The curious paradox ....

The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.

-Carl Rogers

From Randi Moffat.. enjoy...

Two tall trees, a birch and a beech, are growing in the woods. A small tree begins to grow between them, and the beech says to the birch, "Is that a son of a beech or a son of a birch?" The birch says he cannot tell. Just then a woodpecker lands on the sapling. The birch says, "Woodpecker, you are a tree expert. Can you tell if that is a son of a beech or a son of a birch?"

The woodpecker takes a taste of the small tree. He replies, "It is neither a son of a beech nor a son of a birch. It is, however, the best piece of ash I have ever put my pecker in."



Wipe that smile off your face!

Creativity is....

Today's Quote

Creativity is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift to God.

-Bob Moawad

Welcome - Our Moffat Family Blog

Did ya see??? click the pic to go to the rest!!

From Clinton and Joanna comes this dittie..

Subject: This is so worth reading!





Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids?

If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions.

"How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!"

You're never thirty-six and A half. You're four and a half, going on five!

That's the key.

You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.

"How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16!

And then the greatest day of your life . . . you become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . YOU BECOME 21.

YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! . He TURNED; we had to throw him out.

There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40.

Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.

But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!




So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!

You get into your 80s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime.

And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; "I Was JUST 92."

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. "I'm 100 and a half!"

May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay " them " .

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. " An idle mind is the devil's workshop." And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.



7. Surround yourself with what you love, Whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable,
improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity!

Thought youall would enjoy reading this. jfw


AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Today....

Not much new going on here. It is starting to get really dry, and the ole ground is cracking. We truly need a good soaking of rain. It only sprinkled the last 4 times it was supposed to rain, and Grandpa Moffat always said... "If we miss rain three times in a row, we are in for a long spell of dry weather". I sure hope for the sake of the cattle and grass, that this time, his saying will not be right, haha!
Heather is having a lot of backaches... Madison Ann is getting closer to arriving. The Doctor told her Madison is now head first and fixed and awaiting ... so we are now down to weeks before her arrival. Remembering my experiences, not sure Paul is aware he and Heather's life is about to change ... big time! And I love him to death. Not griping, but just thinking... I would say that about any of my boys too... Just a guy thing, guess it's cause we don't carry the child, probably, but there is something about seeing, holding, touching, the child at birth that kicks in that instinct and brings it home. Oh, yea, we think we know, we think we are ready, we think we are on the same plain as our wives, but... only when the child arrives... haha... sorry ladies... just how God made us!!
Haven't heard much from Phil, but I bet he is gardening, and making pottery, and routing semi's!
Jonathan and Randy were working on their yard last weekend, weeding and feeding, and getting ready for summer. He seems to stay really busy with work and home and Kaitlyn, too. But then Jon does his best work under pressure!
Tammy is getting ready for summer and all the things she needs to do. Also, trying to find a place for Austyn to be in school this summer. Is he really going to be 5 this December, wow.. .... ..
Paul is playing in summer league baseball with the Stillwater Police Dept's team. He is enjoying it. First time since he joined the force that he has not been on nights, therefore, now, being on the day shift, he can enjoy this. Heather and Andrew have been attending the games while she can, and of course, Andrew has met a friend his age there and enjoys playing with him while his daddy plays ball. The games are only one hour long, since there are so many teams and so few places to play in Stillwater.
Randi has been taking care of Kaitlyn and their home. She is a really good mom and truly enjoys taking care of Kaitlyn. They make a great pair and you can really tell they "get along" when visiting too. Kaitlyn does not what to leave her mom's arms, and if she does, and gets in a bind in some way, only mom can fix it.. and that's ok, cuz that's what mom's do best!!
Jake attended a Crawfish Boil held at his work place, the OSU Vet. Teaching Hospital on campus of OSU yesterday. The Boil was put on by Science Diet for the students, faculty and staff, and I heard there were scores of folks there and lots of food, not just Crawfish, but other things as well. Jake loves New Orleans...
All I know for now... Enjoy the day!

Pear Tree Photos...

posted a few pics of the pear tree in front of home from a few days ago... enjoy!

Editorial: Baylor Lady Bears make Texas proud

04-06-2005 Editorial: Baylor Lady Bears make Texas proud
There´s much joy at Washington-on-the-Brazos today.

