He's guarding my heart and mind.....as promised! Topic: God things
I am so thankful that God not only brought me through this very stress-filled year, but He gave me peace through it. Moving, buying a house for the first time, putting my kids in public school after homeschooling, the death of my father from dementia, and now major surgery. It was quite a stressful year, but I was freshly reminded again that the verse I have put my trust in all these years is still true. I will always stand by it, believe it, cling to it and experience it.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
....the days fly by Topic: Humor/memes I must be getting my strength back. Yesterday I walked almost a mile at the park and today we walked a mile around the neighborhood. We're having record temperature highs and it feels like the beginning of summer, when the nights are cool and you wake up with a chilly feeling, then the temps climb about 30 degrees by 2pm. Our highs are in the high 70's this week, including Thanksgiving being forcast as reaching 80! Anyone for barbeque turkey burgers at the park? =)
Well, back to today: we walked Maggie and her friend who is visiting over to our neighborhood park, around the block. The girls played while Charles and I walked the outskirts of the park. Then I sat in the shade at a picnic table while Charles helped the girls shoot off air rockets. It's a toy Maggie got last Christmas, you pump the air pressure up, pull the cord and *pop*, up goes the lightweight rocket. It shoots up to 100 feet in the air, so it's really quite spectacular...if you're 9....or 40something. Charles was right there with the girls, pumping, trying to catch the elusive rocket as it plummeted to earth, laughing out loud each time he missed it. (they never did catch it, it goes so fast!) I enjoyed it all from a distance under my tree and laughed my head off.
As I sat at my picnic table, watching the goings on of the park, I sorted out my day. I've been flying by the seat of my pants this past week. It was a busy week already and then unexpected things kept coming up! It was all I could do to keep from hiding in my bed and playing sick! It's all done now though and I say to myself *once again* that I'll never get that booked up again....overlapping things I was supposed to be there for even! So this morning, with no appointments or activities planned *for me* I puttered around a bit, then decided to fix a big breakfast for the family....bacon, scrambled eggs, pancakes. Everyone was rushing off to different activities for the day, so I cleaned up the kitchen. I had just finished putting dishes in the dishwasher and grabbed a pile of things to put back in the refrigerator.
(if you've ever watched Rachael Ray grab things from around her kitchen on 30 minute meals...you know, the way she makes it a game to see how many things she can carry at once to save trips to the fridge or pantry....that is what I do sometimes)
And this was one of those times....
.....only my coordination is still a little 'off' and as I opened the fridge to put away my stuff, the pancake syrup slipped from my grip. The impact of the bottle and the stone tile resulted in the bottom popping complETEly off of the plastic bottle. Who would have even guessed that could happen! But there it was. Our brand new, FULL bottle of 100percent maple syrup from Canada....gushing out onto the tile, into the grout, slipping UNDER the fridge, dripping from the cabinets and my pajammas. A roll of paper towels, bowl of warm cleaning solution, 2 wash rags, and a lot of muttering under my breath later, Charles attempted to move the 2006 side by side fridge that we tightly wedged into a 1970's small, freezer on top, gold refrigerator space so we could clean under it....no deal, lucille. Then he tried to tip it ever so slightly back, as to settle a brick under the front and reach in to swipe clean the sticky stuff. Nope. We ended up just putting a wash rag over the end of a long flat tool of some sort that was fetched from the garage and running it back and forth, as far back as we could.
I never hated 100 percent pure maple syrup more in all my life. The NERVE of the company who made that bottle! And who does Rachael Ray think she is carrying all that stuff at once! She's a show off, that's what!
I'm ok now though....sorry Miss Ray.
The rest of the day was relaxing. (it wouldn't dare mess with me after that) In fact by 3pm it felt as if it had to be at least 5 or 6pm, but it wasn't....so we went to the park. It's like finding money tucked back in an unused pocket of your wallet. My days have been running so short lately, it was nice to find a little stash of time, saved up to enjoy. More time to spend....I liked it!
ETA: Be sure to read all the comments. People are picking their favorite gingerbread men! lol NO stealing legs though! Look only! The comments are only 10 per page, so you have to hit 'next page' at the bottom.
