Saturday, November 8, 2008

I Married a Phil~antropist

~Capturing a Rare Moment~
Jim Sitting Down!

"Philanthropy is the act of donating money, goods, services, time and/or effort to support a socially beneficial cause, with a defined objective and with no financial or material reward to the donor. In a more general sense, philanthropy may encompass any altruistic activity intended to promote good or improve human quality of life. One who practices philanthropy may be called a philanthropist. Although such individuals are often rich, people may perform philanthropic acts without possessing great wealth." (No big bucks here. Darn it!) Wikipedia.

Grampa & Zach Working Together!

James Philip was named appropriately, Phillip being short for Philanthropist. Those of you who know him ~ know this to be true. I don't know anyone who contributes more to others than he does. I love and appreciate that about him but, and there is always a but..our kitchen sink is leaking, two of our three heaters need attention, our irrigation system is down, one of our vans needs a starter and a long over due smog check, etc. You know the old saying about the plumber and his wife, right?

Helping Our Son, Christopher

The thing for me is I don't like to ask him or nag him about these things. I need them done but it doesn't have to be today. In the mean time he truly is engaged in very good activities that benefit many more than just me. Today he is off on a hike and I am really glad about that as that is something he really and truly enjoys, and I know the young people who are going with him will love it too. He needs that recreation and I worry that for the most part, he rarely gets it. Now that the grueling election is over he is on to Scouting for Food, day and night, until next Saturday when that will take place. After that ...who knows...I cannot keep up.

Hiking is his joy~along with Piper and Julia!

Mike just sent this photo over of their
beach hike today at Pt Reyes.

Typical Church activity~almost as many leaders
as Young Adults! They had a great time.

We are going away for a few days for his birthday celebration, after Thanksgiving. That I am looking forward to with great anticipation. Just be forewarned, I plan to lose his cell phone during that time and just have some quality one on one. I want it to be restful for him but he is already planning the agenda......surprise, surprise!

What's a woman to do? He does make my life pretty easy and he is good to me. I have a lot of time to do my own thing and I truly enjoy that. With the option to retire in 6 months it should be interesting to see how he uses his time after that? Actually, I don't think there will be too many surprises.....from where I stand, anyway.

He Loves His Work

First of all, I think the date will come and go and he'll still be working. And a Phil by any other name is still a Phil. So take a number, folks...he'll be ready to serve you all then as he is now. The challenge of living with Phil, aside from a lot of solitude, is that no matter what I do for others I feel lazy by comparison. It make me tired just thinking about it. You will all have to just be content to view me as the yin to his yang or whatever. Someone has to stay home and mind the house. Pickin' up the slack here.... Bon

flickr

4 comments:

Connie said...

You are right about "Phil" for sure, Bon!!!! He is a human wonder! But you are wrong about you--you are just as wonderful and I will not allow you to think otherwise! We have been blessed by our friendship with you two in more ways than we can even count. How we love you guys!!!!!!!!!!!!

Laura said...

You are discounting yourself tremendously. I know that you are service oriented, and help lots of people. You always have a cheerful smile and a kind word for others!!! You enrich the lives of those around you. Sounds like your Jim is amazing. What a great partnership!

(I was just coming to check on you as it has been a while since you posted. I was relieved to see you are back!!!)

Gail Victoria said...

I can attest to Jim's willingness to always lend a cheerful hand - since I have both in the past and in the last couple of weeks been the recipient of Jim's help....your brother Steve is also a willing and gracious doer of good deeds. But - I also have to include you in the mix as I know it helps him to help others when you are supportive of his good deed doing! Thanks to both of you.

Gail

Bonnie said...

Thanks, ladies!