The Baylor Lady Bears are champions of the women´s basketball world after a resounding 84-62 victory over Michigan State on Tuesday night in Indianapolis.

The 22-point victory is the second-highest winning margin in an NCAA championship game after Tennessee´s 23-point win over Louisiana Tech in 1987. Baylor is only the fourth team (the third women´s team) to ever beat three No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament en route to the title.

Baylor had expected to meet perennial powerhouse Tennessee in the finals - well, actually, most folks thought No. 1 LSU would play the Lady Vols for the title - but Michigan State rallied from 16 down to stun the Rocky Toppers after Baylor came from 15 back to upset LSU.

There would be no rallying Tuesday night as Baylor got the big Michiganders down early and never let them up.

The Lady Bears finished the season with a sparkling 33-3 record including three wins over Texas Tech, the last one on a last-second shot in the Big 12 Tournament finals.

It was an extra sweet victory for the fiery and fiesty Baylor coach, Kim Mulkey-Robertson (oddly enough, smartly outfitted in a blue pant suit of a color befitting North Carolina State - but we won´t nitpick).

The former Louisiana Tech star became the first woman to ever play for a national champion and coach one was well, joining former North Carolina coach Dean Smith (he played at UNC as well) and Texas Tech´s Bobby Knight (he played for the 1960 champs at Ohio State and coached Indiana to three titles) in an elite group.

It was sweeter, still, in that Louisiana Tech somewhat insultingly offered her only a one-year contract to succeed Hall of Famer Leon Barmore as head coach five years ago. Coincidentally, former Louisiana Tech head coach Sonja Hogg once coached at Baylor.

After leading Hammond, La. to four state titles, Mrs. Mulkey-Robertson played for Louisiana Tech and was a 5-4 sophomore on the 1981 team that beat Kansas, 70-39 for the championship of the Plainview Queens Classic.

During her 19 years at Louisiana Tech, the team went to the Final Four 11 times and won three national titles, two while she was playing. She also was a summa cum laude graduate and two time Academic All-American who, not surprisingly, demands the very best from her players.
She has coached Baylor to a sparkling 131-38 record in five years.

The mother of two is married to a former Louisiana Tech quarterback.

After the men´s basketball scandal (including one player killing another) at Baylor and its football team falling on hard times, the achievement Tuesday night brings a much-neeed morale boost to the Waco institution.

We salute the Baylor Lady Bears for putting another jewel in the crown of the Lone Star State. Posted to MyPlainview: APRIL 06, 2005 14:59 CST

There´s much joy at Washington-on-the-Brazos today. The Baylor Lady Bears are champions of the women´s basketball world after a resounding 84-62 . . . From The Plainview Daily Herald

Ed's Note.. last time I will post on this.. sorry, but this coach amazes me!!

Coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson and the Lady Bears of Baylor... very impressive win and are todays honored National Champions!

KMR is first woman to win titles as player, coach


INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Baylor now has a basketball team it can celebrate. And what a celebration it was.

Baylor's Sophia Young hung on in the paint, and got to hang on to some NCAA title hardware, too.

The Lady Bears hugged, flopped on the floor in giddy delight and embraced their coach as a rainbow of neon-colored confetti rained down on the RCA Dome.

All they had wanted was to be a shining light for a university stained by scandal.

One dazzling national championship ought to do.

Sophia Young's 26 points, Emily Niemann's precise 3-point shooting and the brilliant, energetic play of the backcourt carried Baylor to an 84-62 victory over Michigan State on Tuesday night for the school's first NCAA title by a women's team.

"What a team I get to coach!" coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson said. "It wasn't the coaching, it's these guys taking me for a tremendous ride."

And it was a fast one.

Five years after Mulkey-Robertson took over a team that went 7-20 and was last in the Big 12, the Lady Bears were pulling on championship hats after a run through the tournament that included three victories over No. 1 seeds -- North Carolina, LSU and finally the Spartans.

Both teams were playing in the finals for the first time. The margin was the second-largest in a championship game, falling one point short of the record set in 1987 when Tennessee beat Louisiana Tech 67-44.

When the horn sounded Tuesday night, the players jumped in unison amid the streamers and screamed "We won! We won!" as fans chanted "Mul-key! Mul-key!" -- a tribute to a coach who had taken the program to heights never before imagined.