Maggie has that look on her face because she wasn't supposed to be eating the frosting. It's the heavy, hard drying kind for houses that has raw eggs in it. It's an 'ut oh, got caught and they will have pictures to prove it' look. lol
Thanksmas Topic: Holidays/Vacations How's the Christmas shopping going? *errrg* That is not a good question to ask me this time of year. It's not that I have many gifts to buy, but it reminds me of all the things I need to do in the next 5 weeks. (5 weeks!!!) I do like doing said 'things'.....it's just that the pressure of having a list of things to DO intimidates me greatly! *whimper*
See, I told you that as the holidays wind up into gear I'd probably blog more in order to avoid the DO's.
So I'm thinking today as I sat in the park with my sister and our kids, "Gee, I need to think about Christmas stuff.....er, no, I have to think about Thanksgiving! But Christmas DO's need to get rolling! However, first we need to make it through the Thanksgiving cooking and shopping." mmmmmhmmm If someone wants to know my opinion, I think we need to space these 2 very meaningful holidays further apart....at least by 2 months. That way we could enjoy each one for it's own meaning and busyness.
Thanksgiving could be such a wonderful celebration if it were not for the after Thanksgiving sales the next morning ....or football for that matter! It just so happens however, that this is exactly what I think about when I think of Thanksgiving. Here is why:
For many years of our 22 year marriage, my husband and I had a Thanksgiving ritual. We would go to Oklahoma every year for Thanksgiving, quite a drive. But I would have my Christmas lists in hand, because I would go through the stack of 'the day after Thanksgiving sale' fliers Thanksgiving night. We stayed at Charles' parents' home, so with them to watch the girls, we would sneak off at 4:00am and go by ourselves to stand in line for very, very reduced prices on gifts for the girls.
We would pick the store that had the most list items and attack, Charles going to the toys or sporting goods department while I went to the music or clothing departments. We would meet at the front, waving like crazy at each other over the pressing masses of people and come together all happy and slightly giddy from the good buys we had found. Then more stores and more good buys. Finally, we would go out to breakfast, and back to his parents house to wrap the loot before the kids could see it!
We would get all of our Christmas shopping done, plus buy gifts from his parents to our kids for them, so that they didn't have to get out in the Christmas crowds.
And yes, doing this year after year did get tiring. I would try to wimp out of doing it each year, but Charles would talk me into it again. He really enjoyed it way more than me..... that was annoying! Our kids are older now and we don't do that tradition anymore. It just isn't necessary and Charles does most of our Christmas gift buying online. Now the day after Thanksgiving sales have gone the way of memories for us.....or the dinosaurs....left to future generations to follow in our steps.
It was quite an adventure, very very COLD, but a memory we'll always giggle at.....how silly we are to enjoy such madness!!
We're not having a huge crowd this year for Thanksgiving and my sister is helping me a lot with the cooking......so I think there may even be time in the day for a little reflecting.....some actual giving thanks for making it through this stress-filled year.
Happy Thanksmas....er, Christgiving....ummm, we really do need to do a petition or something to get more time in there and seperate these 2 great holidays....
Release Topic: People/Family stories My doctor officially 'released' me from her post surgerical care this morning. Whoopie, now I can lift and jump up and down and do housework....and...ummm, hey wait a minute!
I think I need a second opinion!
Chicken and dumplings are stewing on the stove. It was chilly enough to wear a light sweater most of the day today. And I may even bake some cookies tonight. =)
Whatcha been doin? Topic: People/Family stories
Things I've been doing lately instead of blogging:
*Watching 21 episodes of the first season of Smallville. I am ashamed and embarrassed to have to tell you that I am all done! My only justification in the whole thing is that I am still in my last week of recovery from my surgery. Yes, that is why I have to glue my rear to the couch each day to watch hours of Smallville....see? It keeps me from 'overdoing it'.
