives away is never gone….

It is kept in the hearts of others.

~ Robert St. John ~

Every act of kindness

Moves to a larger one

Till friendships bloom to show

What little deeds have done.

~ June Masters Bacher ~

Dear friends, no matter how we find them,

are as essential to our lives as

breathing in and breathing out.

~ Lois Wyse ~

You entered my life in a casual way,

and saw at a glance what I needed.

There were others who passed me

or met me each day,

but never a one of them heeded.

~ Grace Stricker Dawson ~

Friendship, like the immortality of the soul,

is too good to be believed.

When friendships are real,

they are not glass threads or frost work,

but the solidest things we know.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~

A true friend is the gift of God…

He only Who made hearts can unite them

~ Robert South ~

Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are.

Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart.

Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.

~ Anonymous ~

Friends are of utmost importance.

We love, trust, get hurt, sometimes get mad,

but we love and trust anyhow,

because that’s the best way

to let our friendships grow.

~ Anonymous ~

If you can help anybody even a little, be glad;

up the steps of usefulness and kindness,

God will lead you on to happiness and friendship.

~ Maltbie D. Babcock~

There’s happiness in little things,

There’s joy in passing pleasure;

But friendships are from year to year,

The best of all life’s treasure.

~ Anonymous ~

Live to shed joys on others.

Thus best shall your own happiness be secured.

~ Henry Ward Beecher ~

May happiness touch your life today

as warmly as you have touched the lives of others.

~ Anonymous ~

Whatever is true, whatever is noble,

whatever is right, whatever is pure,

whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable if anything

excellent or praiseworthy---think about such things.

~ Philippians 4:8 NIV~

What made us friends in the long ago

When we first met?

Well, I think I know;

The best in me and the best in you

Hailed each other because they knew

That always and always

since life began

Our being friends was part of God’s plan.

~ George Wester Douglas ~

Such is friendship,

That through it we love places and seasons;

for as bright bodies emit rays to a distance,

and flowers drop their sweet leaves

on the ground around them,

so friends impart favor even to places where they dwell.

~ St. John Chrysostom ~

Every time you smile at someone, it is an action

of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.

~ Mother Teresa ~

The human heart, at whatever age,

opens to the heart that opens in return.

~ Maria Edgeworth ~