Lowest preseason rankings for eventual national champs
1992-93 Texas Tech 15
1993-94 North Carolina 9
2004-05 Baylor 8
1991-92 Stanford 7
1995-96 Tennessee 6
1990-91 Tennessee 6
1978-79 Old Dominion 6
* Michigan State was No. 15

"She doesn't accept anything but the best from her players," Baylor's Steffanie Blackmon said. "She's just hard on you, but it pays off, 'cause hey, we're here and we won the big thing right now."

They did it with unforgiving defense that disrupted almost everything Michigan State tried and by poking enough holes in the Spartans' matchup zone to stay comfortably ahead after zooming to a 19-point lead in the first half. Niemann keyed the arly surge and finished the first half with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting from behind the 3-point line; she finished with 19.

"I think (Niemann) was the whole key to this game," Michigan State coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "If you take 51 off the floor, it was a different game. She was definitely the X-factor."

Not that the Lady Bears were resting easy after that. Knowing that Michigan State had rallied from 16 down to beat Tennessee two nights before, Baylor kept attacking, making steals and scrambling for loose balls.

The Lady Bears' killer instinct was a perfect reflection of their feisty coach, who practically glowed in a bold aqua blue pantsuit as she stormed back and forth in front of the bench, calling plays, pleading for calls from the officials and cajoling her players to keep pressing -- even with a 20-point lead.

They responded.


Michigan State men's coach Tom Izzo, whose squad lost in the Final Four, made the trip to Indy, only to see the Spartan women fall short, too.

Young was unstoppable in the second half, scoring 18 points. The 6-foot-1 junior, who came to the United States from the West Indies at age 15 and had never played basketball before that, was named the most outstanding player of the Final Four.

"Well, all those moments all just paid off right now," Young said. "This is what I came here for and I'm living my dream."

Young went 10-for-19 from the field, grabbed nine rebounds and had four assists. Blackmon helped out with 14 points in the second half to finish with 22.

The victory completed an unprecedented double for Mulkey-Robertson, who became the first in the women's game to play for a national championship team and then coach one. She was the starting point guard when Louisiana Tech won the first NCAA title in 1982 and later became an assistant coach at Tech, spending 15 years there before taking the Baylor job in 2000.

The Lady Bears (33-3) finished the season with 20 straight victories and helped erase an ugly stain on the university, which was rocked two years ago by a scandal in the men's basketball program that was uncovered after a former player was accused of killing a teammate.

"Look up at these fans," Mulkey-Robertson said. "That's how we changed the Waco community. We're a positive in Waco and at Baylor University. There's a lot of good there, there's great programs, great coaches, and this is one of many more to come."

Michigan State (33-4) had reached the title game with unselfish play that epitomized team basketball. But guards Kristin Haynie and Lindsay Bowen had to do it almost by themselves in this one -- and that was asking too much.

Bowen scored 20 points and Haynie 17, but Baylor negated Michigan State's two powerful inside players. Kelli Roehrig scored only eight points and Liz Shimek had seven. Baylor also owned the boards, outrebounding Michigan State 45-22.

"There was a lack in the post area," Roehrig said. "We really didn't hold our own."

Baylor led by 12 at halftime after blunting a mini-rally by the Spartans at the end of the half. Michigan State hung around for a while early in the second half, giving the Spartan fans -- who included men's coach Tom Izzo and football coach John L. Smith -- hope that another big comeback was possible.

Teams that beat three No. 1 seeds en route to national title
2005 Baylor women (Michigan State, LSU, North Carolina)
1997 Arizona men
1988 Louisiana Tech women
1987 Tennessee women

Not this time.

Baylor kept getting the ball to Young and Blackmon for baskets, while guards Chameka Scott and Latoya Wyatt kept harassing Haynie and Bowen. With under seven minutes to play, the lead had grown to 22. Even the Spartans had to feel they were finished by then.

Wyatt, a reserve who played only two minutes in Baylor's semifinal win over LSU, also contributed eight points and six rebounds. Scott added seven points, four rebounds and three assists.

When it was over, McCallie, who engineered a five-year turnaround of her own, managed a bright smile as she shook hands with Mulkey-Robertson, knowing the Spartans had lost to a superior team.