***At which point I break into my own thought to add: Although this first season of Smallville IS enjoyable, I have to say that after watching the current episode last night on television, I can't recommend the later seasons. There was a warning from a friend in my previous post about the shows becoming more and more racy as the seasons progressed and I have to agree. *bleh!* Ruin my fun Hollywood....you dorks! Anyway, I've heard the first 2 seasons are good, so I'll await the 2nd one and let you know. I feel it is my duty now. ;') It was quirky and made me bust out laughing at the weirdness of the plots. I'm also a fan of Northern Exposure and Gilmore Girls...quirky! Funny and rediculous! I love it!***
*Getting back into normal routines of cooking again and cleaning my house, which has been cathartic and rewarding. lol Of course I intersperse this hard work with episodes of Smallville so that I don't 'overdo it'.
*Female bonding times: I've had a sweet run of lunches with friends. This is one of the highlights of being a woman, I think. "Let's do lunch!" "Ooooo, okay, have you tried the new cute little tea room?" It's not just lunch people, it's atmosphere and bonding for us girls. One was a friend from church, who is going through the sandwich generation thing....hard time of life. One you need your girlfriends for! The next lunch was with my friend who moved next door to me when we were 4 years old and we have tried to keep in touch ever since. We will need way more than one lunch to appropriately catch up on things! Today my sister from across town came for lunch. (When I say 'across town' in Phoenix, we're talking it takes 45 minutes when there is no traffic, and that is on the freeway the whole way! Needless to say, we don't see very much of her.) She took my mom, me and 2 of my teen daughters to Mimi's....a girlie restaurant if ever there was one. Then we came back to my house, where my other sister, our 9 year olds and her baby came to visit with us.
*Snuggling the sweetest head that is currently on earth....my little 9 month old nephew. Making him laugh or 'talk' to me is the highlight of my day!
*Going to more activities at church. We're currently doing a Beth Moore Bible study on the book of Daniel that I can't even tell you about now....it's going to take several posts. It's all that!
*Trying to get some window treatments for the bedroom, decide on paint colors for the bedroom, family room and exterior. I hate making these paint decisions!!!!!
*Going to marching band exhibitions and competitions for my daughter Emma. She's so cute in her uniform!!!
*Homeschool stuff. We went to a ballet last week....where I kind of relived some pleasant memories of being in theater in high school and college.
*Practicing the Christmas musical with the church choir...it's pretty cute!!!
*Trying to write thank you notes to all the people who blessed us so much during my hospital stuff and recovery!
I want to do more writing. Maybe with the holidays aproaching, I'll slack from holiday chores by blogging.....seems the way it goes with me. Slacking in one area leads to inspiration in another....go figure!! lol
Yikes!! Holiday 'stuff' is upon us....brace yourselves!!!!
Offerings Topic: People/Family stories
God's blessing...... It often comes through His people.
Did I mention that I haven't cooked a meal in a month?
A MONTH!
Yet my family and I have eaten home-cooked meals almost every night. October 3rd I had surgery, coinciding with pastor appreciation month in October. Our church family provided meals four times a week for the entire month! Besides the blessing of meals, we also got to know several people a lot better, making a real connection with them as they entered our home, bringing their offerings.
Oh, they weren't offerings to US....they were offerings to God. They brought Him lasagne, chicken and rice, chicken pot pies, tatter-tot casserole, chicken enchiladas extraordinare, steak, chicken, burgers, pizza, soup, along with all kinds of cakes, pies and desserts. Each of them blessed God with their offering of help and physical sustinence to another believer. A cup of water, so to speak....
Cool, isn't it?
Now go out and present your offerings before Him....
The angel answered, "Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God." Acts 10:4
I never gave it a thought until this past week and a half.
A friend of my 16 yr old mailed us the full first season on dvd to borrow, then send back. Bethany begged us to watch the first episode with her.
That was basically where it all went wrong fast. Now we can't stop watching it. Every time we hear the theme song wailing, "Somebody saaaaaave meeeee," we come like obedient slaves and watch disk after disk of Smallville weirdness. lol It's soooo predictable and has such wacked out characters (people affected by the meteor shower that brought little Clark to Earth) but we love it. My question is, does anyone have season 2????? *Pfft*
Rockin the Block Topic: God things
On overload and overwelmed by all the recent activity at home and church, I took a little unplanned break from blogging. All is well though, no worries.
One of the activities we were all involved in was our annual block party on halloween night at church. A few years ago, the church had a block party that hosted around 400 people. Last year they had 800 people and this year it may have been that many again. (I haven't heard the official count yet) Hats OFF to Ann, our block party coordinator! She does a fabulous job and works on it all year long. She was working this year with major pain (literally) and thankfully, she was training an assistant.....smart lady!
My only job I was able to contribute was to man the popcorn machine for a few hours that morning, making a small dent in the 800+ bags of popcorn needed for the night! As I went to sleep that night, I kept smelling the strong scent of popcorn on my hair. Along with the popcorn, we had people cooking and serving up hot dogs, canned soda, bowls of scooped frozen yogurt (it takes serious arm muscles to scoop frozen yogurt for 800 people!) and brewing up gourmet coffee and hot cocoa. There were also multitudes of cupcakes!! All for free to our block partiers. In the worship center, where the food court was, we had a video of our past year's children and youth events and also of the pastor, children's pastor, and youth pastor all speaking about the church. It was very exciting! People were listening.....their eyes looked hungry for more than hot dogs.
We had regular fun game booths and inflatable jumping games (3 huge ones) and this year they rented a 'rock wall' that you could climb with harnesses and everything! IT was very cool! Very comical was the little 5 year old Spiderman who could not get a good grip and climb the rock wall. The thought of it still makes me giggle! There were all manner of princesses, fairies, and ballerinas found airborn most of the evening in the inflatable bouncing booths. There were superheroes with orange frosting stained cheeks, ladybugs with hot cocoa mustaches, and even a few doggies becostumed for the evening.
Sooooooo many people from all around our neighborhood. They were dressed in all kinds of costumes, including one very scary looking guy in a satan costume, wearing a mask with a long realistic looking tongue hanging down and split at the end. He never took it off either....weird! A pastor friend of mine said Satan often shows up at his church too, but he is usually disguised as a gossipy, bitter woman or controlling committee member, etc. Makes ya think, doesn't it?
We got lots of thanks and people confused as to why we'd put this wonderful event on for free! So it gave us an opportunity to tell them we care about the families in the community and want people to feel welcome at our church. Most of these people likely do not have a church or much faith or hope in life. Our wonderful church members used a holiday that a lot of Christians shun these days (understandably) and used it to bring a neighborhood of searching people to our church to be loved on by our members.....by Jesus.
Pray with me that God will draw these people back to our church for services and children and youth activities, where they can hear more about this Jesus (and this Church), who loves them.
We call the event Rock the Block....and I hope it shook up some things!
Wordless Wednesday: Canyon in March Topic: Photo entries
My husband and daughter went with friends on a hike into the Grand Canyon in March of 2002. He took a very cool shot of them coming around a switchback. A lot of the trail was snow packed, and in parts icey, so they had to wear clamp-on cleats on their shoes!
I have no word to describe this small mountain near the Big Lake area in the White Mountains of Arizona. UPDATE: I just figured out what this landscape reminded me of....Teletubbies! It just needs a few rabbits grazing and a sun with a baby's face up in the sky!
very stress-filled year, but He gave me peace through it. Moving, buying a house for the first time, putting my kids in public school after homeschooling, the death of my father from dementia, and now major surgery. It was quite a stressful year, but I was freshly reminded again that the verse I have put my trust in all these years is still true. I will always stand by it, believe it, cling to it and experience it.
How's the Christmas shopping going? *errrg* That is not a good question to ask me this time of year. It's not that I have many gifts to buy, but it reminds me of all the things I need to do in the next 5 weeks. (5 weeks!!!) I do like doing said 'things'.....it's just that the pressure of having a list of things to DO intimidates me greatly! *whimper*
We would pick the store that had the most list items and attack, Charles going to the toys or sporting goods department while I went to the music or clothing departments. We would meet at the front, waving like crazy at each other over the pressing masses of people and come together all happy and slightly giddy from the good buys we had found. Then more stores and more good buys. Finally, we would go out to breakfast, and back to his parents house to wrap the loot before the kids could see it! 
sister is helping me a lot with the cooking......so I think there may even be time in the day for a little reflecting.....some actual giving thanks for making it through this stress-filled year.
My doctor officially 'released' me from her post surgerical care this morning. Whoopie, now I can lift and jump up and down and do housework....and...ummm, hey wait a minute! 