"They're hurting a lot right now, as we all are because the season's over, and it's just a funny feeling to have it be over," McCallie said. "But in the long run, they're going to look back and realize that they were part of the greatest team ever at Michigan State and one of the greatest teams ever."

Baylor frustrated the normally efficient Spartans from the start with its sticky man-to-man defense. The Lady Bears tipped passes, contested shots and often had Michigan State desperately seeking a good look at the basket with the shot clock winding down.

At the other end, the Spartans couldn't find Niemann and she made them pay. Her first two 3s gave Baylor a lead it would never relinquish and her four baskets from long range made it 32-13. Bowen and Haynie then led a 12-run that pulled Michigan State to 34-25.

The momentum was swinging the Spartans' way and then Niemann doused it with an NBA-range 3 from the left side with eight seconds remaining to take the lead back to 12.

It was more of the same after that. Baylor never stopped until it was time to celebrate.



Final
Baylor 84
Michigan State 62

__________________________ Ann turned me onto ladies Bball... she said it's faster, and more agressive.. and she is right, wow.. that's were the basketball the guys played when I was young went, to the ladies.. and they do it and do it well! Coach Kim just makes you proud of yourself, even watching the Ladies Bears in action, and seeing her react, was like .. unbeleivable. Her and Bob Stoops, two wonderful people who are inspiring our kiddos to greatness! It takes a champion to build one, and Coach Kim proved that! She was on the National Championship team of past years, and now has coached a National Championship team. And she is, as is Coach Stoops inspiring just to watch them carry themselves and work the players... and when they talk... they talk intelligently, words full of meaning, chosen just right, to inspire...

Ok.. done...! I was simply blown away by the Lady Bears of Baylor! Now the Big 12 Conference has a National Champion in it's midst for the first time ever in Basketball!! I am still out of breath from watching the game last night!!

Today's Quote

Today's Quote

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

-Dalai Lama

Today's Quote

Today's Quote

We are not here to be successful. We are here to be faithful.

-Mother Teresa

Uncle Ivan sent this along, but it sure fits for a lot of us!!

Uncle Ivan sent this along with a note attached...... "Loving flowers, I am now turning into a snap dragon, my back has snapped and my tail is dragging!" .... and I understand!!
Posted by PCCPA; Please, click on image to enlarge.

Ok.. this one will work right I think. Click on the photo to make it larger!! Andrew and Austyn came over to visit this weekend and we had a blast! Austyn is really growing up, and can play for hours.. well, so can Andrew, haha!! Austyn had figured out Grandma's spinning wheel and how to make it go fast and then he had a belt he could pull against the wheel and stop it... kinda cool we thought. On Sunday the new sherriff in town dropped by. Sherriff Andrew Paul Blankinship that is. He was shooting Grandma's ducks in her boat on the wall, and then he thought he ought to walk around in Jake's boots, haha, well, he has big feet, but not quite that big! Anyway, photos online now.. videos later as I get time! enjoy! oh yes, one of the pics has Andrew and his mom and his new sister Madison who will be here in a month or so.. too...
Posted by PCCPA; Please, click on image to enlarge.

New photos of grandsons online...

Not sure this photo will work correctly if you want to make it big. Hope it does...
There are new pictures of the grandson's at Grandma Moffat's playing from this past weekend... Will tell more later.. but right now this site is not working correctly.

A friend of mine was at Honor Heights Park in Muskogee

Aaron Moore was in Muskogee this weekend to photograph the Red Dirt Rangers Concert there for us (PCL), and took some nice shots of the foliage there... cool pics.. These photos were shot at Honor Heights Park in Muskogee... a really nice park on the west side of Muskogee and on tAwesome Blossom's by Aaron Moore, from Red Dirt Rangers in Honor Heights Park, Muskogee.... Enjoy these park photos...

Today's Quote

Today's Quote

Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.

-Bill Gates

From Uncle Ivan comes another gem.... THE MAMMOGRAM ......

THE MAMMOGRAM ......
I actually kept my mammogram appointment. I was met with, "Hi! I'm
Belinda!" This perky clipboard carrier smiled from ear to ear, tilted
her head to one side and crooned, "All I need you to do is step into
this room right hereee, strip to the waist, thennnn slip on this gown.
Everything clearrrr?"
I'm thinking, "Belinda ... try decaf. This ain't rocket science."
Belinda skipped away to prepare the chamber of horrors. Call me crazy,
but I suspect a man invented this machine. It takes a perfectly healthy
cup size of 36-B to a size 38-LONG in less than 60 seconds. Also, girls
aren't made of sugar and spice and everything nice.it's Spandex. We can
be stretched, pulled and twisted over a cold 4-inch piece of square
glass and still pop back into shape.
With the right side finished, Belinda flipped me (literally) to the left
and said, "Hmmmm. Can you stand on your tippy toes and lean in a tad so
we can get everything?"
Fine, I answered. I was freezing, bruised, and out of air, so why not
use the remaining circulation in my legs and neck and finish me off?
My body was in a holding pattern that defied gravity (with my other boob
wedged between those two 4" pieces of square glass) when we heard, then
felt a zap! Complete darkness and the power went off!
"What?" I yelled.
"Oh, maintenance is working. Bet they hit a snag." Belinda headed for
the door.
"Excuse me! You're not leaving me in this vise alone, are you?" I
shouted.
Belinda kept going and said, "Oh, you fussy puppy ... the door's wide
open so you'll have the emergency hall lights.
I'll be righttttt backkkk."
Before I could shout "NOOOO!" she disappeared.
And that's exactly how Bubba and Earl, maintenance men extraordinaire,
found me, half-naked and part of me dangling from the Jaws of Life and
the other part smashed between glass!
After exchanging polite "Hi, how's it going" type greetings, Bubba (or
possibly Earl) asked, to my utter disbelief, if I knew the power was
off. Trying to disguise my hysteria, I replied with as much calmness as
possible. "Uh, yes .. yes I did, thanks."
"You bet, take care" Bubba replied and waved good-bye as though I'd been
standing in the line at the grocery store.
Two hours later, Belinda breezes in wearing a sheepish grin and making
no attempt to suppress her amusement, she said. "Oh I am soooo sorry!
The power came back on and I totally forgot about you! And silly me, I
went to lunch. Are we upset?"
And that, Your Honor, is exactly how her head ended up between the
clamps........

Ward and Melanie sent this lil' note along to us and it kind'a fit us too.. so we share...

The other day a young person asked me how I felt about being old. I was taken aback, for I do not think of myself as old. Upon seeing my reaction, she was immediately embarrassed, but I explained that it was an interesting question, and I would ponder it, and let her know.

Old age, I decided, is a gift. I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometime despair over my body­- but I don't agonize over it for long.

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become more kind to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to overeat, to be messy, to be extravagant. I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.



Whose business is it if I choose to read until 4 am, and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 50's & 60ies, and if I at the same time wish to weep over a lost love, I will. I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten ­ and I eventually remember the important things. Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turn gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver. I can say "no", and mean it. I can say "yes", and mean it. As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer the question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. For the first time in my life, I don't have to have a reason to do the things I want to do. If I want to play games on the computer all day, lay on the couch and watch old movies for hours or don't want to go to the beach or a movie, I have earned that right. I have put in my time doing everything for others, so now I can be a bit selfish without feeling guilty.

I sometimes feel sorry for the young. They face a far different world than I knew growing up, where we feared the law, respected the old, the flag, our country. I never felt the need to use filthy language in order to express myself. And they too will grow old someday.

I am grateful to have been born when I was, into a kinder, gentler world.


Yes, I like being old!

Austyn came over and stayed a bit today... he's growing up!!

Lookie who came to see us today! Austyn came over and stayed while Phil and Tammy went to the funeral of Carl Tarver, who was killed in the wreck early in the week. Phil reported it was the biggest funeral he had ever been to. But Austyn was wound up and was having a big ole time making Grandma's spinning wheel go fast! So wonderful to have the grandkids around! And another one is almost here! Heather is a month away from adding Madison Ann to the Blankinship lineup! We are all getting very excited about her arrival... needless to say... And then Jonathan called night before last and let Grandma Ann listen to one extermely wound up Kaitlyn jabber on and on.. how cool is that! Anyway.. enjoy the day, God is Awesome, things are going well, and all is good!! 

Today's Quote

Today's Quote

There are victories of the soul and spirit. Sometimes, even if you lose, you win.

-Elie Wiesel